Public Relations 2
alaazef
powerpoint_1_.pptHow Do I Write?
What Do I Write?
Writing for Public Relations Practitioners
Why Write?
- Public relations practitioners target the news media as an intervening public (to get their message out to the other, larger publics).
News Releases
- News Releases are one of the most important, but often misused, documents in public relations.
- What is it:
An objective, straightforward, unbiased news story that a public relations practitioner writes and distributes to appropriate news media.
More on News Releases
- Why are they often misused?
Research shows “gatekeepers” throw 90% of the news releases they receive because:
They have no local interest (no appeal to a particular audience)
AND/OR
They’re too promotional (lacking objectivity)
- An effective news release:
Uses it’s heading and first paragraph to show a gatekeeper that it contains local interest.
Sounds as if it were written by an objective reporter, not a public relations practitioner.
- Most news releases are written in newspaper style.
- They reach the “gatekeepers” (newspaper editors, magazines, radio stations, TV stations and/or TV networks) in several different ways:
Mailed;
Faxed;
E-mailed;
Etc.
Media Kits
- Definition: Packages at least one news release with other supporting documents.
“Supporting Documents” usually include:
Fact sheets (a what-who-when-where-why-how breakdown of the news release, usually written bullet-style), and
Backgrounders (a supplement to the news release, containing background info on the person, product, company, etc named in the news release)
Could include testimonials or biographies
Let’s Get Started
- A news/press release should contain the following elements:
Headline (used to grab the attention of journalists and briefly summarize the news)
Dateline (contains the release date and usually the originating city of the press release)
Introduction (first paragraph in a press release, that generally gives basic answers to the questions of who, what, when, where and why)
What Else?
Body (further explanation, statistics, background, or other details relevant to the news)
Boilerplate (generally a short “about” section, providing independent background on the issuing company, organization, or individual)
Media Contact Information (name, phone number, email address, mailing address, or other contact info for the PR or other media relations contact person)
What must my writing process include?
- When sitting down to write a news release, or whatever marketing document you are preparing, remember the following ten steps.
1. credibility
2. research
3. organization
4. writing
5. revision
6. macroediting (the big picture)
7. microediting (sentence by sentence)
8. approval
9. distribution
10. evaluation
A few more tips…
- In documents that cite individuals as sources, draw upon diverse individuals, not exclusively white males in their 40’s and 50’s (as most do).
- Balance personal pronouns. For unnamed, generic individuals such as a supervisor or senator, balance the use of he and she.
- Avoid words that describe particular relationships: your wife, your husband, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. Doing this will inadvertently exclude certain groups of people.
- Know the dates of major religious holidays and know when it is/is not appropriate to release certain stories.
- Don’t describe individuals by race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, or mental disability unless the information is relevant to your document’s purpose.
More Writing Tips
- Use short sentences (the speaker needs to breathe!)
- Limit each sentence to one idea (avoid linking ideas with and, but, because and although)
- Use concrete words and images, not abstractions
- Challenge every word in every sentence (Is each word necessary? Can you replace a long word with a shorter one?)
- Repeat main points (look for opportunities to state the main point more than once)
- Avoid closing with “In Conclusion.”
