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Kelleher Chapter 9: Public Relations Writing

Key Purposes of Good Writing in Public Relations

  • Ensure clarity and conciseness in messaging.

  • Enhance the organization’s reputation and credibility.

  • Engage a target audience effectively through persuasive content.

  • Build and maintain relationships with different stakeholders.

  • Facilitate transparent communication during crises and routine interactions.

Analysis of News and Feature Styles of Storytelling

  • News Style: Focuses on factual reporting; employs a direct lead summarizing who, what, when, where, why, and how.

  • Feature Style: Explores angles of events or personalities, often employing a narrative approach, including human interest elements.

  • Effective storytelling involves understanding the audience, using anecdotes, and evoking an emotional response.

The Role of News Media, Social Media and Search Engines

  • Intermediaries' Role: Bridge between public relations messages and the target publics, each with unique functionalities.

  • Traditional news media disseminate information broadly and lend credibility.

  • Social media allows for direct engagement, real-time conversation, and feedback from the audience.

  • Search engines ensure accessibility to information, impacting visibility and audience reach for PR efforts.

Comparison of Business Writing and Social Media Writing

  • Business Writing: Formal tone, structured formats, focuses on clarity and conciseness; often follows established guidelines.

  • Social Media Writing: Informal and conversational tone, employs casual language, and utilizes multimedia elements; often requires quick engagement to capture attention.

  • The goals differ; business writing often aims for professionalism, while social media writing aims for viral engagement and relatability.

Public Relations Writing and Ethics

  • Understanding writing principles is crucial for ethical considerations in PR, emphasizing truthfulness, transparency, and accountability.

  • Effective writing can influence public perception and organizational credibility, making ethical practices vital in messaging strategies.

Key Terms

  • Anchor Text: Clickable text that provides a hyperlink.

  • Associated Press (AP) Style: Standard rules of writing (grammar, punctuation, capitalization) adopted widely in journalism.

  • Backgrounder: A writing tactic providing depth and contextual information for news stories.

  • Backlinks: Incoming links directing web users to a specific webpage.

  • Blog: An online platform for reflections and insights from the writer.

  • Clickbait: Engaging content designed to draw users to a website.

  • Code-Switching: Alternating between languages or cultural styles in communication.

  • Dateline: Informs readers about the time and place of the news story's origin.

  • Delayed Lead: A method to intrigue readers by withholding main points at the story's start.

  • Direct Lead: A straightforward counterpoint summarizing a story’s key elements early on.

  • Fact Sheet: Concise document outlining factual information.

  • Feature Story: Explores unique aspects of events or personalities deeply.

  • Golden Rule: Ethic advocating treating others as one wishes to be treated.

  • Human Interest: Story angle that highlights the emotional core of a subject.

  • Impression Management: Regulating information to influence how one is perceived.

  • Inverted Pyramid: News writing style prioritizing importance of information from top to bottom.

  • Listicle: Article formatted as a list for easy reading.

  • Media Kits: Compendiums of materials for media distribution.

  • Meta Tags: Descriptive text for web pages to assist search engines.

  • Microblog: Brief blog posts with content constraints.

  • Morgue: Archive of old stories in news organizations.

  • Natural Links: Hyperlinks made voluntarily due to content value.

  • News Release: News story format representing an organization.

  • Reputation Management: The process of managing public perception of an organization.

  • Social Media Release: Tailored news release for social sharing.

  • Transmedia Storytelling: Storytelling across multiple platforms.

  • Video News Release: Pre-produced news packages for broadcast journalists.