Your professors bear some blame; they lauded florid writing and set minimum lengths for papers. Here are a few salient points for crafting tighter releases.
What can you do to increase the likelihood that your release will grab a reporter's attention? In brief, don't give the reporter reasons not to read it.
What do journalists really want to see in press releases? What sends them directly to the delete key? This infographic from Skadeedle offers some insight.