Media Relations: Effective News Release Writing for Newspapers, Magazines, and Books - Pro, Study notes of Communication

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10/14/

Media Relations Media People are busy, respect their time Editors are proud of their independence Trust is earned and easily destroyed Stores are judged on their merits Continue serving after the story idea is accepted; be available Prisn it still powerful Opinion leaders still make extensive use of print media Don’t assume your use of the media is the same as the key publics Newspapers About ½ of newspaper copy comes from press releases Most urban dailies are morning papers Consider deadlines. Time events and delivery of materials accordingly Newspapers are businesses 80% of newspaper income comes from advertising They don’t want to give away space for advertising Reporters are looking for stories worth telling You give the reporter a story to tell Local Angles and Scheduling Find a local angle on a national story Target the right editor or reporter An entertaining story would go to the entertainment editor, for example Make an appointment with the editor and sell the story Provide full media kits when appropriate Remember “pseudo events” or created events Work with editors well in advance Magazines More specialized readership than newspapers Stories must be tailored to address the interests of the specific audiences Lead times are very long Treatment of stories can be in depth Ask for a copy of pulications guidelines Technology is affecting magazine Many predict that the new apple ipad and similar ereaders may be the salvation of the magazine Stories for mags, begin with a query letter of “pitch” Getting an article in a magazine usually begins with a query letter Books Long, long lead times Literary agents often needed Special interests may sponsor books or promote a region Books lend credibility to a subject or the writer Book tours and reviews Ex. Trout farmers publish trout cook books Electronic Media/TV Reaches 94% of Americans age 12 and up 223 Million people Still reaches genuine “mass” media

TV

People watch a lot of TV Audiences are increasingly fragmented and specialized TV likes personality….and drama Visual and aural lends itself to drama and emotion 10/21/2010 Chapter 8 PR and writing tactics Writing Is a key public relations skill Needed to execute many of the most common tactics in PR Writing “hard” new stories News about events Use inverted pyramid style Includes exposition only Efficient way to communicate important info. Lead Paragraph Inverted Pyramid Style Lead Paragraph mush capture the attention of the reader. Inverted Pyramid Most Important info Next most Important info Next most important info Etc. Least important info Lead Paragraph Include who/what/when/where as soon as possible Include if possible in 1st^ paragraph something that localizes the news release to make it locally newsworthy Is your release Real News? Can the editor or reporter see at a glance that your news release containes real stories? Don’t get resentment Journalists resent it if they think you are trying to use them to get free news They scan releases for news worthiness Getting your release noticed Compelling title Short strong sentences Proper format helps too Parts of a news release (6)

1. Release date: Immediate or embargo (hold until…)
2. Contact info
3. Title
4. Lead Paragraph
5. Body Paragraphs with a quote
6. Boilerplate paragraph or “About” Embargo Time and date before which a story should not be published An attempt to control when a story breaks Make it clearly visible at the top left of the 1st^ page

Contact Info Preferred contact info

1. Name-yours
2. Company name
3. Voice phone #
4. Fax # Headline
5. All Caps
6. Usually centered
7. Attention getting Dateline Example San marcos, Tx- Oct. 20,2010 (when info. Originated) Lead As much info as you can Boilerplate Paragraph Standardized statement at the end of the release Symbolized for “the end” -###

• -30- (literally like this) If news release cont. to 2nd^ page: -more- Put a “slug” at top of 2nd^ page. Ex: Statfox- Statfox/2 (pick a few words from the headline) “Slug” term also used for screenplays Delivery of Release

1. Macrodistribution(mass)
2. Microdistribution(highly targeted)
3. E-mail is preferred today
4. Media dist. Firms can be hiredto handle releases Using Quotes in news releases P.R. people write the words and then get them approved…put words in peoples mouths What does it mean to localize a news release? Photographs
5. Mug or head shots are used. Others photos seldom used in the main news pages; but may be used in financial or lifestyle pages.
6. Digital photos are used now.
7. Help media keep currently file photos(update them)
8. Mags. Requirements-often want photos to accompnay pieces
9. Trade and professional mags. Especially like to have writers provide something News releases should not contain opinion Rules of thumb for news releases
10. Avg word length—5 characters or less

2. Sentences-17 words or less
3. Paragraphs- 2-3 sentences long
4. Passive voice- 5% or less
5. Reading level- 9th^ grade or less Improving Readability
6. Strong verbs
7. Avoid passive voice
8. Write simply, for easy readability Headlines are stop signs
9. One real job to do—get and hold attention
10. Leading sentence(s) at the top or bottom of the pub.
11. Uses largest font
12. Headline should compel the reader to look at other parts of the pub.
13. Up to 5x more people read headlines than body copy
14. Electronic headlines also exist Oglivy style (David Oglivy)
15. Large image like 2/3 of page.
16. Headline
17. Body copy at bottom Headline Placement
18. Usuallly on top
19. Headlines need a verb (usually) Headlines can focus on
20. Benefit
21. News/info
22. Provocative
23. Question
24. Command Subheads
25. A few or short sentence above or below the headline
26. Includes info not in the headline
27. Font size is smaller than headline but bigger than body copy
28. Org. copy into smaller sections of info, making it more readable Body Copy
29. Text component that tells a more complete story, reinforces the headline, subhead and visuals
30. While less often read, must still be artfully crafted
31. Only 5% of people read it all the way through How much copy 30-3-30 rule -30 seconds readers scan -3min readers do a “light” read -30 min readers read every word Most readers will be of one type. Pub. Should be designed to meet all three needs. Elaboration Likelihood model
32. Central route to persuasion-generally uses more copy as part of rational, linear approach
33. Peripheral route to persuasion-often uses images and headlines to get attention and entertain. Less body copy Layout and Design

Design-choice and structure of visual elements. Conceptual decisions Layouts Principles of Design

1. Balance, unity, proportion, contrast, flow Balance(symmetric vs. asymmetric)
2. Unity—do the elements seem like they belong together?
3. Proportion—Relationship of sizes of elements on a page Contrast

• Relationship of elements in terms of Size, Shape, Color Flow

1. Moving the readers eye
2. How the eye travels across a page, image, or computer screen
3. Very common way—“Z” layout
4. Other layout “circular” layout everythingj circles a single image Stages of layout approval
5. Thumbnail—rough first drafts
6. Rough layout—second draft
7. Comprehensive—published approximation of final draft
8. Mechanical—final pasteup, camera ready Purposes of visuals
9. Capture attention
10. Indentify subject
11. Qualify Readers
12. Clarify copy
13. Show product in use
14. Support truth of copy
15. Emphasize features
16. Provide campaign continuity Layout rules
17. Use large images when possible
18. Get attention
19. Flow or movement-guide readers eye through paper Legibility and readability
20. Readability—are words big enough? Does it flow
21. Legibility—ex. Billboards w/ too many words are not legible b/c we drive fast. Can headlines be read quickly and easily. Sans serif fonts are more legible
22. Readability—can body copy be easily read? Black print on a white background is the easiest to read Test 3 chapter 7,8,9, 75 questions including 30 visual

11/9 Photos and Illustrations.

 Photographs and many other illustrations in publications are HALFTONES , a process of

changing an image into a pattern of black and white dots. Because printers can only

print only black and white, but photos have grays. The halftones convert them into grey

dots. Used to be able to see them but not anymore

 No halftone, image becomes black and white line. Half tone retains grays.

 Two types of color printing

1. Four color , aka process color, most sophisticated, many range of colors

2. Spot color , choosing particular colors, ex: may use black and blue only

Four Color or Process Color

 A process system where a color image is separated into 4 different color values by the

use of filters and screens. Can then use all colors of the spectrum from those four.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. Much more costly.

 CMYK by combing these four colors you get all colors. K is black

 Four color newletters, brochures, flyers. If you see a lot of color it is not spot color

 Spot color printing is cheaper. Used for one or more colors for graphic, headline, etc.

Very selective use of color often on only on limited paper.

 Pantone Colors – you choose specific colors you want for spot color printing using

Pantone Colors. Texas state color is Pantone color PMS 505 and gold 130. It will

always be exact.

 UT Pantone 159

 Spot color – generally 2 colors, maybe 3.

Bleed

 Image goes to the edge of the paper

 There is no white border around the image

 You pay more for bleeds

 The border of the paper is trimmed away during the printing process to create the

bleed effect. The sheet would be cut along the white lines to produce the bleed

2 ways to proof a publication

1. Blueline

 Traditional way to do a final proof or edit of a publication before it goes to press.

2. Chromalin proof

 A facsimile of the four color separation end result using special printing

technology

 Look for white space between colors and letters, small things that don’t look

right

Typography

 Is the art of selecting and setting type

 Styles and sizes need to be appropriate to the job

Serif and Sans Serif fonts

Serifs are the ascenders/descended or the strokes at the top and bottom letters, traditional,

old fashioned.

Sans serif – described as modern, clean, scientific

A headline would be sans serif, and body copy would be serif. It’s easier to read a large body

copy with serif.

If you use a serif font for the body copy, you would use sans serif for headline. And visa

versa, you must have the contrast.

Sans serif is often used for body copy on computer displays because of their lower resolution

Serif fonts are the norm for the body copy of a print

Sans serif is easier to read on computer than on a piece of paper.

Typography

Serif fonts tend to be more readable with body copy

Sans serif fonts are often used for headlines

Serif fonts for body copy

Sans serif foints are often used for headlines

Serif fonts for body copy

How large should your type be? Use 12 pt

Suggestions

Be careful when making type decisions, most of the rules do not apply to headlines

Don’t use all caps –

Use upper and lower case, when dealing with all caps, the word becomes a box, we normally

read in shapes

Avoid center justification – makes it difficult to read

Careful with reverse type, can be extremely difficult to read

Minimize bold, underline, italics.

Kerning – means character Space

Line Spacing aka leading

Legibility and readability

Legibility of headline styles

 Sans serif font lower case 92%

 Serif font lower case 90%

Use of color in headlines

Black is best

Low chroma (softer colors okay, high chroma (lime gren) bad

Chroma is the intensity of the color, high chroma is intense, low chroma is subdued.

High chroma might be perfect, just be careful when using it for body copy.

Difference btwn readability(reading a lot of words) and legibility

Blue line proofs, looks all blued out

Z layout? Hammer

Half tone with dots, can also be in color, generally not

High chroma too bright

Pantone color – tx state color maroon PMS 505

193 red blue 281 texas flag colors

White type on black background is called reverse type

Kind of balance – the balance comes from various placements on the page

Formal=formal/ informal=asymmetric

What is wrong with this sentence  A new computer was installed  A new computer WAS installed  Management installed a new computer  Passive voice weakens writing  Need to stay in active voice To be is not a verb  The verb “to be” is not really a verb. It is an existence word. Its subject does nothing-it just exists What is wrong with this phrase  Aqutic facility  If you were trying to say swimming pool…. Say swimming pool!  Made an aggrement………………agreed  Made an acquisition………..aquired Avoid using to many adjective  Agreement on the plan is absolutely essential to success  Agreement on the plan is absolutely essential to success  Agreement on the plan is essential to success  Write simply o As a means of….. to o For the purpose of o In an effot to o In order to  Problems from past student news releases o Excellent personalized customer service o Best personalized care o is the answer to the are  Quotes o Use said not exclaimed, remarked, commented, bellowed, joked, suggested, ect
o Smith said saying said is ok  News releases o When u are writing news copy keep the language neutral and avoid unnecessary adjectives and commentary o Smith has an OUTStand background in broadcasting……….. leave out the outstanding  More advice o Don’t use no double negative

o Verbs has to agree with their subjects o Avoid commas, that are not necessary o Avoid clichés like the plague o Watch redundancies over and over and over again o U  Using number zero through nine are spelled out, 10 and above use numbers  Do not use opinions What is wrong with this sentence There are 40 emplyees who are demanding a meeting Forty employees demand meeting  Avoind the endings: ment, ing, ance, ion  Consideration becomes condider  Reducing become reduce  Seven common news release erros o Gsp o Lack of newsworthiness o Overly promotional o Lack of information ( five w’s) o Too much information (serves as teaser) o Poorly worded quotes o Complex language  The first sentence is a news release is calle the LEAD of the story  Rochester, NY June 22 the above is called what……. DATELINE  A paragraugh at the end of a story that provides general background information about an organization is called the……………… BOLIERPLATE  A photo caption is also called a………..CUTLINE  What is the writing style called that journalists generally ask……….inverted pyramid  What writing style do journalists use  What does ### mean….. THE END…. Or -30-  Body copy o The text, more descriptive part about the narification, provides additional information o Only 5% read the entire copy  30-3-30 rule o 20 second scan, 3 min do light reading, 30 min read every word  Elaboration likelihood model o Central rought- uses more copy as part of a rational, linear approach o Peripheral rought-often uses images and headlines to get attention and entertain, less body copy, less linear in approach

 Layout and design o Design- choice and strcture of visual elements. Conceptual decisions o Layout- specific size and placement of elements to execute a design-visuals  Principles of design o Balance, unity, proportional, contrast, flow  Formal or symmetric balance o S  Informal = asymmetric  Unity o Basic unity do the elements seem to belong together  Proportion- relationship of sizes of elemtns on a page  Contrast- relationship of elements in terms of size, shape and color  Little contrast is like a sea of grey  Flow or eye movement o How the eye travels across a page, image or computer screen  Flow  Ogivly layout o Z layout Circular layout- elemnens in the picture circle the main ordeal Stages of layout approval o Thumbnail- rough first drafts o Rough layout- second draft o Comprehensive- polished approximation of final draft o Mechanical- final pasteup, camera ready o Dummy- a mock up of a pamphlet, point-of-purchase display or other item  Purposes of visuals o Chosing an image is for a strategy and purpose  Layout rules o Use large images when possible o Get attention o Flow or movement-guide readers eye through the layout o Try to get people to read the body copy  Legibility and readability  Legibility- can headlines be read quickly and easily. Sans serif fonts are more legible, speed and ease  Readability- can body copy be easily read. Serif fonts are more readable. Black print on a white background is most readable,

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