Assignments

Matching the Columns

1. National TV news	A. Needs a great deal of detailed information on the product, its history, interviews.
2. National daily newspaper	B. Use general information about the product, footage of them being made or used and interview the people involved in making them.
3. Local daily newspaper	C. Runs three stories – a 1000-word analysis of the new technology, a 800-word technical interview, and a 1500-word interview with the CEO.
4. Internet news site	D. Runs 50-word summaries linked to a 300-word article.
5. Local weekly newspaper	E. Focus is on the local accomplishments.
6. Trade association magazine	F. Runs four stories – a 750-word piece, a 800-word interview, a 750-word organizational history, and article with a timeline on the organization.

Answers:

1) B

2) A

3) E

4) D

5) F

6) C

Multiple Choice

1. One of the more unpleasant aspects of being in PR is facing a hostile

a. Media

a. Management

b. Public

c. None of the above

2. Before sending out a news release, you should ask yourself all of the following questions except
a. Is it timely?

b. Is it innovative or distinct?

c. How much will it cost?

d. Will it affect the community?

3. The reporter’s job is to tell the ______ story.

a. Complete

b. organization’s

c. Pleasing

d. False

4. An important skill of a media relations department is

a. The ability to answer questions promptly and properly

b. Write the reporter’s story for them.

c. Creating the marketing campaign

d. None of the above

5. Public relations practitioners and reporters

a. Need each other

b. Do not need each other

c. Are the same people

d. Are both journalists

6. PR work delivers information to the media and public; therefore these people are

a. Reporters

b. Buyers

c. Bargainers

d. Salespeople

7. Professional news media includes all of the following except

a. Local daily newspapers

b. Internet news sites

c. Community newsletters

d. Community newspapers

8. ________ runs a 50-word summary linked to a 300-word article.

a. Local weekly newspaper

b. Internet news site

c. Trade association magazine

d. Local daily newspaper

Summary

There is nothing complicated about learning how to deal with the media. The main thing to do is learn how the different media you deal with operate, what sorts of stories they are interested in, and how the handle them.

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Test

1. ______ The media cannot be ignored.

2. ______ The media tell PR practitioners where the window is that the world sees your organization through, when to look and what they should expect to see.

3. ______ The emphasis in PR work is to stop information from getting out to the public.

4. ______ Reporters are sales people.

5. ______ National daily newspapers focus on local accomplishments from the community.

6. ______ Successful PR people know how the media works and what reporters need.

7. ______ Lying to the media will get your organization in deep trouble with the media and the public.

8. ______ Good PR people do not care about reporters’ deadlines.

9. ______ A organization can shape and control the news release it delivers to the media.

10.______ Reporters always report what the organization want them to straight from the press release the organization releases.

Answers:

1. T

2. T

3. F – they deliver information to the public.

4. F – Reporters are buyers.

5. F – Local daily newspapers

6. T

7. T

8. F – They do care about reporters’ deadlines.

9. T

10. F- The media reports what they want.

Bibliography

Bernstein, G. (1989, March). Meet the press. Public Relations Journal, 44, 28-32.

Howard, C., & Mathews, W. (1994). On deadline: Managing media relations (2^nd. ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.

Klein, T., & Dunzig, F. (1985). Publicity: How to make the media work for you. New York: Scribner’s.

Glossary

Public relations – It is the window through which the world sees your organization and what you do. PR practitioners deliver information that conveys the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Professional news media – This is a term that is used to include everything from national daily newspapers and network television news to local daily newspapers and Internet news sites to weekly community newspapers and the newsletters and magazines produced by professional or trade associations.

Local daily newspapers – They produce information that is local accomplishments important to community members. This may include new jobs, project/programme purpose and people within the local community.

News release – It is a form of organizational journalism that gets organizational messages out to the public. It is the story that a organization wants to tell; an attempt by the organization to explain itself to the media and the world at large. It answers the basic questions of journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

Reporters are able to ask the right questions that give them information they need to produce news stories. They are able to digest and then explain the answers to the questions in ways that their viewers, readers, or listeners will both understand and pay attention to. Reporters are also able to do all of their tasks under deadline pressure even when they no little background information on the story they are working on.

2. What are the most important skills a organization’s media relations departments have to help them produce news?

Media relations departments have a working knowledge of how the media actually operates. They have a nodding relationship with those reporters who regularly cover them and their sector of activity. And most importantly, they have the ability to answer questions promptly and properly.

PR people are salespeople that have information they want to get out to the public, and reporters are the buyers. Reporters need stories and story ideas, and they also need information or experts that, at times, only PR practitioners have or have access to.