Writing for Public Relations

1. Writing for
Public
Relations

2. Defining PR
PR practitioners communicate valuable
and engaging information from an
organization, company or group to a
target audience in a clear and coherent
manner.
● Deliberate
● Prepared
● Well-Performed
● Mutually Beneficial
● Responsive

3. Careers in Public Relations
A career in public relations enables you to practice in a multitude of work settings,
including the following:
1. Public relations agencies: working on behalf of such clients as corporations,
nonprofits, trade associations, and governments
2. Corporations: retailers, manufacturers, sports teams, and health care providers
3. Nonprofits and trade associations: hospitals, foundations, churches, and universities
4. Local, state, federal, or international government: offices, independent agencies,
and political parties
5. Independent consultancies: a one-person agency offering specialized services to all of
the above sectors.

4. What Do Public Relations Practitioners Do?
Work to influence public opinion, build
and manage relationships with key
publics, and create favorable publicity for
their clients and employers.
Most of all, they write.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

6. A Typical Day Week in PR
In a typical week, you might expect to do the following:
● Write and issue news releases to journalists and editors.
● Pitch your client’s news to journalists and editors via phone, email, and social media.
● Reach multiple publics via social media and create conversations with them across numerous
channels.
● Write and design online and print publications.
● Create and manage strategic communication campaigns for internal and external publics.
● Interact with and engage community members and groups.
● Write speeches for managers and organizational leaders.
● Counsel top management on communication-related issues.
● Create and coordinate publicity opportunities including special events.
● Manage crises as they emerge and communicate with key publics.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

7. ROPE Model
Public relations educator Jerry Hendrix has proposed the four-step ROPE Model3 as
one way to explain the public relations process.
Research: on the clients and their public relations situation to establish the basis for the campaign.
Objectives: these represent the client’s desired outcome of the public relations campaign or
project.
Programming: referring to the overall theme and tactics that you execute for your client or
employer.
Evaluation: research that you do throughout and at the end of your campaign or project to monitor
how well it has worked. Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

8. Three Types of Media: Paid, Earned, and Owned
We can divide the media into three categories on the basis of whether it is paid for,
earned, or owned by the client or sponsoring organization.
Paid media refers to advertising, sponsored placements, or any other arrangement in which a
sponsor has paid to have its name or message displayed.
Earned Media refers to news or publicity generated for an organization at no cost. It also includes
grassroots social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Owned Media refer to media that your client or employer owns or controls. Examples include a
company’s print publications, websites, and blogs.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

9. Uncontrolled and Controlled Media
In the public relations profession, we can also view paid, earned, and owned media
from the perspective of uncontrolled media versus controlled media.
Uncontrolled media consist of news and persuasive pieces that you write and submit to news
editors, journalists, bloggers, or social media sites. Readers, viewers, and listeners usually consider
these stories to be highly credible, much more so than advertising.
Controlled media, which is also paid and owned, needs to appear a certain way at a certain time,
delivered precisely to a specific audience. Television commercials, print or web-based
advertisements, and company publications all fall within this category.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

10. Professional Strategy Triangle: Situation
Am I writing a news release, an email pitch, or a presentation?
In either scenario—
● What are the organizational objectives for my employer or client?
● How does my message advance my employer’s or client’s profit or return on investment?
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

11. Professional Strategy Triangle: Situation
Am I writing a news release, an email pitch, or a presentation?
If news—
● What are the facts of the story? Which ones are most important?
● What details of the story are most important to the audience (news values)?
● What type of news story is this—a hard news story, a feature story, or something else?
● Who are the key players in the story?
● Where do I need to go to get the information I need?
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

12. Professional Strategy Triangle: Situation
Am I writing a news release, an email pitch, or a presentation?
If persuasive—
● Is this a positive or a negative situation?
● Who are the key players?
● Which arguments should I use?
● Which rational or emotional appeals should I use?
● How should I structure my argument and emotional appeals?
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

13. Professional Strategy Triangle: Audience
The audience consists of the people who read, hear, or see our message. We must be
clear on who they are, so we tailor our messages to match their expectations and
how they understand our messages.
● Who are my readers, listeners, and viewers?
● Which demographic factors are relevant (race/ethnicity, sex, occupation, income, education
level)?
● Which psychographic factors are relevant (attitudes, dispositions, lifestyles, hobbies)?
● How is my audience likely to interpret my message?
● How credible is my organization in the minds of my audience?
● What predispositions is my audience likely to have?
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

14. Professional Strategy Triangle: Message
After you’ve carefully considered your situation and audience, it’s time to create the
message.
You’ve actively thought about all relevant factors and assembled the pieces you
need to write your news or persuasive piece.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

15. Don’t Forget to Use FAJA
When trying to decide which facts are the
most important, and what to include in
your lead, use FAJA.
Answering key questions from each of the
FAJA Points will enable you to begin any
type of persuasive piece.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

16. Types of PR Writing

17. News Release
Allow you to notify the media and the public about things such as changes in
personnel, product launches, employment opportunities and legal actions. Also
useful to inform the public about charitable acts, big contracts, etc.
● A spot announcement is used when something out of the ordinary happens.
● A reaction release allows you to issue a statement in the wake of the news.
● Crisis communication releases allow you to explain issues related to bad news and make
statements regarding what will happen next from your end.
● Fact Sheets provide basic information about a topic, a company, a group, an event or an idea.
● Media Alerts outline the visual elements available for video and photography journalists as
well as the standard time-date-place information associated with the event.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

18. Letterhead/Logo
Contact Information
Release Date: “FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE”
indicates to the press that
there is no holding period
for publication. If you
decide to request a stay of
publication until a specific
date, you must it.
Headline and sub-headline
Dateline: The dateline
includes the date as well as
the city and state (see AP
Style guide) where the
press release is being
issued, and it precedes the
first paragraph of the
release.
Body: The first paragraph
should succinctly
summarize the entire
story, clearly articulating
the 5W and 1H.
Boilerplate: a few sentences
at the end of your press
release that describes your
organization.
###: indicates the end of
the press release. If your
release is longer than one
page, insert “--more--” at
the bottom of each page
preceding the last.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

19. Craft Essential: A News Release Checklist
1. Makesureit is really news.
2. Keep it short. As a rule, limit your text to 500 words.
3. Create a strongheadline. Your headline should clearly express your news and contain an action verb.
4. Write a clear summarylead. Clearly state the news in your lead, with an appropriate mix of the 5 Ws
and H (who, what, when, where, why, and how).
5. Followthe inverted pyramid.
6. Include quotes.
7. Add data.
8. Include a boilerplate statement. This is a standard paragraph toward the end of the news release to
describe your organization, what it does, and its mission or vision.
9. Carefullycheck spelling.
10. Double-check weblinks and phone numbers.
11. Don’t forget contactinformation. Nname, phone numbers, email address, and social media handles,
you can also include links to your company website, photos and graphics, or social media accounts.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

20. Social Media
PR professionals should find potential connections through these media platforms.
When a person or organization engages you on social media, consider how that
individual can provide value to you and your company.
Following others who have shown an interest in you can help you build relationships
and learn about developments within fields of interest.
It is also a way to build a brand, develop clout and alert other like-minded people to
your social media presence.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

21. Keys To PR

22. Transparency
Transparency allows everyone within your audience to see what has happened, why
it happened and everything else that is known about the issue. Transparency says,
“Here is what we know. We have nothing to hide.”
The More You Hide, The Worse It Is: If people don’t know that something bad is going on, they
can’t be angry about it. However, once people find out, the backlash will be much worse and lead to
even greater levels of mistrust.
The “Bandage” Approach: The best advice for getting the bandage off is to grab a corner and pull
quickly. This solves the problem and makes for a less painful experience. Transparency within public
relations allows the same thing: a quick yank that solves the problem.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

23. Craft the Best Possible Message
Your goal in PR is to create the best possible message and disseminate it in a way
that your audience can accept and understand it.
Support Your Claims: Conduct enough research on your topic to make intelligent statements in
your message. If someone asks you something you don’t know that answer to, simply say “I don’t
know, but I will find out for you.”
Present Information Clearly: In many cases, this means translating corporate jargon or
organizational slang into everyday language.
Have a Heart: Being right and being accurate sometimes take a backseat to the need to be
humane. When you try to ignore something bad that has happened or make it seem less problematic
than it is, you create the sense that you don’t care. Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

24. Understand Your Audience
Internal Versus External Audiences: In news and advertising, the goal is to craft a
message that reaches out to a segment of the general public. Public-relations
practitioners also have a second audience: people within their own organizations.
What People Need To Know And How To Get It To Them: you control not just what
information gets out, but who gets it first and how they get it. This is most important
in the case of a large change or a crisis.
Vary The Points Without Contradiction: Practitioners do want to focus on what
people need to know, but that doesn’t mean they can lie to audience members to
make them happy. However, practitioners can focus on various angles to provide
each group of readers specific aspects of a story.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

25. Why The News Media Matters
Stereotyping places public-relations practitioners and news reporters on opposing
sides of every issue. Practitioners put things in the best light, while reporters dig for
dirt. News seeks the truth, while PR seeks to hide it.
However, the news outlets serve as both an audience and a megaphone of sorts that
helps you reach a broader array of people. Here are a few of the benefits you can
reap if you work with, as opposed to against, the news media:
● Their Audiences Can Become Your Audiences
● Their Credibility Can Become Your Credibility
● Your Understanding Can Become Their Understanding
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

26. Key Takeaways
1. PR is not spin: It’s about telling people
what they need to know.
2. Approach your message based on your
audience: Your goal is to determine
what people need to know and tell it
to them in a way that touches on their
interest.
3. Connect with the news media: Learn
how to speak the language of news
people.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak