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April 2001 |
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Section 1Editor’s Notes Writing News Releases Section 2 Section 3
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Section 1
Editor’s Notes
Thanks! Tom Salter
Writing
News Releases - The Basics By Coke Ellington Public relations
practioners compete, not only among themselves, but also with wire services,
syndicates and locally written stories and pictures to get their messages to
their communities. Public relations people can succeed in putting out the
word about their agencies with good writing, timely information, and a local
emphasis. If an event has many
aspects, a media outlet might put stories before the public about several of
them. But please do not ask any newsperson to run the same story every day. The most important aspect
of public relations is having something good to publicize and promote — not a
declaration or ribbon cutting or some other kind of pseudo-event, but
something real. The ABC’s of good writing
are accuracy, brevity, and clarity. The inverted pyramid news
story structure has been with us since the Civil War, so you might say it has
stood the test of time. It has the most important and/or interesting facts at
the top, with other facts following in generally descending order of
importance and interest. The 5 W’s and an H of news writing are Who, What,
When, Where, Why and How. If you know about the five
W’s and an H, and the inverted pyramid, and the concepts of accuracy, brevity
and clarity, then the main thing you have to do is figure out how to organize
your story, which in some cases also involves deciding which facts are
important enough to put in and which facts are unimportant enough to leave
out. Coke Ellington is a
communication professior at Alabama State University. He was a featured
presenter at the SDE/ASCA Communication Conference January 18-19 in Montgomery. Accreditation
With accountability being one of education’s hottest topics, it is only natural that the practitioners of the communication arts for public schools prove their fitness for the task. Nez Calhoun, Director of Public Information for Jefferson County Schools, is the only accredited practicing school public relations professional in Alabama. Calhoun urged accreditation at the January ASCA meeting. Although she did not receive any more salary or stipend for being accredited, Calhoun believes it is worth it for professional growth and personal satisfaction. A brief history The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has had accreditation since 1964; The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) since 1976. Since January 1999, there is now a universal accreditation program administered by PRSA and seven joint partners including NSPRA. Currently about 4,600 people are APR (accredited as professional public relations practitioners) nationally. Survey proves its worth A 1996 survey by PRSA showed that 27% of those accredited had a higher salary median than those not accredited, $58,840 to $46,370. One third of those accredited made $75,000 compared to 19% of those not accredited. Fifty percent of those not accredited made less than $45,000 compared to only 23% of those accredited making less than $45,000. Generally, those accredited earn $53,000 and those not accredited earn $38,000, according to the PRSA survey. Calhoun sees the process as continuing education. “I learned a great deal from the process. In some ways, the preparation for the test was much like getting an advanced degree.” Accreditation also gives an advantage in preparing for future employment opportunities. Many advertisements for school public relations positions now give preferences to those with APR certification. New scoring process A professional testing firm scores the accreditation test and no longer are peers allowed to score or monitor tests as NSPRA once did. Within the professional credential service, no person ever reads an entire exam. This avoids a halo effect subconsciously given by the scorer. An inter-rater reliability (IRR) has been added. Those grading the tests must issue a score within five percent of each other or a third scorer is brought in to read that particular question. During the scoring, every 10th question is rated for IRR (within five percent of another scorer) or another IRR is re-established. Qualifications and the Test To qualify to take the APR test, an applicant must have five years of experience. The written part of the exam is in two sections. The first part is an objective, multiple-choice question section coupled with some short essay problems. The second section comprises a case problem in which the applicant must write a complete PR plan. There is also a bonus question in which the applicant gets extra points if the answer is correct, but no penalty if it is wrong. The bonus section is used to validate future questions on future exams. The oral section of the exam involves knowledge of public relations, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and professionalism and experience. Tests are given twice per year, in the spring and fall. Exam preparation The “Bible” to study is the body of knowledge in Effective Public Relations, 8th edition and costs about $100. Passing Scores To pass the exam an applicant must score 60 percent, or 360 of 600 possible points. Any score in the 55 to 59 percent range is automatically reviewed and graded a second time. Cost The fee to take the test is $385. NSPRA gives a rebate of $110 to any member passing the test. For more information contact Nez Calhoun at 205-379-2195 or NSPRA, 301-519-0496, www.nspra.org, or www.accreditationboard.org.
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