Public Relations 101

Where does the news come from?

A large portion of what we ultimately consume in the media comes from public relations professionals, working on behalf of companies, individuals, organizations and even countries.

The industry strives for a high standard of ethics, but whether this is achieved is often (perhaps unfairly) open to debate. After all, the goal of the PR profession is to shape opinion - and news - in favor of its clients.

To do:

1. After reading the above sources, describe PR in your own words. What is your definition of PR?

Next ...

One of the central jobs of a PR pro is securing press coverage; and one of the top tools for achieving this is the press release:

Basically a press release is an AP-style briefing, or news story, telling the news media what they need to know to write a story of their own.

PR pros send out press releases to news editors and reporters, in hopes of securing "free" press. So a news release or pitch to the media needs to be considered newsworthy - worth the reporter's time to cover.

When sending out a press release, it helps to pave the way with a pitch letter - this is your email to the editors/reporters alerting them of the news item you are suggesting they cover.

The assignment.

2. Imagine you are hired to conduct public relations for VeggieTown - a new, healthy fast food restaurant on Restaurant Hill in Montrose.

First prepare a pitch letter - a brief email draft - that you would send area editors and reporters.

pitch letter components:

• catchy subject line
• sentence or two selling your story
• instructions for finding more information (such as "see attached release for background; visit our website; call me, etc.).

Next, write the actual press release you would attach along with your pitch letter.

press release components:

News-style format - headline, dateline, intro paragraph, quotes from your client's CEO. Refer to the Starbucks press release for help with structure and components of your release.

Finally: Source three reporters or editors who might be interested in this story from area media. Find their actual email addresses and paste those into your document.

Recap: Create a pitch letter, press release and media distribution list for your news item - the opening of VeggieTown healthy fast food restaurant in Montrose.

Quiz: Media Law

1. Describe Oprah Winfrey's new "unauthorized" biography briefly - who wrote it; what kind of content is in it; and what's Oprah's stance on this work?

2. Most importantly - why is this book legal to write, in the U.S. - base your answer on material we learned during our presentations.

3. What's the 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoints? How might you reconsider this project, or future projects, based on this rule?

Intro to Journalism: Sports feature

Imagine you are a reporter working in the newsroom, and your editor throws a sports assignment your way:

"Go cover Opening Day. Make it a feature-style story, but add facts," your editor tells you. "Give me background on opening day - what makes this day so special. Splash in some history, and colorful stories, facts and figures."

Your editor pauses for a moment. "And then tie your story to the April 12th Home Opener we just had - offer coverage of that game."

"Wait," you say. "You want me to write a feature on the Home Opener, and combine it with a sports story covering the first Home Opener game this year?" you ask.

"Absolutely, just pretend you were there - use that fancy Internet thingy all you young people love so much ... and pretend you were there," he snaps, before telling you to get out of his office.

Journalism across the pond

First read this brief article, which explains that many European/British newspapers are well-known to have a purposeful political bias ... even in the news pages.

Of course as thinking consumers of media, we realize our media is typically also heavily biased; however, our news pages are still supposed to aspire to a serious level of objectivity - sticking to facts.

So, with this understanding that even news stories are purposefully politicized in the United Kingdom (as opposed to keeping opinions in the editorial section), read the Daily Mail article on China's "massacre" of unborn girls.

This article, a great example of a news story heavy with opinion yet strongly supported with facts, raises potent questions about morals and politics. Note the social media components of this news story as well: Not only can you comment on this article, but you can also vote on the quality of the comments!

To Do:

After reading the two articles and browsing the comments at the bottom of the China article, write a one-page double spaced summary offering your reaction to what you've read.

Write about or analyze anything you want concerning the above:

- writing quality or style of the China article
- differences in journalism between U.S./Britian
- China's moral and political issues
- social media components of a modern news story ... etc., etc.

Media Law: Group Projects

Each group will work together to research the following topics. We will build PowerPoint slideshows to present to the class.

Media Law: Invasion of privacy

Libel law

Freedom of information law

Copyright law

Press freedom

History of the First Amendment

Student publication law

See me if you have questions about your topic.

Okay ...

1. Research phase: Get with your group and research your topic. Spend about one class period in the research phase.

2. Build your slides. We need a minumum of 10 slides per presentation - and please turn in one copy of your slides to Mr. Bank.

Make sure one slide has all group memeber names on it, as well as sources and citations for your project. Spend about one class period on this building phase as well.

In addition - we need three extra slides per group, with a good potential quiz question on each slide. I will combine your questions to create our quiz over this Media Law mini unit.

3. Present your slides to the class.

Introduction to the Odyssey

After reading An Introduction to the Odyssey, pg. 740, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Use the text to support your answers - or use quality Internet sources to help you out.

1.Who is traditionally accepted as the author of the Odyssey?

2. How is the Odyssey related to the Illiad?

3. When and where does the Illiad take place?

4. Where is Odysseus's home?

5. What is a Homeric simile?

6. Where does the phrase "Achilles heel" come from?

7. Why are we still reading this work, a few thousand years after it was written?

8. Related to question 7, what is a canonical work?

9. The Odyssey is filled with adventures and battles. How was war conducted in the 12th century B.C.? What did soldiers eat, and wear?

10. What is double determination? This might be tricky to find - take your time and ask questions if you are stuck. You may want to expand your Google search to something such as - double determination odyssey.

Copyright & Plagiarism 101

Understanding copyright law and the ins and outs of plagiarism is central to being a quality journalist or publisher of any kind.

Whether it's the student newspaper, yearbook or any other publication, there are clear, real, actual laws governing what we can use and not use when it comes to using other people's work.

After watching the PowerPoint presentation on copyright law, complete this webquest - Activity I Scavenger Hunt and Activity II, You be the judge. (Ignore the third activity).

Complete this assignment in a Word doc or write out your answers - your choice.