QUI TRÌNH VIEÁT
HIEÄU QUAÛ
(Writing for the
media)
QUESTIONS
1. What is the news releases ?
2. Have you ever read a news releases ?
3. How do you read the newspaper ?
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WHAT IS NEWS ?
There is no clear or consistent definition of
news. What is news to one newspaper is often
of no interest to another. News value differs
between press, radio and television. The style
of news even varies between morning, and
afternoon newspaper.
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WHAT IS NEWS ?
Journalism Du jour = “Of the day”
News is about Now
News = f(t)
News is something new, up to minute, unusual,
sensational or something which will affect many
people and therefore in the public interest.
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KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Your message has to be able to be understood by the
person.
Use short sentences. Use short paragraphs. Use
vigorous English. Not forgetting to strive for
smoothness. Be positive, not negative.
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KEEPING IT SIMPLE
“Fog Index” = word-length and sentence length test.
Measuring “readability or simplicity”
Step one: Take a sample of around 100 words from
the writing to be tested (complete sentences). Count
the exact number of words.
Step two: Devide the number of words by the
number of sentences to get the average sentence
length.
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KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Step three: Count the number of word of three or
more syllables (excepting long words made up of two
simple words)
Step four: Add the average sentence length and the
number of long words together.
Step five: Multiply the result by 0.4 to get your Fog
Index.
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KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Fog Index = 10 popular
Fog Index > 12 Highly educated audience
Fog Index > 15 No audience.
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5W1H
Golden rule Guideline for all writing for the media.
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
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5W1H
WHAT happened
WHERE it took place
WHY it occurred
HOW
WHEN
And to WHOM
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5
ANGLES
This is a term denoting the approach you take on
certain facts or information and the way you arrange
them.
Ex: Imagine a car overturned at a certain intersection
in your city and a person was killed.
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ANGLES
“A man or woman was killed yesterday when his or her
car overturned at the corner of X and Y streets”.
“A man killed at the corner of X and Y streets yesterday
was the 11th victim of this section of road in the past
year, raising concern that the intersection is the death
corner because of poor sign-posting and inadequate
visibility.
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ANGLES
PR professionals specialise in finding “angles” to get
publicity in the major mass media.
Ex: If the company is launching a new product,
straightforward product information is unlikely to
make the new pages. But creative PR staff may find an
angle that a certain client company has gained 30%
increase in efficiency by using the product.
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EXTROVERTED WRITING
PUTTING YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES
Writing for the media must be extroverted, not
introverted Imagine someone you know
unassociated with the subject reading in front of you.
Never writing in relation to your own needs, attitude
and intellectual capacity.
PR is about the Public.
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EXTROVERTED WRITING
Write simply. Use common words. Avoid jargon,
technical terms. Write for the reader and look
for angles that will interest the average readers
or listeners.
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TIME IS THE ESSENCE
Timing = The need to meet deadlines, and the special
considerations in timing your message.
Television
Radio
Newspaper (morning, afternoon, weekly, bi-weekly)
The earlier The better
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MEDIA STYLE
Criticise or Criticize
Program or Programme
Honor or Honour
Mr. with male surnames and Mrs. or Ms. with
female
10 or ten
Media style book
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THE INTRO or LEAD
The launching pad of a news release for the media is
the introduction, referred to as the “INTRO” or the
“LEAD”
Three principles of a lead:
No more than 25 words
News comes first (who, what, when, where)
Active voice, not passive
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THE INTRO or LEAD
Vaøi löu yù :
Bieân taäp baùo chæ daønh vaøi giaây ñeå naém baét thoâng tin
vaø quyeát ñònh xem noäi dung naøy coù ñöôïc duøng khoâng.
Vieát coä ñoäng ngay töø ñaàu, ít nhaát ñoaïn môû ñaàu cuõng
ñöôïc ñaêng tin.
Thoâng thöôøng tin bò caét xeùn töø döôùi leân.
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THE INTRO or LEAD
Built for just 10,000 USD, a mini-jet aeroplane will be
given its maiden flight over Smithtown air base next
Sunday by a 21-year-old apprentice engineer who
constructed it in his backyard.
Pls. reform the news !!!
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THE INTRO or LEAD
A 21-year-old apprentice engineer will test fly a
home-made mini-jet aeroplane at Smithtown on
Sunday.
The jet, which was built in the backyard for just
10,000 USD, will be tested over Smithtown air base
by its designer, (name)
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THE INTRO or LEAD
The “Intro” or “Lead” should be the main point. It
should be short, and to the point. Its aim should be to
grab the reader and make him or her say “I have to
read this”. AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire,
Action)
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ABBREVIATIONS
Use all titles and terms in full on first usage,
subsequent references can be abbreviated.
Ex: DOS, LAN. RAM, ROM, TCP/IP …
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FORMAT FOR MEDIA
RELEASES
All meterial should be typed or word processed.
Wide margins should be provided both left and right.
One side of the paper only – Never double-sided
Clearly dated and recorded a name and telephone
Firmly staple the document together…
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FORMAT FOR MEDIA
RELEASES
Tieâu ñeà: Söû duïng ngay giaáy coù tieâu ñeà coâng ty.
Kieåu chöõ: 12, VNI-times, VNI-Arial, haïn cheá chöõ in.
Ñaàu ñeà baøi baùo: Giaûn dò, deã hieåu.
Caùch vieát: Vieát nhö moät vaên baûn bình thöôøng.
Caùc kyù hieäu: Haïn cheá
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7C’s IN PR WRITING
Complete (troïn veïn)
Concise (suùc tích): short term, no repetition
Concrete (cuï theå): number
Clear (roõ raøng): unity, coherence
Careful (thaän troïng): easy understanding
Correct (chính xaùc): statistics
Courteous (lòch söï): culture, honesty
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