A mat release (also called a matte release) is a type of advertorial article associated with public relations and advertising.[1]
The mat release is a short, feature story designed to appear like a newspaper article but contains persuasive communication in promotion of a product or idea.[2] Mat releases are distributed gratis to smaller publications, such as community newspapers.[3] Newspapers which run mat releases often do so to augment "soft content" sections of their publications, or to fill "news holes" due to staff shortages.[4][5]
A mat release is different from a press release; the latter is a communications device targeted towards journalists.[1] Mat releases, by contrast, are designed to target the public directly.[1]
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