A backgrounder is a one or two page (sometimes longer) document that tells a company's unique story. It features key information - a brief history, core products and services, industry information and executive staff. It should be written in a factual, informative way that engages press without being "hype".

Sample Backgrounder (BellSouth Corporation)

BELLSOUTH CORPORATION

BellSouth is a $25 billion international communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., providing telecommunications, wireless communications, entertainment services, online and directory advertising, Internet, data and e-commerce applications services to nearly 39 million customers in 19 countries worldwide.

With $44 billion in assets, BellSouth companies operate throughout the United States and in a number of countries in Latin America and Europe. With more than 96,000 employees, the company has more than 45 equivalent access line customers in the Southeast U.S., more than six (6) million domestic wireless customers and 6.8 million international wireless customers. Since divestiture in 1984, BellSouth has become one of the most widely held companies in the country.

In 1999, BellSouth invested $6.2 billion in capital expenditures to strengthen its worldwide telecommunications infrastructure, which delivered over four million new customers. In 2000, BellSouth is investing another $6 billion, most of which is for growth and further network modernization to facilitate the evolution to a new data-oriented world.

BellSouth's largest subsidiary, BellSouth Telecommunications, serves local residential and business customers in nine southern states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

BellSouth customers benefit from one of the most modern telecommunications networks in the world, and they have rated BellSouth the top major local telecommunications provider in customer satisfaction in several national surveys. Another major growth area for the company is its Broadband services. These revenues are growing more than 30 percent annually, with a $5 billion data revenue goal in 2002. A primary driver is the company's Internet services, one of the fastest growing ISPs in the Southeast with over 735,000 customers.

BellSouth's domestic wireless networks provide the highest quality service with a wide array of advanced products and services. BellSouth now offers digital service to substantially all of its wireless markets in the U.S. On April 5, 2000, the company announced it was combining its U.S. wireless operations with SBC to become the second largest wireless carrier in the U.S., reaching into 40 of the nation's top 50 markets.

In 1998, BellSouth began providing nationwide wireless data services covering more than 93 percent of the urban business population. The service gives paging users the ability to initiate and respond to messages via Internet e-mail and to other pagers, fax machines and telephones.

In international markets, BellSouth has a footprint that covers over 275 million POPs and a $3 billion revenue stream in 1999. The international subsidiary also has increased its customer base by 70 percent in the last year. Driven by Latin American operations, over 80 percent of the customers added in the last year came from outside traditional regulated telephone companies.

BellSouth invests over $23 million annually in charitable organizations and supports education improvement through the BellSouth Foundation, an endowed trust whose assets exceed $70 million.

BellSouth At-A-Glance