PR 3310 Principles of Public Relations Wednesday 62409

PR 3310 Principles of Public Relations Wednesday, 6/24/09

Class Objectives n Presentation: L. Baroody and H. Walsh n Lecture n Ch. 14 and 15, News Releases, Newsletters & Printed Publications, Radio, Television, the Internet n n Note, I will not get to cover much of this, and I’m adding more from my experiences, but ALL of the content in these 2 chapters is testable! Exam 2 review

Class Objectives n Homework assignments n Read chapter 14, 15 in book n n Read the following short blog and comments n n I’m not going to cover all of this, but you will need to read them thoroughly! http: //www. newmanpr. com/2009/06/16/how-not-to-get-ajob-in-public-relations/ http: //www. newmanpr. com/2009/06/18/pr-applicantrudeness-incompetence-are-widespread/ Study for exam 2 Ex. 5 due Thursday (6/25) at 12: 05 pm

What’s in the news today n Apple bucks the trend of transparency n http: //www. nytimes. com/2009/06/23/technolog y/23 apple. html? hpw n Internally: n n n Meetings held where false information is communicated to employees (e. g. pricing) Employees have been fired for leaking news tidbits to outsiders Externally: n n Quotes from company personnel completely contradict the facts New media outlets are completely ignored

The News Release n On plain 8 ½ x 11 white paper or e-mailed n Guidelines n AP Style Concise and to the point Avoid Clichés, technical jargon Always double-Check No Bold face, no ALL CAPS Include background information on organization n Localize to fit the audience n n n

News Releases n Media Advisory n Memo to Editors / Reporters: pitch letter n Fact Sheets – “Crib Sheets” (org. ’s full name, products offered, annual reviews, number of employees, etc. ) n Media Kits n For major events such as new product releases n Include news Release, Feature, Fact Sheets, Background Info. , Photos, Bio Info. , Brochures

News Releases n Pitch Letters n To Obtain Coverage / Publicity n Publicity Methods n Snail Mail, fax, e-mail, electronic news services, web news rooms n See book for guidelines on these

Photos included with news releases n The role of mute photographer has changed to be a photojournalist. Often photographers do voice overs, write part of the article, etc. n http: //www. nytimes. com/2009/06/14/nyregion/14 cover. html n Photographs in news has changed in terms of n Finished looking versus rough n n Was it taken by a professional photographer or a citizen journalist with his/her cell phone? Staging of subjects n Head shots for company execs. Versus real world images

Photos included with news releases n Need to know a bit about technology here; Make sure image quality fits output device n Resolution (dots per inch/pixels per inch) n n n Higher for print Lower for project Colors in photographs n Can’t reproduce neon in print, metallics on-line n Will videos (moving images) take over still images? n No, some stories are best told with a series of extraordinary images that can be viewed one by one, allowing the viewer to take more time to absorb the detail than a moving image permits

Other artwork sent with news releases n Informational graphics (infographics) can additional information to your writing Visual representations of information, data or knowledge. n Are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly. n

Informational Graphics n Where do we see them? n On-line, esp. news sites (e. g. poll results) n In print, esp. manuals, advertisements, signs n In video, esp. tutorials n On TV, esp. commercials/info-mercials n Will you ever create these? n Probably not you, but you may work with a designer n Warning, designers are NOT good writers! n Corporate departments that house “infographics” include marketing and engineering n May be able to use their graphics to help with yours

Informational Graphics Design Considerations n Designing an informational graphic means that you need the answers to the questions… n Who is the graphic for? n Who is the target audience? What are their design preferences? n What is the purpose/objective of the graphic? n To instruct? Inform? Amuse? n What is the situation in which the graphic will be used? n n Is it a one-to-one teaching environment Or is it an open/mass learning environment. n What is the medium of delivery? n Print, web, smartphone, radio, TV

Informational Graphics for information n Can be purely about information… and answer “What are…? ” questions n What was Googles’ growth over time n n Timelines What is the population of a certain area n Charts, maps with circles n What will be the newsroom of tomorrow?

Printed Material n Print is NOT dead! n In fact, paper sales doubled when PC’s took off n Remember, anything printed can not be changed as easily as on-line content

Newsletters n Brief news--chatty, brisk, 4 pages , 8 1/2 x 11 n Audience for a corporate newsletter n Employees, investors (internal) n Customers (external) n Can be traditionally printed (and mailed) or on -line (pdfs) n Can be high-budget items (hire a professional) or low-budget (Word)

Newsletters n Guidelines n n n Short Punchy Sentences Use of bullets Summarize your content; repeat your main points Pull quotes or quote from company personnel Use of white space is a good thing Typeface should be readable n Serif (Times New Roman) for print n Sans serif (Arial) for web

Other Printed Publications n Magazines, brochures, flyers n Think of these as more than for end consumers n Employees--retirees--stockholders--investors-sales staff--wholesalers—members Magazines give you more room to write stories; brochures and flyers need to be more concise and to the point n Again, can be high budget or low budget n

Other Printed Publications n The Annual Report n Most significant, expensive n Required by Securities and Exchange Comm. n Handbooks n More elaborate and detailed, policy, statistics, information, retirement, benefits, overview of the entire organization n May include technical graphics/info. graphics

Use of the Internet n 6, 000 News Sites, Growing n 50% of 110 Million Use Internet For News and Info n n Newspaper, Magazine, Broadcast, Web Sites Always Looking For New Material n Things to remember about web pages n n n They’re internationally read Content should remain fresh As you saw from Ex. 4, you want bounce rate low (25% or less), higher time on site is (~ 3 minutes), # pages per view to be more than 1

Other uses of the Internet n You may be creating an INTRAnet n Looks like a web page but can only be accessed by internal personnel n Contain HR information (insurance, retirement, etc. ), internal stories (new product developments, opening of new plants), internal classifieds, etc. n Here’s where your writing and design skills come into play

Blogs n Online Personal Journals n Amateurs, Professionals n Blogging on Behalf of Clients or Employers n Can be a single blogger who contributes or multiple people who blog together n Of the millions that were created just a few years ago, only about 50 -100, 00 are frequently updated

The importance of Radio and TV n Radio 94 12+ - 233 Million n Commute Time= ~50 min. n Radio is unique because it get’s into your head; makes YOU visualize images n TV is unique because it’s still the largest consumed media by every age group n Esp. at dinner time n Local TV = 150 Million viewers n Network TV = 30 Million n Cable -34 Million

30 second news releases n 8 lines, 65 words n Conversational style n Sentence length

Audio news release n Someone reads the announcement n Then Announcer reads, Add Sound Bites

Public Service Announcement n Actors are unpaid n Spots are free n Often you’ll see these late at night n Promotes Public Cause n CBS cares

Radio or Satellite Media Tour n RMT – Spokesperson conducts series of interviews with radio announcers n SMT – Pre-booked and series of TV journalists of talk show hosts n Low Cost n Convenient

News Feeds n n Variation of SMT Video / Sound Bites Via Satellite Live or Edited RSS feeds are used here. n http: //www. npr. org/rss/