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There's a LOT planned for this year - and much of it will be determined at the Board Meeting near the end of this month. We'll report on that as soon as it is confirmed. But then again, some things just really don't change.
Can you remember the days before PC's, email and cellular phones? Remember when people used an Underwood or possibly even a real pencil to write? Phone calls were expensive and letters were interesting -no spellcheckers!
Here's copy from a past ARRL Publicity Handbook. Try to guess what year it comes from!
ARRL Publicity Handbook
FOREWARD
There are two reasons why a good publicity program is important to every amateur radio club. First, it helps to build and strengthen the club. Publicity helps bring in new members, encourage present members, and inform the community about what the club is doing. Second, good publicity helps to build amateur radio generally, both by attracting new amateurs into the ranks and by disseminating information to the public about what amateur radio is and what amateurs do. Good public relations are essential for amateur radio; publicity is a primary tool of public relations; and the best and most effective publicity is that developed at the local, community level.
Other ways in which the club can create good public relations include community exhibits and demonstrations; work with Scouts, schools and church groups, talks before local organizations. These activities can also produce good publicity in themselves.
Getting publicity for your club is neither difficult nor does it require a trained expert. Like anything else, however, a little know-how can make all the difference. That is the purpose of this Handbook. It is not intended to be a complete textbook on publicity and neither is it just a theoretical discussion. It reflects a great deal of successful experience both here at headquarters and by club publicity chairmen. Out of all this experience we have tried to distill some helpful hints that will work because they have worked, along with some guidelines in the form of sample releases. These contents are addressed primarily to local newspapers because we have found that these are usually the best outlet for publicity about community activities.
As a practical, working assumption, "News" is what a particular editor considers to be worthy of publication. It follows, therefore, that there is tremendous variation in this definition, depending upon whether the publication involved is a big city daily, a small town weekly, a news magazine, a trade publication or a Sunday supplement; on whether it is a printed medium, radio or television; on what is happening or how much less is being generated by events at a particular time; and finally, on the capabilities, interests and even mood of a particular editor. The principal sources upon which all news media rely are their own staffs of reporters, the wire services, and the syndicated services which distribute the work of columnists, cartoon strips and so on. However -- and this is important -- every editor realizes that he cannot possibly cover all potential news with the facilities available to him directly. Thus he must and does look to other sources such as public information offices, company and organizational public relations departments, and group publicity chairmen. Unfortunately, much of the material from these sources with which the average editor is deluged daily does not meet his standards of "news" either because it is an ill-concealed advertising plug, it is ineptly prepared, or it is not suitable to the requirements of the particular publication or station.
If all this makes your job as publicity chairman for your amateur radio club sound forbidding or difficult, don't despair! A basic understanding of how the different kinds of editors judge news, plus a knowledge of a few "tricks of the trade"; that is, how to supply news material in the form in which an editor prefers to receive it can and will get good press coverage for any amateur radio club. That is the purpose of this Handbook -- to help you apply a few, simple, time-tested principles so that you can "think like an editor."
For our purposes, let's divide the news media into the following categories: big city dailies, smaller dailies or community newspapers, weekly newspapers, local radio stations and local TV stations. Each of these differs in what it regards as legitimate news, so you have to take these differences into account in submitting stories to them. By and large, both radio and TV stations are much more limited in the amount of news material they can use than are the printed media -- newspapers and magazines. Therefore they have to be much more selective. Magazines for the most part rely on their own staff writers or professional free-lancers almost exclusively. For these reasons, newspapers are the best opportunity in most cases for story placement by the average amateur radio club, and hence this Handbook is addressed primarily to newspaper coverage.
However, do not overlook the possibility of occasional coverage by radio or TV, especially if you have a local station or stations. They will probably not be interested in run-of-the-mill announcements of club meetings, for example, but they might very well be interested in an especially colorful personality among your club members, an unusual club activity if it has a community service slant, or in an unusual human interest story such as a message transmission to or from a local serviceman stationed in a combat area, a local emergency communication, etc. It's a good idea, therefore, to send copies of your news releases, except the routine ones, to the local radio and TV stations. If, in addition you can establish contact and get acquainted with the program manager or managers, you will probably find opportunities to develop special material with him. A club anniversary, for example, might create an opportunity to put on a special interview or demonstration program on amateur radio; or there might be live coverage of a Field Day or Simulated Emergency Test.
What every newspaper editor has in common, whether he runs a major metropolitan daily or a small town weekly, is an acute sense of pressure to put together a great many words against an inflexible deadline. He's got to gather, assimilate, evaluate and write many stories and then fit them into his paper in a very limited amount of time. The big city editor must necessarily cover the whole news spectrum of international and national, as well as local events. The editor of the smaller daily will rely more heavily on the wire services for international and national news and give them less space relatively. The editor of a weekly paper is primarily interested in strictly local coverage, local personalities and community activities. Thus, your routine announcements of club meetings or elections of officers are probably wasted on the big city editor, may possibly be run by the editor of a smaller daily -- especially if he has a community section, and will probably make the weekly paper in your community if the editor receives it in time. (Always find out the copy deadline for each of the local papers to which you expect to submit stories.) On the other hand, the appearance of a national or regional celebrity at a club meeting, a story about an emergency communication service to a remote African missionary, or other unusual newsworthy or human interest story, may make the big city paper, will probably get prominent coverage in a smaller daily, and could be a "major story for the local weekly.
Usually, there are one, two or three newspapers in the area represented by local amateur radio club, and these will be the papers you will be working with. By all means, make a point of stopping in and getting acquainted with the editor of each. By knowing you and having some familiarity with your club, he will be in a better position to give you coverage. And you both will then have a personal point of contact.
Most of the news stories concerning an amateur radio club and its activities fall into three categories: routine news, spot news and features. Routine news stories are those of limited or specialized interest -- i.e., meeting announcements, election of officers and so on. Spot news stories are those of general public interest, and usually are timely -- i.e., are news at the time they happen and cease to be very quickly. For example, a fire in the club meeting place is news on the day it happens for the next issue of the newspaper, but not a week later. Sometimes, stories that are not, strictly speaking, "hot news" can be made into spot news stories -- especially if there is a strong human interest angle. Examples: a contact is made via a local amateur with a local resident serving in Antarctica; an amateur radio contact between a wounded serviceman and his local family reassures his family that he is well on the road to recovery; a local amateur picks up a report of injuries in a highway accident and relays it to authorities. Such stories should be reported promptly to the newspaper -- preferably in person or by telephone, with complete facts -- names, addresses, places, time, etc. Feature stories do not usually involve a time element, i.e. they are appropriate almost anytime, and they go into considerably more detail than straight news stories. They may be personality profiles, a description of amateur radio as a hobby, a review of the club's history, and so on.
Sometimes a club event or activity, such as a Field Day, a Civil Defense exercise, a public demonstration or exhibit, etc., should be covered with more than one story, -- an advance announcement, an on-the-spot story of the event itself, and perhaps a follow-up story on the results, if any. A good approach in sv.ch cases is to check as far in advance as possible with the local editor and find out how he would like to handle the story.
The best possible way to develop a "feel" both for the kinds of news a particular paper will be receptive to and how to handle the various types of news stories is to take a new look at the paper from, a little different viewpoint than you normally have as a reader. Note how the paper is organized -- what kinds of stories appear where, the kinds of news covered by the paper, and how the stories are written. This will also help you to cultivate your own "nose for news," give you ideas on how the various events, activities and happenings in your club can be turned into news stories; show you how to spot news angles in ordinary occurrences.
Now that you are beginning to "think like an editor," we must note out of long experience that there trill be times when you've got what you're sure is a good story, you've done everything right, and it still doesn't make the paper. This happens to the most experienced publicists. There are many reasons. Sometimes a good story gets left out because there just happen to be too many other stories the editor considers even more newsworthy and his space is limited. It may be received too late for his deadline. Or it may need too much re-writing to suit his requirements. In any case, do not commit any of these cardinal sins -- pointing out to the editor that the club president is a big advertiser (he couldn't care less, and he prides himself on his editorial independence), or asking him why he won't use your story (he doesn't have time to give you a lecture on the philosophy of journalism). If your story doesn't make it, forget it and try again next time.
You don't have to be a great writer to write good news stories. It does help to have an understanding of newspaper style and format for stories. You will notice a common pattern in almost all good newspaper stories-- the basic facts, the "meat," of the story are always set forth in the beginning -- often in the first paragraph. The tradition -- and a good one to follow -- is that "who," "what," "when," "where," and, if applicable, "how" should be covered in the first sentence or two, and the remaining facts and other elements of the story presented in diminishing order of importance, so that, ideally, the editor can fit the story to whatever space he wishes by cutting it from the end backward. Don't try to be elaborate, fancy or imaginative in treating a straight news story. Just present the facts or information without embellishment. In a feature story you can be more imaginative and descriptive. Be sure that all your facts and information are complete, correct and accurate in every detail -- especially including the spelling of names, call letters, addresses, dates and times. Don't leave out any significant fact, such as the time or date of a meeting.
Another traditional axiom among newspapermen is that "people make news." Thus it is always a good idea to work people into your news stories. A simple club meeting announcement, for example, is more interesting to an editor if it quotes the president of the club or refers to the program speaker or to a committee chairman. Be sure that all names are complete and correctly spelled! For local papers it is also desirable to include addresses.
A photograph will often greatly improve the chances of a story's being run -- especially if it is a special event or happening or a newsworthy personality. Try to avoid static poses -- an individual or group poses in front of a nondescript background, for example. A little imagination will usually suggest ways in which a club officer can be shown in his ham shack or a group can be seated around a table with a piece of gear or even papers in front of them. For TV especially a picture is often essential. Never write on the back of a photo print or use a paper clip to attach a caption -- either is apt to spoil the print for reproduction. Most papers prefer the standard 8 x 10 glossy print, but may use a 5 x 7, particularly in the case of smaller dailies or weeklies. The photo should always be clear and sharp for good newspaper reproduction. Snapshots or Polaroid prints may not always be acceptable unless they are the only picture of an unusual news event. The caption should identify the person or persons in the picture from the conventional left to right, and can be attached with paste or rubber cement across the top to the bottom of the photo, then folded up over the print. In the case of an upcoming newsworthy event such as a Field Day, the paper may provide its own photographer through your advance contact with the editor.
News releases generally follow a standard format which makes it easy for the editor to use them, as shown in the accompanying sample. A release should always be neatly typed, double-spaced, on one side only of standard 8.5- x 11 white paper. In the upper left hand corner place the name of your club and the name, address and phone number of the person to contact for more information. Leave a generous amount of space at the top and sides for the editor to write instructions or changes. A headline is not necessary because the editor will usually write his own, but may be helpful to assist him in quickly identifying and evaluating the story. It is also helpful to put a line at the upper right of the story itself indicating either "For Immediate Release," or in the case of an upcoming event, "For Release on (Date)." In the case of spot news you may want to get the story to each of the media in your area by phone or in person. For other items, mail is usually satisfactory. Remember that newspapers are competitive enterprises, and that particularly between newspapers and radio and TV there is usually a lively rivalry. For this reason it is best to send releases to each editor at the same time, with the same release date, if any. Don't try to hold a story for a weekly if you also are sending it to a daily. On some stories -- especially features -- it pays to prepare a separate version for each paper and station, and label it as an "exclusive" to that particular editor. Of course, if a story idea originates with a paper or station, be sure to let them have it exclusively without "tipping" the competition.
Other League PR Helps From time to time during the year ARRL headquarters also distributes news releases nationally on such subjects as Field Day, Simulated Emergency Test, Founder's Day, etc. Where appropriate we also try to send copies to Affiliated Clubs along with a sample release to use as a guide in preparing stories for local dissemination.
At one time television interference posed a public relations problem for amateur radio, and many clubs developed programs to identify interference sources and to help eliminate them. Headquarters has a TVI kit, available on request, to assist where TVI is still a problem.
In conclusion, we hope you will send samples in the form of clippings in to headquarters on any unusual or particularly interesting news stories you develop for your local newspaper. These will be helpful in giving us ideas and for distribution as ideas to other amateur clubs. Let us know, too, how we can be helpful to you.
Publicity
Check List
Be brief
Be alert to news opportunities
Be factual
Be aware of editorial pressures
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It's surprising how many of the basic tenets of PR work remain constant.
This was the beginning of
the handbook written by
John Huntoon, W1RW
And
Perry Williams, W1UED
Circa 1977