Netco Services: Writing resources

John Spavin shares a few bits of knowledge gained during 25 odd (some very odd) years spent in newsrooms as a journalist, producer, free lancer and, outside, as a speech writer and press secretary.

Writing is easy if arranging letters in logical groups and obeying grammatical rules is all that it entails but it's the creative spark that turns drab words into pithy prose.

Here begins a short rant, followed by some useful articles on writing effective press releases and using the media to promote your business.

Sloppy writing is not confined to people who don't need to write persuasively or informatively very often. I tried for the last 12 years of my time at Television New Zealand to stamp out use of the word major when the journalists who reported to me used it for anything that they thought was slightly unusual.

"How about big, comprehensive, important, wide-ranging or any one of dozens of other synonyms?" I would demand. Otherwise, limit its use to a comparative or an army rank. There were dozens of other words and technical construction of sentences when written for sound and vision that I fixed but major was usually the catalyst that set me off.

I see by watching TVNZ nightly that a new generation of reporters clings to major as if it was a lucky charm to save them from having to think creatively about writing. Few of them look for the subtle shades of meaning available. Radio New Zealand specialises in the word. How many times have they reported that someone has suffered a "major blow"? Bah.

Governments, their servants and marketing and PR people are worse. They use task as a verb and substitute taskforce for committee because they think it sounds more decisive. They use stakeholder and they don't mean the person who holds the kitty in a round of poker, they variously mean citizen, shareholder, owner, employee or investor. Even social welfare beneficiaries have become clients. Incorrectly calling a beneficiary a client doesn't make them financially better off. It makes people who dish out the dosh feel better about themselves, perhaps.

Similarly, try to avoid passion when you mean enthusiasm. I am certainly passionate about not dying, my family and my country but the word has an intensity that doesn't lend itself well to the uses to which marketers put it. The PR company that claims, "With passion and precision we create networks of influence..." is talking gibberish and devaluing itself. What happens when there's something really to be passionate about? The word will have been devalued beyond usefulness.

Rant over, I feel a little better now but do you see the point? Memorising the alphabet doesn't mean you can write arrestingly. If it did we'd all be Shakespeares. Think about the words and sentences, have a beginning, a middle and an end and a point of view and you're someway there.

Please help yourself to the information below. Feel free to use it but don't pass it off as your own: we retain copyright and ask only that you note the source if you publish elsewhere.

How to gain a media profile

The Challenge

The day you set up shop, hang out the shingle or mortgage the house to set up in business you may figure large in your own mind but be invisible to most people.
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Contacts

Contacts with reporters provide short cuts into news rooms. Reporters work a lot on trust. If they receive a news tip or release from a stranger, they must first check out the stranger's credentials before deciding whether they have a story.
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Becoming known as an expert

The first step to becoming a local expert is just to become one. It can be done in several ways and all should be attempted simultaneously.
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The media

The media is awash with content generated by public relations writers. Their goal is to place material in editorial content rather than advertorial.
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How to write a press release

How to structure a press release

Businesses and people publish press releases as a way of attracting attention in the media to themselves. They do it because they might be trying to stoke up interest in an issue or to cool it down.
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Writing Style

Your writing style and use of language are important and need serious thought because they matter to your audience - and whom are you trying to impress? - them, of course.
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Composing the release

All press releases, no matter their subject, must have a beginning, middle and an end. The beginning and middle are by far the most important of the three.
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Aiming a Release

After you have written the perfect press release, you must aim it at a likely prospect and time its release to advantage.
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Timing the Release

Hit while your news is hot. Wait even a week and your timing will be out. Today's hot news wraps fish and chips tomorrow.
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Getting the angle

The angle of a press release often determines whether it gets used or binned
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