what is the importance of research in public relations writing

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Just how important is research in public relations?

• Just how important is research…

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By Megan R. Auren

Where research fits into public relations

Public relations activities are often explained with acronyms like ROPES and RACE.

• ROPES: Research, objectives, programming, evaluation, stewardship.
• RACE: Research, action, communication, evaluation.

It is important to note research is the foundation of all public relations activities and should operate on a continuous cycle. However, research is often overlooked and left behind during plan progression. Failing to revisit research throughout a plan is a mistake and can lead to expensive repercussions.

A crash course in research

• Theoretical research and applied research: Public relations professionals most often use applied research in their field. Applied research uses framework created by theoretical research to understand situations and solve problems.
• Quantitative and qualitative data: Within research are terms such as quantitative data and qualitative data. Quantitative data reports quantities whereas qualitative data reports subjective responses. Both quantitative data and qualitative data are equally important to public relations research.

The importance of research in public relations

• Research establishes a foundation for a public relations plan. Research allows public relations professionals to learn and understand an organization, its goals and its target market. In this baseline phase of research public relations professionals are able to judge current organization efforts and use industry knowledge to give advice and provide direction for the plan.
• Research allows for preparation of change and industry trends. In addition to foundation research, continuous research allows for preparation of change and industry trends. Continuous research efforts involve monitoring and tracking a plan and are referred to as checkpoint research or benchmark research.
• Research grants proper evaluation. The final activity in a public relations plan is preparing an evaluation of the plan. Proper measurement and assessment can only be administered when compared to baseline research. Therefore, if a baseline of research is not collected at the beginning of a plan then the effectiveness of the final evaluation diminishes.

Don’t leave research behind

In order to create an effective public relations plan research must be at the forefront of decision making and must be included throughout the plan. Therefore, the best public relations practices involve completing a foundation of baseline research and then accommodating for checkpoint research throughout the plan. Doing so will ensure your public relations plan stays on track, is able to adjust to change, and remains up to date with industry trends.

More public relations insights

Learn more in the book Promoting Your Business: How to Harness the Power of Media Relations and Influencer Marketing .

• Public relations case study: Johnson & Johnson Tylenol crisis
• The role of public relations in the marketing mix
• Promoting Your Business: new public relations resource for entrepreneurs

8.1 Importance of Research in Public Relations Management

Public relations professionals often find themselves in the position of having to convince management to fund research, or to describe the importance of research as a crucial part of a departmental or project budget. Research is an essential part of public relations management. Here is a closer look at why scholars argued that conducting both formative and evaluative research is vital in modern public relations management:

• Research makes communication two-way by collecting information from publics rather than one-way, which is a simple dissemination of information. Research allows us to engage in dialogue with publics, understanding their beliefs and values, and working to build understanding on their part of the internal workings and policies of the organization. Scholars find that two-way communication is generally more effective than one-way communication, especially in instances in which the organization is heavily regulated by government or confronts a turbulent environment in the form of changing industry trends or of activist groups. See, for example, Grunig (1984), pp. 6–29; Grunig (1992a; 2001); Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier (2002); Grunig and Repper (1992).
• Research makes public relations activities strategic by ensuring that communication is specifically targeted to publics who want, need, or care about the information. Ehling and Dozier (1992). Without conducting research, public relations is based on experience or instinct, neither of which play large roles in strategic management. This type of research prevents us from wasting money on communications that are not reaching intended publics or not doing the job that we had designed them to do.
• Research allows us to show results , to measure impact, and to refocus our efforts based on those numbers. Dozier and Ehling (1992). For example, if an initiative is not working with a certain public we can show that ineffectiveness statistically, and the communication can be redesigned or eliminated. Thus, we can direct funds toward more successful elements of the public relations initiative.

Without research, public relations would not be a true management function . It would not be strategic or a part of executive strategic planning, but would regress to the days of simple press agentry, following hunches and instinct to create publicity. As a true management function, public relations uses research to identify issues and engage in problem solving, to prevent and manage crises, to make organizations responsive and responsible to their publics, to create better organizational policy, and to build and maintain long-term relationships with publics. A thorough knowledge of research methods and extensive analyses of data also allow public relations practitioners a seat in the dominant coalition and a way to illustrate the value and worth of their activities. In this manner, research is the strategic foundation of modern public relations management. Stacks and Michaelson (in press).

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How to conduct great PR research

It’s all about having as thorough a picture as possible.

Being a top-flight researcher is one of the best skills you can have in your PR arsenal. It’s not only a great way to show the media you’re pitching that you have tangible evidence and anecdotes to back up your argument for coverage that you’re trying to make, it’ll also help you position your pitch in the best possible light and assist you in figuring out where you want to place your story.

Laying the groundwork

Before conducting thorough research, you need to know all the relevant details about the story to be able to properly position it from a public relations point of view. First, get a firm sense of what your narrative is and figure out how it fits into the marketplace. You should back up your initial fact-finding with figures you can cite within pitches and marketing materials. For instance, if you’re representing a company with a worldwide footprint, be sure to do deep research into not only the different types of media outlets across the globe that might cover your story but how they’ll cover it from their perspective. It’s important to not get locked into a local view for a story that might have global implications, nor to ignore local media if there’s a great story to be told there. A key part of media research involves reading the outlets you want to gain placement in and trying to put yourself within the perspective of the editorial team. Look for patterns in their coverage and see where you might fit in.

Media research tips

Any good public relations pro knows that a deep knowledge of potential media targets is a precursor to a successful campaign. But there’s a lot more to it than just firing up a database of reporters and tossing them in a spreadsheet or keeping tabs on the trades or general coverage of the subject matter you’re seeking to pitch. One method is to find reporters on social platforms like Twitter and get a sense of the types of stories they’re tweeting and the material they’re sharing. This can add depth to the full picture of what they might be willing to cover and help you adjust your outreach strategy accordingly.

Additionally, there’s a good chance that you’ll run into a reporter that freelances for a number of different outlets. View this as an opportunity to cater your pitch around multiple angles. Your job as a PR person here is to provide sources to a reporter. Do your due diligence and see how the journalist’s coverage and tone shift from publication to publication, and shift your pitching accordingly. The more you offer a journo, the more likely they are to rely on you in the future for tips and sources.

Understanding your audience

A big key that underpins the entire public relations research process is knowing what sort of audience you’re going for. A great way to do this research is by the creation and analysis of surveys of your target audience. This way, you’re able to cut straight to the consumer and see what their desires are, and you can cater your messaging accordingly. In addition, you can see what sort of media you’ve released in the past that’s resonated with your target crowd and what sort of successes your competitors are having in the media space to help inform how you want to package your messaging going forward.

But there’s more you can do to get to know your audience beyond just conducting surveys. You can engage in social listening tactics , for instance, which can include conducting conversations with your target audience on social or the in-depth analysis of audience reaction to the content you release into the world, positive or negative. In addition, consider using competitive analysis tactics such as observing what types of narratives your competitors are finding success within the public forum, such as posts that garner significant engagement on platforms such as LinkedIn. If a campaign doesn’t live up to your expectations or past successes, try framing against more positive past results and try to replicate the wording, outreach or audience that you went for before. Good media research should lead to educated experimentation in outreach, and going back to your initial findings to come up with new ways to spread your message is par for the course.

There’s not one exact way to correctly do media research — it can take lots of different forms. Focus on the qualitative or quantitative side of things, and be adjusted to specific situations. But in the public relations world, there’s no doubt that it’s one of the most important things you can do to set yourself up for success. When you arm yourselves with knowledge of your targets and surroundings, you’re much more likely to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night.

COMMENT One Response to “How to conduct great PR research”

A major rule of PR research is to record eagerly what accusers claim. This is because PR wisdom is to accuse the accusers.

Defenders of Trump, whom I dislike, could say that the accusing DA should “be more accurate because no man is above the law.” The law violation, defenders could say, was in the DA ignoring the law to accuse Trump.

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Chapter 4: Public Relations Research

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Define the term ‘research’
• Articulate the difference between formal and informal research
• Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research
• Identify key research methods commonly used in PR research, such as surveys and focus groups
• Understand the role of research in the field of public relations and articulate its importance
• Demonstrate knowledge of social media research and the affects it can have on an organization
• Learn how to find, evaluate and cite Information

Research is a critical part of public relations management. Public relations professionals have always relied on research to assess the success of campaigns and identify opportunities. Without research, it is impossible to demonstrate the effectiveness of any public relations activity.

“Research is the systematic gathering, analyzing, and evaluating of data. Data are observations of some sort – they may be as simple as the number of people attending the event or as complex as the perceptions of an organization’s reputation or credibility based on a measurement scheme” (Stacks, 2017, p.4).

In this chapter, you will learn what research is, the difference between formal and informal research, and what quantitative and qualitative research means.  You will learn about key research methods used in PR research, and you will learn what purpose research serves in public relations, and why it is so important.

Stacks, D. W. (2017). Primer of public relations research (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford.

Foundations of Public Relations: Canadian Edition Copyright © by Department of Communication Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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COMM411: Public Relations

Unit 5: writing for public relations.

Public relations communications may take many forms from media releases to public speaking, counseling, training seminars, and hosting public events. Public relations writing will embrace a range of styles from straight-laced, corporate-speak to artsy, entertaining, and spellbinding. Sloppy disregard for fundamental rules will alienate the editors who control the gates of information flow and will undermine authority with your audience. One key resource for public relations writers is the AP Stylebook, which covers the standard writing style expected by most print editors. Writing primers can help with the basis of crafting effective communication. Examples of successful public relations materials are readily available: media releases, company reports, promotional materials, executive speeches, feature articles, and more.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• define the scope of and conduct public relations research;
• identify resources to enhance proper writing style, such as AP guidelines; and
• effectively prepare a range of PR communications.

5.1: Effective Public Relations Writing

5.1.1: conducting research.

This chapter outlines the importance, purpose, and methods of conducting research, which is the essential first step for effective communications.

5.1.2: Reference Materials for Proper Writing Style

Consider obtaining this official guide to writing in AP style, a standard form for most newspapers in the United States. If you are going to do extensive work with the news media, it is a worthwhile investment to purchase this book. This book serves as an example of how a well-written press release uses AP style, provides cross-promotion with social media, and injects company information and contact detail. To see AP style at work, do a Google search for "AP style" and visit several pages that may give examples of the AP style rules applied to specific instances of writing. In the United States, you will also find newspapers serving your community typically use AP style, so you can examine those as well for samples of the style rules.

5.1.3: Writing Primers

Watch this video for suggestions on how to immediately improve your written communication skills. Public relations professionals spend lots of times writing things like internal and external communications, media releases, company reports, and memos. This video discusses six tips on how to do it much better.

Read these articles written by PR experts who specialize in public relations writing. Your time spent learning how to communicate more effectively with the news media and improving your writing skills will help ensure the success of your immediate campaigns as well as your ongoing professional career.

• Thomas Klipstine's "How to Communication More Effectively"
• Marcia Yudkin's "Six No-Hype Copywriting Techniques"
• Daphne Gray-Grant's "Dramatically Improve PR Writing Skills"
• Ann Wylie's "Improve Your Team's Writing Skills"

5.2: Preparing PR Communications

Read Chapters 5 through 9, which describe how PR professionals have capitalized on the popularity of social media channels to reach diverse audiences. Understanding the two-way nature and immediacy of social media message strategies is key to developing these channels, an environment that epitomizes 24-7 communication. PR practitioners need to understand their audience to tell their company stories in ways that keep them engaged and returning, as in conversation. The technology allows companies to monitor and curate their communications: the data becomes a corporate asset they can use to create and implement even more successful social media campaigns and programs.

5.2.1: Creating PR Materials

Read these articles written by PR experts who specialize in PR communications. These articles discuss the essential aspects of effective communications, including formulating your creative message for media and promotional materials as well as writing with a style that connects with your target audience in both their heads and hearts.

• Steve Turner's "How to Get Better Media Coverage"
• Marcia Yudkin's "Effective Content for Catalogs and the Web"
• Kyle Potvin's "The Road to Inspiration"
• Sara Fletcher's "Connecting Emotional Intelligence with PR"
• Jim Barbagallo's "Promoting a Newly Public Company"

5.2.2: Public Presentations

Read these articles written by PR experts who specialize in public relations writing. The authors provide how-to tips on preparing for more effective personal presentations and suggestions for finding more speaking opportunities.

• Andrew Gilman's "How to Prepare for Speeches and Presentations"
• Steve Markman's "How to Maximize Speaking Engagements"
• Ed Barks' "The Truth about Public Speaking"

5.2.3: Internal Communications

Read these articles by public relations experts who specialize in internal communications. Internal communications is an aspect of public relations often overlooked; some would even suggest that internal communications are more important than our external outreach, at least when it comes to ensuring a solid foundation upon which to base your campaign.

• Amanda DiSilvestro's "Why Internal PR Should Come First"
• Tonya Bacon's "How to Use Internal Communications to Engage Workers"

Unit 5 Discussion

How Is Research Important to Strategic Public Relations Plans?

Formulating strategic public relations plans for your small business involves conducting some research, whether it is through customer surveys or other methods of data gathering. Public relations workers may give their opinions and recommendations on conducting research, but top management needs to understand the importance of research in PR campaigns and make informed decisions on how to proceed.

The Importance of Research in Public Relations

Research, when conducted properly, eliminates bias and gives the leaders of a company a realistic picture of how various members of the public perceive the organization. As North Kentucky University mentions, if the leaders and public relations workers in a company were to rely solely on their own biased opinions of how the public views the organization, they would risk not really knowing if the organization's public image needs to be improved. The leaders and public relations workers also risk making decisions that would not positively affect the public's perception of the organization.

More For You

Effective communication & leadership, the importance of planning in an organization, goals of a team leader, how to write a good project proposal for donor funding, corporate development & planning, organizational strengths and weaknesses.

Research for a public relations plan should involve a non-biased assessment of the organization itself. This research analyzes not only the overall mission of the organization but also how far the organization has gone toward achieving its mission. The research also gives a list and assessment of all resources available to the organization that it may use in the implementation of a public relations plan. Leadership in the organization also receives information about any liabilities or possible internal threats that could jeopardize the public relations plan, allowing the leadership to devise a plan for how to proactively manage these risks.

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Research and Public Relations Messaging

The research conducted by the organization provides valuable information about how the organization should craft its public relations messaging. The research provides feedback about what matters most to the public, which the organization addresses or incorporates in public relations messaging. Thorough research on groups the organization interacts with also supplies a list of media forms the different groups engage in, letting the organization know the most effective methods of delivering its message.

Gaining Feedback From Stakeholders

After a public relations plan has been formulated and then put into practice, additional research provides feedback on the actual public relations plan. This research allows the organization to determine if any of the objectives formulated for the public relations plan has been achieved and to what degree.

As Nikki Little at Identity points out, organizations should limit the amount of time they spend researching and analyzing to a specific timeline, otherwise you run the risk of inaction due to analysis paralysis. Knowing how effective the public relations plan is at achieving the objectives helps the organization decide whether to continue with the plan, make adjustments to the plan or to scrap the plan and begin formulating a new one.

• Northern Kentucky University; Public Relations Planning; Strategic Planning Steps; Michael Turney
• Identity: A Practical Guide to Public Relations Strategic Planning

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May 21, 2019

The importance of research in a public relations campaign.

• #OlivePRMoments
• #TheOliveWay
• #IlluminatingGreatness
• #NowTrending

By Jaclyn Walian

Contrary to what some may think, research plays an integral role in any public relations and social media campaign. It should be the foundation to the plan and incorporated into every step after. Research is what lets us know and understand target audiences , what resonates with those target audiences and the impact of the campaign. Research allows us to better guide the campaign so you can actually see results and a return on your investment. It is something that should not be overlooked.

We’re not saying that you have to go out and spend thousands of dollars on research. While that is always helpful, there are other ways to gather important information without breaking the bank:

• Customer/client survey – use the contact information you already have to conduct a survey
• Informal focus group – gather some friends or reach out to your network to conduct a focus group
• Hit the streets – go to a high traffic area and talk to people
• Social media and website analytics – you can gather a lot of information from these sources

At Olive, we like to look at numbers and facts to help guide our campaigns. A great example of this is when we worked with VIM & VIGR , a fashionable compression sock company. Being that they were new to the market, we didn’t have much research so we kicked off with what we thought would be the best route – going after the fitness and fashion markets as well as the general public. While these audiences loved the product, we soon realized that the audiences with the most conversions were those professions that were on their feet all day – nurses, teachers, etc. – and those that needed compression socks for medical reasons – DVT and pregnancy. Once we had numbers to look at, we quickly pivoted our plans and changed our strategy to target the audiences most likely to purchase the products.

We also focus on the result of the result, which comes from research. While it’s great if we secure a media hit on a site that has 1 million unique monthly visitors, that does not mean that 1 million people will see the article or convert and purchase a product. We work with our clients to determine what the actual impact was – did it result in sales, increased traffic, etc.? If yes, then we are on the right track. If no, we hit the drawing board to figure out a new strategy with the new information we now have.

Interested in making sure research plays into your campaign? Contact us at [email protected]

This is “Importance of Research in Public Relations Management”, section 8.1 from the book Public Relations (v. 1.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here .

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8.1 Importance of Research in Public Relations Management

Public relations professionals often find themselves in the position of having to convince management to fund research, or to describe the importance of research as a crucial part of a departmental or project budget. Research is an essential part of public relations management. Here is a closer look at why scholars argued that conducting both formative and evaluative research is vital in modern public relations management:

• Research makes communication two-way by collecting information from publics rather than one-way, which is a simple dissemination of information. Research allows us to engage in dialogue with publics, understanding their beliefs and values, and working to build understanding on their part of the internal workings and policies of the organization. Scholars find that two-way communication is generally more effective than one-way communication, especially in instances in which the organization is heavily regulated by government or confronts a turbulent environment in the form of changing industry trends or of activist groups. See, for example, Grunig (1984), pp. 6–29; Grunig (1992a; 2001); Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier (2002); Grunig and Repper (1992).
• Research makes public relations activities strategic by ensuring that communication is specifically targeted to publics who want, need, or care about the information. Ehling and Dozier (1992). Without conducting research, public relations is based on experience or instinct, neither of which play large roles in strategic management. This type of research prevents us from wasting money on communications that are not reaching intended publics or not doing the job that we had designed them to do.
• Research allows us to show results , to measure impact, and to refocus our efforts based on those numbers. Dozier and Ehling (1992). For example, if an initiative is not working with a certain public we can show that ineffectiveness statistically, and the communication can be redesigned or eliminated. Thus, we can direct funds toward more successful elements of the public relations initiative.

Without research, public relations would not be a true management function . It would not be strategic or a part of executive strategic planning, but would regress to the days of simple press agentry, following hunches and instinct to create publicity. As a true management function, public relations uses research to identify issues and engage in problem solving, to prevent and manage crises, to make organizations responsive and responsible to their publics, to create better organizational policy, and to build and maintain long-term relationships with publics. A thorough knowledge of research methods and extensive analyses of data also allow public relations practitioners a seat in the dominant coalition and a way to illustrate the value and worth of their activities. In this manner, research is the strategic foundation of modern public relations management. Stacks and Michaelson (in press).

Defining the ‘Object’ of Public Relations Research: a New Starting Point

• January 2012
• Public Relations Inquiry 1(1):7-30

• The London School of Economics and Political Science

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Chapter 9: Public Relations Writing

48 The role of writing in public relations

Public relations professionals at all levels need to have solid writing skills. White (2016) says, “To succeed as a PR pro, it’s vital to have a passion for writing and communication, and to be committed to excelling in both. You’re bound to fail if you don’t” (para. 9). Public relations professionals are responsible for developing communication materials intended to influence the attitudes and/or behaviors of key publics. Many employers require candidates for public relations positions to complete a writing test and provide a writing sample to demonstrate proficiency in this skill. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to craft effective messages through written communication.

Here are some of the many materials and messages that public relations professionals have to write:

• Press/News releases
• Fact sheets
• Feature articles
• Social media messages
• PowerPoint presentations
• Media pitches
• Website messages

Writing for Strategic Communication Industries Copyright © 2016 by Jasmine Roberts is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter 5 – The Role of Writing in Public Relations

Chapter 5 – the role of writing in public relations.

Previously, we touched on using the news media as an informational tool to achieve your organization’s communication goals. One useful writing material is a feature article. Features are more in-depth than traditional news stories and go beyond providing the most important facts. The purpose of these stories is to provide a detailed description of a place, person, idea, or organization.

Although reporters and editors classify features as news stories, they are not necessarily structured using the inverted pyramid style. Instead, features use storytelling devices to help the reader connect with the overall narrative and its central characters. Features are particularly common in magazine writing, although they frequently appear in other mediums.

Profiles or personality features that give insight into a person’s role, experience, or background are one type of feature. Among the most common subjects of profiles are celebrities, athletes, individuals who overcome challenges, and high-profile executives.

Click here for more information on the different types of features.

It is important to understand the circumstances that warrant a feature piece from a strategic communication perspective. Communication professionals write feature articles to provide in-depth exposure for their client or organization. A feature can increase a client or company’s visibility and even help find new key audiences.

If you need to quickly get information about your client or organization to the media, a feature article may not be the best tool because it typically is longer than a traditional news story. However, you could write a feature article on, for example, your company’s new CEO to provide more background information to key audiences. Feature stories are also used in an organization’s internal communications, such as newsletters and magazines.

Overall, feature articles use an informative tone while incorporating creative and descriptive devices in order to increase audience appeal. Here is an example of a feature article from the New York Times.

Unlike the traditional summary lead, feature leads can be several sentences long, and the writer may not immediately reveal the story’s main idea. The most common types used in feature articles are anecdotal leads and descriptive leads. An anecdotal lead unfolds slowly. It lures the reader in with a descriptive narrative that focuses on a specific minor aspect of the story that leads to the overall topic. The following is an example of an anecdotal lead:

Sharon Jackson was sitting at the table reading an old magazine when the phone rang. It was a reporter asking to set up an interview to discuss a social media controversy involving Jackson and another young woman.“Sorry,” she said. “I’ve already spoken to several reporters about the incident and do not wish to make any further comments.”

Notice that the lead unfolds more slowly than a traditional lead and centers on a particular aspect of the larger story. The nut graph, or a paragraph that reveals the importance of the minor story and how it fits into the broader story, would come after the lead. There will be more on the nut graph later in this chapter.

Descriptive leads begin the article by describing a person, place, or event in vivid detail. They focus on setting the scene for the piece and use language that taps into the five senses in order to paint a picture for the reader. This type of lead can be used for both traditional news and feature stories. The following is an example of a descriptive lead:

Thousands dressed in scarlet and gray T-shirts eagerly shuffled into the football stadium as the university fight song blared.

For each article below, identify whether it uses a descriptive or anecdotal lead:

• A thin line of defense
• Pediatric patient
• Inside Jay Z’s Roc Nation

The content in a feature article isn’t necessarily presented as an inverted pyramid; instead, the organization may depend on the writer’s style and the story angle. Nevertheless, all of the information in a feature article should be presented in a logical and coherent fashion that allows the reader to easily follow the narrative.

As previously stated, the nut graph follows the lead. This paragraph connects the lead to the overall story and conveys the story’s significance to the readers (Scanlan, 2003).

The nut graph comes from a commonly used formula for writing features, known as the Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) formula (International Center for Journalists, 2016). The formula was named after the well-known and respected publication, which created the term “nut graph” and mastered feature news writing (Rich, 2016).

The formula consists of beginning the story with feature-style leads to grab the reader’s attention, followed by the nut graph (Scanlan, 2003). After this comes a longer body of the story that provides the usual background, facts, quotes, and so on. The formula then specifies a return to the opening focus at the end of the story using another descriptive passage or anecdote, also known as the “circle kicker” (Rich, 2016). This could be, for example, an update on what eventually happened to the main character or how the event or issue turned out. This blog post provides a detailed example of the WSJ formula.

Literary Devices

Feature writers use a particular style of writing to convey the story’s message. The use of literary devices helps in this task. These devices include similes and metaphors, onomatopoeia (use of words that mimic a sound), imagery (figurative language), climax, and more. Here are a few examples of onomatopoeia and imagery:

Onomatopoeia: The tires screeched against the concrete as she hit the pedal.

Imagery (example modified from Butte College, 2016 ): The apartment smelled of old cooking odors, cabbage, and mildew; . . . a haze of dusty sunlight peeked from the one cobwebbed, gritty window.

Click here for more information on literary devices, including specific examples.

Descriptive Writing

A good feature writer uses plot devices and dialogues that help move the story forward, while focusing on the central theme and providing supporting information through descriptive language and specific examples. You want to show readers what’s happening, not simply tell them. They should be able to visualize the characters, places, and events highlighted in the feature piece.

Show versus tell

Tell: Friends describe Amariah as a generous and vibrant person who was involved in several nonprofit organizations.

Show: Tracey proudly recalls her friend’s generosity. “Amariah is usually the first person to arrive at a volunteer event, and the last to leave. She spends four hours every Saturday morning volunteering at the mentoring center. It’s rare to not catch her laughing, flashing her perfect smile. She’s just a burst of positive energy.”

It’s often tempting to end a feature piece with a summary conclusion. Instead, use an anecdote, passage, or compelling quote that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.

Writing With Ethical Obligations In Public Relations

The issue of ethics is important in the strategic communication profession. Creators of content should heavily rely on a code of ethics when carrying out various tasks. Using ethical reasoning, whether you’re designing a campaign or writing a newspaper article, demonstrates a basic understanding of the influence of messages on audiences. Ethical communication also helps an organization avoid dilemmas and compromising situations.

Several cases covered in the press highlight the ramifications of failure to use ethical and honest standards in communication efforts.

There are standards for conducting your professional work ethically and legally that must be understood and heeded. Missteps in these areas will undermine not only your own credibility but can have wide-ranging repercussions for the organization and profession within which you work.

Following is a discussion of the levels of responsibility that affect the information you gather and use, and the messages you create. Once you understand the constraints you must acknowledge in your work as a message creator, you’ll be able to think strategically about the information you need to create that outcome. Having this foundation will also help you evaluate the appropriateness of the information you find.

Being a socially responsible communicator requires attention to both ethical standards and legal requirements. First, we need to draw a distinction between ethics and law.

Distinction Between Ethics and Law

Scales of Justice by Karen Arnold PublicDomainPictures.net . CC0 Public Domain Ethics

• A branch of philosophy
• Deals with values relating to human conduct
• Concerned with “rightness” and “wrongness” of actions
• Self-legislated and self-enforced
• Sometimes difficult to determine because of competing, equally-valid possible choices
• Derived from ethical values in a society
• Formally / institutionally determined and enforced through courts and law enforcement officials
• Easily determined because it is a matter of statute and the legality of action and consequences for not adhering to the law is spelled out

In the previous lessons on developing your information task list and determining questions to answer, we’ve focused on specific information-seeking goals. In each of the communication professions, there are key legal considerations that must be understood that will either help or hinder, the seeking of information to meet those goals.

In news, for example, if some of the information needed requires the use of public records then an understanding of public records and privacy laws will help you know what it is possible to get, and how to legally use these records.

In advertising, you might want to make the most of the attributes of the product you are promoting, but you will need to abide by laws dictating the substantiation of product claims.

For public relations professionals, you may need to issue a corporate response to a crisis, therefore it is important to understand the requirements or restrictions of corporate disclosure laws. We will discuss these legal perspectives later in this lesson.

Socially responsible communicators are not content with just staying on the right side of the law. While the law embodies a significant portion of our values, individuals and organizations that want to be considered socially responsible must go beyond the rough requirements of the law itself and adopt higher and more thoughtful standards.

In some cases, these standards may have a legal basis as well as an ethical one. Following these standards requires the communicator to consider both “positive obligations” (things that you must always strive to do) or “negative obligations” (things that you must guard against doing).

Let’s look at the positive and negative obligations that apply to those crafting news messages. These are drawn from the  Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, a long-standing professional association for news professionals.

Society of Professional Journalists logo by Wikipedia. Source: Wikipedia . Fair use

Positive Obligations  (goals you try always to achieve)

1) Seek truth and report it . This requires that you:

a. test the accuracy of information from all sources.

b. fairly represent multiple perspectives and viewpoints.

c. identify sources whenever feasible so the public may judge the reliability of the information.

d. safeguard the public’s need for information.

Despite the rhetoric of First Amendment attorneys, the public does not have a “right to know” per se. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says that citizens have a right to assemble, speak, practice their chosen religion, petition the government for a redress of grievances, and that the Congress shall make no law limiting the freedom of the press. It does not address the public’s “right to know” anything. But most communication scholars acknowledge the crucial role that the media play in nurturing an informed electorate and citizenry.

2) Minimize harm. This requires that you:

a. avoid privacy violations. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy and such intrusion may invoke legal sanctions if a source can demonstrate harm. In the context of information seeking, information that can be found should not necessarily be used.

b. be cautious about naming criminals before the formal filing of charges, identifying juvenile suspects or victims, or seeking interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.

3) Act independently. This requires that you:

a. be wary of sources offering information for favors or money.

b. disclose potential conflicts of interest. IE: failing to label the content from a video news release in a TV broadcast story is a breach of ethics.

c. hold those with power accountable.

4) Be accountable .  This requires that you:

a. admit mistakes and correct them promptly. Libel law may be invoked if the mistake injures a news subject.

b. stand up for what is right in the media organization.

c. abide by the same high standards to which you hold others.

Negative Obligations:  (actions that must be avoided)

1) Plagiarism . Never, ever, ever represent someone else’s work as your own.  Never. Ever.

2) Concealing conflicts of interest , real or perceived, in seeking or using information.  If you have a stake in the outcome of what you are reporting on, you must acknowledge it and perhaps suggest that someone else cover the story.

3) Distorting the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is permissible, but any other type of manipulation must not happen.

4) Eavesdropping. Listening in on others’ conversations, electronically or otherwise, is a form of information-stealing and may invoke wiretapping laws or other legal sanctions.

5) Breaking the “contract” with a source. Publicly identifying a source who provided information confidentially, for instance, is both an ethical and a legal violation. We will discuss the details of the source contract in lesson 9 on interviewing.

These are a sample of the negative and positive obligations that help you weigh your decisions when a situation arises in your information gathering for a news message.

Ethical thinking requires that you establish for yourself, ahead of time, how you value these various obligations and which take precedence in your own scheme of decision-making. You also must be fully aware of how your media organization has ordered these priorities for their own publications, and comply with the standards that your organization has established.

Just as in news, advertising professionals adhere to a number of constraints when gathering and using information, regardless of the type of advertisement they may be creating. We can once again understand these in the context of positive and negative obligations. These are drawn from the principles and practices of the  Institute for Advertising Ethics.

Positive Obligations

1) Create messages with the objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public. Advertising is commercial information that must be treated with the same accuracy standards as news and there may be legal repercussions if the standards are not upheld.

2) Apply personal ethics , like being an honest person, in the creation and dissemination of commercial information to consumers.

3) Clearly distinguish advertising from news and editorial content and entertainment, both online and offline.

4) Clearly disclose all material conditions, such as payment or a free product, that affects endorsements in social media and traditional message channels. This is both an ethical and a legal requirement, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and other regulatory bodies. For example, a blogger who is paid by a company to spread positive information about the company’s product or service must disclose she being paid for her opinions

5) Treat consumers fairly , especially when ads are directed at audiences such as children. In fact, the legal requirements for advertising aimed at children are increasingly stringent.

6) Follow all federal, state and local advertising laws , and cooperate with industry self-regulatory programs for the resolution of complaints.

7) Stand up for what is right within the organization. Members of the team creating ads should express their ethical or legal concerns when they arise. This is a good example of the personal ethics that must factor in decision-making in creating messages.

Negative Obligations

These are obligations that represent both an ethical and, in most cases, a legal/regulatory element. The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the National Advertising Review Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Food and Drug Administration and many other bodies enforce these obligations when necessary.

1) Do not plagiarize . Never, ever, ever represent someone else’s work as your own.

2) Do not use false or misleading visual or verbal statements.

3) Do not make misleading price claims.

4) Do not make unfair comparisons with a competitive product or service.

5) Do not make insufficiently supported claims .

6) Do not use offensive statements , suggestions or pictures.

7) Do not compromise consumers’ personal privacy, and their choices as to whether to participate in providing personal information should be transparent and easily made.

Let’s look at the positive and negative obligations that help PR specialists gather and use information responsibly. These examples come from the  Public Relations Society of America Member Code of Ethics . Once again, many of these obligations refer to both ethical and legal responsibilities.

1) Serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those the PR firm or professional represents.

2) Adhere to the highest standards of truth and accuracy while advancing the interests of those the PR firm or professional represents.

PRSA Foundation logo by PRSA Foundation. Source: Wikimedia Commons . CC0 Public Domain 3) Acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience in preparing public relations messages to build mutual understanding, credibility, and relationships among a wide array of institutions and audiences.

4) Provide objective counsel to those the PR firm or professional represents. For example, the best advice for a client may be to admit wrongdoing and apologize. The PR practitioner must objectively weigh this advice and offer it if it is the best option.

5) Deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media and the general public.

6) Act promptly to correct erroneous communication for which the PR firm or professional is responsible. Again, failure to do this could invoke both ethical and legal sanctions.

1) Do not plagiarize. Never, ever, ever represent someone else’s work as your own.

2) Do not give or receive gifts of any type from clients or sources that might influence the information in a message beyond the legal limits and/or in violation of government reporting requirements.

3) Do not violate intellectual property rights in the marketplace. Sharing competitive information, leaking proprietary information, taking confidential information from one employer to another and other such practices are both legal and ethical violations.

4) Do not employ deceptive practices. Asking someone to pose as a “volunteer” to speak at public hearings or participate in a “grass roots” campaign is deceptive, for instance.

5) Avoid conflicts of interest , real or perceived. PR professionals and firms must encourage clients and customers as well as colleagues in the profession to notify all affected parties when a conflict of interest arises.

You can see from the sampling of positive and negative obligations that as a communications professional you must weigh a wide variety of considerations when gathering and using the information to create a message. The intended audience, the purpose of the message, the intent of the communicator, the ethical considerations, the legal constraints, and many other variables help determine how you pursue the information strategy.

Leadership and Social Responsibility by Peter Durand. Source: Flickr . CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 As a communications professional you must also conduct your work in the context of a commitment to social responsibility at a number of levels. Because mass communication messages are pervasive and influential, media organizations and professionals are held to high standards for their actions. The social responsibility perspective helps outline how this works.

There are three levels of responsibility that affect your work as a communicator. These are:

• Societal :   the relationships between media systems and other major institutions in society.
• Professional / Organizational L:  your profession’s and your media organization’s own self-regulation and standards for professional conduct.
• Individual :  the responsibility you have to society, to your profession, to your audience and to yourself.

We’ll examine each of these in turn.

The societal perspective examines how media institutions interact with other major institutions in society. As a communications professional, it is important to understand the societal implications of your work and the rules under which you operate.

Professional education and licensing have been traditional means by which society has sought to ensure legal and ethical behavior from those who bear important social responsibilities. For law, medicine, accounting, teaching, architecture, engineering and other fields of expertise, specific training is followed by examinations, state licensing and administration of oaths that include promises to live up to the standards established for the profession.

However, there is no U.S. law that requires communicators to be licensed. Without the power to control entry into the field and withdraw the license to operate as in these other professions, it is even more important for mass communication professionals to police themselves. Especially in light of the huge explosion of “ fake news ” being generated by individuals with political, cultural or financial motives, legitimate news professionals must defend their crucial role in society.

Let’s look at examples of the way the media interact with other major social institutions. One of the major tenets of journalism is the goal of exposing public officials or business executives to public scrutiny. This “watchdog” role, one of the most important functions of the press, is used to justify journalists’ behavior in investigating what public officials or corporate executives are doing and whether or not they are meeting their responsibilities to constituents, citizens or shareholders. The First Amendment protects journalists’ rights to challenge government power.

However, serious observers argue that when overly aggressive investigative techniques expose individual politicians or corporate executives to scrutiny about their private lives that may have nothing to do with the performance of their official duties, it causes cynicism, it undermines public confidence in major social institutions, and it drives people away from participation in public and civic engagement. How far does the “watchdog” role go? When is a journalist crossing the line from examining public behavior to voyeurism about private lives?

Similarly, strategic communications professionals face questions about their interactions with other major social institutions. There is more and more agitation for government regulation of advertising because people perceive that advertisers do not police themselves enough.

ftc.gov on skechers by Betsy Lordan Source: FTC . CC0 Public Domain In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission imposed the largest fine in its history on the company that manufactures Skechers athletic shoes and apparel. The company paid $40 million because its ads falsely represented clinical studies backing up claims that Shape-Ups, Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-Ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their gluteal, leg and abdominal muscles. The ads used lines such as “Shape up while you walk,” and “Get in shape without setting foot in a gym.” As part of the settlement, Skechers had to take down the advertising and inform retailers to remove the deceptive claims. It also agreed to stop misrepresenting any tests, studies, or research results regarding toning shoes. And customers who purchased the shoes or apparel were able to file through the FTC for a refund from the company. ( Bachman )

The example points out the interactions between advertisers, government regulators and the public at the societal level.

Another example points out the social responsibility interactions between advertisers, corporations and the customers they serve around the sensitive issue of personal privacy.

The social network Facebook, used by 900 million people worldwide, agreed in June 2012 to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit in California that claimed Facebook publicized that some of its users had “liked” certain advertisers but didn’t pay the users, or give them a way to opt-out.

The so-called “Sponsored Story” feature on Facebook was essentially an advertisement that appeared on the site and included a member’s Facebook page and generally consisted of another friend’s name, profile picture and a statement that the person “likes” that advertiser. The suit was one in a long list of complaints against the social media giant and other online organizations such as Google that appear to be working with advertisers to intrude on consumers’ privacy. ( Levine & McBride )

A group of digital advertising trade organizations called the Digital Advertising Alliance is concerned enough about advertisers’ interaction with consumers, technology companies,

Digital Advertising Alliance Icon by Digital Advertising Alliance. Source: Logolynx . DMCA license privacy advocates and federal/state regulators that it has created a way for people to opt out of having their online behavior tracked. A turquoise triangle that appears in the upper right-hand corner of banner ads on web sites allows users who click on it to remove themselves from having personalized advertising directed at them.

The group created the option in reaction to pressure from other institutions, including the Federal Trade Commission, which is threatening to regulate mobile and digital privacy and exert more control over children’s privacy online. The example points out how various societal-level institutions interact to impose social responsibility on media practitioners if they do not regulate themselves.

As strategic communicators have adopted social media platforms to distribute their messages, scrutiny by other societal institutions has increased. The Federal Trade Commission was so concerned about claims being made by advertisers and PR practitioners via social media that they updated their social media guidelines in 2013.

The new FTC guidelines require social media marketers to:

• fully disclose their sponsorship of the information. If an advertiser has hired a blogger to endorse a product or service, the blogger MUST disclose that he or she is working for that advertiser; if a PR firm posts positive comments about its clients on social media, the firm MUST disclose that they are working on behalf of the client. Further, the disclosure must be clear and conspicuous; it cannot be buried in the fine print.
• monitor the social media conversation and correct misstatements or problematic claims by commenters.
• create social media policies to instruct employees about the expectations and practices that will be enforced.

The mention of company-specific social media policies leads us to the next category of responsibility: the professional or organizational perspective.

In addition to the societal level of interactions, communication organizations and professionals engage in self-criticism and set standards for their own conduct and performance as information gatherers. One of the most conspicuous examples of this lies in the proliferation of codes of conduct for mass communication activities at all levels. As our discussion of positive and negative obligations (above) demonstrated, every mass communication industry develops these professional and organizational guidelines for its practitioners.

In the news industries, codes have expanded in number and scope over several decades. Organizations that have adopted such codes include the American Society of News Editors , the Society of Professional Journalists , the Associated Press Managing Editors Association , the Radio Television Digital News Association , and the National Press Photographers Association . Individual news organizations and publications frequently establish their own codes to which they expect their staff to adhere.

Advertising codes reflect some of the specific criticism directed at the field, such as charges of deceptive advertising, unfair stereotyping, false testimonials, and misleading claims. Organizations as diverse as the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association, the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Beer Institute have guidelines and codes for the content and placement of advertisements in their respective industries or for the audiences with which they are concerned.

For instance, here is a portion of the Advertising and Marketing Code for the Beer Institute. Any advertising professional working with a client who sells and advertises beer would need to adhere to this industry code.

“Brewers should employ the perspective of the reasonable adult consumer of legal drinking age in advertising and marketing their products, and should be guided by the following basic principles, which have long been reflected in the policies of the brewing industry and continue to underlie this Code:

• Beer advertising should not suggest directly or indirectly that any of the laws applicable to the sale and consumption of beer should not be complied with.
• Brewers should adhere to contemporary standards of good taste applicable to all commercial advertising and consistent with the medium or context in which the advertising appears.
• Advertising themes, creative aspects, and placements should reflect the fact that Brewers are responsible corporate citizens.
• Brewers strongly oppose abuse or inappropriate consumption of their products.” (Beer Institute)

Individual advertising agencies and corporate advertising departments also have codes and standards to help employees recognize and deal with ethical questions.

Most media outlets accept or reject ads submitted to them using a set of guidelines about what types of ads are acceptable and what type of content they will allow.

For example, here is a portion of the policy for acceptance of advertising that appears in Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine

• All advertisements are subject to the approval of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (Publisher), which reserves the right to reject or cancel any ad at any time if the ad does not conform to the editorial or graphic standards of the magazine as determined by the Publisher.
• Advertisements that are not appropriate for viewing by youth will not be accepted. Advertisements will not be accepted for tobacco or alcohol products. (Tex. Parks & Wild. Code §11.172(c); 31 Tex. Admin. Code §51.72. Other products that are not compatible with the mission of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will also not be accepted.
• Advertisers must keep in mind the diverse audience of the magazine when determining the suitability of an ad. That audience includes hunters, anglers, campers, bird watchers, state parks visitors, other outdoor enthusiasts and readers of all ages including children. (Magazine Advertising Policy)

Any advertising professional gathering information and creating an ad for a product or service that might appear in this magazine would need to be aware of the publication’s organizational level guidelines about acceptable advertising, and the societal level regulations (Texas state laws) about tobacco or alcohol advertising in this publication.

Public relations practitioners, like advertising specialists, work closely with clients. Through these associations, legal and ethical decisions often arise as clients and publicists discuss information-gathering strategies. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission monitors the way corporations report their financial affairs, scrutinizing information about stock offerings and financial balance sheets for accuracy and omission of important facts. Their objective is to ensure that investors and stock analysts can get accurate information about the companies that are offering securities.

Increasingly, legal and ethical standards are holding public relations practitioners, along with stockbrokers, lawyers, and accountants responsible for the accuracy of the information they communicate to the public. When public relations professionals find themselves on the losing side of an important ethical question with a client, it is not unusual for them to resign their positions as a matter of principle.

The Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Ethics emphasizes honesty and accountability, in addition to expertise, advocacy, fairness, independence, and loyalty. The public relations code, like those for advertising and journalism, reflects the concerns of society as well as the practitioners who adopt the codes. Provisions of all the codes are designed, at least in part, to provide the public with reasons to have confidence in communicators’ integrity and in the messages they create. Of course, the codes are also there to help keep communicators out of court.

For example, a large multinational PR firm resigned its account with a major tire manufacturer just months after landing the account. The reason was that the tire manufacturer failed to disclose to the PR firm that it knew about defects in its tires that had caused a number of fatal accidents. The PR professionals decided they could not ethically represent the tire manufacturer to the public under such circumstances and ended their relationship with the company. The PR firm’s adherence to professional and organizational standards was more important than the income that would have been generated from the account with the tire manufacturer. ( Miller )

There is an individual level of responsibility for your own behavior. As a communications professional, you may find yourself confronting conflicting obligations in your daily routine. You will be doing your work in a decidedly ambivalent atmosphere. News professionals are criticized for reinforcing the assumptions of those in power and ignoring reality as experienced by most of the population. Advertising is criticized for contributing to materialism, wasteful consumption, and the corruption of the electoral system. Public relations is criticized for creating and manipulating images on behalf of those with narrow interests, failing to give public interest information a priority.

In confronting your social responsibility using the individual perspective, you are likely to place duty to yourself at the top of the list. You always need to abide by your own moral standards. But this may conflict with more worldly ambitions – the desire for recognition, advancement, and financial security. The duty to the organization may be at odds with the loyalty to colleagues or to the profession. Let’s look at a few examples that illustrate these tensions.

Am I Comfortable Working on Advertising for This Client?   

Question Problem Think Thinking Reflect by geralt. Source: pixabay . CC0 Public Domain Individual-level responsibility may arise when ad professionals object to ads they have to work on or have to accept. It is usually not necessary to violate your own standards.

Concerns about taking on an assignment will be something to discuss during the message clarification step. If, for example, you are a strict vegetarian, it may be difficult for you to work on a campaign to sell bacon.

Or let’s say that you are the advertising manager for a local magazine. You receive an ad that you think is offensive, even though the product or service being advertised is perfectly legal and the company is a big advertiser in your publication.

You don’t have to accept that offensive ad, but you also don’t have to forgo the ad revenue for your publication (again, we’re weighing two competing obligations—your obligation to your own standards against your obligation to your media organization to generate revenue).

The way to resolve this dilemma is to call the ad agency and ask for another version of the advertisement. Advertisers almost always have another version in anticipation that some media outlets will refuse to run a potentially-offensive version of an ad. With this solution, you can adhere to your own standards and still generate revenue for your publication by accepting the more appropriate ad.

There are entire texts and semester-long courses that examine the specific laws and regulations under which mass communicators operate. We will discuss here briefly a few of the most relevant types of legal and regulatory constraints that affect communicators’ gathering and use of information in messages in this lesson. We will return to some of these examples in more depth throughout the rest of the lessons where appropriate.

Journalism Law and Regulation

You will learn about the relevant legal and regulatory framework for your career as a journalist in later classes. We will mention just a couple of examples that demonstrate the way that laws and regulations affect journalists’ information strategy process.

Federal, state and local law outlines the way journalists gather information. For example, photographers/videographers have a constitutional right to photograph anything that is in plain view when they are lawfully in a public space. Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view journalists’ photographs or videos without a warrant. However, the right to photograph does NOT give journalists the right to break other laws. For example, you may not trespass on private property to capture an image.

Likewise, there are a wide variety of laws that detail the types of information that are accessible to the public, including journalists. Public records laws will be discussed in more detail in Lesson 13 . Suffice it to say that journalists have many tools in their toolbelt when they are seeking access to public record information.

Libel law defines the ways that journalists USE the information they gather in their messages. Again, there are many nuances in libel law and journalists generally defer to the experts within their media organizations when questions arise about whether a particular item in a news story exposes the news organization to a charge of libel. It is most important for you, as an information gatherer, to understand that best practices require you to double- and triple-check any facts, claims or evidence you intend to use in a message and to vet that information with the appropriate gatekeepers in your organization.

The advertising substantiation rule is of paramount importance for anyone collecting and evaluating information to use in a comparison ad. The advertiser must be able to substantiate any claim about a product or service with information that backs up such claims. This means that you, as the advertising professional, will follow a comprehensive information strategy in preparing the background information for any such ad.

The main governmental regulatory agency for advertising is the  Federal Trade Commission . The FTC regulates unfair and deceptive practices on a case-by-case basis and occasionally with industry-wide regulations.

The FTC has the power to require that advertisers prove their claims. If the FTC determines that an advertisement is deceptive, it can stop the ad and order the sponsor to issue corrections. Corrective advertising provides information that was omitted from a deceptive ad. Some companies are fined for their illegal acts. It is extremely rare, but someone could also be jailed for a deception.

Many states also have laws that regulate deceptive advertising. Individual consumers also have the right to sue companies for deceptive advertising.

The advertising industry also has a two-tiered self-regulatory mechanism. Advertising that is charged with being deceptive can be referred to as the National Advertising Division ( NAD ) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. For cases that are not satisfactorily resolved through NAD, appeals can be made to the National Advertising Review Board . The Board can put pressure on advertisers through persuasion, publicity or even legal action if it is deemed necessary.

Public relations firms increasingly are investigated along with the corporations they represent in situations of litigation, disputes about investor relations, etc. In fact, after a number of highly publicized cases of major corporate financial malfeasance came to light, public relations departments and firms reviewed their own roles in unwittingly misleading the public about the financial health of organizations that were in deep trouble. In another example, athletic apparel giant Nike was taken to court by a workers’ safety advocate because it released press statements defending its reputation against charges of mistreating overseas workers. The news releases were said to represent false advertising. The case served as a wake-up call to public relations firms that send out press releases every day. (Egelko)

Chromium – Search Engine Optimization Icons by Kabedi Fernando. Source: Flickr . CC BY 2.0 In a relatively new twist, a number of “guerilla marketing” firms tout their ability to generate “buzz” about products and services on web sites populated by teens. The firms were recruiting young people with promises of gifts and access to the newest gadgets. In exchange, the teens agreed to go online to popular social networking sites and sing the praises of the products they had received and encourage their peers to buy the merchandise, all without disclosing that they were actually working for a marketing firm.

These practices raised ethical questions about the truthfulness of messages that fail to disclose conflicts of interest (one of the negative obligations mentioned earlier). When confronted with ethical concerns, many of the marketing and promotion firms claimed that if someone asked, their operatives were instructed to say that they were working for the movie studio, the gadget company or the bubble gum producer. But how many audience members, especially younger ones, were likely to ask?

As we’ve said, the Federal Trade Commission has now ruled that “word-of-mouth” endorsers of products or services (such as those who post positive messages on social networking sites, etc.) must disclose that they are being compensated with money or free goods and services as part of their posts to these sites. Guidelines originally issued by the Food and Drug Administration regarding direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising now include similar advice for any person or company making claims about medical, food or cosmetic products through social media.

All of these levels of responsibility influence how communicators weigh their actions and make their decisions. Societal expectations, organizational and professional routines and norms, and individual standards are going to play a role in each decision you are faced with making. As long as you have a systematic method for evaluating each situation and for applying your professional standards, you should be able to make your information decisions in an ethical and defensible manner.

The information strategy provides you with the skills to ensure that you don’t have to resort to inappropriate, unethical, or illegal means to gather information. If one method of gathering information seems inappropriate, your skill with a well-developed information strategy means you can use another, more appropriate, method to find what you need. Being a highly skilled information gatherer in an information-overloaded society brings credibility to you and to your organization.

Further, using an explicit information strategy helps you explain your standards to others. When the public, colleagues, or supervisors challenge the information on which you base a message, you can present an ordered, rational account of your information search and selection process. Using the standards and methods available in the information strategy allows others to evaluate your skill and expertise as a communications professional.

Bachman, K. (2012, May 16). Skechers Settles Deceptive Ad Case with FTC for $40M. AdWeek, at http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/skechers-settles-deceptive-ad-case-ftc-40m-140577 captured on July 26, 2012.

Beer Institute Advertising and Marketing Code, at https://www.beerinstitute.org/responsibility/advertising-marketing-code/, captured on August 15, 2017.

Egelko, B. (2003, September 13) Nike settles suit for $1.5 million, San Francisco Chronicle at http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Nike-settles-suit-for-1-5-million-Shoe-giant-2589523.php, captured on July 26, 2012.

Levine, D. and McBride, S. (2012, June 18). Facebook ‘Sponsored Stories’ Lawsuit: Company to Pay $10 Million Settlement. HuffPost Tech Blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/facebook-sponsored-stories-lawsuit-10-million_n_1602905.html , captured on July 26, 2012.

Magazine Advertising Policy, Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine, at http://www.tpwmagazine.com/advertising/policy/, captured on July 26, 2015.

Miller, K. (2000, September 7). Firestone’s PR Firm Resigns, Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000907/aponline231008_000.htm , captured on July 26, 2012.

A collection of news organizations’ ethics codes can be found at The Center for Journalism Ethics’ Ethics Resources page.

The Evolving World of Public Relations: Creating Value Copyright © by Professor Rosemary Martinelli is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Reflect the growth and change in crucial areas of professional development in the form of how-to pieces

Key elements for  Strategies & Tactics  submissions:

All columns must be written in a lively, easy-to-read format. For the how-to angle, topics should focus on how professionals can best execute a tactical skill. Place emphasis on the steps required to successfully complete a typical PR task. Articles may relate to real-life events — with anecdotes and examples that place the advice in a meaningful context. Contributors may interject their personal opinions based on professional experiences and expertise. The length of articles can vary from 600-1,000 words, but the editorial team will decide the final word count.

In addition,  Strategies & Tactics  seeks articles of specific relevance to senior-level professionals and executives, including case studies. Pieces should relate to real-life events, with anecdotes and examples showing how the topic has a measurable impact on the achievement of strategic organizational goals. The length of these articles is usually 1,000–1,200 words.

Stylistic writing guidelines for all columns/articles:

• Write in active voice. This will make your writing clear, succinct and more colorful. (Don’t say: “There was a presentation given by Matt.” Say: “Matt gave a presentation.”)
• Use strong, active verbs and vivid descriptors. (Don’t say something is “good” or “nice,” but describe with details.)
• Vary your word choice and use synonyms whenever possible.
• Vary your sentence structure. Provide a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences.
• Rather than settle for clichés and tired phrases, seek original images and descriptive adjectives. (Don’t say: “He has cold feet.” Say: “He is timid.”)
• Don’t use blocks of quotes. Instead, weave them into a narrative and place them in context.
• Organize your thoughts — and use subheadings or section breaks if you need help. Put things together that go together, transition smoothly from one idea to the next, and don’t jump back and forth between thoughts.
• Don’t assume that the reader knows everything. Clearly explain or identify anything that may not be common knowledge.
• Attribute all quotes and sources and always identify the speaker properly.
• Make sure that references are clear. (If you write “it,” then make sure that the audience will understand what “it” refers to.)
• Be aware of agreement. (Refer to a company as “it,” not “they,” because “company” does not take the plural form.)
• Keep your audience in mind when writing. Remember who your readers are — and that you are trying to make communications pros better, smarter and more connected through all stages of their career.
• Provide the proper name of the survey, who conducted it and the release date when you cite a survey or statistics.
• Include the year of publication and the publisher when your reference a book.
• Try to write in a conversational tone, but remember to be professional too.
• Use parallel structure in your writing. When you use bullet points or list items in a series, construct phrases similarly. (If you are listing tasks, then don’t say: “playing tennis, exercise, coloring.” Say: “playing tennis, exercising, coloring.”

A final word:

• Style —  Strategies & Tactics  always follows AP style.
• Accuracy — We rely on authors to ensure the veracity of their statements. The writer must double-check names, confirm spellings, provide accurate job titles and include institutions responsible for, and dates of, any research cited in columns.
• Editorial prerogative — The editors reserve the right to edit stories for content and style.
• Exclusivity — We assume that any article submitted to  Strategies & Tactics  is offered exclusively and that substantially similar articles will not be published elsewhere simultaneously without our knowledge.
• Bios — Include biographical information for the author (nearly 30 to 40 words) at the end of columns, along with a high-resolution headshot (300 dpi or greater).
• Format —  Please submit all articles via email, attached as a Word document.

*In order to maintain a high standard of journalistic integrity, the following points of policy shall guide  Strategies & Tactics  editors in their decision-making about contributed editorial content:

• Submitting an article does not guarantee its publication.
• The editor-in-chief reserves the right to exercise absolute discretion when selecting articles for publication.
• Due to the high volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee a response to all queries. An editorial team member will likely respond within a week of submission.

Copyright Information:

• The contributor conveys all rights, title and interest, including any statutory copyright together with the right to secure renewals and extensions of such copyright throughout the world to  Strategies & Tactics . Copyright includes publication of article at  www.prsa.org .
• The contributor warrants that this work is original except for such excerpts from copyrighted works as may be included either with the written permission of the copyright owners or as “fair use” under the Copyright Act, and that the work does not invade the privacy or rights of publicity of any person or organization.
• With our permission, the contributor may reprint an article in print form and online for educational purposes and must add the following language to the document (date and publication title subject to change): Copyright © 2024 by  Strategies & Tactics . Reprinted with permission from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA.org).

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1.2 The Role of Writing in Public Relations

The role of writing in public relations.

Public relations professionals at all levels need to have solid writing skills. White (2016) says, “To succeed as a PR pro, it’s vital to have a passion for writing and communication, and to be committed to excelling in both. You’re bound to fail if you don’t” (para. 9). Public relations professionals are responsible for developing communication materials intended to influence the attitudes and/or behaviors of key publics. Many employers require candidates for public relations positions to complete a writing test and provide a writing sample to demonstrate proficiency in this skill. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to craft effective messages through written communication.

Here are some of the many materials and messages that public relations professionals have to write:

• Press/News releases
• Fact sheets
• Feature articles
• Social media messages
• PowerPoint presentations
• Media pitches
• Website messages

News Writing vs. Public Relations Writing

Effective public relations writing draws from news writing principles, because the news media is one of the preferred channels for promoting products and services. However, news writing and public relations writing differ in terms of audience, tone, and media channels. News writing should be objective in tone, with the purpose of presenting information to educate an audience about newsworthy events. On the other hand, public relations writing advocates for the client. It is informative, but it should also influence key publics’ perception of the organization.

Reporters usually write for one audience: readers or listeners of the respective media outlet. Public relations professionals may have to write for a variety of audiences, including internal audiences (such as employees, shareholders, and distributors) and external audiences (such as the media, customers, volunteers, and bloggers). News writing uses one primary communication channel – the news outlet (which can be a newspaper or a television or radio broadcast). Although journalists are increasingly using social media channels to post their articles, this usually entails posting a link that directs the audience to the news outlet’s primary website. Public relations professionals use a variety of channels to distribute their messages, including news media, social media, advertisements, blogs, media kits, and many more.

Good Writing

Many jobs and industries rely on good writing. Even within the public relations or communication industry, writing responsibilities can vary. You may be writing a news release, a blog post or a script for a radio ad. Maybe you’re scripting video shoots, writing speeches, drafting social or advertising content or writing a speech for the upcoming event you’re planning. Strong writing for email also helps you show your professionalism, intelligence and attention to detail.

Employers understand the cost of unclear, clunky or otherwise poor writing, and the need for clear writing threads throughout many jobs in communication, whether or not the primary job responsibility appears to be writing.  Heather Whaling is the founder and CEO of Geben Communication, which specializes in traditional and digital public relations. She says, “writing is still the most important skill” in today’s digital world. Allie Lehman is the co-founder of The Wonder Jam, which has a strong focus on branding, graphics and photography. Lehman agrees, “it’s really important for students to be comfortable with writing.”

As famous basketball coach John Wooden said: “When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur.” Writing improves with practice. The more you do something and work at it, the better you get. This is true whether you consider yourself a strong writer at the start, or someone who struggles with writing.

The boxes below highlight some of the most common writing errors and a few ways to intentionally improve your writing.

Common Errors

• Spelling errors
• Its vs. it’s
• There vs. their
• Affect/effect confusion
• Random capitalization
• Starting sentences with numerals
• Poor sentence structure (run-ons, fragments)
• Incorrect comma use
• Incorrect semicolon use
• Use simple words, short sentences
• Keep it simple by adding visuals
• Challenge ‘to be’ verbs & use active voice
• Challenge prepositional phrases
• Avoid clichés, overused phrases & jargon
• Trim any other wordiness

Also, make editing a formal step in your writing process to force yourself to analyze your own writing. Allow time for re-reading and corrections even when you’re on a tight timeline. Before you send even a brief email to a colleague, pause and read through it one final time to correct minor spelling or punctuation errors.

Reading, Resourcefulness & Curiosity

Reading can teach grammar, but it also gives you insight on different types of writing, different voices and different styles. Read newspapers, blogs, books in many genres, websites, Twitter posts, magazines. Read some things you know you’ll like and some things that will stretch you.

Be curious. If you see something new or unfamiliar or interesting, dig a little deeper.

In addition to reading and exploring things that pique your curiosity, there are many resources to help novice writers grow and to help expert writers continue to advance. Take advantage of colleagues, mentors, bosses and educators who are willing to review your work and give constructive criticism.

There are also amazing resources out there as references when you have questions, need edits or just want to explore ways to step up your writing game. They can help whether you’re Pulitzer-worthy or not able to recognize a run-on sentence. A few to check out include:

• Grammar Girl . Mignon Fogarty, also known as Grammar Girl, explores many common grammar questions with a fun, easy-to-understand style. Check out her website or social media platforms, or listen in on her podcasts.
• Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content . Marketing veteran Ann Handley writes a great book that goes from writing basics to best practices.
• Grammar Bytes: Grammar Instruction with Attitude
• Apps, websites and browser plugins. Do a little digging to see what’s out there. Things like Grammarly , which can help check your spelling and grammar, or Hemingway Editor , which focuses on making writing more concise and readable.

Canadian Press Style

The majority of journalists and public relations practitioners in Canada use CP Style, based on the Canadian Press Stylebook . As the foundation for journalistic writing, this style focuses on achieving the best possible accuracy and consistency to make content easily read and understood by readers. This translates to the public relations arena because:

• Adhering to a consistent style improves readability and brand recognition.
• Using CP style gives you a common language with journalists, who will often incorporate your messages into the stories they write.

Many public relations agencies and corporations interviewing potential employees will require a CP style writing or copyediting test to ensure new hires come in able to write in this style from day one. In the US they used Associated Press or AP Style.

Know the Basics It’s worth your time to learn the basics of CP style that will surface again and again in your writing.

• Dollars & percents
• Composition titles
• Abbreviations
• Social media use

There are a few guiding CP style rules to memorize, but keep a hard copy or online version of the book handy for reference when other questions emerge. Like the English language, there are exceptions to many of the rules, but a few of the often-used CP style standards include:

Every word has one and only one spelling.

• Check the stylebook first – then a dictionary. CP style occasionally has “preferred” spellings.

Avoid unnecessary capitalization.

• Far fewer words should be capitalized than you think.
• Always look it up before you capitalize anything other than proper names.

Avoid excessive abbreviation.

Punctuate according to generally accepted rules.

In general, spell out zero through nine.

• Many exceptions and contingencies to this rule.
• Pay attention and memorize.

They stylebook is updated regularly and published. Some years, the changes are minimal, and other years they are more significant. Many times organizations will use CP style as their overarching style but customize specifics such as how to abbreviate the organization’s name or whether to capitalize the names of its boards or committees.

Writing for Public Relations Copyright © by Andrew Frank is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Wylie Communications, Inc.

Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services

What’s the importance of public relations writing?

Just 3% to 45% of releases actually get the word out.

PR professionals have been married to the traditional PR writing approach since Ivy Lee created the news release more than 100 years ago.

Why, then, do we need a new approach?

With an estimated 3,000 releases going out over the wires each day — that’s one every 29 seconds — the impact of your traditional PR piece ain’t what it used to be.

In fact, fewer than 50% of all traditional PR pieces ever get covered, according to PR Newswire’s own research. Dennis L. Wilcox and Lawrence W. Nolte, authors of Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques , go further. They estimate that some 55% to 97% of all PR pieces sent to media outlets are never used.

What’s wrong with releases?

Most news releases are:

1. Irrelevant

Most journalists receive more than 50 releases a day, according to a survey by Greentarget. But those releases aren’t useful to their target audiences:

• Most trade magazine editors surveyed said fewer than half of the releases they receive are relevant to their publication , according to a survey by Thomas Rankin Associates.
• 65% to 75% of city editors surveyed believed press releases promote “products, services and other activities that don’t legitimately deserve promotion ,” write Wilcox and Nolte.
• No wonder journalists’ biggest pet peeves are releases that don’t pertain to their beats or aren’t relevant to the audiences they serve , according to the Greentarget survey.

“I recently got a message from a reporter working at a small local paper who received 80 press releases in one day,” says Jeremy Porter, digital communications strategist. “Of them, only two were relevant to the information his paper covers.”

2. Poorly written

Most PR pros are bad at pitch writing, according to a study by New York-based DS Simon Productions.

• Television news professionals reported that only 41% of the pitches they receive are good .
• Those TV journalists say that only 33% of the PR people they work with are knowledgeable about the program they’re pitching.
• And pitches are getting “significantly worse” than they used to be, according to 22% of the reporters, editors and analysts surveyed in a Softletterpoll.

Entry-level PR pros are worse, according to a study by Michigan State University and Calgary’s Mount Royal University.

In the study, more than 950 members of the Public Relations Society of America and the Canadian Public Relations Society gave PR pros with five or fewer years of experience failing grades in writing skills.

That’s too bad. Because writing tops the list of five essential PR skills , according to Wilcox.

3. Ineffective

As a result, according to Greentarget, journalists turn to other sources for stories:

• 68% of journalists surveyed by Greentarget get their story ideas from sources .
• 41% get ideas from other news outlets .
• Just 34% get them from releases .

Write better releases.

But a well-written release can help you gain media coverage, reach clients and customers directly, get shared as social media content and draw more visitors to your site.

So how can public relations professionals and PR firms write releases that are among the 3% to 45% of those that actually get the word out? Write releases that:

• Are relevant and valuable to the journalist and her readers . Focus on “news you can use to live your life better” and tipsheets and other value-added story angles.
• Tell a story instead of just reporting facts . The traditional news release format, with its terse hierarchical blurtation of facts, is so tedious and dry, it makes folks’ eyes glaze over.
• Make it easy to read and use . Subheads, bullets and other display approaches make details easier for the reporter to read. Multimedia elements make the release easier to use.

Good public relations writing is good strategic communication.

How can you get your story picked up?

PR professionals have been married to the traditional news release format since Ivy Lee created the release more than 100 years ago. Why, then, do we need a new approach?

With 2,500 releases going out each day — that’s one every 35 seconds — the impact of your traditional news release ain’t what it used to be. In fact, fewer than 50% of all traditional news releases ever get covered, according to PR Newswire’s own research.

Learn to put your PR pieces among the 50% that actually get the word out at NOT Your Father’s PR Writing — our PR-writing workshop.

There, you’ll learn current best PR-writing practices. And you’ll improve your writing with personal feedback and coaching from the Public Relations Society of America’s “national writing coach.”

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The Role of Research in Public Relations

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FRANK LANG, The Role of Research in Public Relations, Public Opinion Quarterly , Volume 15, Issue 1, Spring 1951, Pages 54–64, https://doi.org/10.1086/266278

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In order to create lasting respece and understanding, whether with internal, external, or trade publics, public relations policy should be based on effective and thorough research. In this article, the author discusses the range of research procedures which are available to public relations management.

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