TOW 11: Infographics

Infographics are computer-generated artwork that attractively displays simple tables and charts. They can be things like a bar graph about how many flowers are sold and they use flowers stacked to represent bars.

You could also do something for that where you have a giant flower pot with a pie chart showing different types of flowers that are sold.

This can be useful because readers like visuals that are attractive. Also, plain graphs are kind of boring and dressing them up with images makes them more interesting.

Creating them is relatively simple and can be done on Microsoft Office, Power Point, and other software applications. However, if you are considering publishing it commercially and distributing it to the media you may want to consider using a graphic design artist or other commercial illustrators.

 

This is my example of an infographic above. I created it in Microsoft Office, and it was relatively simple.

Ch. 9 Writing for Radio and Television

Radio releases are different from television because there is not picture or people to be seen, only heard.

Announcements for radio need to be around 30-60 seconds. 30 seconds is about 75 words, 60 seconds is more like 150 words.

For radio a conversational style of writing is usually used and there is emphasis on strong, short sentences (kind of like blogging huh?)

For a video news release you should have four components:

• 90 second news report with voiceover narration on an audio channel separate from that containing soundbites and natural sound
• Extra soundbites and B-roll
• Clear identification of the video source
• Script, spokespeople information, media contacts, and story background information provided electronically

VNR’s are not inexpensive, they cost a minimum of 20-50K to produce and distribute. Radio releases are usually around 4K to produce and distribute.

PSA’s (public service announcements) are unpaid announcements that promote programs of government or nonprofit agencies that serve the publics interests.

All info from:

 http://www.amazon.com/Public-Relations-Writing-Media-Techniques/dp/0205648282

TOW 10: Site Stats

The Site Stats page on wordpress for your blog tells you things like how many views your blog has perday, which day was the most popular, and how many total views you have. It will also tell you how many posts you have made, how many comments are on it, how many people were referred to your site through links, and how many people came to your site because of a seearch engine.

I think that PR practitioners could benefit from monitoring their personal blog to see how many views were made on posts, and which one was the most popular. The post or posts that are most popular can let them know what their readers like the most and they can do more posts along the same lines.

Checking your client or companies blog site stats can tell you many of the same things as well as the amount of referrals can help you know where your business is coming from. If the company can know where the business comes from then they can target that audience. Also, the company should make sure to reply to/thank people for their comments on the blog to build better relations.

Ch. 8: Selecting Publicity Photos

There are many components of a good photo.

Technical Quality- photos should have a good resolution to begin with as they will most likely be resized, also there should be good contrast and sharp details

Subject Matter- there are static photos like of execs and then there are photos of things like ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings

Composition- usually photographer should move in closer to the main subject eliminating background that is not essential to the photos message

Action- action is important because it gives the reader the idea that something is happening right then and there. Someone talking, gesturing, laughing, running, etc. generates more interest than a picture of someone just sitting there.

Scale- with inanimate objects the picture should contain something that is of known size for reference

Camera Angle- interest can be achieved through unusual camera angles too. Starbucks shooting pictures for them carrying Naked juice from inside the refrigerator created interest because it was unusual.

Lighting and Timing- indoor pictures often need flash to turn out correctly. Photographers often will use supplemental lighting to get the desired effect.

Color-Sometimes images look better in black and white and sometimes they look better in color. With the technology today it is simple to take a color image and make it black and white/ grayscale.

All information from this book :

 

http://www.amazon.com/Public-Relations-Writing-Media-Techniques/dp/0205648282

CH. 7 Creating News Features and Op-ed

The types of news features are:

• case studies
• application stories
• research study
• backgrounder
• personality profile
• historical pieces

A good feature story requires right-brain or creative thinking.

 Letters to the editor can be used to add addittional comments, information, or rebut an article or editorial that has been previously published.

Articles intended for a magazing should include:

• tentative title of the article
• subject and theme
• significance
• major points
• description of available photos and graphics 

All of this information can be found here

Newsworth or Not?

There are many factors that make a story newsworthy.

The writer must always be aware of what will appeal to media gatekeepers.

Timeliness, Prominence, Proximity, Significance, Unusualness, Human Interest, Conflict, and Newness are seven appealing characteristics that help make a story newsworthy.

Timeliness refers to how current a story is. In today’s world of instant news a public relations writer, or any writer for that matter, must stay current in order to be heard.

Prominence can be multiple things. It can be you having the presence of a huge celebrity at you grand opening or announcement. The award photograph is another good way to generate news, people find others getting honored or rewarded to be interesting. Prominence can also extend to business and not just people. If there is a huge company like IBM that does something it is going to generate more media attention that a locan business.

Proximity has to do with how relevant it is to the area. If you live in New York, you probable dont give two hoots what is going on in Statesboro, Ga.

Significance is any situation or event that can affect a substantial number of people.

Unusualness is just a wow factor. If there is something different or strange about a topic then it makes news.

Human Interest could be anything that grabs attention. It can be things like a kid drowning or Katy Perry’s love life.

Conflict is usually rivalries/conflicting ideas from two different companies. Reporters will sometimes get a quote from one company and ask the other how it feels.

Newness refers to new products in advertisements. The new and improved iPad or updated software are examples.

And those are the main things that make a story newsworthy,

All of this information is from http://www.amazon.com/Public-Relations-Writing-Media-Techniques/dp/0205648282

TOW 9: PR OpenMic

This week I joined OpenMic and mostly just played around with it.

I did not really post anything other than a little bit of essential information about me. I wanted to get a feel for the network.

There are a lot of things you can do on PR OpenMic, and it kind of reminds me of Facebook.

You can create a profile and groups and events. The groups and events kind of work together. If you have a group of people who like one thing like an artist, then you can create events for different things, like award shows and concerts, that involve that artist. It is a good way to stay connected to people with the same personal interests as you.

It is also my newest way to find blogs to comment on for our class.

Another cool feature is that there is a link for jobs/internships which is really cool. You can search for a job or internship near where you live or by occupation. Also you can upload your resume! I know that in order to fulfill requirements for graduation I am going to have to do an internship, and this will be a good place to start.

The other thing about the jobs and interviews tab is the fact that internships are required, but jobs can count as an internship. If you have a working internship then you get paid for fulfilling a school requirement!

Another great thing about it is that if you get a good internship or job while you are still in school is that when you graduate you can either add it to your resume, or if you do a really good job then they may decide to offer you a post-grad job.

Obviously, based on what I spent most of my time elaborating on the jobs/internships tab is my favorite feature or PR OpenMic and is honestly the one thing that makes me really glad my teacher has us join it.

TOW #8 The Lead Lab

So, this week we had to do a Poynter NewsU lab, The Lead Lab, for our class. http://www.newsu.org/courses/lead-lab

I learned a good deal of different things. I learned about the different types of leads and what goes into making them. I learned that not all of the W’s have to make it into your lead. The W’s are who, what, when, where, why, how, and so what according to the lab.

I also learned that which type of lead you will use for your story depends greatly on your news organization, the news itself, and the timing of publication.

I thought that the coolest part of the lab was the myth exploding part. In that part you clicked on one of four myths to “explode” it. I know from my journalism class about the different types of leads there are.

However, had I not known then I would have believed a bunch of the myths. I would have thought that setting the scene in a lead is a bad thing because that is something you rarely see in news. However, the lead does not have to sum things up in one paragraph sometimes setting the scene gives a better lean in and grabs attention better than just facts.

I also really liked how the types of leads were presented. They were presented like a molecular structure for a compound. It segmented all leads into either direct leads or delayed leads. The direct leads are the summary lead and the analysis lead. The types of delayed leads are: anecdotal, significant detail, emblem, and round-up.

I would like to explore the types of leads a little more, just to get more information on when to use which one, and the different ways they are used. I like to see a bunch of examples to better grasp something.

CH. 6 Preparing Fact Sheets, Advisories, Media Kits, and Pitches

All information from Public Relations textbook

A fact sheet should include:

• the name of the event
• its sponsor
• the location
• the date & time
• the purpose of the event
• unusual aspects (if any) of the event that make it newsworthy

Fact sheets accompany news releases.

Journalists prefer electronic forms of press kits over printed kits.

Media advisories/alerts are used to inform the media of any upcoming events that they may want to cover.