Minski Nicky 10 December 2012 Exam 3 Book Notes Chapters 15 16 and 19 I Chapter 15 Public Relations Writing A Writing for the Ear and the Eye 1 Writing for a reader differs from writing for a listener a Reader can scan material review passages and check up on facts b Listener only gets one opportunity to hear and comprehend message requiring writing to grab their attention immediately B Fundamentals of Writing 1 Four part basics of writing a The idea must exceed the expression Think before writing When coming up with clever ideas it is better to borrow old ones than creating news ones Ideas must satisfy four criteria 1 They must relate to the reader 2 They must engage reader s attention 3 They must concern the reader 4 They must be in the readers interest b Don t be afraid of the draft Organization should be logical leading the reader in a systematic way through the body of text This can not be achieved without drafting and revising your work c Simplify clarify The more people who understand what you re trying to say the better your chances for stimulating action The key to clarity is tightness each word sentence paragraph must belong d Writing must be aimed at a particular audience Must have a target group in mind and tailor the message to them sometimes sacrificing the understanding of other audiences C Flesch Readability Formula and Yilsea Cornerstones 1 Flesch s seven suggestions to making writing more readable a Use contractions such as it s and doesn t b Leave of the word that whenever possible c Use pronouns such as I we they and you d When referring back to a noun repeat the noun or use a pronoun Don t create eloquent substitutions e Use of brief clear sentences f Cover only one item per paragraph g Use language the reader understands 2 Ylisen s Cornerstones of Corporate Writing a Be specific b Use more words as in a variety of vocabulary not longer sentences c Find better verbs more action orientated verbs d Pursue the active voice PR writers should write subject verb object sentences e Omit needless words f Embrace simplicity and clarity g Tell a good story Use examples illustrations anecdotes and personal experiences to make your point h Find interesting voices or people to quote i Take chances j Rewrite 1 Inverted pyramid climax of newspaper story comes at the beginning so that if a reader decides to leave news article early they have already gained the basic ideas first tier or lead of story is in the first one or two paragraphs including the most important facts From there paragraphs are written in descending order of importance 2 Lead is the most important element usually answering questions concerning who what where when why and how 3 First news release was issued by Ivy Lee called Statement from the Road protecting reputation of a client s railroad crash 4 News releases a Most important PR writing vehicle b Basic interpretive mechanism to let people know what the organization is doing c Can be used to state organization s official position d Main purpose is to influence a publication to write favorably about material discussed in release D Beauty of the Inverted Pyramid and the News Release e Typically not used verbatim but rather used to stimulate editors to consider covering the story 5 Linda Morton s reasons to why news releases are described as worthless drivel a Releases are poorly written They re often complicated and difficult to understand b Releases are rarely localized The more localized the release the better of a chance it has to be used c Releases are not newsworthy 6 Five requisites to be considered news a Impact major announcement that affects organization its community or even society b Oddity unusual occurrence or milestone c Conflict significant dispute or controversy d Known principal greater the title of individual making the statement president versus vice president means the greater chance of being released e Proximity how localized or timely 7 Human interest piece touches on emotional experiences considered newsworthy E News Releases News Value and News Release Content 1 News releases ought to include the following elements a Have well defined reason for sending the release b Focus on one central subject in each release c Make sure subject is newsworthy in context of organization industry and community d Include facts about product service or issue being discussed e Provide facts factually f Rid release of unnecessary jargon g Include appropriate quotes from principals but avoid inflated superlatives h Include product specifications shipping dates availability price and all pertinent information for telling story Include brief description of organization at end of release what it is and what it does i j Write clearly concisely forcefully 2 When news release is newsworthy it must be clearly written in proper newspaper style mean it must get focus out early and answer the six questions from there it must follow the inverted pyramid structure until conclusion F News Release Style and News Release Essentials 1 Writing style must be flexible and evolve as language does 2 Typical style rules for news releases a Capitalization Use down style capitalizing only the most important words b Abbreviations Abbreviate month with date Dec 10 2012 or spell out month when alone December Spell out organizations name at first mention and then abbreviate it throughout rest of story c Numbers Spell out zero through nine and use figures for 10 and up d Punctuation Less rather than more is the goal 1 Colon introduces listings tabulations and statements takes place of for instance 2 Comma is used before connecting words between two words or figures that might be misunderstood and before and after nonrestrictive clauses 3 Resist exclamation points 4 Use hyphens carefully 5 Double quotations makes enclose original quotation whereas single marks enclose quotation within a quotation e Spelling Use dictionary and the first recommended way of spelling 3 News releases must include several time honored essentials to get considered for print a Rationale Releases should answer What s new And so what Subject matter of release must be relevant to readers b Focus Speak about only one subject c Facts Who what where when why and how d No puffery Avoid taboo terms e Nourishing quotes Avoid inflated superlatives that do little than boast management egos f Limit jargon Always good to define to lowest sensible denominator the terms you chose to use g Company description Boiler
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