Writing for the Media

Introduction

When I was in college, I had one professor whose classes were always packed. Regardless of what he was teaching,students filled the seats, jammed the aisles, and even stood along the back wall of the classroom.
"How do you do it?" I once asked him. "Why do they pour in here to listen to you?"

And the late Dr. Paul Landis, professor of English literature at the University of Illinois, answered, "I've been aroundthis campus long enough to learn what they want. They want information presented in a clear, simple, interesting waysothat's what I give them. Then I encourage them to go out and let others know what they're getting here."

With those few words, the man defined effective public relations, long before either of us knew what it was.

He also shared another important communications technique with me that day.
"When I give a lecture," he told me, "I always assume no one in my audience knows anything about my subject. I beginwith basics and fill in every detailso nobody feels left out, overwhelmed, or inadequate. In fact, the people who arefamiliar with my subject even puff up a bit and start to feel very good about knowing more than the others do, and thattoo keeps their attention."

So, with full credit to Dr. Landis, I'm going to do the same. I'll assume none of my readers knows anything about"writing for the media" Or how basic journalism skills can be adapted for use in public relations work.

Of course, if you have been a public relations practitioner for a long time, you'll be familiar with some of theinformation in this book. In that case, lean back and enjoy your feeling of superiority. At the very least, however, you'llbe reminded of a few things you've forgotten. And because Writing for the Media focuses on a particular area of publicrelations work, you'll probably encounter a number of ideas, strategies, and techniques you never heard before.

If you are new to public relations or have been away from it for a long time, you will undoubtedly find a good deal ofuseful advice and counsel that will help you launch or re-launch a successful public relations career. Because the fieldhas changed substantially in recent years, both newcomers and returnees need an introduction to the most currentinformation on media writing for public relations professionals.

The biggest change in the last decade has been the transformation of public relations from mongering to marketing. Letme explain.

In the 1950S and 1960s, the goal of many PR types was simply to get their client's or company's name mentioned in the media. In pursuit of this goal, they acted asmere press agents, vaunting the company and its products through vague, untargeted, and carelessly written pressreleases and sometimes through flamboyant publicity stunts. They wined and dined reporters and sent lavish gifts totheir media contacts in hopes of winning friends and influencing people in order to elicit a casual reference in the gossipcolumns.

Fortunately, that's all changed dramatically in the last ten years. Today, public relations is considered an integral part ofthe marketing function. As such, it requires extensive research, careful planning, and expert execution. Most successfulpublic relations executives are respected professionals who are invaluable to organizations interested in using PR to sellgoods and services and important to reporters who want accurate and credible information about both public and privatecompaniestheir products and services, their personnel, and their activities inside and outside the marketplace.

Whether you work in-house on a public relations staff or as an outside public relations counselor, you serve as a vitallink between the media and your company or institution.

Today, every effective public relations specialist incorporates sophisticated marketing, promotional, and salestechniques in his work to develop and protect his clients' public images. If you hope to accomplish that, you must knowhow to write releases for the media in simple, clear newspaper style that will catch your reader's interest and explainimportant events succinctly and comprehensively.

It's one thing to understand the message your client wants to present, but unless you convey it to the media and convincereporters to write about ityou haven't helped anyone.

All publicists must master the basic news-writing skills in order to:

Develop and write presentations to win accounts or put across new projects.

Write daily business correspondence, company newsletters, in-house newspapers, and annual reports.

Design and write clear, readable press kits that include a news release, a fact sheet, and a few story ideas that may bedeveloped into newspaper or magazine features.

The goal of this book is to help you develop the writing ability to perform all three tasks and the know-how to put thatability to work in dealing with the press.

Throughout Writing for the Media, I have tried to provide as many examples as possible of both good and bad publicrelations writing. In addition, I have referred to the PR work of many companies, institutions, and public relations firms.

Most of the writing samples are from Chicago-based publications, and most of the referencee are to Chicago-areaorganizations. That's because I've worked closely with that city's top business people, PR executives, and journalists.After 25 years, I know them well and respect their abilities. And because the rules of the PR game are the same nomatter where you play it, their work is representative of the best the business and journalism communities have to offer.

SANDRA PESMEN

PART I - THE PR PLAN

1. Finding the Image

Before you develop a public relations program for your client or company, you must determine exactly what you wantto say. In order to make those decisions, you must have a clear definition of public relations.

Publicist Sheila King, president of her own firm and public relations instructor at Chicago's Roosevelt University, says,''Every client has an idea of the image he would like to have portrayed to the public. Every client also has a publicimagea way in which he's viewed by the public.
''The function of a public relations consultant is to make sure the public image the client wants to have and the publicimage the client actually does have are one and the same."

For example, it's generally agreed that the following have specific and clear public images:
IBM: A leader in the business machines field, so solidly dependable it's forgiven for the rumor that it makes salesmensing company songs at corporate meetings.

Sears, Roebuck: The store for mid-America, where shoppers feel they get the best deal because "Sears stands behind itsown products."

Hart Shaffner & Marx: Retail manufacturing giant, known for top-quality products, the first to open its own men's storesacross the nation.

McDonald's: The place to stop for a hamburger and a shakeand regardless of taste or cost, customers believe, "We do itall for you."

Combined International: W. Clement Stone's Positive Mental Attitude has the public convinced the 61-year-oldcompany will always be safe and successful, even after it merged with Ryan Insurance Group.

International Harvester: Farm equipment manufacturing giant that fell to its knees in the 1980s downturn economy andseems unable to get up.

Chrysler: Auto industry leader that's suffered serious setbacks from which it may not recover, despite Lee Iacocca'simpressive TV campaign.

Procter & Gamble: Maker of household and grocery products, with a reputation as pure as its Ivory soapuntil the "satancurse" struck in 1982.

In some cases, such as IBM or Hart Shaffner & Marx, the public image and the desired image correspond. Therefore,the goal of the publicist is to sustain the public imagethat is, to make sure the public continues to view the company theway it has in the past.

In other cases, such as Chrysler Corporation and International Harvester, the public image must be changed. The task ofthe public relations counselor is to change the company's public image so that it conforms to the company's desiredimage.

In still other cases, such as new companies or established companies introducing a completely new line of products orservicesthe objective is to create a new image. Examples are the Aldi stores, which are trying to create the image of lowoverhead and low prices, and Philip Morris's Marlboro, which transformed a "woman's" cigarette into an image-enhancer for "macho" men.

The same would hold true for a company with a weak or vague public image.

There are four steps involved in this procedure:

1. Research. First, you must investigate the opinions, attitudes, and beliefs Of people inside and outside the company.For example, in the case of a manufacturer, you must interview company personnel, including the sales staff that dealswith both distributors and consumers. Then, you must find out what the public thinks through interviews, surveys, andquestionnaires. Once you've canvassed everyone's views, you must analyze the information you have collected. Thenyou must decide whether the actual image and the desired image of the company correspond. Besides gatheringopinions to determine how the company would like to be seen by its various publics, you should also examine itsproducts or services, marketing strategy, advertising, sales promotion, "position" in the market, research anddevelopment, and every other element that could conceivably contributs to the company's public image, includingmanagerial style, corporate acquisitions and growth, sales and profits, size and location of plant, and so on.
2. Planning. The next step is to report your findings to management. If the two images match, you should propose a"proactive" PR program that emphasizes the need to sustain the company's image and is designed to take advantage ofpublic relations opportunities as they arise. If the two images don't jibe, you should develop a "reactive" PR programthat stresses the need for change in the face of specific public relations problems. (Most PR proposals include bothproactive and reactive elements.] Then you will work with the officers of the company to modify or expand the plan inorder to adapt it to larger marketing goals and adjust it to budget limitations. Throughout this stage, you will beexpected to present written explanations of and justifications for your proposals.
3. Implementation. Once your program has been approved, you must implement it by using every available meansthatis, through speeches, letters, meetings, news releases; radio and TV spots, booklets, newsletters, bulletin board notices,billboards, etc. Remember, too, that every team has a captain who informs all the players of the game plan. As leader ofthe PR program, you must keep all the principals abreast of your progressevery step of the way. You must be able toexplain your course of action to everyone who will be affected by it. The support of your colleagues is essential. Thecontent of these communications should be "Here's what we're doing and why." Obviously, this step will require severalmore written reports.
4. Evaluation. It's to everyone's advantage to receive a clear statistical evaluation of the results of your program and theeffectiveness of your techniques. This phase of the program can serve as a report card for you, for it shows what youaccomplished on the job. Once again, it will demand a report written in a simple, clear, and interesting journalistic style.



EXERCISE 1-1
Below, list five well known people, places, or things that have favorable public images.

Below, list five people, places, or things with public images that should be changed.





2. Planning the Program

In developing a public relations program, it is important to determine which "publics" you want to "relate" to. That is,you must find out who your audience is. Typically, companies have half-a-dozen or more different publics with whomthey are interested in establishing and maintaining good relations. These include employees, stockholders, suppliers,distributors, members of the community, and consumers.

A flexible PR plan will address each of these groups on a regular basis. It will take advantage of every opportunity topublicize the company's desired imagethereby promoting its products or services and preventing public relationsproblems before they arise.

To this end, employees receive a weekly or monthly newsletter. Stockholders are sent an annual report and intermittentannouncements. Suppliers and distributors are reached through trade magazines. Members of the community are inv