Public Relations Writing Worktext

A Practical Guide for the Profession

Joseph M. Zappala

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781135231576
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Advertising
• Index: Business

Public Relations Writing Worktext provides the fundamental knowledge and the basic preparation required for the professional practice of public relations writing. This textbook introduces readers to public relations and writing, providing an overview of the four-step public relations process in addition to defining and detailing the writing activities involved. It presents in-depth information on the writing formats and approaches used in implementing strategic public relations plans, and offers instruction for developing all types of writing assignments, starting with memos, proposals, and news releases, and moving on to the more complex tasks of advocacy writing, newsletters, crisis planning, and online communication. Examples accompany the discussions, providing guidance and structure for the varied writing activities. Retaining the approach of the second edition, this text incorporates numerous changes and updates, making it suitable for use as a primary course text. Updates include:

• increased focus on writing for the web, blogs, and electronic media, including information on writing social media releases and a new chapter entitled "New and Social Media"
• a new planning outline to help writers develop more effective messages
• expanded checklists for writers to reference when working on assignments
• additional examples of effective public relations writing by leading companies in a variety of organizational settings, including Mattel, UPS, Burger King, Sara Lee, Xerox, Frito-Lay, and many more
• new assignments based on topics, issues and problems that public relations professionals in all sectors face today
• restructured content for improved writing flow and consistency
• full instructor manual available via the Support Material link on www.routledge.com/9780415997546.

Authors Joseph M. Zappala and Ann R. Carden offer a clear and engaging introduction to the writing activities involved in public relations practice, resulting in a valuable resource for professionals as well as a practical classroom text for students planning careers in public relations.

Part One
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BASICS

1
What is Public Relations Writing?

A song that sounds simple is just not that easy to write.

—Sheryl Crow¹

I don’t know what real childbirth is like, but writing songs seems as close as I’m going to come.

—Billy Joel

You may think that songwriters and public relations writers have little in common. But songwriters, poets, novelists, and other writers, including public relations writers, will tell you that writing is hard, even painful. Most writers know the frustration of staring at an empty computer screen or a blank sheet of paper, waiting for the right words to come, and public relations writers are no exception.

The songwriter faced with writer’s block might take a long drive or meditate to stimulate the writing process. As a public relations writer, you don’t always have that luxury. In a crisis, when you need to communicate quickly and accurately about a threatening situation, there’s little time for leisurely drives or meditation. Consider, as well, that public relations professionals write for many different audiences, for many different media, and in many different forms and styles, sometimes all in the same day. This is no easy task.

Songwriters, like poets, novelists, sculptors, and other artists, often create works that are deeply personal; they are not always creating a work of art to please someone else, but more so to express something important they need to say. This is not so for public relations writers. Public relations writing has an organizational purpose. You must write with the interests of a specific group of people in mind, and balance that with the interests of the organization you represent. Public relations writing succeeds when people respond by doing something your organization wants them to do, whether that be learning something you want them to learn, adopting an attitude or position you want them to adopt, taking a positive action you want them to take, or simply thinking good thoughts about the organization. In the public relations world, writing without such a purpose is a waste of time. As a public relations writer, you are not aiming to create works of art. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that good public relations writing is like a song, or like poetry or prose, full of descriptive phrasing and obscure thoughts. There are times when creative writing is necessary, but creativity should never overshadow what’s most important about a public relations message: its ability to communicate information in a way that people will understand. It’s about simple words and clear messages that inspire a desired change in thinking or behavior.

While those brochures and news releases you write may not be on the artistic level of a classic novel or an Academy Award-winning film script, they do require special skill and finesse. And that makes public relations writing a fine art.

What is Public Relations?

Before discussing the role of a public relations writer, it’s important to give that role some perspective by first defining the public relations function, and then explaining how public relations differs from and integrates with marketing and advertising (as illustrated in Exhibit 1.1). While each of these functions has a distinct purpose, they also work together and share the common goal of helping an organization communicate to its publics—groups that are critical to the organization’s survival.

Exhibit 1.2 presents some of the classic definitions of public relations by some of the industry’s most respected educators and professionals. In sum, public relations is a strategic function that manages and builds relationships with an organization’s publics through two-way communication. Public relations professionals promote two-way communication by providing an open flow of idea exchange, feedback, and information between an organization and its publics. They counsel management on how to best shape policy and establish programs that are mutually beneficial and sensitive to public concerns. Public relations builds goodwill and an understanding of organizational goals among various internal and external publics to help the organization operate smoothly and conduct its business in a cooperative, conflict-free environment.

The goal of marketing, by contrast, is to develop, maintain, and improve a product’s market share; attract and satisfy customers; and cause a transaction in order to build profitability. Public relations professionals support marketing staff by providing promotional services. One common marketing communications activity is publicity, which may involve placing news stories in the media about products and services. The most common form of publicity is the news release, an announcement from an organization written in news style.

If a newspaper publishes your product news release, it does so at no cost to you. Once your publicity material is received by the media, however, you lose control of the content. The media is free to use it in any form they choose, or they can decide not to use it. This differs from advertising, which is paid promotional messages that you can control. When you supply an advertisement to the media, they run it as you’ve written it. Advertising copy has a creative flair, with language and phrasing designed for the “hard sell.” Publicity materials are more subtle and read more like news articles. To illustrate the difference, look at the lead from a product news release that appeared on the Verizon Wireless Web site and the opening of a commercial for the same product:

Exhibit 1.1

The Integration of Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising

Note: Reprinted with permission of PR Reporter, Ragan Communications, Inc.

Exhibit 1.2

Defining Public Relations

“Public relations practice is the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organization leaders, and implementing planned programs of action which will serve both the organization’s and the public interest.”—First World Assembly of Public Relations Associations and the First World Forum of Public Relations

“Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.”—Harlow, “Building a Public Relations Definition,” Public Relations Review

“Public relations helps our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It serves to bring private and public policies into harmony.”—PRSA Official Statement on Public Relations

“Management of communication between an organization and its publics.”—Grunig and Hunt, Managing Public Relations

“(1) Management function, (2) relationships between an organization and its publics, (3) analysis and evaluation through research, (4) management counseling, (5) implementation and execution of a planned program of action, communication and evaluation through research, and (6) achievement of goodwill.”—Simon, Public Relations Concepts and Practices

“Public relations deals primarily with advice on action, based on social responsibility.”—Bernays, The Later Years: 1956–1986

“The management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and publics on whom its success or failure depends.”—Cutlip, Center, and Broom, Effective Public Relations

“(1) deliberate, (2) planned, (3) performance, (4) public interest, (5) two-way communication, and (6) management function.”—Wilcox, Ault and Agee, Public Relations Strategies and Tactics

“PR involves responsibility and responsiveness in policy and information to the best interests of the organization and its publics.”—Newsom, Scott, and Turk, This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations

“Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”—Public Relations News

“Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics.”—Wikipedia

Product News Release:

The BlackBerry^® Storm™ (model 9530) from Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM)—the first touch screen BlackBerry smartphone with the world’s first “clickable” touch screen—will be available beginning Nov. 21 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

Product Advertisement:

Whoa! It has no keyboard. And did it just click? You never clicked a screen before. Is that supposed to happen? Is it supposed to feel so right? It feels like a keyboard, just no keys. What kind of mad genius designed this?

In addition to supporting the marketing function with promotional efforts, public relations practitioners offer advice on the social implications of products and help counter attacks from consumer and special interest groups. For example, some years ago, tuna companies faced protests from environmental groups concerned about the number of dolphins getting trapped and killed in nets used by tuna fishermen. Protests and negative media headlines created a serious public relations problem that, in turn, had an impact on product sales. To regain public trust, tuna companies opened up dialogue with environmentalists and began making changes in their fishing practices to avoid doing harm to dolphins. After these changes were made and communicated, tuna companies began declaring their products “dolphin safe” and restoring their reputations through good public relations, while avoiding a marketing disaster.

Types of Public Relations Writing

Public relations writers are among the most versatile of writers. While a magazine journalist writes each article for a single mass audience—the people who read that magazine—the public relations writer prepares many pieces for a wide range of publics. A corporate public relations p...