How You Can Issue a Darwin Day Press Release

Each year the Institute for Humanist Studies, which administers the Darwin Day Celebration, issues a press release about Darwin Day to reporters around the world. But we need your help to get the word out, too!

The Darwin Day Celebration is an international effort that is now an official program of the Institute for Humanist Studies. On or near Feb. 12, people around the world celebrate science and humanity on the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.

If you are hosting a Darwin Day event, please issue a press release to your local media. Even if your local media already received the IHS press release, and even if a reporter wants to write a story about Darwin Day, he/she still may need a local angle to get the story approved by the editor.

Even if you don't belong to a group that's hosting a Darwin Day event, you can still send a Darwin Day press release to your local media. Let the local press know how you celebrate Darwin Day, even if it's just curling up with a copy of The Origin of Species or renting a copy of the movie Inherit the Wind.

Writing the Release

In order to issue a press release, you have to write one first!

Here's a sample press release that you may use to get yourself started.

Copy the text below and paste it into a word processing document. Wherever you see << >> you need to enter your own information.

<<Date>>

For Release: IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT
Contact: <<Name, Phone number, Email address>>

Feb. 12 is "Darwin Day"
<<Your group's name>> Celebrate(s) B'day of Evolution Champ

<<City, State>> This Feb. 12 is the 199th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.

<<Provide two to three sentences about your Darwin Day event, including place and time.>>

<<Quote from your event organizer about the significance of Charles Darwin and why your group is hosting this event.>>

Hundreds of groups across the United States and the globe will celebrate the date as "Darwin Day" in honor of the discoveries and life of the man who famously described biological evolution via natural selection.

"Darwin Day promotes understanding of evolution and the scientific method," said Larry Jones, president of the Institute for Humanist Studies which administers The Darwin Day Celebration. "This celebration expresses gratitude for the enormous benefit that scientific knowledge has contributed to the advancement of humanity."

Next year will mark both the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the 1859 publication of Darwin's "The Origin of Species", which presented the scientific theory that populations evolve over generations through natural selection.

The theory of evolution was controversial in Darwin's time and remains controversial in the United States today.

Recent Gallup polls show that 43 percent of Americans reject the theory of evolution and instead believe that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." And at least four 2008 presidential candidates have said they do not believe the theory of evolution.

<<ADD another quote from your Darwin Day event speaker, performer, organizer.>>

The Darwin Day Celebration started with one event in 1995. Last year there were more than 850 Darwin Day events world-wide. Darwin Day festivities can include debates, lectures, essay contests, film festivals, museum exhibits, art shows and even an "Evolution Banquet" with "Primordial Soup" followed by a "Darwin Fish Fry."

For information, visit: <<your group's website>> and www.DarwinDay.org

###


Note, the text above is simply a suggested guide for you. You can use some of the language, or all of it. But, if you use the quote from Larry Jones, president of the Institute for Humanist Studies, you must quote it exactly as it appears above.

Next, you need to get the contact information for your local media (television news, radio news, and newspapers). Visit the websites of your local media outlets and look for contact information or a page that explains how to submit a press release or news tip. Collect the email addresses, fax and phone numbers.

If you send your press release by fax, the entire press release should fit on one sheet of paper.

If you send your press release by email, be sure to include the word "Release" in the subject of your email.

Here's a suggested subject line:

RELEASE: <<local group name>> Celebrates Darwin Day on Feb. 12.


If you do get a call from a reporter, please feel free to suggest that he or she can also contact the Institute for Humanist Studies, which now administers The Darwin Day Celebration, at 518-432-7820 ext 5. Be sure to mention DarwinDay.org

Good luck!