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MediaAnd

Press Relations

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Relationship between

press and

public relations

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Public Relation department can develop the image of organization through the way of press only.Press act as a bridge between the PR department and the various publics.

PR DEPARTMENT

Press

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Press visits

Press visits are occassions when journalists / reporter visits your organisation and describes something about your organisation in the form of story.

First hand visit in the organization should be made by the qualified journalists . That is one of the best vehicles for getting feature stories.

To provide the press with a newsworthy hook. A firm should personally reach out to their editorial contacts as well as freelancers are working in the top-tier publications.

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A good news hook can be a renovation, a new service, an event at the destination, or anything else that will make the story interesting and relevant. These trips can also be tied in with trends, such as “India has become a hot destination,” and providing data to back up your angle.

Public relations firms should map out itineraries

The itinerary should include a property tour and trips to places of interest. Hosted meals at popular local markets, for example, fit this description.

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Press Coverage

A press coverage is a tool designed to generate news – in particular, hard news that can advance the cause of your organization

A press conference is an additional media technique, for special occasions, when you really want to make an impression.

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Importance of press coverageYou can give more information than in a press release. A press conference is interactive; you can answer questions from the press, and emphasize points you might not otherwise have a chance to make. You can announce an important development, and explain its significant local and wider implications. Free Publicity – a spot on the 6:00 TV news, for instance – that you’d otherwise have to pay a large amount for. When many media representatives are present, it makes your coverage seem really newsworthy -- the media presence itself adds to the importance. A successful media coverage can not only generate news, but can also boost the morale of your own group -- that is, your group can take pride in knowing that the press will really turn out to hear what you have to say.

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Steps to hold a press coverge

Define the message.Define the key message(s) that you and your group are trying to get out to the community. Your goal may be to introduce or shed more light on your issue, to announce a new program or event, to react to a news story or to a criticism of or attack on your effort, or to draw attention to an honor or award your effort has earned.  Whatever the message, it should be summarized in clear 3-5 key points to the press. 

Schedule the date and time.You and your group will need to determine a date and time for the press coverage and make sure it doesn't conflict with other press events or media deadlines. One way to find this out is to check with the local media and the wire services, who will know if your press conference conflicts with another. Here are some other tips for scheduling your press conference:

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Pick the site.Make sure you pick a location for the press coverage that has adequate parking and is not too far away for reporters to travel. Also, pick a site that provides visual interest and relationship to each topic- where the activities you’re talking about are actually going on. Other considerations include picking a location relatively free from high levels of background noise (e.g., traffic, telephones, aircraft), and one which has adequate electrical outlets and extension cords for lighting, etc.Select and train your participants.At this stage of your planning process, you probably won't want to have just anyone from your group participate in the press coverage. You will want your participants to be knowledgeable and articulate about the issue. They should be able to handle press questioning and scrutiny as well. People with high credibility, such as local politicians, the director of a local health promotion organization, or a physician may make effective spokespeople. Firsthand testimony from people from the community affected by the issue can be extremely powerful and convincing.

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Contact the media.The first step in contacting the media is to create a comprehensive mailing list of assignment editors at television stations, news directors at radio stations, and at major newspapers, and editors at weekly newspapers. If your organization has had occasion to work with the media before, you should have personal contacts with a number of media people.  If you haven’t made those contacts, this is a good time to start. 

Follow up with the media.After you and your group have mailed the press advisories to the media, you will want to follow up your press advisory with phone contact to the major media outlets. Give your press advisory three days to arrive, then begin your telephone follow-ups with the people you sent your press advisory to (if they say they never got one, offer to bring or FAX one to them).

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Develop a press kit.A press kit is a folder of information to give reporters background information about your issue or program. This kit is prepared by PR department and distributed to media at special events. Press kits are very useful. Your press kit should contain the following:A list of press conference participants. A press release, which should state your group's position on the issue, highlights of the press conference, and a few quotes from participant.

Background information about the issue (i.e., statistics, historical background, case histories, or reprints of news stories).

A few black & white glossy photographs (action photos are most interesting).

Short (less than a page) biographies of participants.

Related news stories from prestigious national publications (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.).

Prepare the room Prepare the room where you are holding the press coverage

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Feature storiesA feature story is an “evergreen” story, meaning that its significance won’t fade over time. Evergreen feature stories can run at any time.  For the public relations professional, feature stories are a great way to get your client or employer exposure in the media even when there’s no breaking news to report. Or better yet, a PR professional can get extra mileage out of a newsworthy event by promoting it twice – as a news story and as a feature story.

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Writing the Feature StoryWhen it comes to writing your feature story, you can do it yourself or you can hire a freelance writer to write it for you. If you choose to write it yourself, keep in mind that even when a feature story is related to breaking news, its appeal comes from the fact that it is written as a narrative rather than in the “inverted pyramid” news story style.Many feature stories start with a telling anecdote rather than all the facts. Also, unlike a news story, feature stories do not have to be objective. It is fine to express an opinion in a feature story, as long as the story does not try to deceive or misinform.Words of CautionOnce you have a completed feature story, submit it to the same publications where you send your press releases. Though, unlike with press releases, some publications might not run your feature story if they know it is being considered by other news outlets. Most larger and higher-quality publications require exclusive material, and you will damage your relationship with editors if they find that your content has been published with a competitor as well.

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Business feature articles

This is also known as case histories or trade press stories are an important type of publicity published by business , trade and technical media and prepared by industrial firms to support their marketing objectives. This article defines problems common to an industry and describes solutions to these problems by a particular concern that uses product of a company preparing the publicity.

Service feature articles

These are written to provide newspaper and magazine readers with information , advice, suggestions on home decoration , fashion , health, food ,travel, home management, child care, beauty, gardening , books etc. Service publicity staffs and counselors of manufactures of consumer products.

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Press release, serves as a means to get news of an event, product, idea, etc. to a reporter with the goal of being published. Editors receive countless amounts of new releases each day not only by traditional mail (dubbed “snail mail”) but also by email. Sending news releases is very popular and is also a lot cheaper than buying advertisements. 3 Steps to Aid in Making a News Release Rise Above the Pile:Follow a standardized formulaProvide information that will interest readersBe timelyThe Questions That a News Release Should Answer:What is the subject?Who is the target audience?Who will care about this information?How will readers benefit from this information?What is the purpose of the organization?

Press Release

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Five Basic Types of PRESS ReleasesAnnouncements- new products, promotions, sales reports, anniversaries and the like.

Spot Announcements- informs public of a happening that affected the organization.

Reaction Release- news of event or situation that has effect on organization.

Bad News- can be buried in a news story so readers do not consider it to be a “cover up” for a mistake. It is best to confront an issue immediately in order to prevent the media from making up stories or being informed of rumors. The worst thing that a PR representative can do is to refuse to comment on a situation.

Local News- most common. Local releases are those which include names of locals or contain information that is locally significance.

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Components of a PRESS Release

Letterhead- A section at the top of the release that includes the name, address, phone number, fax number, and website of an organization.

Contacts- Name, title, phone number, fax number, and email address of the person who wrote the release.

Headline- Title of the news release. If the font size of the body is 12 pt, the headline is usually 14 or 16 pt font.

Dateline- The name of the city in which the news is taking place. Must be in all caps and is usually followed by the date.

Lead Paragraph- Basic details of the release. Includes the five W’s and H, as well as the “so what?”

Body of Text- Written in inverted pyramid style so that the editor can find the most important details quickly.

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Press Note

A press note is an account of government view point issued on important and urgent occasions. Newspapers or electronic media have no choice but to publish or air it in the same language and with the same contents. Hence, it should be terse, brief, timely, understandable, concise, and specific and should contain all relevant facts and figures in their true perspective. It should be written in the policy frame work of the government.

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Communicating with mediaGood relationships with the editors, publishers editorial writers , columnists and news broadcasters are vitally important to secure publicity . An understanding of the job requirements and view points of news people is essential in getting their coperation in fair and accurate reporting of the fairs of the organizations. Good relations with the press are furthered by observing a few simple principles as per the following , recommended to the company personnel by the public relations department of the tidewater oil co.

Frankness and honesty must be cardinal principles . Don’t be evasive. Always be available to the press. Always assume you will be quoted and be careful and accurate when making statement Don’t discriminate or play favorites with the press. Don’t complaint of minor misprints or error.Don’t mislead a reporter ; if you can talk say so.Don’t condemn the editor when a story is left out of the paper .Don’t go over a reporters head to his superior with a complaint.Anticipate a newsman's interest and have the facts ready in advance .Be helpful with bad as well as good news .

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Avenues of communication

Personal contactsThe principle method of communicating with the media is by calling on publishers , editors of newspapers , magazines and news directors of radio and television. Through such contacts publicity staffs deter mine the needs of editors and news directors and became acquainted wiyh the programs and columns which require feature material .

Press conferences

Mailing of news releases News release are usually distributed by male .since the editorial requirement of individual newspaper and broadcasting station vary pictures and publicity should be send only to those editors and news directors who are likely to use them .

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Media previews Previews to which media are invited are desirable for securing coperation when introducing new model or opening new plants and facilities the day before the official public showing the media are given a preview

Clip sheets Clip sheets in which news stories and illustration are reproduce in newspare format to show news editors how stories and pictures will appear in print are distriobuted by the publicity department to editors of daily and weekly newspapers

Media kits

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