The Newswire feature allows you to assemble a press release and send it to global, national, and regional groups of publications and downstream partners rapidly.
Newswires are a great way to send announcements and releases on a large scale. Pitching to journalists allows for a more personalized approach to a smaller group of individuals. Learn more about the Differences Between Newswires and Pitching to Journalists.
This guide will cover:
Note: If you are creating a financial release or a release for translation, this will require our support team's assistance.
Overview of Newswire
Newswire, seamlessly integrated into the Meltwater Platform, offers you the convenience of distributing your press release at your preferred time - either instantly or at a scheduled date - independently, bypassing the need for you to engage your account team.
Newswire electronically distributes your press release, ensuring timely delivery of news stories to news desks and journalists. Newswire’s extensive network, with over 100+ newslines, enables targeted and guaranteed exposure in a specific geographical area or beat.
Additionally, each Newswire submission includes an unlimited word count, space for one logo, and two images. All for no additional cost.
Setting up your Company
Before sending your first Newswire wire, you need to set up your company and complete a mandatory one-time verification process. You will need to provide some basic information about your company like name, address, primary contact, and a ticker symbol if your company is publicly traded.
This step is crucial to prevent spoofing and has replaced the previous system of individual verification calls for each distribution. Be aware that this process may take up to 24 hours to complete.
It's important not to delay. Starting this process well before you need to send your first wire will ensure you're ready to go without any last-minute hurdles.
To set up the company:
Select the Media Relations drop-down from the left-hand navigation bar
Click Newswire
Select the Actions button in the top right-hand corner (if you do not see the button you may not be set up as an Administrator. When you are an administrator on the account you have access to all available features and have no restrictions)
Select Manage Accounts
All approved companies will be displayed in the list with a green check mark
To add a new company, Select + Add Company and complete all required fields
Select Ok
Creating and Sending a Newswire
Follow the below steps or watch the how-to video to send a newswire directly from your Meltwater platform.
Select the Media Relations drop-down on the left-hand navigation bar
Click Newswire
Select the Actions button in the top right-hand corner
Choose Create a Newswire
The Select the destination for your newswire page will open.
This page shows you the number of newswires you are able to send, they are labeled as credits.
This page will also indicate where you can send your newswire releases based on the package you’ve purchased (regional, national, global).
Select + Add Newsline and select the circuit(s) or publications you would like to send to
Click Next
Note: If you choose to send your message to multiple circuits, the number of wire credits used will increase accordingly. For instance, if you wanted to send to both USA National and Canada National, that would require two credits
Complete all required fields identified with a * symbol.
Headline: Enter your headline and point of origin. The point of origin is where the release is being distributed from. We see a lot of companies use where they are headquartered in this field.
Note: All headlines must be submitted in lowercase as all-caps headlines cannot be accepted. Ensure your submitted headline is accurate as this cannot be changed after publishing.
Body: When entering your content, we recommend copying the text from an already formatted document onto the Body box. It’s best to keep formatting simple.
Note: Emojis cannot be used in the body of your Newswire.
Images cannot be embedded in the body of the release, they must be uploaded as attachments and require a byline for each image.
Note: The total size of all wire attachments and your company's logo is up to 1.4MB. Logos appear properly on many downstream endpoints with the following dimensions: 400x400 and with a white background. Additionally, no images with transparency can be used.
Subject Codes field: Select up to 5 Subject Codes. Select the purpose for the release from the preset list (i.e. company announcement, etc.).
Industries field: Select up to 3 industries or trades available for the wire circuit you've selected. These are the different topics your release may be about.
Release Tags field: Include 3 - 5 Release Tags. Tags improve your release's SEO with downstream partners.
Select Next
Schedule your release: Here you can send your newswire as soon as possible, save it as a draft, or schedule it for a later date and time
Note: When scheduling for a future date, ensure you have selected the correct timezone based on when you want the release to be published
Select Next
Review the final version of your release in the My Newswire Summary section
Under Send Notification Emails, enter the email addresses of those you wish to receive a notification once the newswire has been sent out. These recipients will also receive the analytic reports once they become available.
Select Save
Note: All full-service wires are sent via email to the wires@meltwater.com team. All English-only wires are sent directly through the Meltwater platform.
Getting Additional Support for Translations & Financial Wires
Wires that require translation need additional processing time and as such our Support team will assist in the submission of these specialized wires.
Note: Translated wires can be distributed at different times to the original wire if desired.
Please follow the below steps for our Support team's assistance with specialized wires:
Provide your release instructions within the GNW Required Form Required.docx
Download the file linked above and email the following items to wires@meltwater.com a Completed Wire Required Release Form, your Press Release in a Word Document, and the Issuing Company Logo in a JPEG format
For Financial Wires and Earnings Releases, there are regulatory requirements which limit the ability for these to be submitted through the Meltwater web app. As such, our Support team will assist in the submission of these specialized wires. Please follow the same two steps listed above.
Note: If this is your first release we must allow time for additional account set up to ensure the distribution is formatted to meet regulatory requirements.
Editing or Canceling a Newswire
Once your release's status is updated to 'Scheduled', it signifies that the details have been submitted to our newswire distribution partner. At this point, the release cannot be edited. You will need to cancel the Newswire and then you will be able to create a new draft.
To Cancel a Newswire:
Select the Media Relations drop-down on the left-hand navigation bar
Click Newswire
Click on the Kebab Menu on the release you would like to cancel
Select Cancel
This will change the newswire status from Scheduled to Canceling
After a few minutes, refresh the page. The release status will now read Canceled
Hover over the canceled release and click View Release
A prompt will appear to return the release to a draft , click OK
Now that the newswire is a draft again, it can be edited and re-scheduled accordingly.
Actioning a Rejected Wire
If your wire is rejected, the status of the release will update to 'Rejected'. For further details as to why this was rejected, please reach out to our team via Live Chat with the details of your release.
Where can I find out more information? I want to become a Newswire expert.
Conner, Cheryl. “Press Releases Still Matter, But Not for the Reasons You Think.” Forbes.com.
Finley, Kate. “Why Newswire Services Don’t Work (and When They Do)” spinsucks.com.
Jas. “How Journalists Use Newswires.” Vitispr.com.
Sprung, Rachel. “When Press Releases Do (And Don’t) Help Your Marketing.” blog.hubspot.com.
Willaman, Mark. “Are Newswires Still Relevant?” hrmarketer.com.
💡 Tip
Need more help? Feel free to reach out to us via Live Chat or check out our Customer Community.
Find answers and get help from Meltwater Support and Community Experts.