Royale Energy Lands the First Sad Betty Award for its Most Recent News Release

There are a couple of questions in life you never want to answer, such as

• Does this dress make me look fat?
• Have you made that appointment yet for your prostate exam?
• You paid how much for that?

Well . . . I’ve got another question to add to the list. It’s

• What do you think of our news release?

Unfortunately, Royale Energy (NASDAQ: ROYL) has just landed the first Sad Betty Award for its January 11, 2008 news release. In my opinion, this is probably one of the most confusing and most awkwardly written announcements I have ever read.

Here’s the link to the original Royale news release on the company’s Website. For convenience sake, I have inserted the complete, original text of the release below.

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Royale’s Rocky Mountain Drilling Confirms the Prospectivity of Multiple Formations within Its Entire Acreage Block and Begins Selling Gas from the First Formation

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL)announced that it has begun first gas sales from the V Canyon 20-1 well, its deep exploration test of the northern extent of a 20,000 acre block in the Uintah basin. The well was turned on at a rate of 1,100,000 cubic feet per day from just one of its multiple formations. The current sales price is $7.04 per MCF. A total of 60 feet was drilled in the Entrada, Royale perforated only 22 feet which corresponds to the current production of the V Canyon 20-1 well.

As weather conditions improve in the Spring Royale will perforate additional pay in the Entrada formation and the underlying Wingate formation. It is noteworthy to emphasize the similarity of the Entrada formation in all three wells drilled in 2007 and the prospectivity of this formation is currently being evaluated.

In 2007 Royale drilled three deep tests into its 20,000 acre block in the Uintah Basin, Utah. One of these tests was at the northern limit of the acreage (V Canyon 20-1 well), a second well was drilled at the eastern flank of the acreage (Trail Canyon 1-2 well), while the third test was drilled on the southern part of the acreage (Ten Mile Canyon). Through these tests Royale believes it was able to confirm the prospectivity of multiple potentially productive formations within its entire acreage block.

About the Company

Headquartered in San Diego, Royale Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company. The company is focused on development, acquisition, exploration, and production of natural gas and oil in California, Texas and the Rocky Mountains. It has been a leading independent producer of oil and natural gas for over 20 years. The company’s strength is continually reaffirmed by investors who participate in funding over 50% of the company’s new projects. Additional information about Royale Energy, Inc. is available on its web site at www.royl.com.

Forward Looking Statements

In addition to historical information contained herein, this news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from those in the “forward-looking” statements. While the company believes its forward looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, there are factors that are difficult to predict and that are influenced by economic and other conditions beyond the company’s control. Investors are directed to consider such risks and other uncertainties discussed in documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts

Royale Energy, Inc.
Chanda Idano
Director of Marketing & PR of Royale Energy, Inc.
619-881-2800
Fax: 619-881-2899
chanda@royl.com
http://www.royl.com

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To begin, a disclosure.

[DISCLOSURE: I do not have a financial interest in Royale Energy, and I don't anticipate any involvement with Royale Energy in the future. Additionally, I have never invested in any company in the petroleum industry.]

Now, on to the release.

Problem #1: Using a Made-up Word

What does the word “prospectivity” mean? In case you missed it, it’s found in the headline and in two locations within the body of the release.

If you’re like me, chances are that when your eyes ran across the word in the headline, you probably stopped and repeated the word in your head or said it aloud: Prospectivity?

Let me save you the trouble of looking up the word in a dictionary or on Dictionary.com. Prospectivity is a made-up word.

I suspect the author of this news release was trying to communicate that the company believes there is a strong prospect (or possibility) that it has successfully identified wells or geological formations that may produce natural gas in the future.

But prospectivity? C’mon!

If using a made-up word was the only problem with this release, I’d probably let it slide. But that’s not the case.

Problem #2: The Headline and the Lead Sentence Don’t Jive

One of the first things every public relations professional learns about writing news releases is something called the inverted pyramid. (Journalists are also taught the same thing when learning how to write news stories.)

The inverted pyramid style of writing requires the writer to put the most important information at the beginning of a release (or story) and the least important info at the end of the release/story.

Just as each release or story should use this hierarchy of importance, the same holds true for headlines and sub-headlines.

In practice, this means that the most important news of any announcement should lead the headline/sub-headline section of every release and then should be repeated or repurposed in the very first sentence/paragraph of the release. Make sense?

Unfortunately, that is not the case with this Royale Energy news release. For ease of reading, I’ve re-copied the headline and first paragraph below.

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Royale’s Rocky Mountain Drilling Confirms the Prospectivity of Multiple Formations within Its Entire Acreage Block and Begins Selling Gas from the First Formation

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL)announced that it has begun first gas sales from the V Canyon 20-1 well, its deep exploration test of the northern extent of a 20,000 acre block in the Uintah basin. The well was turned on at a rate of 1,100,000 cubic feet per day from just one of its multiple formations. The current sales price is $7.04 per MCF. A total of 60 feet was drilled in the Entrada, Royale perforated only 22 feet which corresponds to the current production of the V Canyon 20-1 well.

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Note that the first thing mentioned in the headline is the company confirming “the prospectivity (there’s that word again) of multiple formations within its entire acreage block.” That means that this news should be the first thing disclosed in the body of the release, but it is not.

What was actually disclosed first in the lead sentence? The news that the company “has begun first gas sales from the V Canyon 20-1 well.” I concur.

Personally, I believe that the fact that Royale has actually begun selling natural gas from its V Canyon 20-1 well is the most important news in this release, supported by the point that this well is producing 1.1 million cubic feet per day. However, this is the second fact disclosed in the headline.

In other words, the headline and lead paragraph are NOT IN HARMONY when it comes to disclosing the most important news in this announcement.

Problem #3: News-writing Mistake After News-writing Mistake in the Release

Any PR pro or journalist trained in the basic Associated Press writing style would also cringe at the myriad of stylistic writing mistakes made in this release.

Here again, I’ve re-copied the release below in its entirety. For illustration purposes, I have inserted into the release below what I believe to be proper A.P. writing style corrections, with my suggested corrections following the alleged mistake and shown in italicized text and enclosed within parentheses. If an explanation is included, the recommended correction is included inside quotation marks.

[NOTE: I am NOT including any suggested corrections to the headline, "Forward Looking Statement" paragraph or the contact section. Hence, these items are NOT included below either.]

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 SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL) (today) announced that it has begun first gas sales from the V Canyon 20-1 well, its deep exploration test of the northern extent of a 20,000 acre block in the Uintah basin (On first reference, information about where the Uintah basin is located should be included, such as “in northeastern Utah.”). The well was turned on at a rate of 1,100,000 (should be written as “1.1 million”) cubic feet per day from just one of its multiple formations. The current sales price is $7.04 per MCF. (What does MCF mean? In almost all instances, acronyms should be spelled out on first reference. In this case, I suspect MCF stands for “million cubic feet, but I’m not sure.) A total of 60 feet was drilled in the Entrada, (The Entrada what? Here again, writers should not assume the reader has any prior information about anything found in a news release.) Royale perforated only 22 feet which corresponds to the current production of the V Canyon 20-1 well. (This last sentence is poorly written in so many ways that it’s extremely confusing. It would take several paragraphs to explain how it’s messed up and how to fix it — assuming I had all the background info in the first place.)

As weather conditions improve in the Spring (As a season, “spring” should be written in all lower case. Additionally, there should be a comma “,” inserted after the word spring.) Royale will perforate additional pay (Pay? Huh?) in the Entrada formation and the underlying Wingate formation. It is noteworthy to emphasize the similarity of the Entrada formation in all three wells drilled (by the company) in 2007 and the prospectivity of this formation is currently being evaluated. (This last sentence is a compound sentence that requires a comma “,” after 2007.)

In 2007 (Insert a comma “,” after 2007.) Royale drilled three deep tests (Use “test wells” not tests.) into its 20,000 acre (This should be hyphenated, in this manner: “20,000-acre.”) block in the Uintah Basin, Utah. (Uintah Basin is NOT a town in Utah; the term refers to a region. Hence, this should have been written “in the Uintah Basin in Utah.”) One of these tests (Again, “test wells” not tests.) was at the northern limit of the acreage (V Canyon 20-1 well), a second well was drilled at the eastern flank of the acreage (Trail Canyon 1-2 well), while the third test (Also, “test well” not test.) was drilled on the southern part of the acreage (Ten Mile Canyon). (This is actually a compound sentence comprised of three complete clauses that are incorrectly joined with commas. The independent clauses could be connected using semicolons or coordinating conjunctions.) Through these tests (Once more, “test wells” not tests.) Royale believes it was able to confirm the prospectivity of multiple potentially productive formations within its entire acreage block.

About the Company

Headquartered in San Diego, Royale Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company. The company is focused on development, acquisition, exploration, (No comma needed after exploration.) and production of natural gas and oil in California, Texas and the Rocky Mountains. It (Using “Royale” here instead of the word It would be better because the precedent noun is Rocky Mountains and not the company.) has been a leading independent producer of oil and natural gas for over (The word over refers to physical location, as in “The ball sailed over his head.” Instead, writers should use the words “more than.”) 20 years. The company’s strength is continually reaffirmed by investors who participate in funding over (Again, use “more than.”) 50% (The word “percent” should be used instead of a percent sign in news writing.) of the company’s new projects. Additional information about Royale Energy, Inc. is available on its web site at www.royl.com.

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If you’ve read through this post to this point, you may be thinking to yourself, “Wow, this Politis guy is brutal.”

Perhaps so. Most new hires at our two agencies — Politis Communications and SOAR Communications — will tell you that after sharing with me their first PR writing assignments they were covered in red ink when they were returned. So yes, I’m a pretty tough editor — but here’s why.

Why is Good Writing/Editing So Critical When Creating News Releases?

Journalists and media outlets are required to do more today with fewer resources than ever before. And they are flooded with information from PR professionals, marketing types, investor relations officers and flacks alike.

As a result, journalists are always looking for ways to make their professional lives easier.

Hence, organizations and individuals that send journalists news releases written

• in the proper journalistic writing style,
• in plain English, and
• that use good grammar and sentence structure,

have the best chance of getting “written up” (included) in the next issue of that newspaper or magazine, or reported on in that next newscast or Website.

Why is Good Writing/Editing So Critical for the Success of Investor Relations Programs?

The same holds true when trying to communicate with investors, be they retail or professional investors.

In fact, investors today have too many (and often competing) investing choices today, what with the resources provided by the Internet and virtually round-the-clock, 24/7 investing opportunities.

Hence, investors are also looking for ways to get ahead when they invest. And materials that are hard to understand are a death knell to investor relations programs.

TIP:

If you want to be successful in news release writing, do NOT repeat the mistakes made in this Royale Energy news release.

And for its “efforts,” I am sorry to write that Royale Energy has landed the first ever Sad Betty Award from TheBettyFactor.com for its poorly written January 11, 2008 news release. Sorry.  

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