CA 218 – PUBLIC RELATIONS

Professor: Amy L Stewart, MA

March 20 Schedule

5:30 p.m.: Introductions and Syllabus Overview

6 p.m.: Chapters 1-3 7 p.m.: Break 7:15p.m.: AP Sylebook Overview 8 p.m.: Upcoming assignments

Backgrounder Fact Sheet AP Stylebook Quiz Interview

Introductions

Name Major What you want to be when you grow up Why you’re taking this class Interesting fact about yourself

Syllabus Overview

Grading Scale Quizzes Mid-term Writing Assignments Portfolio Group Project Extra Credit

Books

“Public Relations Writing: The Essentials of Style and Format”

“The Associated Press Stylebook”

Writing for Public Relations

What is Public Relations - PRSA

1982“Public relations helps an organization and

its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

2012“Public relations is a strategic

communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

What is Public Relations - Bivins

It involves any activity that enhances the reputations of your clients, mediates disputes between various publics and your client, helps achieve mutual understanding among all parties involved in an issues, advocates on behalf of a client or cause, provides guidance and direction, and results in positive and mutual well-being

Book Launch 2.0

Controlled vs. Uncontrolled Information

Press Release NYT Newspaper Article Advertising Public Service Announcement NBC Action News Story Blog Article Interview Annual report Speeches

Ethical and Legal Issues in Public Relations Writing

Ethics

Public Relations Society of AmericaTranslating values into principles of ethical practice,

the Code advises professionals to: Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and

truthful information Foster informed decision making through open

communication Protect confidential and private information Promote healthy and fair competition among

professionals. Avoid conflicts of interest Work to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession

Ethics Continued

Code guidelines, like tactics supporting strategies, zero in on putting value and principles into play for working professionals facing everyday tasks and challenges. Among them, professionals should: Be honest and accurate in all communications Reveal sponsors for represented causes and interests Act in the best interest of clients or employers Disclose financial interests in a client’s organization Safeguard the confidences and privacy rights of clients and employees Follow ethical hiring practices to respect free and open competition Avoid conflicts between personal and professional interests Decline representation of clients requiring actions contrary to the

Code Accurately define what public relations activities can accomplish Report all ethical violations to the appropriate authority

Addressing Practice Challenges

Digging even deeper, BEPS takes on current practice issues and challenges in periodic Professional Standards Advisories (PSA's). Applying the Code to specific scenarios, BEPS has addressed practices including: Pay-for-play journalism Anonymous Internet posting, “flogs” and viral marketing Front groups Disclosure of payment of expert commentators Truth in wartime communications Overstating charges or compensation for work

performed

CASE STUDY: GHOSTWRITING

Serious Speeches Pose a Serious Problem for a Speechwriter What ethical principles of ghostwriting most apply in this case? Most ethical issues relate to promoting truth and avoiding

harm? Which of these principles most applies to this case, and how so?

What specific advice do you end up giving to Marina as far as how to proceed with the communications portion of the campaign, and how do you ethically justify this?

What problems do you see in the future as a possible weakness of this choice? And why do you still feel your decision is the best option, despite this weakness?

What sections of the PRSA code apply to this issue?

PR and The Law

Commercial Speech Allows corporations to state publicly its position on controversial issues

DefamationAny communication that holds a person up to contempt, hatred,

ridicule, or scorn Privacy

“Invasion of privacy” Copyright

Legal protection of intellectual property Registered Trademark

Indicates the user has registered the item with the federal government, allowing maximum legal protection

TrademarksTypically given for the protection of product names, images, or phrases

Planning and Research

Planning

Developing an issue statement Issue Affected publics Timing Strengths and Weaknesses

Case Study: Sporting Kansas City Issue: Name change from Wizards to

Sporting Kansas City

Research

Evaluating Internet Resources Wikipedia New York Times American Heart Association Blog

Analyzing the Target Audience Primary research Secondary research

Interviewing

Determine Interviewee with Research Draft Interview Questions Contact Interviewee to Schedule

Interview Conduct Interview Draft Article Contact Interviewee when the Article is

Published

Writing Objectives

Objectives: The concrete steps that you need to take to reach your goal

Write objectives for the following goals: As the corporate communications manager for your company,

you want employees to attend the annual company picnic next month.

As a concerned parent, you want parents in your school district to support a new school lunch program.

As a volunteer, you want people to donate blood to the Red Cross during summer months.

 As a financial planner, you want to increase subscriptions to your newsletter.

As a political candidate, you want to change the negative tone the media has set concerning your environmental record.

Timeline

Project Preliminary Work

Due Dates

Identify Interviewees

Week 1 April 23

Draft Interview Questions

Week 1 April 23

Set-up Interviews

Week 2 April 30

Conduct Interviews

Week 3 May 7

Draft Press Release

Week 4 May 14

Internal Review Process

Week 5 May 21

Distribute Press Release

Week 6 May 28

Client: LEGOLAND Discovery Center Grand Opening at Crown CenterProject: Press Release

Budget

Things to consider when planning a budget How will you bill (per project or per hour)? How much time will it take? What materials will be involved? Will you use an in-house team or outside

contractors? What additional expenses will you incur?

Associated Press Stylebook

Upcoming Assignments

Backgrounder – Due Next Week Factsheet – Due Next Week AP Styleguide Quiz – Open Book Next

Week Interview with a Public Relations

Professional – Due in two weeks

Backgrounder

Information about a person or organization in paragraph format

One page Examples:

Hallmark Cards Livestrong Barack Obama

Fact Sheet

Numbered or bulleted information relevant to the organization and/or event

One page Examples:

Hallmark Cards Southwest Airlines Park University