The Public Relations Writer's Handbook E-Book

Merry Aronson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 460

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

The second edition of the Public Relations Writer's Handbook offers a simple, step-by-step approach to creating a wide range of writing, from basic news releases, pitch letters, biographies, and media alerts, to more complex and sophisticated speeches, media campaign proposals, crisis responses, and in-house publications. In addition, the thoroughly expanded and updated second edition shows how to keep up with the best practices of the public relations profession, as well as with the speed made possible and required by the digital age.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

About the Authors

Introduction

Chapter 1 - PUBLIC RELATIONS GOES DIGITAL

A Few Words About the Truth

A Few Words About Grammar

E-Mail Is Not Private; E-Mail Is Forever

A Few Words About Style

Chapter Recap

Chapter 2 - NEWS RELEASES, PHOTO CAPTIONS, AND MEDIA KITS

Inverted-Pyramid News Style

Trade Versus Consumer Press

Adjusting Your Style: Consumer Versus Trade

Before You Write

Research

Conforming to a Standard Style

Content

The Appointment Release

The Product Release

Lifestyle, Trend, and Survey Releases

Localizing a National Release

The Delayed or Feature-Style Lead

Quotations

Photos, Samples, and Review Copies

Style and Form

The Q&A

Photos

Media Kits

Approvals

Chapter Recap

Chapter 3 - THE PITCH: CREATING MEDIA INTEREST

Stage One: Analyze the Subject, and Identify the Target

Stage Two: Call the Editor

Stage Three: Write Your Pitch

Stage Four: Follow Up

Chapter Recap

Chapter 4 - THE BIOGRAPHY AND BACKGROUNDER

Biographies

Obituaries

Backgrounders

Writing the Bio

Fact Sheets

Time Lines

Bibliographies

Chapter Recap

Chapter 5 - SPEECH WRITING

Speech Writing I: Eleven Steps

Speech Writing II: Technical Guidelines

Chapter Recap

Chapter 6 - MULTIMEDIA AND POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS

Illuminating Difficult Subjects

The Script

Coordinating Text and Slides

Impact and Continuity

Putting It All Together: Rehearsal

Audiovisual Presentations

Chapter Recap

Chapter 7 - WRITING FOR BROADCAST

Pitch Letters and News Releases

Creating Scripts for Electronic Media Kits

Chapter Recap

Chapter 8 - SPECIAL EVENTS

News Conference

Press Junket

Publicity Tour

Chapter Recap

Chapter 9 - FINANCIAL WRITING

Learn the Basics of Business

Follow SEC Reporting Requirements

Confidentiality and Insider Trading

Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure)

Investor Relations Department

Plain English: The Official Style of the SEC

Business Release

Quarterly Earnings Release

Quarterly Conference Call

Annual Report

Annual Meeting

Chapter Recap

Chapter 10 - PUBLICATIONS

Editorial Considerations

Newsletters

Corporate Brochures

Assigning Stories

Establishing Editorial Guidelines

Other Concerns: Format, Timeliness, Style, Approvals, and Copyright

Production

Files and File Copies

Chapter Recap

Chapter 11 - WRITING FOR THE INTERNET

E-Mail, Instant Messaging, Paging, and Wireless I nternet

Web Sites

Blogs and the Blogosphere

Chapter Recap

Chapter 12 - RESPONSIVE WRITING

Letters to the Editor

Web Responses

Guest Editorials

Chapter Recap

Chapter 13 - CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS AND OFFICIAL STATEMENTS

Official Statements

Talking Points

Crisis Media Plan

Anticipating Needs in a Crisis

Disclosure

Crisis Releases

Minimizing Negative Reports

Threatened or Ongoing Litigation

Chapter Recap

Chapter 14 - PROGRAM WRITING

Structure of a Public Relations Program

Introduction or Situation Analysis

Objectives

Target Audiences

Strategies

Activities

Management, Staffing, Administration, Tracking, and Evaluation

Budget

Chapter Recap

Appendix A - RESEARCH AND INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES

Appendix B - GRAMMAR REFERENCE

Glossary

References

Index

Copyright © 2007 by Merry Aronson, Don Spetner, and Carol Ames. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass.

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Credits are on page 350.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Aronson, Merry.

The public relations writer’s handbook : the ditigal age / Merry Aronson,

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-8631-5 (cloth)

1. Public relations. 2. Public relations — Authorship. 3. Publicity.

I. Spetner, Don. II. Ames, Carol. III. Title.

HM263.A7864 2007

659.2 — dc22

2006101785

HB Printing

This book is dedicated to my mother and father, Jeanne and Zola Aronson, who gave me, among many other gifts, a profound love and respect for the English language; and to David M. Rubin and Richard Petrow, who asked me to teach and thought I had something to say.

God bless ’em.

— M.A.

To Laurie, Jamie, and Michael, for being there every day for me; and to Buddy and Lil, for teaching me the value of hard work, honesty, and focus.

— D.S.

To Philippe, my first great reader; and to Charlotte, who inspires me every day to do my best and to have fun.

— C.A.

About the Authors

Merry Aronson, a journalist, publicist, and television promotion executive, is founder of MerryMedia, Inc., an entertainment marketing firm based in Studio City, California. Previously she worked for twelve years at the NBC Television Network, first as an entertainment publicist and later as a director in advertising and promotion. Her public relations background also includes launching the Fox Broadcasting Company and, for Group W Satellite Communications, The Nashville Network, as well as directing publicity for the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers. Her feature articles and theater reviews have appeared in national publications, and she also wrote for Good Morning America. She has served as an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University, where she received a B.A., and later taught in the UCLA Extension program.

Don Spetner is senior vice president of global marketing for Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest provider of executive search and talent management solutions. Spetner oversees all marketing, public relations, and corporate communications for the firm’s seventy-two offices in forty countries. Prior to joining Korn/Ferry, he served as vice president of corporate communications for SunAmerica Inc., where he was responsible for all corporate advertising, communications, and public relations. He also served as vice president of corporate communications for Nissan North America, overseeing all North American communications for the automotive giant. In his twenty-five-year career in public relations, he has also worked in management roles for three of the largest public relations agencies in the world. He has been named an “Industry All Star” by Inside PR and writes and lectures frequently on communications. He graduated with honors with a degree in journalism from New York University.

Carol Ames teaches entertainment studies and public relations on the faculty of California State University, Fullerton. She has more than twenty years of experience as an independent public relations professional, an executive producer of movies for television, and a corporate communications executive for Paramount Pictures. With writing credits that encompass journalism and scholarly articles, as well as speeches, multimedia presentations, event time lines, media kits, newsletters, and financial writing, she also holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and an M.A. and B.A. with honors from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Introduction

Since the first edition of this book was published in 1993, the digital revolution has changed the way we live and do business, with computers, e-mail, cell phones, and the World Wide Web now familiar parts of everyday life.

News, information, and promotional material are available everywhere on twenty-four-hour global television news channels, wireless Internet service, and PDAs. Even some elevators and supermarket checkout lines have streaming video of news, weather, and promotions. Just around the corner are additional methods of information delivery most of us have yet to imagine.

What this means to the public relations professional and those aspiring to join the field is that more job opportunities become available every day that require greater vigilance, acumen, and communication skills. Public relations professionals are essential to the process of originating and disseminating information. They must be prepared to respond immediately and react efficiently to demands placed on them by media requests. They must be able to generate campaigns that influence actions ranging from consumer spending to new legislation. And they must keep up with and learn to use new digital tools as they develop and become part of the mainstream.

One factor that has not changed with the advent of the digital age is good writing, which remains at the core of effective public relations.

A successful professional must have the skill to communicate ideas, information, and emotions. Clear, concise, accurate, and credible, a professional must be able to write in many styles, tones, and voices for many different audiences. The public relations writer often functions as a ghostwriter for others, such as a company’s chief executive officer and other members of senior management. Trade publications and Internet newsletters may run well-written news releases under their own reporters’ bylines, making few, if any, changes.

Working on a tight deadline as a provider of background information, facts, details, and access to interviews or credible news sources, the public relations professional serves as an invaluable link in the chain between the client or company and media coverage.

This new edition of The Public Relations Writer’s Handbook shows how to keep up with the best practices of the public relations profession and with the speed made possible and required by the digital age. Meeting these new demands requires, as always, respect for truth, accuracy, and adherence to a rigorous ethical code. While always acting as an advocate for the client or company and always having a specific point of view, the true professional does not exaggerate, equivocate, or misrepresent the facts. Ultimately the success of one’s ongoing relationships with members of the media is built on consistent credibility and reliability.

To help public relations writers achieve their professional goals, this book offers a simple, step-by-step approach to creating a wide range of writing, from basic news releases, pitch letters, biographies, and media alerts to more complex and sophisticated speeches, media campaign proposals, crisis responses, and in-house publications. Examples from successful public relations campaigns and hypothetical cases illustrate the fundamentals, as well as some possible flourishes.

For students aspiring to enter the field, this is a how-to book, best followed in sequence. For working professionals who do not have a news writing background or those who have discovered a gap in their writing repertoire, this book is a resource to be opened at whatever chapter might apply to the writing assignment at hand.

We do not claim to have all the solutions to the ever-growing demands of public relations writing. Drawing on our many years of combined experience at world-famous companies and public relations agencies, our work with students, and our conversations with fellow writers, however, we are offering you our secrets to cracking the public relations writing barriers and getting your message heard by as wide a public as possible. We were motivated to write this book because we could find no others on the market that approached the same topics as simply and practically as we have here.

Our experience as working professionals and as leaders of seminars on public relations writing has convinced us of one fact: we can all use a manual that reminds us of the essential steps and offers models for completing complex assignments.

For their help in bringing this revised manual to fruition, we particularly acknowledge our editors, Jessie Mandle, Mark Karmendy, and Beverly Miller, along with Beth Evans for her advice on writing for broadcast; William Bartlett for his insights into, and samples of, great speeches; Rick Reed for his counsel on crisis communications; Kathryn Paulsen for her suggestions for Appendix B; and invaluable support from Karen S. Abrams, Virginia Anagnos, Emily Aronson, Ted R. Aronson, Marty Callner, Stephanie Cohen, September Forsyth, Tom Goodman, Jon Gordon, Maggie Habib, Jeff Herman, Sheena Manek, Bob Meyer, Andrea Nelson, Larry Payne, Charlotte Perebinossoff, Philippe Perebinossoff, Stacy Roth, Heather Rush, and Barbara Tranchito.

This book will not tell you everything you will ever need to know about public relations in the digital age. It is narrowly focused on writing. We disagree with those who feel that writing is strictly an inborn talent that cannot be taught. Good writing is born of many factors, such as clear thinking, avid reading, and — most elusive of all — original, imaginative ideas. It also draws on many basic skills that can be practiced and honed. The writing process can be simplified and demystified, so that skills can be improved and talent developed. Although no book alone can impart all of these qualities to its readers, this one provides each reader and writer with a strong foundation for successful public relations writing.

1

PUBLIC RELATIONS GOES DIGITAL

The digital age has profoundly changed the demands placed on public relations professionals and the ways they do their work. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the digital age has profoundly altered the nature of the public relations profession itself.

With the media now fragmented into thousands of communication channels, high-level public relations advice and planning are more critical than ever before, as companies, product marketers, and organizations all compete to develop, enhance, and project positive public images.

Effective public relations writing forms the core of nimble, innovative marketing made possible by digital technology. Today, businesses and nonprofit organizations use digital communications, as well as traditional PR tools, to reach target audiences, communicate with customers, and expand audiences. E-mail, Web sites, digital newsletters, blogs, viral marketing, search engines, live conference calls, RSS, and podcasting are just some of the tools now available to PR professionals. And almost every communications effort requires writing.

This book provides a road map for writing effective public relations copy for both traditional and innovative public relations initiatives. Each chapter offers clear, step-by-step advice and positive models to use when creating effective copy suitable to specific situations and needs.

Mass communications — broadcast and basic cable television, radio, newspapers, and major magazines — still reach vast audiences, but not as vast as in the recent past and not as reliably. The media that can cover your company’s story now include hundreds of niche cable channels, high-definition split-offs of radio stations, thousands of online publications, and millions of blogs. Neither a few well-placed advertisements nor even a comprehensive, multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in broadcast and print can dependably reach the majority of consumers these days. Finding conventional advertising less effective, companies increasingly are turning to public relations for new ideas. In fact, “public relations spending is growing at almost double the rate of advertising,” this according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson in New York, a private equity firm that targets media industries (van der Pool, 2006).