ABSTRACT
A fact sheet must be so complete that a journalist could write a short news story—often called a news brief—using only the fact sheet. Fact sheets are single-spaced, with double-spacing between paragraphs. The headings for a PDF/paper fact sheet are like those of a news release except that instead of "News Release" in large type, a fact sheet, of course, has "Fact Sheet." After the headline, a fact sheet begins with the most important information and then moves to the second most important information. However, the fact sheet should be so complete that a journalist could write a short news story based on the fact sheet alone. A different category of fact sheet functions as a backgrounder. Editors may prefer fact sheets because, by listing only facts, they avoid the subjectivity that many editors fear lurks in news releases. Fact sheets generally appear only in media kits.
