Want to venture into the world of PR - either to use a PR company or if you are thinking of it as a career? Well, here is a useful guide to the terminology which just might help get you through a meeting or an interview.
Advertising Paid for by a business to be submitted and published
Advertorial Similar to advertising but it looks like a piece of editorial
Bills The day's headlines on the board (or bill board) outside a newsagents
Brief (or nib or even fudge) Small item of news, one paragraph only, in a newspaper
By-line Carried on a story, to identify who wrote it
Brand Your company's name and its identity - more than just its logo
CIPR Chartered Insitute of Public Relations
Copy The words that make up a piece of writing
Corporate communications The company's messages (such as press releases) to the outside world
Crisis Management Coping when the proverbial hits the fan (a bad news story perhaps)
Damage limitation Same as crisis management
Deadline Final time by which a story has to be written
Doorstepping Coloquial term for reporters hanging around someone's dorostep to get their story
Edit Altering copy to improve, and often shorten, it
Editor The person in charge of overall content of the editorial side
Editorial Stories, features, letters, sport - anything not paid for
Ezine Electronically generated and distributed newsletter
Feature Longer than a news story, more in depth, not necessarily topical
Features editor The person in charge of the features pages
Freelance Someone who works for him or herself and sells stories or gets commissions
Integrated campaign Using a variety of media i.e. TV, radio, press, online, outdoor and direct mail
Journalist Can be a reporter, news editor, sub-editor or editor
News Editor The person in charge of the news content
News hook or angle Most interesting part of you story, which will grab the reader's attention
Newsletter Updates sent out by businesses - good way of keeping in touch with clients
Optimised press release Press release that is both optimised for search engine results and released online
PR Public relations
PRO Public relations officer
Press pack (or media pack) Pre-packaged set of information or promotional materials to be distributed to the media
Press officer Person usually working in a company's PR or communications department
Press release Short piece of copy submitted for publications
Proofread Read through carefully, to check spelling, punctuation and grammar
Proposal Idea for a PR campaign
Reader offer Offer or competition for newspapers/magazine readers - good way of promoting a product
Reporter Writes the news
Sell-in Term given to attempts to interest a publication in carrying a story or feature
Splash The front page lead
Journalists – friend or foe?
Not sure what to say? Fearful that every word you say will be taken down and used against you through misquotation? Want to use a journalist in your public relations campaign but not sure how? Then read on …
Crisis? What crisis? How PR can help avert a business disaster
Happy to get in the press with a good news story, but anxious that a bad news story is about to break and not sure what to do? PR can help through its crisis management tools
Getting in the press for free - or DIY PR
OK, so you've got a great product but you haven't got the budget to advertise. Well, you don't need to! Find a great angle to get a journalist hooked and you could get your editorial for free. And if you can come up with photos to go with it, you could be looking at a bunch of coverage and you haven't paid a penny. So, here's how to write the perfect press release and get yourself in the news.
