In the beginning of your public relations degree program, you’ll learn a lot about communication theory and research. We’ll share with you what top researchers say about best practices and spend a lot of time talking about how public relations practitioners need to develop “mutually beneficial relationships” with an organization’s key publics or stakeholders (customers, investors, advocacy groups, etc.). It all sounds exciting, and students can’t wait to graduate so that they can step into management positions at top PR agencies.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but you’ll probably have little direct contact with clients or top management when you first graduate. In fact, all of that fun stuff about creating and executing campaigns will have to wait until you move-up in your career because you’re going to be spending a lot of your time writing.
That’s right. If you don’t have a passion for writing, or at least a desire to hone your skills, then you won’t last long enough in the field to move to those exciting management positions. That’s because your main job requirement in those first few years out of college will be to craft messages from news releases to social media posts.
And because many professionals still believe that the backbone of any public relations program is the news release, I’ve provided some of the basic information you’ll need to know when you’re out in the field.
We Use the Inverted Pyramid
Public relations professionals use news releases to share important company information with the public. The goal is to get those news releases printed in publications or to entice reporters to tell our stories. Because of this, we need to write the way journalists write, so we use something that is called the inverted pyramid.
Don’t worry. It’s not as complicated as it sounds. When you think back to the stories we read as kids, they usually began with, “Once upon a time,” and ended with the climax of the story. The inverted pyramid flips that form on its head so that we start with the climax and build the story by adding other details in order of importance. There is no real conclusion because we just stop writing when we run out of details.
This makes it easy for editors to use our news because they don’t have to reorganize the whole thing to keep the gist of the story when they are editing for space. Editors and/or reporters just have to cut paragraphs from the bottom up, and the important parts of the story remain.
So, the first sentence of your story should include details such as who, when, what and where. Why and how provide further context to the story, so we usually save those until the second paragraph.
Be a Stickler for Grammar and AP Style
As with any profession, you need to be concerned with grammar. In my introductory writing course, I give a grammar overview and have had students complain about having to learn grammar rules. Well, if you don’t think that grammar is important, then a career in the communication field may not be for you.
In addition to good grammar, those in the PR field should also be familiar with AP Style. You may have already used MLA, APA or Chicago Manual Style. One of the main focuses of those styles is how to handle citations. However, AP Style is a little different in that it deals mostly in what words to use when (should you use homicide or murder) and spelling of words (all right vs. alright).
For those new to AP Style, the book can be overwhelming. I usually tell my students that you need to know that you don’t know anything. So, you’ll have to look EVERYTHING up…at least at first.
Also, know that this book is updated yearly. So, the things you knew last year might have changed this year. Pay attention to that page at the beginning of the book that tells you what’s new.
Use Newsworthy Information
Every semester, the biggest thing that students struggle with is determining what makes content newsworthy. If you’re confused about what constitutes newsworthy content, ask yourself if the story you’re writing falls into one of the below categories.
- Timeliness: If something just happened, or is new, then the chances are that it is newsworthy, and journalists will be interested in sharing your story. An example would be that you just launched a new product or service.
- Impact: If your news has the potential to impact a lot of people, then you should share it. For example, a story about rising interest rates would be newsworthy because it would affect a large population of people.
- Prominence: If your news is about someone or something well-known or important, then it’s news. If a Kardashian is involved, then the chances are high that someone will write about it. This is why we like to get celebrity endorsements.
- Proximity: If it hits close to home, either physically or figuratively, then it’s news. So, if you have a national story, you can focus on a local angle to get more coverage.
- Conflict: Information about fighting or other conflict is news. This can even cover things like natural disasters.
- Bizarre/Unusual: If your news is out-of-the-ordinary, or rarely happens, then it falls into this category. For example, if the CEO of your company started her day off like any other, but then on the way to the office witnessed a person being robbed, jumped out of her car, and fought off the attacker, that would be unusual.
- Helpfulness: News that helps us live better lives falls under this category. A story with tips on how to save money on vacation would be an example.
- Human Interest: If it doesn’t fall under any of the above categories, but we still care about it, then it is considered human interest. These are those feel-good stories that give us the warm-and-fuzzies.
Be an Advocate for Your Organization
In PR, there is a dirty word that we never use. It’s four letters and begins with an “s.” I bet you can guess what I’m talking out…SPIN. Because we teach our students NEVER to spin a topic, they end up being afraid to write anything nice about the organizations they represent. Yes, of course we want to be truthful; that’s a huge part of public relations. But, whereas we are objective when we’re journalists, we’re advocates as PR professionals. We want to highlight the positives about our bosses and clients. We never, ever lie. That is unethical, and a surefire way to lose your job. But, we are always looking for the positive angles in all of our stories.
Know the Basic Components
Letterhead: Your company’s letterhead appears at the top of the document.
Release Date: Under the letterhead, to the left of the document is the release date. If the news can be shared as soon as the release is written, then you would write, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. If the news can only be shared after a certain date, but you’re sending out the release before that day, then write, RELEASE DATE with the date underneath.
Media Contact: To the right of the release date is the media contact information. Include the name, phone number and email address of the person who should be contacted if a reporter has questions about the story.
Headline: The headline tells the reader what the news release is about. Although this comes first, some people find it easier to write it last, after they have a clear idea on the angle of the news release. This isn’t a complete sentence, so it doesn’t require punctuation. However, it should still be specific. I find that some students write descriptors (i.e. Meatless Mondays) rather than headlines (Kennesaw State Introduces Meatless Mondays at The Commons).
Subhead: This is not required on all news releases. But, if you feel like the headline needs further explanation, provide it under the headline. If we continue with the Meatless Mondays example, a subhead could be, Eco-friendly initiative aims to educate campus community on the health and environmental impacts of a plant-based diet.
Dateline: The dateline comes right before the first sentence of the news release. It includes the city and state of the news. This can also include a date (hence the name, dateline). Every letter of the city is capitalized, and only the first letter of the state is capitalized. However, check AP Style because some cities, Atlanta for example, stand alone.
Lead: We call the first sentence of an inverted pyramid story the lead, or lede. It appears on the same line as the dateline (see example below). Many publications prefer a one-sentence lead that provides information such as who, what, when and where. However, in PR writing, we often write one- to three-sentence leads. Just make sure your lead paragraph doesn’t encompass more than five lines of text in the document. Also, writing that your company “announces” something is not news. Wrong: Kennesaw State University announced Tuesday that it will implement a new Meatless Mondays initiative in its dining hall, The Commons, beginning Monday, April 23. Right: Kennesaw State University will begin a new Meatless Mondays initiative in its dining hall, The Commons, beginning Monday, April 23.
Follow-up: In this paragraph, we answer questions raised by the lead paragraph. In the Meatless Monday example, if we introduced the initiative in the lead paragraph, then we need to answer any questions that readers may have the next paragraph. If this story were to appear in a campus publication, then the most important information to include in the follow-up would be what we, as the campus community, can expect to find if we eat at The Commons on Mondays.
Body of story: After the lead and follow-up paragraphs, everything else is nice to have information, but if it is cut then we will still retain the gist of the story. These paragraphs should be one to three sentences. This is also a great place to include quotes, especially from your client or boss. Keep in mind, quotes stand alone. That means a quote is it’s own paragraph.
Boilerplate: This comes at the very end of the document. It is a one-paragraph description of the organization. It is the same on every news story, so you only have to write it once and update it as needed. You should include a variety of information in the boilerplate such as the company’s market position, size, aspirations, scope of the business’s activity, geographic coverage and core values.
Slug: Back in the day when we used to fax news releases, it was important to include information on the news release to let the reader know that more pages were coming. So, if your news release is more than one page, type -more- at the end of the first page and include a slug on the second and subsequent pages. At the top left-hand of the second page, and all those that follow, type a one- to three-word descriptor on what the news release is about. For our Meatless Mondays example, you would simply type Meatless Mondays in the top left-hand corner. Flush right, type, page 2 of 2, or however many pages comes after. You add the slug to every page after the first. However, because many of our news releases are emailed now, some PR pros have dropped the slug.
Symbols that indicate end of release: To indicate that the release is over, type ### or -30- right after the boilerplate
Template
Use the following template to help you get started: news release template
Final Tips
- Write in third person
- Use the first and last name of a person on the first reference, and last name only on the second and subsequent references
- Focus on clear and concise writing. Can you edit it down and still retain the meaning? If yes, then do it.
- Ditch the SAT vocabulary. Make sure that you write for the masses.
- Quotes should add color, not just restate facts
I hope this helps you get started. As long as you follow the inverted pyramid formula, check the AP Stylebook as needed and are accurate in your writing, then you should have nothing to worry about. And, one last piece of advice, if you ever run into trouble, don’t hesitate to ask Google. Problem-solving simple questions on your own will go a long way with your bosses.