This document discusses backgrounders and position papers, which are research papers written in public relations. Backgrounders provide historical context and facts about an issue, while position papers take a stance and argue in support of a position. Both require thorough research. Backgrounders focus on objective facts, while position papers are more opinion-based. Good PR departments routinely gather information so they are prepared when issues arise and media inquiries come in. Backgrounders and position papers arm spokespeople with knowledge and can be used internally for planning or externally with reporters and the public.

1. Doug Newsom and Bob Carrell

2. Introduction / Overview
• If you are going into public relations, your university
experience is just the beginning.
• Beyond reports and proposals, public relations
professionals must compose other kinds of research
papers.
• Outside academia these are often called white papers.
In public relations they are called backgrounders or
position papers.

3. Introduction / Overview
Backgrounder is similar to a historical research paper
that looks at the situation or problem in the present
by considering its origins and its implications for the
future.
The position paper more closely resembles a research
paper that takes a point of view or perspective on a
situation and marshals evidence in support of the
position taken.

4. Introduction / Overview
Reports have obvious value for internal decision
making and planning, but they can be critical in
media relations, particularly in responding to
reporters’ inquiries.
Your company’s executives must be able to respond
quickly and knowledgeably to reporters’ questions. A
“No comment” response is not acceptable.

5. Introduction / Overview
The role of PR writer in such instances is to provide
either in-depth information on the topic (in the form
of a backgrounder) or a clear definitive company
point of view (in the form of a position paper).
As the PR writer, you are the eyes and ears of
company spokesperson.
You have to arm them with facts – solidly researched
and documented, organized with logical position,
clearly written and easily understandable.

6. Introduction / Overview
Good PR departments do not wait until a reporter
calls to begin developing basic information for
backgrounders or position papers.
PR staffers routinely comb popular and specialized
media and documents, searching for salient bits of
information affecting their company or industry.
Bits of information are accumulated and filed for
reference. When the task of writing a backgrounder
or position paper is assigned, they already have a head
start on research.

7. Introduction / Overview
Sometimes backgrounders and position papers are written
and filed away for later use.
Preparing backgrounders and position papers is often the
first stage in planning a new public relations program.
At some point, company management will decide to stay
with the present system or go with the time-of-day
system. The backgrounder will help management make
this decision. If the decision is to adopt the time-of-day
system, the backgrounder will be used as a basis for
developing and writing a company position paper on the
new system.

8. Introduction / Overview
Both the backgrounder and position paper will contain
information necessary to write news releases, ads,
brochures, speeches and articles for the company.
Backgrounders tend to be heavy on facts and light on
opinion. Position papers are heavy on opinion or
interpretation, supported by only a few selected facts.
Both can deal with broad or specific questions or issues.
However, backgrounders tend to deal with general topics,
whereas position papers tend to treat specific issues.

9. Backgrounders
Backgrounders have many purposes. They serve as
information for company executives and employees.
Provide source materials to copy writers preparing
ads, news releases, brochures, speeches or articles for
company magazines.
May also be used as documents to hand out to
reporters or members of the public who inquire about
certain topic.

10. Backgrounders
Company executives on speakers’ circuit can use
them to bone up on a subject to field questions from
audience.
Hallmarks of a good backgrounder are accuracy and
comprehensiveness. This means that the topic must
be thoroughly researched.

11. Backgrounders
Research
Doing research for backgrounders often involves
using all research skills and techniques.
You are not being professionally responsible if you
leave one bit of salient information unread or ignored
in your evaluation.
Research is a never-ending process. Once a
backgrounder is completed, it becomes less useful
with each passing day because of new information.

12. Backgrounders
You should establish the practice of accumulating
pertinent information, filling it and updating the
backgrounder at regular intervals.
Backgrounders that do not include the very latest
important information are worthless.

13. Backgrounders
Writing
Writing a backgrounder begins first with a simple
statement of the issue and why it is important.
Including such a statement may appear trite, but it is
necessary to focus your research and writing. It keeps
you on track.
Opening statement should be both precise and
concise. Besides helping you in the writing, it tells the
reader what to expect in the document.

14. Backgrounders
Once opening statement is honed to perfection, write
the body of the backgrounder.
Be sure to provide an adequate, clear history of the
issue, thorough discussion of present situation and
implication of the future.

15. Backgrounders
Background
As the name implies, a backgrounder supplies
background on the topic or issue.
Should provide a fairly complete historical overview
so a reader unfamiliar with the topic can understand
how the current situation evolved.
Answer the question “Why are things the way they
are today?” You can’t answer this question without
giving details about how things were and how and
why they have changed.

16. Backgrounders
Typical backgrounder includes such details as
significant historical events, legislative enactments,
changes in government and company policy and
applicable social conditions.
It specifies names, books, documents, articles and
reports that played an important part in the
development of the issue.
In sum, this section of the backgrounder should
describe the evolution of the current situation.

17. Backgrounders
Current Situation
Having built a foundation on the past, you should now
examine the current situation, including reviewing current
and public and company policies.
These points could be extended to include a discussion of
alternative policies now under consideration.
Purpose of backgrounder is to assemble and convey
information, not to judge it. Any discussion of policy or
alternatives should be presented from an objective,
neutral position. Stick to facts. Describe policy options,
discuss their good and bad points, but don’t judge them.

18. Backgrounders
Implications
Next step in writing the backgrounder is to examine
the consequences of selecting one policy over
another.
If the backgrounder does not address such future
implications directly, it should at least highlight
points that must be considered.
Identifying the implications of a certain policy
includes anticipating developments. PR writer has to
be aware of the flux of ideas about the issue and
which of the issue may gain or lose support over time.

19. Backgrounders
Perhaps a public policy change is being debated in
Washington. Perhaps an extensive government study
is under way, the results of which won’t be released
for a year. Perhaps the topic will be the focus of a
convention this year.
In all these cases, the issue and its implications are
likely to be in the news now and in the future.
As a PR writer, you must be ahead of these
developments.

20. Backgrounders
Documentation
You must present full documentation of the
information you use in the backgrounder. Before you
write, get a reliable style manual and study it
carefully.
Style manual can help you properly cite the material
you use in the backgrounder.
Use footnote or endnote system of citation, and
include a complete bibliography at the end.

21. Backgrounders
It is important to cite your sources carefully, because
people using the backgrounder, whether inside or
outside your company, may want to pursue a specific
point more fully. Or if they find any discrepancy
between the facts in the backgrounder and those in
some other source, they may want to evaluate the
sources you have cited.
This is especially important when a backgrounder
provides the foundation for a position paper.

22. Position Papers
As the name implies, a position paper is designed to state
a company’s position on an issue.
The issue may be local, regional, national or international
in scope.
For example, your company opposes a national health
insurance plan under consideration in Congress. The
position paper should say why.
Your company may also take a positive position regarding
a substitute proposal authored by a representative from
the local district. The position paper should explain why it
supports the substitute plan.

23. Position Papers
Like the backgrounder, the position paper requires
extensive research. Much of the information you need will
be found in the backgrounder, so new research should be
minimal.
At this stage, you need to solicit the input of management,
which must scrutinize salient information, sort out the
pros and cons of the alternative positions and then make a
policy decision.
Research on a problem may produce a backgrounder that
results in a management decision to offer or support a
solution. Then you may be asked to write a position
paper.

24. Position Papers
Once that decision has been made, you can write a
thorough position paper representing the company’s
point of view.
If PR professionals in the company are held in high
esteem, management may ask that a proposed
position be written and used as a basis for discussion.
A draft position paper is written with the expectation
that it would be approved in principle, modified, or
rejected. After modifications are completed and
approved, a final version is prepared for distribution
to management and publics.

25. Position Papers
Whenever a new issue surfaces, the PR department
should alert management to the need for a position
paper. Recognizing the issue constitutes the first step
in writing a position paper.

26. Position Papers
Stating the Issue
No position paper will have much value if it fails to state
the issue clearly.
Your job demands that you describe the issue fairly and
honestly. Don’t distort the issue to suit your purposes or
to make it easier to form - or defend - an opinion. Purpose
of a position paper is to address an issue squarely, not
evade it.
Don’t dance around an issue; meet it squarely near the
beginning of the position paper. One of the most obvious
ways of doing this is by providing relevant background
information.

27. Position Papers
Background
For a position paper to be more comprehensible, you
must provide pertinent background information.
Remember a position paper is not a historical
analysis; leave this to the backgrounder.
Give enough information to provide a context for
your position and to help your readers understand
why the subject under discussion has become an
issue.

28. Position Papers
Position
Don’t keep your readers in suspense. Come to the
point immediately. Don’t try to build suspense by
including elaborate citations of facts and flashy
figures, and don’t culminate the paper with an
eloquent conclusion.
Begin by stating your position, so readers will know
where you stand. Then support it with facts, logically
organized and clearly written. Use examples or
metaphor that readers can understand.

29. Position Papers
Use statistics sparingly but include enough of them to
support and reinforce your points.
Make your point in clear, plain language; then select
just the right statistics to support it. If you feel a lot of
statistics should be included as support material, put
them in an appendix so they don’t overpower the
paper.
Always provide the source of your statistics. Readers
who spend time with such information place a lot of
weight on the authority behind the numbers.

30. Position Papers
Consider both Sides
Although a position paper should come down
strongly on your side of the issue, don’t ignore
opposing sides. You are expected to amass as much
information as you can in support of your point of
view, but don’t stack your cards.

31. Position Papers
“Card stacking” is a propaganda device where all
supporting arguments are given but no opposing
points are mentioned. This gives the impression that
the favorable evidence is more compelling than it
really is.
Such a position paper may seem impressive at first
glance, but when readers discover other points of
view, they will distrust not only this message but
others you send them later.

32. Position Papers
Consider the Public
Although most position papers are written for internal use
by management, some are written for distribution to other
publics.
Even when writing a position paper you believe will only
be used internally, you must keep in mind other potential
publics. For example, a position paper may be written for
presentation to board of directors by management in an
attempt to explain company policies to stockholders. But
Wall Street analysts may ask to see the company's position
too. And what about the media’s business editors? They
may ask for and should be given copies.

33. Position Papers
This can pose serious problem for you as a writer,
because information that makes sense to your
management may not make sense to the external
publics or to stockholders.
It would be ideal to write one version of a position
paper for use by all possible publics, but the nature of
the issue may make this impractical.
So you may have to write more than one version of
the same paper. You should not tell a different story
in each version, rather you should tell the same story
differently and appropriately.

34. Position Papers
Recommendation
It is generally perceived as bad form to be against
something without offering an alternative solution.
Taking a position means being both against one thing and
for something else. If you omit your alternative proposals
from your position paper, you will inevitably be asked
what you recommend as a suitable substitute for
something you oppose.
Sometimes position papers suggest new policy on an issue
or support a recommended but not yet implemented
policy. Position papers can also support existing policy in
the face of proposed change.

35. Format
When the writing is completed, determine its format
and method of distribution.
A backgrounder or position paper intended for
internal use is usually typed on plain or letterhead
paper, copied, assembled, stapled and then delivered.
Those distributed outside the company may be
produced the same way, or they may be published as
a printed booklet or monograph, embellished with
art, color, design, and typography and printed on
expensive paper.

36. Format
Some companies prepare backgrounders for public
consumption on special forms. These forms contain a
certain printed company heading with the word
backgrounder prominent.
Other companies produce punched versions suitable
for inclusion in a loose-leaf notebook.
Many backgrounders and some position papers
include charts and illustrations to help explain the
topic. Computer software allows you to easily add
these items. For formal reports, preparing graphics
for reproduction is often done by graphic artists.

37. Special Uses
Position paper also have other uses although they
may be used as frames of reference when questions
come from journalists and to reorient spokespersons
and management personnel.
Position papers can be used as the basis for an essay
or commentary to be submitted to the op-ed page in
local newspaper.
The position paper should have enough
documentation in it to stand alone as the basis of an
op-ed-piece.

38. Special Uses
Another special area is the use of position papers as the
locus for image ads and public service announcement
(PSAs) for an organization.
Position papers can be of enormous help in positioning or
repositioning an organization as it tries to shape and
project a consistent image.
Plans for action, as in lobbying for or against something,
can spring directly from position papers.
Backgrounders may be of use, but it is the position paper
that sets the direction and highlights major points of
contention.