One story, many places. Each written for where it appears.

Yes, one news story can serve your website, LinkedIn, Facebook, your newsletter and a press release. Each of those places has its own readers and its own conventions, though, so each version needs writing for that platform, from the same facts. That's the whole of writing for different platforms: the facts stay fixed and the shape changes. When you write by hand on the Desk, you choose the destination, and the piece is written for it.

This guide explains which destinations you can pick, what each one expects, and the mistakes that make a good story fall flat once it leaves your website.

Why one version doesn't fit everywhere

The same news reaches different readers on each platform. Someone reading your website has usually come looking for the story. Someone scrolling LinkedIn sees two lines and decides whether to stop. A newsletter subscriber has opened an email from you. A journalist reading a press release is deciding whether there's a story at all.

Each platform also has its own conventions. Some are about length. Others are about where the news sits, how many links you can use, or how the piece ends.

Pasting the website piece into LinkedIn or a newsletter ignores both of those things. The headings look odd in a post. The opening paragraph that works on a web page gets cut off before the news appears. A newsletter item reads like a notice when it should read like a note from you.

So each destination gets its own version, written from the same facts. In our view, the conventions that matter most are the short ones readers notice straight away: the first two lines of a LinkedIn post, the single action in a newsletter, and the "Notes to editors" and "ENDS" at the foot of a press release. Get those right and the rest follows.

Which destinations you can choose on the Desk

When you write by hand on the Desk, you pick where the piece will appear. The choices are:

• your website
• a LinkedIn article
• a LinkedIn post
• a Facebook post
• an email newsletter
• a press release
• another blog, such as a guest post, Medium or Substack

The choice is made per piece, and you make it. Each destination is written for that platform, so a LinkedIn post comes out as a LinkedIn post and a press release comes out as a press release.

In practice, that means one decision before you start. If you want the same story on your website and in your newsletter, that's two pieces, one for each destination. Decide which places the story genuinely suits. A routine update might only need a website piece and a Facebook post; a bigger announcement might justify a press release as well.

LinkedIn posts and LinkedIn articles are different jobs

LinkedIn has two formats, and they don't do the same thing.

A LinkedIn post is short: about 120 to 400 words. Its first two lines carry the story, because most people only see those before "see more". It has no headings, at most 1 link and up to 3 hashtags.

A LinkedIn article is longer and professional. It ends with a question that invites comments.

Take one story and work it both ways. Say your organisation has news your members need to act on.

As a LinkedIn post, the first two lines say what has changed and who it affects. Everything else sits below "see more": what it means, and what to do. You stay within about 120 to 400 words. There are no headings, because the post is read as one block. You choose the single most useful link, perhaps the full story on your website, and use it once. You add up to 3 hashtags that someone interested in the subject would follow, and stop there.

As a LinkedIn article, the same story has room to explain. You can set out the background, take readers through what it means for them, and write in a professional register for people who chose to click through. The article then closes with a question that invites comments, such as asking readers how the change affects their own work. That ending matters: an article that just stops gives people nothing to reply to.

The common mistake with posts is burying the news below the fold. An opening that thanks people, sets the scene or announces that you're pleased to share something uses up both visible lines before the reader learns anything. Most people never press "see more", so for them the post said nothing. Put the news first. The context can wait.

A practical check: read only the first two lines of your post. If someone saw nothing else, would they know what happened? If not, rewrite the opening before you change anything else.

Facebook and newsletters: one point, one action

A Facebook post is friendly and makes one point. It ends with a question or a call to action. That's the whole convention, and it's worth keeping to. If your story has two separate points, choose the one that matters most to the people who follow you on Facebook and leave the other for the website piece.

A newsletter section reads like one person writing to another. It isn't a press notice or a web page in an email: it's you telling a reader something they'll want to know, in a natural voice. It has one clear thing to do.

The common mistake in both is packing several asks into one item. Read the story, then visit the website, then book a place, then share it with a colleague: each extra ask makes the others less likely to happen. Readers who aren't sure which one matters usually do none of them.

Before you write either version, settle the one action. For a Facebook post, it might be the question you want people to answer in the comments, or the single thing you want them to do next. For a newsletter section, it's the one step you want the reader to take after reading. Write towards that and leave everything else out.

The source facts here are deliberately short. There's no word count for a Facebook post or a newsletter section, so don't invent one. Keep the tone and the single point right, and let the story set the length.

What a press release needs

A press release has its own long-established form, and journalists expect it.

• It opens with a dateline.
• It follows the inverted pyramid, with the most important information first and the detail after.
• It uses quotes only if they're in the facts.
• It closes with "Notes to editors" and "ENDS".

The inverted pyramid matters because a release is often read from the top and cut from the bottom. If the news is in the first paragraph, the release still works however much of it is used.

"Notes to editors" and "ENDS" are small, but they tell a journalist at a glance that the release is complete and where the background information sits.

The rule on quotes follows the Desk's wider principle: nothing is invented. Every piece is written from the facts, and a quote is a fact. It records something a named person actually said. If no one said it, it can't appear in the release.

The common mistake is adding a quote that no one gave. It's tempting, because press releases often carry one, and a release without a quote can feel thin. But a made-up quote put in someone's mouth is a claim you can't stand behind, and a journalist may well use it word for word. If you want a quote in the release, it needs to come from the person who'll be named, in their own words, and be part of the facts before the release is written.

Where each piece goes once you've approved it

Only website pieces go to WordPress. Pieces for every other platform, including LinkedIn posts and articles, Facebook posts, newsletter sections, press releases and other blogs, are copied or downloaded by you.

The Desk doesn't post to social media itself. Nothing appears on LinkedIn or Facebook, in a subscriber's inbox or on a journalist's desk until you put it there. That means a person always decides when and where each version goes out.

It also means you can space the versions sensibly. The website piece might go up first, so your LinkedIn post has somewhere to link to. The newsletter section can wait for your next send. The press release can go when you're ready to answer questions about it. Each piece is written for its place; the timing stays with you.

One story, written separately for each place it appears, and published by a person each time.

Want to see how a story goes from source facts to an approved piece? Read how the Desk works.