Some style guidelines for news releases
ВНЕАУДИТОРНОЕ ЧТЕНИЕ PR 3 КУРС
СЕМЕСТР 2012-2013 УЧ. ГОД
Part 1
What is PR?
Have you ever wondered why some companies' stories appear in the media while others don't? Do you know the best way to go about achieving press, television or radio coverage?
This guide does not set out to teach you everything there is to know about public relations, but explains the basics about how you can maximise your PR opportunities. In a nutshell, PR is about presenting a company and is products in a favourable light to the public. This audience could include existing and potential customers, shareholders, industry analysts and opinion formers, suppliers, distributors, staff, the local community and so on.
While some of these "publics" are individually accessible through newsletters, meetings or direct mail, the press and broadcast media are the route by which you can reach most of your audience.
But before you can get news into print or on air, you need to have a story that is newsworthy. Simple it may sound, but without a story of interest to newspaper readers, journalists won't be interested. Something that may seem of paramount importance to you and your colleagues may not be of the slightest interest to the world at large.
The important thing to remember is that journalists are not paid to use material you supply. Therefore, you cannot dictate how much of the copy will be used, or when it should appear. Also, bear in mind that journalists are not short of material to use and only a fraction of what they receive will go to print, so your story must compete with others for attention and space.
PR vs Advertising
Many people confuse public relations with advertising, but there is a world of difference between the two disciplines. Advertising is destined to sell a product or service by means of eg. a TV commercial or newspaper advertisement, whereas the role of PR is to inform and educate by means of a whole variety of promotional activities which result in media editorial coverage. Listed below is a simple checklist highlighting the main difference between PR and advertising.
Advertising
• Advertising is paid for by buying space in the various media available.
• Advertising is something a company says about itself. It can say almost anything it wants to as long as it does not infringe advertising codes or laws.
• With advertising a company has control over what and when it will appear.
• With advertising, you get as much as you pay for.
Public Relations
• Editorial space is not paid for. It is only available on merit.
• PR is all about disseminating information about a company; correctly projected it will reach a wide audience.
• Editorial material is based on information that has been supplied or that the media has obtained independently. You have no control over what happens, so don’t ask!
• The amount of space a paper or publication devotes to a story is purely an editorial decision. One favourable paragraph or short story can be worth a whole page of advertising - and it’s free.
Advertorials
Advertorials offer a number of benefits including guaranteed coverage, control and image enhancement. Research shows that advertorials do attract good readership. They can, however, prove expensive as you actually buy space in the publication. Unlike an actual advertisement, your information appears in the form of an editorial - usually in a highly visual format. You can command a high degree of influence over the content, both photographically and editorially. The publication, in close cooperation with you, will produce the copy to retain their editorial style.
Writing a
Press release
One of the most important aspects of PR is informing the public through editorial coverage. This is achieved by continuously supplying relevant, newsworthy information (and not what the client or employer wants to see in print) to the appropriate media, either by personal contact or by press releases.
A press release is used to communicate information to the press and broadcast media. It is an efficient yet inexpensive PR tool, but care should be taken in the projection of the information given that the release will be competing alongside all other news material which flow into the offices of the media. It must be written in a from capable of catching the eye of the impatient news editor, copytaster or specialist reporter. When issuing your releases to the local media, don't overlook your local radio station. They are always on the look-out for interesting stories. And freesheets, which survive on a limited editorial budget, are also eager to receive newsworthy local news stories. Wherever you target your story, always ensure you're aware of the relevant copy deadlines, so that your material arrives on time. It's a fact of life that old news ends up in the bin. Ideally the releases should be tailored to the targeted media. For example, stories sent to the local press and radio stations should also have a local angle - the Yorkshire post headline on the Titanic disaster was "Leeds man dies in sea accident". The same story sent to trade publications would need to be targeted differently. Research shows that tailoring does improve the chances of publication. example of a Press Release...
Writing a
Press release
Acme Laundry Service Limited
15 Somewhere Street Anywhere Nottingham
Tuesday, June 20, 1999
Acme Laundry Announces Expansion Plans: 500 New Jobs
Acme Laundry Service Limited is to expand its operations in the UK - the £200 million scheme will result in 500 new jobs with the company and hundreds more indirectly in the construction industry.
Subject to local planning permission, the firm is to build new factories in Inverness, Dover, Exeter, and Durham. The target is to have them operational by the summer of 2000.
Mr John Smith, Acme's chairman, said today: "These new plants are being built to keep up with the growing trends of the '90s - catering for the increasing number of one-parent families and the continuing increase in the numbers of mothers going out to work.
We envisage work on the sites starting by the end of this year, which will be god news for local construction firms and their workers. Staff for the plants will be recruited early in 2000 so that they can be fully trained by the summer."
Acme Laundry Service, which has its headquarters in Nottingham, was founded in 1903. The 20 existing factories in the UK employ 2,500 people. In the year ended March 31, 1999, the company had a turnover of £100 million and reported pre-tax profits of£10 million.
For further information please contact:
John Smith, Chairman
Acme Laundry Service Limited
The 10 golden rules
Before you put pen to paper, think carefully about what you want to say, the audience you are seeking to address and, of course, the media to whom you are sending your release. The ten golden rules represent the priorities to bear in mind when putting together a draft, the main task being to answer all the questions in the reader's mind. The sample press release on the previous page is intended for the new editors of national daily newspapers, as it promotes a story of interest to a wide readership.
1 Always put the date at the top.
2 Start with a good, strong headline, supported by the essence of the story in the very first paragraph - what?
3 Place the company's name prominently in the opening section - who?
4 Demonstrate that the story is of local or national importance - where?
5 Give a brief indication of company thinking behind the new development - why?
6 Provide information on the time-scale of the news story - when?
7 Include an editor's note, with basic facts such as company background for recipients not familiar with the organisation.
8 Feature a contact name, brief them to take calls and provide further details
9 Support the name with a telephone, fax number, email and website addresses, if appropriate.
10 Above all, keep it short, informative, interesting.
UNLESS YOU FOLLOW ALL THESE RULES, YOUR RELEASE COULD WELL
BE ONE OF THE 90% THAT END UP IN THE BIN!
The 10 classic errors
No matter how well written, your press release will not succeed if you fail to adhere to a few basic distribution rules. Danny Groom, News Editor at PA News receives hundreds of press releases every day. Below are some of the classic errors which he regularly encounters that could seal the fate of your release!
1 Address it to my predecessor
2 Address it to my news editor by his name but with my title
3 Make sure it arrives the morning after the event
4 Make sure it arrives the same day as the news conference
5 Send it after the Daily Telegraph has run the story
6 Send it after I've heard it on the Today programme
7 Start the release with "YOU are probably aware that X is the leading supplier of cogwheel sprockets in Europe."
8 Add at the end "for further information ring Deirdre Smith" who in fact isn't there this week, or is there but doesn't have any further information and can't get any.
9 Demand I send a cutting of any story which appears in print
10 Demand "when you have written the story, please check it over with us before releasing it"
Some style guidelines for news releases
You want your press release to form the basis of a news story in a newspaper or magazine. You should, therefore, write the release as it would ideally appear. All nationals and major regionals will always rewrite to make the release fit their own style. But, a good release will go unedited into smaller regionals and trade journals. If, however, the release is pure propaganda puff, and could not be published as it is, a news editor is more likely to bin it than rewrite it! Your approach, therefore, should not be "how do I write a press release?" but "how do I write a news story?" Every newspaper has a 'house style' book - a set of guidelines for its journalists to follow. Below is an extract from the introductory section from the FT Style Guide which serves as an excellent guide for writing press releases.
• Try to answer the questions of who, what, where, why, when and how much within the first three paragraphs of a story.
• Make every word count. Use short simple sentences and short words rather than long ones. Make one striking point in the opening sentence of a story, ideally using 14-20 words, not more than 25.
Prefer the active voice to the passive, the transitive verb to the intransitive.
• Prefer the full stop to other forms of punctuation. Use 'and' and 'but' sparingly at the start of sentences and, especially, paragraphs.
• Keep paragraphs, particularly the first, to no more than about 40 words. Avoid using the same opening word in successive paragraphs. Remember Fowler's contention that the paragraph is a unit of thought not of length.
• Write in the language of everyday speech, not that of politicians, lawyers or trade unionists. Use English words to foreign ones unless no accurate equivalent exists. Explain anything the readers may not understand.
• Do not let your own opinions invade a news story. Do not tell the reader what to do or think.
• Explain early in the story the function of the organisation/s you are writing about. The writer should do this, the sub should not have to.
• Keep abstract nouns to a minimum (situation, condition, problem) and consider whether words such as 'really', 'however', and 'for instance' are needed. Do not ascribe eyesight to months ('next month should see an improvement in the figures…'). Such vaguely metaphorical terms can always be avoided. Give words a precise meaning.
• Be accurate in the use of quoted matter, especially in headlines.
Remember what part of the paper you are writing for. Phrases and abbreviations that may be acceptable in the financial and markets section may need fuller explanation in the news and features pages.
• Do not pepper our stories with too many acronyms; they are a visual distraction and are often unnecessary.
• Remember that two-fifths of FT readers live outside the UK. Therefore, avoid the words 'we' and 'here' when referring to the UK; also with the seasons of the year and points of the compass.
• Bear in mind the possibility of libel and send a story to the lawyers if you think there is a risk.
Thanks to the Financial Times for the extract from "Financial Times Style Guide" Published by FT Management
Part 2
Press briefing + interviews
Be sure of your facts
If you plan to make claims about any product or services, make absolutely sure beforehand that what you say cannot be successfully challenged, otherwise both you and your organisation will appear unprofessional to journalists and you will create a bad impression for the future.
Be available
Someone who is rarely available to journalists will obviously never get a word in print or on air. Furthermore, if you are never "available", you will just irritate the media. On the other hand, avoid answering "off the cuff" and never agree to a spontaneous question and answer session on the telephone. Take the journalist's number, promise to call back – collect your wits and make sure you do call back within minutes. For live interviews, prepare responses to the questions you are likely to be asked.