news making & news reaction

News Making & News Reaction

Darren Ingram

November 2014

© 2014 Darren Ingram. All links are correct at the time of publication. No endorsement or specific recommendation is made unless clearly stated. DarrenIngram.com About.me/DarrenPIngram

News Making & News Reaction

Darren Ingram November 2014

http://DarrenIngram.com

http://about.me/DarrenPIngram


chinadailyshow.com

Wordpress.com At first there was a paper

mountain




Many Names Press Releases News Releases

Releases Press Statement

Press Announcement Press Notice

etc etc..

Plus in many languages!




“Traditional” Releases• Slow (often sent in the mail, latterly by fax)

• Costly (printing, postage, labour-intensive)

• Heavy (especially if at a trade fair)

• Pain to handle (open, circulate, track)

• Difficult to store/archive

• Mountains of waste




Slow Change• Slowly some electronic distribution occurred,

mostly over “private wire” - expensive & restrictive

• Extended to satellite & other private networks in 1970s, financial systems & databases in the 1980s

• Online and latterly Internet services from the 1990s

• “Big bang” from the late 1990s/early 2000s




Smartdisplayguide.com

Hurrah! Times Change




Make Your Own Press Release!




Need?

• Do you have any news to tell? Are you sure?

• Who wants to know your news? What might they do with it?

• Are you aiming at the media or just looking for content for your website/newsletter/marketing?




Remember at least the 5 W’s*

Who is it about? What happened?

When did it take place? Where did it take place?

Why did it happen?

How did it happen? !

*Tenses can vary! Wordpress.com




A Good Way To Start?• Discover what you want to say and “who” you want

to say it to

• Define your objectives

• Leave a lot of time to complete the task if possible

• Start to form your story in note form using the 5 W’s & 1H format




• Start to shape your release

• The first sentence/paragraph must contain the key message

• Keep sentences short, factual, jargon-free

• Imagine you are telling the story to someone on a bus, who doesn’t know your sector/business




• Factual tone

• Concise style

• Do not slate competitors

• Do not lie, mislead or conceal

• Size is not everything

• Background information “to the end”




Considerations• You might even have several versions of the same

release for different markets (national press, specialist trade titles, etc.)

• A modular approach allows content reuse now and later on

• Think how a newspaper or similar might write about your company - try to take the same line




Key Elements• Headline

• Date of release (or embargo date/time)

• Spacing (if printed, double spaced)

• Visual appearance (don’t use every font and colour that your computer has)

• Paragraph structure / ordered flow of material




• Quotation?

• Avoid cliches: thrilled to be here, privileged to be attending, taking the market by storm…

• Hype, the removal of: let the news speak for itself

• Figures and accurate information (prices, dates, times where relevant)




• Mark “end” of release

• Background information about your company (part of a modular communications design)

• Contact information: specific contact? PR person? (make sure whoever is listed WILL answer)

• Email addresses, links to online information

• Multimedia (pictures, video, animations)




Check…• Does it make sense to an outsider?

• Have you remembered to use the spill chucker & look at your grandma?

• If you can, “sleep on it”; get it reviewed; read the text on a different screen

• Corporate sign-off?

• Final check and final final check!




Distribution

Thought normally would need to be given to the distribution of your press release (on your website, to the media, trade show, partners, social media, etcetera) but it is outside of the scope of this presentation. Distribution of press materials can be a science or an art in its own right. It is not as easy as you think!




Remember• Professionals can spend weeks on a release/

campaign

• Professionals can still (and do) make mistakes

• Not every press release will take the media by storm (and get coverage)

• It is an art form and the use of language can be important; but the structure and facts are key




Wakey-Wakey Time!

TASKS




Task #1Three Groups*1: Those who had an involvement with the recent student fair

2: Those who will be involved with the Köpmannamässa fair

3: Anyone else *Split the groups to be roughly equal in size




Task #1Group 1: Press release for the student fair, to attract coverage from non-local media, to promote a fashion show for up-and-coming future designers.Group 2: A new company in the city will be offering various healthcare/massage services including some that are new to the region/country (exhibiting at the fair). Group 3: A new company has been formed to deliver coffee beans and other drinks to workplaces & the home by subscription.




15 Minutes…• Discuss and draft your press release’s structure

• Get your first sentence/paragraph ready to “sell it” to a sceptical journalist

• Get one quotation ready

• Consider (if time) positives, problems, how to attract media interest




After 15 Minutes…

A brief group presentation of the core structure, first sentence/paragraph, quotation and other comments.

After all three groups have presented, wrap-up, lessons learned and on to task 2…




Task #2

• Same groups as before

• Reacting to changing news/“crisis communications” - a different ball game

• If you don’t know what to say to the media, don’t say anything until you do. Yet something must be said in due course. No head in the sand treatment!




Task #2• Your company is at its industry’s biggest fair

• Massive stand & marcomms budget stretched

• Lots of “eggs in one basket”

• Confident of some great publicity, media coverage, customer engagement, new customers, maybe even an award or two!




Task #2Two hours before the start of the fair. All senior directors/key players/marcomms team are here.

Head office just called. News is emerging that there is a major chemical leak at your company’s factory in a “less developed” country.

Initial reports suggest major environmental damage, possibly even deaths and injuries to workers and nearby residents.




Your company makes great play about its “green credentials”, how it is a “responsible corporate citizen” and how its processes are top-quality.

The initial reports suggest that the fault might be of your company’s making, perhaps skimping on the maintenance or poor training.




Task #2• The company is getting calls from the media. The

story will not go away. Online news has already broke the story.

• Information is scarce. Head office investigating. Local resources coordinating.

• Company ignored previously a recommendation to create a crisis communications plan.

• A press statement/update promised within the hour.




Staff Tasks• All employees have been told to refer all inquiries

to the press office.

• Stand staff obviously can’t comment but equally can’t say “phone the press office” to visitors.

• Some “brief lines to take…” will be needed for the stand staff as well as instructions not to enter into a debate.




Interim Statement

XYZ Company is investigating reports of a major chemical leak at its factory in TOWN, COUNTRY. Further information will be released as soon as it is confirmed. The next scheduled update will be provided at 10am local time.




Task #2• Prepare a press release for the promised update.

Remember a modular design will allow rapidly changing information to be included.

• For the task, consider six or more points that you would need to possibly include within the update and/or within the communications handling plan. Write them down to present (you do not need to write a full press release).




Task #2 Remember• What you say will enter the public record

• Think about your company’s reputation

• Think about possible legal and regulatory issues

• Think about your company’s ethical position

• Remember where you are (at a trade fair)




15 minutes to “save” your company…




Group Presentations




Conclusions• Media/PR is more than just “Absolutely Fabulous”

and sitting in nice restaurants talking with journalists

• Problems can happen anywhere and everywhere, to companies of every shape or size

• Mistakes can be made by everyone, especially the more experienced who can be complacent




Questions?Disagreements?

Darren Ingram [email protected] linkedin.com/in/DarrenPIngram about.me/DarrenPIngram



mailto:[email protected]

http://linkedin.com/in/DarrenPIngram


news making & news reaction

News & Politics

time of publication

specific recommendation

lot of time

s online

s big bang

slow change

note form

private networks in1970s