Outline: Public Relations Writing

Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter16: Public Relations Writing

I. Writing for the Eye and the Ear:
The sad facts is that PR people, by and large are horrible writers.
The chapter explores fundamentals of writing:
1) discussing PR writing in general and news releases in particular,
2) reviewing writing for reading,
3) discussing writing for listening

. writing for a reader is different than writing for a listener
. a listener has only one chance to hear the message once

II. Fundamentals of writing:
. There are four-part formulas for writers, from the novice to the novelist:
1. The idea must precede the expression: think before writing. The trick in coming up with clever ideas lies more in borrowing old ones than in creating new ones
2. Don't be afraid of the draft. an outline should precede the draft
3. Simplify, clarify: avoid jargon, complex words
4. Finally, writing must be aimed at a particular audience: avoid imprecision, ambiguity

III. Flesh Readability Formula:
Flesch gave seven suggestions for making, writing more readable.
1. Use contractions such as it's or doesn’t
2. Leave out the word that whenever possible
3. Use pronouns such as I, we, they and you
4. When referring back to a noun, repeat the noun or use a pronoun. Don't create eloquent substitutions
5. Use brief, clear sentences
6. Cover only one item per paragraph
7. Use anguage the reader undertsands

In writing fro the internet or ny other medium, should remember their A’s and B’s
. Avoid big words
. Avoid extra words
. Avoid clichés
. Avoid Latin
. Be specific
. Be active
. Be simple
. Be short
. Be organized
. Be convincing
. Be understandable

IV. The Beauty of the Inverted Pyramid
. The climax of a newspaper story comes at the begining
. The lead of a story is the first one or two paragraphs: inverted pyramid
. The lead is the most critical element, usually answering the questions concerning who, what, when, where and occasionally how.

V. The News Release
. Releases are poorly written (difficult to read)
. Releases are rarely localized (it is used when it is localized)
. Releases are not newsworthy. What determines its worthiness? Impact, oddity, conflict, known principal, proximity, also human interest stories

The Product announcement:
The Management change: newspapers interested in that
The Management Speech

VI. News Release Style
Typical Style rules:
Capitalization
Abbreviations
Numbers
Punctuation
Spelling

VII. News Release Essentials
Rationale
Focus
Facts
No Puffery
Nourishing quotes
Limit Jargon
Company Description
Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation
Brevity
Headlines
Clarity, conciseness, committment

VIII. Internet News Releases
One reporter per 'to' line
Limit subject line headers
Boldface 'For Immediate Release'
Hammer home to headline
Limit Lengthh
Observe 5W format
No attachement
Link to URL
Remember Readability

IX. The Media Kit:
A calling card to introduce the organization to the media
The biography
Fact Sheets
Etc…

X. The Pitch Letter:
A sales letter, pure and simple

XI) Other Print Vehicles:
The case History
The Byliner
The Op_Ed
The Roundup Article

XII. Writing for the ear:
Every spokesperson possesses five main characteristics:
it is designed to be heard, not read
it uses concrete language
it demands a positive response
it must have clear-cut ibjectives
it must be tailored to a specific audience

XIII. The importance of editing:
An editor must be judicious, get rid of passive verbs, must be gusty enough to use bold strokes

Chapter 15: International Relations

I presented this chapter in class: the power point presentation is posted in google group of PR Class. Thank you

Outline: Consumer Relations

Amal El YahcoubiCom
4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter 14: Consumer Relations

I. Consumer Relations Objectives
Building sales is the primary consumers relations objective. A satisfied customer may return, an unhappy customer may not.
· Keeping old customers.
· Attracting new customers
· Marketing new items or services
· Expecting complaint handling
· Reducing costs

II. Consumer-Generated Media
· Consumer-generated media: encompasses the millions of consumers-generated comments,opinions and personal experiences posted in publicly available online sources on a wide range of issues, topics, product and brands.
· CGM is also reffered to as “online consumer word mouth” that originated from a variety of sources:
1. blogs
2. message board andforums
3. public disscussions
4. discussions and forums on large e-mail portals
5. Online opinion/review sites and services
6. online feedback/complaint sites

III. Office of the Ombudsperson
· Research indicates that only a handful of dissatisfied customers will ever complain.
· But there are many with the same complains that who never say anything.
· The term ombudsman originally described a government official appointed to investigate complaints about abuses commited by public officials.
· In most companies the office of the ombudsperson office investigates complaints made against the company an dits managers.
· The ombudperson office monitors the difficulties customers are having with products.

IV. The consumer Movement
· Kennedy proposed that consumers have their own bill of rights, containing four basic principles:
1. The right to safety
2. The right to be informed
3. The right to choose
4. The right to be heard.

V. Federal consumer Agencies
· Today a massive gov bureaucracy attempts to protect the consumer against abuse: more then 900 different programs administrated by more than 400 federal entities.
· Key aggencies include the :

1. Justice Departement
2. Fedearl Trade Commission
3. Securities and exchange Comission
4. Food and Drug Administration
5. consumer Product Safety Commission
6. Office of Consumer Affairs

VI. Consumer Activists on the internet
· The consumerist movement has attracted a host of activists in recent years.
· It most significant activity is to keep companies honnest has occured in the interner.
· The best known testing group is Cosumers Union that was founded in 1936 to test products across a wide spectrum of industries.

VII. Business Gets the Message:
· Few campanies can afford to shirk thier responsabilities to consumer.
· Consumer relations divisions have sprung up, either as separate entities or as part of public relations departement.
· In many companies, consumer relations began as a way to handle complaints, an area to which all unanswerable complaints were saints.

Outline:Government Relations

Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter13: Government Relations

I. Public Relations in Government:
. The growth of Public Relations work both with and in the government has exploded in recent years.
. American business spends more time caling on, talking with, and lobbying government representatives on such subjects as trade, interest rates, taxes, budget deficits, and all the other issues that concern individual industries and companies.
. PR functions have traditionally been something for a “poor relations” in the government.

Government Practitioners:
. Most practitioners in government communicate the activities of the various agencies, commissions, and bureaus to the public.
. It was not always essential to form informational links between government officials and the public.
. In 1990, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reported nearly 15,000 public relations-related jobs in the federal government.

Two Prominent Departments:
. Before the was on terrorism, the most potent public relations voices in the federal government, exclusive of the president were:

The State Department
. Has an extensive public affairs staff, responsible for press briefings, maintaining secretary of state homepage content, operating foreign press centers in Washington, L.A, and maintaining Public Diplomacy
. United States Information Agency (USIA); federal government PR arms: build institutional foundations of democracy around the world, support war on drugs, environmental challenges, free and open com.
. The communication initiatives of the state Department to spread the “gospel of America” are far-reaching. Among them are the following:
§ Radio
§ Film and TV
§ Internet
§ Media
§ Publications
§ Exhibitions
§ Libraries and books
§ Education

The Defense Department
§ The importance of Department of Defence (DOD) communications has been intensified the wartime.
§ With the DOD consisting of more than 3 million active duty forces, reserves, and civilian employees, information is the strategic center of gravity.
§ Postwar public relations efforts of the Department of Defense have run the gamut from drawing universal praise to generating opprobrium.

Other Government Agencies
§ Beyond the State and Defense departments, other government departments also have stepped up their public relations efforts.
§ The Department of Health and Human Services has a public affairs staff of 700 people.

The President
§ The broadcast networks, daily newspapers, and national magazines follow his every move.
§ His press secretary provides the White House press corps with a constant flow of announcements supplemented by daily press briefings.
§ Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were perhaps the most masterful presidential communicators in the history.
§ Mr.Reagan and his communications advisors followed seven principles in helping to “manage the news” which are:
. Plan ahead
. Stay on the offensive
. Control the flow of information.
. Limit reporter's access to the president
. talk about the issues you want to talk about
. Speak in one voice.
. repeat the same Message many times

The President's Press Secretary:
§ Some have called the job of presidential press secretary the second difficult position in any administration.
§ The press secretary is the chief public relations spokesperson for the administration.
§ Overt time, the position of press secretary to the president has taken on increased responsibility and has attained a higher public profile.
§ Over the years, he number of reporters hounding the presidential press secretary dubbed by some “the imperial press corps” has grown from fewer than 300 reporters during the President Kennedy’s term to around 3,000 today.

II. Lobbying the Government:
. The business community, foundations and philanthropic organizations have a common problem: dealing with government, particularly the mammoth federal bureaucracy.
. The occupation of lobbyist is one of the nation’s greatest growth industries.
. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 a 66 percent increase. Why? Three factors according to experts:
. Rapid growth in government
. Republican control of both White House and Congress
. Wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of the federal budget.

The representatives have several objectives
. To improve communication with government personnel and agencies
. To monitor legislators and regulatory agencies in areas affecting constituent operations
. To encourage constituent participation at all levels of government
. To influence legislation affecting the economy of the constituent’s area, as well as its operations
. To advance awareness and understanding among lawmakers of the activities and operations of constituent organizations.

What do Lobbyists do?
. Fact-finding
. Interpretation of government actions
. Interpretation of company actions
. Advocacy of a position
. Publicity springboard
. Support of Company sales

Do it yourself Lobbying:
. Know the subject and status of legislation
. Know the position of the legislator and the staff
. Represent a key constituency
. Be available and eager to please
. Have influential backup at the ready
. Keep your word
. know how the system functions

Emergence of e-lobbying
§ As it has in every other areas of society and public relations work, the internet has influenced the practice of lobbying as well.
§ The internet has become a pivotal tool, used by both parties, to inform voters about election issues.

III. Political Action Committees:
. The rise of political action committees has been among the most controversial political developments in recent years.
. Each political action can give a maximum of $5000 to federal candidate in a primary election and another $5000 for the general election.
. Critics of campaign finance reform argue that the First Amendment allows the freedom to speak out for or against any candidate.

IV. Dealing with Local Government:
. In 1980, Ronald Reagan rode to power on a platform of New Federalism, calling for a shift of political debate and policy decisions to state and local levels.
. Dealing with local entities, of course, differs considerably from dealing with the federal government.
. The public information function at state and local levels to keep constituents apprised of legislative and regulatory changes, various government procedures and notices is a font-line public relations responsibility on the local level.

Outline: Employee Relations

Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter11: Employee Relations

I. Strong Employee Relations Equals Solid Organizations:
· The wave of downsizing and layfoffs that dominated business and industry worldwide after the high tech bubble burst in the early years of the 21st century has taken its toll on employee loyality.
· The widenning gulf between the pay of senior officers and common workers is another reason organization must be sensitive to employee communications.
· The move toward globalization, including the merger of geographically dispersed organizations, is another reason for increased focus on internal communications.
· Research indicated that companies that communicate effectivly with their workers financilly outperform those that do not.

II. Dealing with the Employee Public:
· There is no signle “employee public”
· Employee public is made of numerous subgroups: senior managers, first-line supervisors, staff and line employees, union labours etc....
· A smart organization will try to differentiate messages and communications to reach these diffenrnt segments.
· Management should ask these tree questions about the way it conveys knowledge to the staff:
1. is management able to communicate effectivly with employees?
2. is communication trusted, and does it relay appropriate information to employees?
3. has management communicated its commitment to its employees and to fostering a rewarding work environment?
· The lack of understanding leads to dicounts, frustration, miscommunication, problems, and eventually to the feeling that the grass is greener elsewhere.

III. Communicating effectively in a Sea of Doubt:
· An organization that is concerned about getting though its employees in an area of downsizing,displacement, and dubioud communications must reinforce five specific principles:
1. Respect:
2. Honest feedback
3. Recognition
4. A voice
5. encouragement

· Milton Moskowitz: gave the six criteria for a company to succed:
1. Willingness to express dissent
2. Visibility and proximity of upper management
3. priority of internal to external communication
4. attention to clarity
5. friendly tone
6. sense of humour

IV. Credibilty: the Key
· Management must be truthful.
· Employees want managers to level with them and they want facts and not wishful thinking
· Research indicates that trust in organizations would increase if management
1. communicated earlier and more frequently.
2. demonstrated trust in employees by sharing bad news as well as good.
3. involved employees in the process by asking for their ideas and opinions.

V. S-H-O-C the troops:
· How does management build trust when employee morale is so brittle?
· Part of the answer lies in an approach to management communicatrion built around the acronym S-H-O-C.
· Management should consider a four step communication approach:
1. all communications must be strategic: where is the organization going? What is my role in helping us get there?
2. all communications must be honest.
3. all communications must be open.
4. all communications must be consistent.

VI. Employee Communication tactics:
· Once objectives are set, a variety of techniques can be adopted to reach the staff. The initial tool again is research:
1. Internal Communications audits
The three critical audit questions to probe are :
§ How do internal communications support the mission of the organization?
§ Do internal communications have management’s support?
§ How responsive to employee needs and concerns are internal communications?

2. Online communications :
blogs
wikis

3. The intranet :
Ø consider the culture
Ø set clear objectives and then let it evolve
Ø treat it as a journalistic enterprise
Ø Market, market, market
Ø Link to outside lives
Ø Senior management must commit

4. Print Publications
An internal newsletter editor must consider the following steps in approaching the task:
Ø Assigning stories
Ø Enforcing deadlines
Ø Assigning photos
Ø Editing copy
Ø Formatting copy
Ø Ensure on-time publication
Ø Critiquing

5. Employee annual Report
Typical features of the employee anual report include the following :
Cheif executives ' letter
use of funds statement
financial condition
description of the company
social responsibility highlights
staff financial highlights
Organization policy
Emphasis on people

6. Bulletin Board

7. Suggestion Box and town Hall Meetings.

8. internal Video

9. Face to face communictions

Outline: Electronice Media Relations

Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter10: Electronic Media Relations


I. 24/7 Television News:
In the 21st century, no TV shows dominate American television the way news and talk shows do.
The credit for the rise of television news around the world has been the growth of the Cable News Network (CNN).
The growth of cable television has created enormous new publicity placement posibilities for public relations professionals. Cable Networks offer so called "narrowcasting" opportunities for everyone.

II. Handling Television Interviews:
To be effective on television, executives must accept guidance from public relations professionals on how to act appropriately in front of a camera that never blinks:
1) Do prepare (key of success of broadcast appearance)
2) Do be yourself (interviews should be relaxed)
3) Do be open and honest (credibility must be established early)
4) Do be brief (avoid jargon, do summaries)
5) Do play it straight (don’t look stupid)
6) Do dress for the occasion (no colors or accessories)
7) Don't assume the interviewer is out to get you
8) Don't think everything you say will be araid
9) Don't let the interviewer dominate
10) Don't say "No comment"
11) Do stop

III. Video News Release:
New releases in video form VNR have become standard tools in the practice of public relations. The best VNRs are those that cover breaking news such as a press conference or a new announcement that brodcasters would cover themselves if they had the resources.
Before VNR is attempted, different questions must be considered
what reasonable expectation of a VNR?
How should a VNR be distributed?
Are you out of luck if a VNR doesn’t get picked up?
How important is it to localize a VNR?
what kinds of subject should a VNR treat?

VNR Caveats :
VNRs are not without risks and good ones are expensiveVNR must becreated,produced, packaged and distributed proffesionally.
Before a VNR is created the following questions must be asked:
-is the VRN needed?
-how much time do we have?
-how much do we have to spend to make the VNR effective?
-Is video really the best way to communicate this story?

IV. Satellite Media Tours:
Several steps must be taken to ensure the viability of an SMT:
Defining objectives
Last minute jugglingsatellite time
B-roll: background footage
Availability of deddicated phone lines
Spokespersons briefing
Consider controversy
avoid becoming too commercial

V. Public Service announcements:
Public Service announcements(PSA) is a television or radio commercial, usually 10 to 60 seconds that is broadcasted at no cost to the sponsor.
Users of PSA are: non profit organizations and commercial organizations.
PSAs can be grouped loosely into three categories:
1. public affairs
2. Public Relations
3. Marketing communications

VI. Growth of Talk Radio:
Each week, 15 million people listen to radio, and talk radio listners in about 21 percen more than all others.

Talk radio really emerged in the 1987 repeal of the Fairness doctrine, which opened the door to uninhibited discussion of controversial issues on the radio.
Securing radio Publicity
1) Strong focused message
2) Localization
3) Positive spokespersons
4) Timeliness

Outline: Print Media Relations

Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine

Chapter9 : Print Media Relations

I. Number One Medium
Despite the growth of the Internet and electronic media, print still stands as the number one medium among public relations professionals.

II. Objectivity in the Media
Whether the mass media have lost relative influence to other proliferating alternative communications vehicles or not, the fact remains that securing positive publicity through the media still lies at the heart of public relations practice.
Some executives fail to understand the essential difference between the media and their won organizations. That is:
The reporter wants the “story” whether dad or good
Organizations, on the other hand, want things to be presented in the best light
Because of this difference, some executives consider journalists to be the enemy, dead set on revealing all the bad news they can bout their organization.

III. The Internet Factor
The internet has ushered in a new age of journalistic reporting: immediate, freewheeling, unbridled. To others, the internet is responsible for the collapse of journalistic standards and the ascendancy of rumor mongering.

IV. Dealing with the Media
An organization’s must establish a formal media relations and also must establish a philosophy for dealing with the media, keeping in mind the following dozen principles:
1. A reporter is a reporter
2. You are the organization
3. There is no standard issue reporter
4. Treat journalists professionally
5. Don’t sweat the scepticism
6. Don’t “buy” a journalist
7. Become a trusted source
8.Talk about not “selling”
9. Don’t expect “news” agreement
10. Don’t cope a tude
11. Never lie
12. Read the paper

V. Attracting Publicity
Publicity, through new releases and other methods, is eminently more powerful than advertising.
The benefit of paid advertising include the following communications areas that can be “guaranteed”:
1. Content
2. Size
3. Location
4. Reach
5. Frequency
Publicity offers two overriding benefits that enhance its appeal far beyond that of advertising:
-First, publicity costs only the time and effort expended by public relations personnel and management in conceiving, creating and attempting to place the publicity effort in the media
-Second and more important, publicity, which appears in news rather than in advertising colums, carries the implicit third-party endorsement of the news source that reports it.

VI. Value of Publicity
Publicity makes great sense in the following areas:
1. Announcing a new product or service
2. Reenergizing an old product
3. Explaining a complicated product
4.Little or no budget
5. Enhancing the organization’s reputation
6. Crisis response

VII. Pitching Publicity
The activity of trying to place positive publicity in a periodical of converting publicity to news is called pitching. The following hints may help achieve placement of a written release:
1. Know deadline
2. Generally write, don’t call
3. Direct the release to a specific person or editor
4. Determine how the reporter wants to be contacted
5. Don’t badger
6. Use exclusive, but be careful
7. When you call, do your own calling
8. Don’t send clips of other stories about your client
9. Develop a relationship
1O. Never lie

VII. Online Publicity
The vehicles that form the nucleus of online publicity are:
1. News releases
2. Announcements
3. Links
4. Newsletters
5. Libraries
6. Public Appearances
7. Promotions
8. Events

VIII. Dealing with Wires
Wire services are a compulsory vehicles for distributing news.
In preparing copy for paid wires, public relation professionals must consider the following
1. Always include headlines
2. The “lead” is critical
3. Identify the stock symbol
4. Include contact names and numbers at the end
5. Specify timing
6. Specify targets
7. Check for accuracy

IX. Measuring Publicity
After an organization has distributed its press materials, it needs an effective way to measure the results of its publicity. The following are outside print and online services that can help:
Media Directories:
Press Monitoring Bureaus
Broadcast Transcription Services
Media Distribution Services
Content Analysis Services

X. Handling Print Interviews
The following 10 do’s are important in newspapers, magazine, or other print interviews:
1. Do your homework in advance
2. Relax
3. Speak in personal terms
4. Welcome the naïve question
5. Answer questions briefly and directly
6. Don’t bluff
7. State facts and back up generalities
8. If the reporter is promised further information, provide it quickly
9. There is no such thing as being off the record
10. Tell the truth

XI. Press Conference
Press conferences, the convening of the media for a specific purpose, are generally not good idea. In fact, they can often prove suicidal.
The following are guidelines in a press conference:
1. Don’t play favorites
2. Notify the media by mail well in advance
3. Follow up early and often
4. Schedule the conference in midmorning
5. Hold the conference in a meeting room, not someone’s office
6. The time allotted for the conference should state in advance
7. Keep the speaker away from the reporters before the conference
8. Prepare materials to complement the speaker’s presentation
9. Remember television
10. Let the reporters know when the end has come
11. Cue the reinforcements