How to Write a Press Release with a Perfect Dateline?

When you look for tips for how to write a press release, the importance of the dateline is often neglected. Let’s find out how this line improves the value for PR.

A press release is one of the most important assets or a document of a company that helps to share important announcements. It is widely used in every other industry and the document is highly appreciated by the professionals due to its time-sensitivity. The newsworthiness of the topic and its relevance makes press release acceptable to media experts and journalists as well who can further publish the content.

When you think of how to write a press release, one of the most important elements in the PR format that comes after the title is Dateline. Now, what is a Dateline?

The dateline is defined by the line that stays at the beginning of the press release and shares information about where and when it has been reported. It helps to showcase the time-sensitivity and relevance of the content, which helps to understand if it is old news or a current one. The structure of Dateline typically follows the name of the city or the state, and the time, which denotes from where and when it has been published. It helps to validate the news or the information offered in the PR. For example, if there is a press release that is sharing information about an event in New York on May 5th, then it will appear as,

NEW YORK, NY (May 5, 2025).

Dateline Styles for Press Release Writing

There are mainly two distinctive Dateline Styles, and one of them is most commonly used and suggested by the experts. It is called the AP Style for Dateline, which is used in most industries and considered to be effective for the purpose. It is the most commonly accepted format in modern day as well.

In the earlier days, there was a format called The Newspaper Style dateline which do not exists now. It was used for radio and newspaper outlets to maintain the regularity of daily printing without any mistake. The dateline typically follows the place and the day of the event which is quite uncommon now. The AP format is widely accepted as it is easy to understand.

AP Style Dateline

AP denotes Associated Press, as it is a formatting style that is mainly used in marketing and reporting purposes. That is why the AP style is used by most publishing businesses and public relations platforms, which offers a uniform look. In this case, the name of the city should be in capitals, and you are required to use the state abbreviation. A lot of people make the mistake of using the zip code abbreviation, which you should not do. For the dates, always use numerical and for the months, use the abbreviated forms like Feb., Jan., Dec., Oct., etc. The name of the city will be followed by a comma and then the name of the state, and then the date.

If you are not sure of state abbreviations for each state, here is the state abbreviation form used in the AP style for datelines in a press release.

State                                      AP Style Dateline Abbreviation
Alabama                               Ala.
Alaska                                   Alaska (Never Abbreviated)
Arizona                                 Ariz.
Arkansas                              Ark.
California                            Calif.
Colorado                              Colo.
Connecticut                         Conn.
Delaware                              Del.
Florida                                  Fla.
Georgia                                 Ga.
Hawaii                                  Hawaii (Never Abbreviated)
Idaho                                    Idaho (Never Abbreviated)
Illinois                                  Ill.
Indiana                                 Ind.
Iowa                                      Iowa (Never Abbreviated)
Kansas                                  Kan.
Kentucky                              Ky.
Louisiana                              La.
Maine                                    Maine (Never Abbreviated)
Maryland                              Md.
Massachusetts                     Mass.
Michigan                               Mich.
Minnesota                             Minn.
Mississippi                            Miss.
Missouri                                 Mo.
Montana                                Mont.
Nebraska                                Neb.
Nevada                                    Nev.
New Hampshire                    N.H.
New Jersey                             N.J.
New Mexico                           N.M.
New York                                N.Y.
North Carolina                      N.C.
North Dakota                        N.D.
Ohio                                        Ohio (Never Abbreviated)
Oklahoma                              Okla.
Oregon                                   Ore.
Pennsylvania                         Pa.
Rhode Island                         R.I.
South Carolina                      S.C.
South Dakota                         S.D.
Tennessee                               Tenn.
Texas                                       Texas (Never Abbreviated)
Utah                                        Utah (Never Abbreviated)
Vermont                                 Vt.
Virginia                                  Va.
Washington                          Wash.
West Virginia                       W.Va.
Wisconsin                             Wis.
Wyoming                               Wyo.

As you can see, there are six states with their intact names along with the District of Columbia with no abbreviated form. Some of the examples for AP Style Dateline would be like, KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Dec 18, 2025), LOS ANGELES (Feb. 1, 2023, 10 a.m. PT), etc.

Final Thoughts

The dateline plays a vital role in showcasing the press releases relevance and urgency along with its origin through a simple line only. This small yet powerful element should be writer carefully while crafting the content.