2. Bill Sledzik - PR Professor, Kent State University
Rule #1: No Fluff!
3. • leading/leader
• best/largest/
fastest/etc.
• innovative
• revolutionary
• award-winning
• disruptive
• cutting/bleeding
edge
• next generation
• strategic
partnership
• synergy
• world-class
• premier
• unparalleled
• flexible
• robust
• scalable
• easy to use
• mission critical
• market leading
• industry
standard
• turnkey
• groundbreaking
• breakthrough
• best of breed
• user friendly
Gobbledygook
4.
5. PR Web
• Is your news
newsworthy?
• Start strong
• Stick to the facts
• Pick an angle
• Use active voice
• Beware of jargon
• Avoid the hype!!!
• Between 300 and
800 words
Recommendations:
6. • Impact - Life-changing events
• Timeliness - How long ago?
• Prominence - Well-known people
• Proximity - news close to us
• Bizarre/Unusual
• Conflict - competing forces
• Currency - current interest
Newsworthiness
8. Formatting the Release
Average print release: 500 words
Release date: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Embargoed release: Embargoed for Release
Until Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Contact info: Name, address & phone #s on upper corner
Dateline: Where did the story originate?
9. If the city is well-known, don’t include the state
10. Formatting Cont.
Headline: Capitalize first word
Paragraphs: No more than 6 lines; finish paragraph before
beginning new page
Boilerplate: final paragraph that describes the organization;
single-spaced
Slug lines: "-more-" at the bottom of the first page; "-30-" or
"###" at the end
Proofreading: Check grammar, spelling & typing!
13. Mistakes
Common
• Not newsworthy
• Doesn’t follow inverted pyramid style
• No catchy headline
• Spelling/grammatical/factual mistakes
• Written like an ad rather than a news story
• No quotes used to add interest
• No local angle
• Not addressed to a specific editor
• Written in passive voice
• Contains one of the “banned” words
14. The Lead: The first sentence or two of the release
• Who -- who was involved?
• What -- what happened?
• Where -- where did it happen?
• When -- when did it happen?
• Why -- why did it happen?
• How -- how did it happen?
6
The
?s
16. Put yourself in the shoes of a reporter
News Story
who needs to convert this info into a
17. • Find a local angle to make it appealing to the
local media
• Same story, different angle/hook
• Study your chosen media outlets
• Answer:Why should this particular media
outlet be interested my story?
Localization
Release
18. Pretend you were hired as a PR practitioner by the APC. Use the following
information to write a news release lead for each of the following media outlets:
1) the Seattle Times; 2) the Lincoln High Review; 3) the University of Washington
Husky (the alumni paper)
1. Associated Products Corporation of Syracuse (APC), NY just launched an
educational software line allowing blind students to participate in online classes.
2. William J. Hoffman is Chief Systems Engineer at APC.
3. Hoffman developed this new software line.
4. Hoffman's favorite hobby is gardening. He won first place at the Seattle Home
Gardener's annual gardening contest in July.
5. Hoffman was raised in Seattle.
6. He attended Lincoln High School (LHS) in Seattle,WA and graduated from the
University of Washington.
7. Hoffman is married to Jennifer Wilcox of Atlanta, Georgia.They have been
married for 10 years.
8. He was the president of the LHS Electronics club.
9. Hoffman's children are named Brian (8), Julie (6), and Chris (3)
10. He majored in engineering and graduated the Univ. of Washington with honors.
19. Special Release to: The Seattle Times:
William, J. Hoffman, Seattle native and Chief Systems Engineer for
Associated Products Corporation (APC) of Syracuse, N.Y., has been
credited with developing an educational software line that allows
blind students to participate in online classes.
Special Release to: The Lincoln High Review:
William, J. Hoffman, a Lincoln High School graduate and former
president of the LHS Electronics Club, has been credited with
developing an educational software line that allows blind students to
participate in online classes.
Special Release to: The University of Washington
Husky:
William, J. Hoffman, a University of Washington graduate with honors
in Engineering, has been credited with developing an educational
software line that allows blind students to participate in online
classes.
