MESSAGE

The primary assignment of a media officer is communication with the public through the media. There are different methods and techniques for specific writing publicity. While methods may vary in style and techniques, the ultimate objective remains to elicit sympathy and cooperation from targets. A piece of writing from a media officer should be straight forward, short, simple, and above all truthful.

Writing is a basic requirement in media relations. Some successful press secretaries are recognised through their writing skills. Taking pains to write scripts yourself, in the form of press release, helps you to control what eventually gets published. I try to ensure that I write my press releases, as well as interview scripts even if journalists are present at the media sessions. They are back-ups that assist extremely busy reporters, who, instead of initiating the script, would now be concerned with editing to meet their respective in-house styles. Though not always advisable and some media distaste the practice, I write and issue press statements most of the time instead of inviting journalists to cover occasions. I think this is the conventional practice to avoid misinterpretations that may spark controversies in the media. It is valuable in highly sensitive situations and where premium is placed on media convenience.

Invitations

Since most activities of practitioners involve media participation, invitations are officially written and extended to journalists, followed by reminders sent through phone calls, text messages or email. A formal invitation letter is a major requirement for the media to cover press conferences, exhibitions and visits.

Invitations may be written on official letterheads, bearing the name of the organisation and its address. The writing should not be more than a page since it is only to contain the purpose of the engagement, venue, date and time. Some organisations prefer to print invitation cards, which may contain the subject matter of the occasion, venue, date, time and a list of contact telephone numbers, which includes that of the media relations officer. The transmission of the invitation can be done through fax, email, courier service or hand delivery.

Internal Memo

An internal memo is an administrative instrument in which tasks/suggestions are proposed for consideration and approval. This in-house communication tool can also contain application or reaction to official issues. The memo is expected to be very brief and straight to the point, but it should include introduction, the necessity for an action and final prayer for consideration and approval of the submission. The Memo should have the designations of the sender, recipient, subject and date. At the end of the write-up, the name of the sender is indicated at the bottom with his signature. A further reaction to the memo after its return may be in the form of minutes, where further details and explanations are provided as requested.

Another important official writing for administrative purposes is the proposal for action and execution of programmes. This may be lengthy but must be laced with facts, data and references to convince decision makers. Here the writing includes the introduction, body, the conclusion and lastly the recommendation, which could be in the form of prayers. Either way, the internal memo and the proposal can be originated or raised as reaction to official correspondences, media enquiries, engagements or meetings.

Press Release

A Press Release, like media news stories, is written to capture the essentials of an event. It is written in simple prose, devoid of jargons, clichés except in quotations. It should contain the basic elements of news reporting which are the 5W’s and H i.e. Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. In some cases, not all the elements may be required, as situations may necessitate emphasis on a few of the factors as visible from the news event. The essence of a release is usually captured in the first paragraph known in journalism as the LEAD or spread in the first few paragraphs. Subsequent paragraphs give further details of the event in what is called ‘inverted pyramid style’. Other necessary components of a press release include a suitable title, address of the organisation, name and title of the sender and date of issue. In special cases, instructions can be given to the editor to either ‘embargo’ or use it immediately with the request specified at the top right hand corner of the script. This is applicable to special occasions as when speeches and statements are timed to coincide with anniversaries or special days. The press release, for whatever transmission channel, must be in an edit-friendly format with adequate spacing in-between the lines and in readable font sizes.

The press release is written in the absence of adequate media representation at an occasion to avoid misrepresentation. Sometimes, though it is necessary to issue press releases even in the presence of media practitioners as back-ups and for reference purposes. A poorly written press release that is either grammatically flawed or full of praise-singing finds itself in the dustbin. It should be pointed out that press releases are not about flattery, baseless allegations or needless promotional stunts. The press release assists the media in their quest for truth and information.

In a nutshell, it is preferable that the press release should not exceed two pages but should have an informative and catchy headline. At the bottom, a brief note can be provided to indicate availability of supporting materials like kits and photographs and the phone numbers of the contact officer for further information.

Feature Article/Documentary

This is another area where writing is used in media relations work. Unlike the press release, which is expected to be short and straightforward, the feature article is an opinion piece written to explain or shade light on issue of importance to the public. The style of writing can vary from the suspenseful to ironical or straight literary prose amongst others. A feature article can be a profile, tribute, analysis or discourse. The writing should be factual, well-researched, authoritative and convincing with appropriate choice of words. Since such writings are not paid for, it should appeal to the editorial judgment of the media. A discussion with the editor on the idea and background for opinion writing can be useful before submission. Articles are published as editorial contents, not advertorials. Once a contributor is recognised as a trusted and reliable source of news, further contributions of features may not require prior discussion with the editors.

Because of the huge number of features contribution competing for media space, the editors publish only exceptional opinion writings. It should be pointed out that familiarity with house-style and editorial contents of a medium could serve as quick guides in writing features and opinion on a given topic. One needs to cultivate the habit of reading other writings, especially editorials and commentaries of respected writers and columnists. The same article can be submitted or rewritten for the broadcast media in form of commentary or documentary. Syndication is allowed where a piece is sent to more than one medium.

Rejoinders

Rejoinders are written in reference to media publications or broadcast to deny, reject or rebut, support or endorse statements and comments made about issues of importance. In a nutshell, a rejoinder is more of a reaction to media items. A rejoinder can be a response to published news stories, letters to editors, opinion, features, interviews or public pronouncements. It is necessary to note that respectable media houses do not publish poorly written rejoinders with inappropriate choice of words and uncomplimentary remarks. A good rejoinder is a reply to issues raised in a mature and responsible manner. If the first writing was harsh, consent of the editor may be required to respond harshly too. The use of a rejoinder by a medium is subject to editorial board approval.

While the editor may give the rejoinder the same prominence given the earlier material, he reserves the right to use it in other pages e.g. as a news item, as a letter to the editor or on the opinion page. It can further be edited or published verbatim. Sometime, the editor makes a note beneath the published rejoinder ( if the earlier material originated from the medium) to either accept the position of the rejoinder or stand by the earlier material in contention.

There was a period the Revenue Commission took a resolute position on an issue concerning an operator in the oil sector but witnessed an orchestrated campaign through a syndicated and obviously intended to be harmful features, which were fallacious, but purported to be sourced from a media event in the Commission. The feature, entitled: “ We Shall Speak Again on NNPC”, misrepresented what happened at an event where there were recognised finance correspondents in Abuja in attendance. I had to write a rebuttal entitled: “Re: We Shall Speak Again on NNPC”, which was published by several newspapers that carried the original piece. The media carry such publications to give a right of reply to the party misrepresented.

While I ensured the rejoinder is specially designed for each media that used the original allegation, it was loaded with additional facts and figures which our competitors didn’t want the public to know. In the text, the name of each respective media correspondent who was there at the occasion, from whom they can get further detail, was mentioned and the date the offending piece was published. The correspondents mentioned in the rejoinder were Sanya Adejokun (Daily Independent), Jane Ezereonwu (The Guardian), Emma Uja (The Vanguard), David Ngba (Daily Champion), Kunle Aderimokun (Thisday) and Chijama Ogbu (The Punch).

In-house Publications

Some in-house publications that require journalistic style and format are also the responsibility of the media relations officer to issue. This can be in-house magazine, bulletin, newsletter, journal, handbook or a profile. Some technical departments may have their own specialised publications for specific audience, which the media relations officer can assist in editing and providing technical advice in terms of production and layout.

It is expected that the in-house publication should be error-free. For a good publication, the officer should be concerned about information gathering, proofreading, editing, typesetting, graphic work and the production processes. As a team player, one important issue to bear in mind is to be sensitive in the composition of editorial team. In big organisations, including ministries, the chief executive is designated in the publication as editor-in-chief or patron. Other top management staff can be designated Associate editors or editorial advisers as the case may be, while the Media Officer responsible for the publication is assigned the position of editor. Other important positions for in-house publication can include line editors, staff writers and correspondents who may be from different sections/departments of the organisation.

Media Review

A regular feature of media monitoring is the media review. Media Review is a written summary of news items published in the media relevant to the work of an organisation. The purpose of the review is to measure the level of media coverage and attention on issues that are important to the organisation. Written in a simple and lucid language, it points out the basic statistics of media items. In writing the media review, the practitioner states the name of the medium, date of publication or broadcast, editorial format (news, editorial, interview, commentary), position of appearance of items, page or title of broadcast and a highlight of the news item. A paragraph is recommended to accommodate all these.

One of the uses of media review is that it enables the organization to study unfolding events, which may influence action or inaction. For an extremely busy chief executive who normally has very little time to read all the newspapers or monitor broadcasts, the review comes in handy. At a weekly or monthly interval, it makes it easy to measure the result of publicity activities. It may also serve as a diary for references for the organisation. To avoid repetition, where an item appears in several media, and the highlights have been summarised under a particular medium, only the name of subsequent media and date of publication are necessary with the remark that they are similarly reported news items. It is highly recommended that paper clips/cuttings be attached to the media review for the chief executive.

USEFUL RESOURCES:

PRnigeria Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prnigeria	PRNigeria Online: www.prnigeria.net