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8 Common Errors in News Releases

Photo Credit: Untitled, by PotatoJunkie

After reviewing all the first news releases in PRCA 3330 & COMM 4333, I am generally pleased with what I saw, considering it is the first news release that many of you have written. The best stories were ones that passed the “So What?” test; they were newsworthy to those outside your client’s organization. They were well organized and clearly written. You must have remembered what you learned in your Intro to Journalism class!

Here are some common errors I saw:

  1. Using “we” or “our” when it’s not part of a quotation (a news release needs to sound like a story one would read in an impartial newspaper, not in a company newsletter). News releases need to be written in third person, not first.
  2. Improper use of commas (either too many or not enough)
  3. Puffery (making statements in the news release that don’t seem newsworthy. Some of these would be okay as part of a quotation, however.)
  4. Calling women “girls” or “ladies” (even though it’s common in sororities to do this, AP Style calls for the use of the word “women” when you are writing about female adults)
  5. Abbreviating the word Georgia as GA (rather than Ga.) or Florida as FL (rather than Fla.).
  6. Improper formatting on dates, times, numerals, etc.
  7. Format (forgetting to put an embargo date or For Immediate Release, end sign, page slugs, letterhead with mailing address, etc.). Check BlackBoard or GeorgiaVIEW for the template I provided to you; this will help with basic formatting.
  8. Including a headline that is not compelling. Your headline should be active and entice the reader to dive right into your story, not bore him or her to sleep.

Be sure to avoid these errors when writing future news releases. And you might want a quick refresher of how to flag your AP Stylebook for easy reference, if you haven’t flagged it yet. It’s a real time-saver; I promise. I’ve been using AP Style for all of my adult life, and I still need to look some things up.

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Promoting Mark Lowry Performance :: Brainstorming

For my COMM 4333 class:

Christian comedian/singer/songwriter Mark Lowry is coming to Lakeland for a performance to benefit Southeastern University’s Communication Department. We spent some time brainstorming in class today for ideas for how to promote this event.

Please have one person in your team provide your list of ideas using the form below.

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Inside PR :: Students Should Step Up Their Social Media

Listen to the Inside PR Podcast

As a long-time listener of the Inside PR podcast, I look forward to each episode (seriously!), and I miss listening to new episodes during the summer hiatus. I always find something useful to share with my public relations students from listening to the podcast each Wednesday. But this week . . . what a great show! It’s a must-listen for public relations students.

Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joe Thornley spent this entire 20-ish minute podcast sharing their thoughts on why and how students who are planning careers in public relations should become involved in social media, along with what to avoid doing.

Standard Podcast [21:24m]:  Download


Directly from the show notes, some of the highlights are:

  • Joe shares the first tip: remember there is only one you and be consistent with how you present yourself across all mediums.
  • Joe reminds students to build a professional profile from day one.
  • Gini gives some advice for students who are hesitant to start a blog.
  • Martin points out how important it is to be careful about what you post online.
  • Joe stresses the importance of communicating and engaging.
  • Joe shares the 3 places students need to be to build their online profile: a blog of their own, Twitter and LinkedIn.
  • Martin says students need to have a good RSS reader to organize all their feeds and stay current.

Give it a listen. It’s worth your time. And subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or Google Listen so you don’t miss another episode.

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One Week of Twitter :: Fall 2010


First, Learn a Bit About Twitter

  1. Listen to Laura Fitton discuss Twitter for Business.
  2. Listen to my Twitter: What’s in it for me? presentation.
  3. Read 10.5 Ways for PR Students to Get the Most Out of Twitter.

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

  1. Go to Twitter. Click Get Started, and sign up. I prefer it if you use some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID. (Avoid putting numbers in your Twitter ID, or you may appear like a spammer.)
  2. Upload a photo or avatar.
  3. Write a brief (160-character or fewer) bio. It’s good to mention that you’re a PR student. Consider mentioning your university.
  4. Send a tweet saying “I’m a student in @barbaranixon’s #COMM2322 /#COMM4333 / #COMM4363 /#PRCA3330 class”. (Use the correct number for your class.) Be sure to include the #xxx1234 indicator, with no spaces between the hashtag (#), letters and numbers.
  5. If you haven’t already done so, complete my form that tells me your Twitter username before midnight on  Tuesday, September 21.

Setting Up Your Following List

  1. Follow me plus at least 20 (why not all?) of the people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students.
  2. Visit your class’ list at TweepML: PRCA 3330, COMM 2322, COMM 4333, COMM 4363 (I will activate these links as soon as I have your class’ Twitter usernames.)
  3. For the purposes of this assignment, you will need to be following at least 40 people.

Using Twitter

  1. Over the course of the next week, send at least twenty tweets (Twitter messages of 140 characters or less). Tip: Rather than tweeting that you’re having ramen for lunch, instead consider what might be of interest to your classmates and followers. Perhaps point others to something interesting or funny you read online. Share a fact you learned in a class. Maybe you could even pose a question that you’d like others to answer. (UPDATE: The tweets cannot all be ones automatically generated from your WordPress blog. The point of this assignment is to engage with others on Twitter, not simply announce.)
  2. In addition to the twenty tweets that you originate, respond to at least five of your classmates’ tweets. To respond, click on the arrow after a tweet. Or you can type the @ symbol followed immediately by a username (such as @barbaranixon).

Additional Information

  1. If you already have a Twitter account that you use primarily for social (not educational or professional) reasons, you may wish to create a fresh, new account for this exercise.
  2. Review my tips on how college students can use Twitter to their advantage and Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy.
  3. Review Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.
  4. I find using the web interface for Twitter to be clunky. I prefer using TweetDeck, a free Adobe Air app that works great on PCs and Macs. TweetDeck makes it really easy to send URLs via Twitter, as it automatically shortens them for you.
  5. I’ll occasionally post information on Twitter and use the hashtag for your class (#COMM2322, #COMM4333, #COMM4363 or #PRCA3330).By using this hashtag, I’m indicating that I want students in this class to pay special attention to the tweet.
  6. OPTIONAL: If you’d like to publicize your blog posts via Twitter, you can it automatically in WordPress.

Blog About Your Experience

After the week is over, add a 300-word (minimum) post to your blog about the experience and what you got out of it. Include a link to your Twitter profile (here’s mine). Be sure to include at least one way you might find value in continuing your account in Twitter. Your blog post about this experience count as your Topic of the Week for the appropriate week.

Questions? Just send me a DM (direct message) or an @ (reply) in Twitter!

NOTE: Many thanks to Kaye Sweetser and Karen Russell for their ideas prompting this assignment.

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The Evolution of Public Relations :: An Interactive Timeline

In PR Applications class today, we’ll be discussing the evolution of public relations. See the timeline below, created by Dr. Corinne Weisgerber’s Introduction to PR class at St. Edward’s University, for an interactive look at how public relations has changed and matured over the years.

NOTE: As Dr. Weisgerber’s class was a few years ago, the timeline stops at 2006. What would you add to the timeline?

The history of public relations on Dipity.

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10 Tips for Polishing Up Your Blogs, Fall 2010 Edition

Alternative Furniture Polish
Image Credit: "Alternative Furniture Polish" by Annie B. Bond

As I started reviewing blogs for my Fall 2010 classes, a few things came to mind. Rather than just sharing them with individual students, I’ve chosen to write this post, so even more new bloggers can learn from these tips.

NOTE: Many of these tips apply to blogs in general, not just to blogs for my PR classes.

  1. Every post needs to be categorized. If you have had me for a course before, or if you have me for more than one course this semester, please rename your Fall 2010 blog categories to append your course name. For example, instead of “Reading Notes,” edit the category name to “Reading Notes COMM 4333.” For directions on how to rename your categories, see WordPress Support on Category Management.
  2. If your blog post titles are generic, edit your posts and change the titles to make them more descriptive. For example, instead of “TOW #2,” title the post with the actual topic you are discussing. Better titles will make your blog more reader-friendly. For directions on how to retitle your blog posts, see WordPress Support on Post Title and URL.
  3. Review the directions for Tracking Your Blog Comments. There should be just ONE post, and you will keep editing & adding to this post as the semester progresses. (Once you are done with this class, you’ll have no need to continue tracking your comments — this is simply to make it easier for your professor to read the comments you have written without lots of clicks.)
  4. Create a descriptive or interesting site title for your blog, different from the default of “Username’s Blog.” For directions, see WordPress Support on Settings >> General Settings.
  5. Remember the old commercial where we were admonished “never let them see you sweat”? The same goes for website addresses, or URLs. Never let your readers see a URL. Simply hyperlink from the relevant words in your post. And it’s best if your hyperlink opens a new window, so that your blog will remain open in the browser. For directions, see WordPress Support on Links.
  6. Make sure that your posts are thorough and “long enough.” Topics of the Week need to be a minimum of 300 words, and Blog Comments need to be 100 words each. Use your discretion on the PR Connections and Reading Notes. See Blogging Guidelines for more details.
  7. Always (ALWAYS) provide a citation of some kind when you are using content from another source. Not doing so is plagiarism, plain and simple. If the source is available online, hyperlink to it.
  8. Buddy up with another student blogger — either at your own university or at another — and proofread each other’s posts. Typos are never acceptable.
  9. Beef up your About page to provide your readers with a robust and professional profile of you, so they can know more about who you are. (Use common sense, though. No need to include e-mail, cell phone, residence address, etc.)
  10. To be sure your blog is easily readable by readers “of a certain age,” ask a professor from another class or another person over 35 to quickly review your blog. Some of the free WordPress themes are really difficult to read, especially the following:
  • Motion (pixellated white text on medium blue background)
  • ChaoticSoul (tiny white text on dark background)
  • Sweet Blossoms (extremely narrow column of text)

    • So, those are 10 of my tips as we start our Fall Semester. What other tips would you offer?

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    COMM 4363 (Corporate PR) Final Project Options

    The Cast of The Office

    For your final project, you will analyze a Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company from a public relations perspective. The written portion of your project is due November 11, and your in-class presentation is due during Week 13.

    This project is worth a total of 300 points of the 1000 available; the blog/paper portion is worth 250, and the class presentation is worth 50.

    You will have the option of creating the written portion of the project as a traditional term paper or as a series of blog posts. Let your professor know your decision no later than Week Four.

    If you choose to do this project as a traditional term paper:

    • Use APA style for formatting and source citations
    • Include a title page and table of contents
    • Submit your paper [in the manner your professor requires]
    • NOTE: Another option is to write a traditional term paper of at least 10 pages, on any topic discussed in our textbook Reputation Management. I will write a separate blog post with more details on this option.

    If you choose to do this project as a series of blog posts:

    • Create one page (not post, but page) on your blog with hyperlinks to all the posts. Submit the URL of your page [in the manner your professor requires]
    • Cite your sources within the posts, and also provide hyperlinks to the original source if it’s available online
    • Use tags on your posts

    Required elements:

    • An overview of the company and what it does
    • A brief history or timeline of the company
    • Based on Grunig & Hunt’s models of PR, which model is the company using? Provide examples.
    • Describe the publics, including customers, of the company (or one of its subsidiaries)
    • Top challenges facing the company (including the current financial market)
    • Awards and honors the company has garnered in the past 10 years & how the company is using the awards/honors for promotion
    • An analysis of how the company uses and benefits from (or could benefit from) social media
    • An overview and critique of the company’s online newsroom
    • Career opportunities in PR, corporate communication, marketing, etc., within the company
    • Based on your research of this company, are you now MORE or LESS likely to want to work for the company? Why? Provide at least two paragraphs of a rationale for your decision.

    Also, choose two from the following if you are working alone on the project. If you are working in a group, complete five of the following:

    • For at least one news release, compare how the news release appears in the company’s online newsroom to how the story appeared when it was published in the media
    • One crisis the company has faced and how it dealt with it
    • Describe how the company is involved in its communities
    • Interview (phone or e-mail) a public relations professional within the company
    • Create your resume and cover letter as though you are applying for an entry-level PR position within the company
    • Another section of your choice, as long as you clear it with your professor by Week 9

    Important Dates

    • Week 3: Choose a company.
    • Week 4: Let me know your decision of whether you’ll do a traditional term paper or a series of blog posts.
    • Week 9: Last date to pitch an idea for a section in your paper to me (if there’s something you would like to write about your company that is not on the list above)
    • Week 12: Written portion of your project due
    • Week 13: Presentations in class