PR Writing - Radio, Television, & Online Video

Prepare a Media Alert or Advisory

Notify assignment editors about a particular event or occasion I would lend itself 10 video coverage. These media alerts can be sent via email, facts, or a news wire.

Video News Release Use

0 packages, in particular, a widely used by television stations and cable systems and smaller markets where the stations have limited new staff. Consequently, many public relations practitioners worry about the cost and whether the potential audience reached his worth the investment. Before deciding to produce a video news release her be roll, you should 1st assess the following factors.

Video News Release Package

A 92nd news report with voice over narration on an audio channel separate from that containing sound bites and natural sound. AB roll. Clear identification of the video source. A script, information about spokes people, media contacts, and story background information provided electronically.

Avoid the Talking Head

A good video should show the topic of the video, whether it's a new machine, an event, or a group of employees in a work group. Showing just the interviewer's face is boring. Podcast some more propriate for a talking head audio and video interviews.

Talk Shows & Product Placements

A good, persuasive querier pitches used to get placements on news programs and talk shows. Talk and magazine shows offer numerous opportunities for reaching mass and specialized audience says. Product placements are cost effective strategy.

Issue Placement

A logical extension of product placement is convincing popular television programs to write an issue or cause into their scripts. The idea is to educate the public about a social issue or a health problem and a popular television show or a movie.

News Feeds

A variation on the satellite media to work is a news feed that provides video and sound bites of an event to TV stations across the country VS satellites. In either case, the sponsoring organization hires a production from to record the event.

Online Video

All my video is now a major industry. Many organizations now have a YouTube channel where they post the multiple short features about their brands and services. One advantage of online video over traditional television is longevity. They are available for weeks and even months. Online videos that get hits must be creative, provide entertainment, and avoid excessive commercialism. Videos prepared for company internets don't need to be flawless, but they do need to tell stories and 3 minutes or less.

Radio Public Service Announcements Use

Almost any topic or issue can be the subject of a PSA. The majority of respondents also prefer PSA's that include a local phone number rather than a national toll free number. Other studies have shown that an organization needs to provide helpful information in a PSA a not make a direct pitch for money.

Radio PSA - Adding Sound

Announcer reading a script is OK, but riding in sound effects can make a radio PSA more interesting. A second approach is to include sound effects that reinforced the theme and subject matter.

Considerations For Video News Release Scripts

Another approach is to prepare a script using 2 columns. The left column lists the visual elements of the script. The right one shows the narration and sound bites that accorded with the visual elements.

Audio News Release Tone

Another consideration is matching the tone of the script to the nature of the subject.

The James Bond Films

Another milestone in product placement was the James bond films in the 1990s. Agent 007 got behind the wheel of ABM W, used a Visa card, war and omega watch, talk to M on an Ericsson cell phone, and drank smirnoff vodka. Since then, product placements and television programs and films have mushroom been to a 6.25 billion dollar wood wide industry, with US spending accounting for about half of this amounts.

GE

GE produced a series of 2 minute videos to highlight the use of its technology around the world. One spot was about a jet skiing Japanese doctor who use G e's portable medical equipment to serve patients on the country's islands. Another video portrayed a young boy in China taking his 1st flight to me to soccer heroes, thanks that G e's jet technology.

Satelite Media Tour Production

Another popular approach to satellite mediates words is to get out of a television studio and do them on location. Organizing at a satellite media tore from a remote location, however, does involve more planning. Another aspect to consider is whether the satellite media tour has enough news value to justify its cost. Given the cost, many organizations try to get maximum benefit by posting in of use on their websites, producing audio and video Podcast, syndicating segments to YouTube and other viral news sites, embedding an interview in a multimedia news release, and even doing a webcast.

Bechtel Corporation

Back tell corporation produced a 62nd video for employees that highlight the state of the company. The public relations staff used up beat music cama road a jargon free narration, and featured some personal employee victories, like how many leadership awards employees have learned.

Zoom

Changing the camera angle by going from a wide shots were close shot, or vice versa.

Here Are Two Examples of Community Calender Announcements

Christmas in the park, sponsored by the downtown association cama is being held at Central Park December 1st throughs January 5th period more than 100 Christmas exhibits, along with performances by various local singing groups, are free to the public. It's a special holiday delight for both children and adults. For more information, call 710265034 zeror visit the website, Christmas in the park. com. John grave, author of the best selling novel twilight in Athens, will be at Kepler's books store at 3:05 University Avenue in Palo Alto on May 24th discuss his latest work and do a book signing. The event is at 7:00 p.m. and free to the public. For more information comcall 650231140 zeroero or visit www. Kepler's books. com.

CU

Close up shot of a person or object. And MCU is a medium close up.

Make a Pitch

Color e-mail the assignment later and make a pitch to have the station to a particular story.

Getting Your PSA On the Air

Do your research so your PSA reaches the appropriate station on its primary audience. Keep it simple. The short length of PS a's means that you must minimize the points you want to make. Always send PSA is to the director of public or community affairs, not the news department. Send broadcast PS a's in different lengths. Establish an effective system the track use of the PSA is by the station. A monitoring service can be used. A morn formal method is there apply postcard sent to the station. Try to localize your P essays. A local number is often more effective than a national toll free number.

Use An Outline

Don't just point and shoot. You should have a good idea of what you want to show where say in its proper sequence.

Use Extra Lighting

Don't just rely on Room lights. It's better to invest in a small led video light that will throw color balance light on tear subject at close range.

Guidelines For a Successful Satelite Media Tour (Don'ts)

Don't let the satellite media tore become a commercial. If producers think there is the possibility of too many product mentions, they won't book at. Don't be dishonest with produces about the contents of your satellite media tour. Don't picture satellite media towards a more than one producer at a station. Don't be conservative with the amount of talent. A boring medical satellite media tour will pack more punch if you present a patient along with the doctor.

Keep It Real

Don't over scrapped, use real people, and don't overproduce set.

Let It Spread On It's Own Merit

Don't push too hard or paid a spread its. It doesn't work.

Keep It Genuine

Don't try to check people a lie because they will figure it out.

Never Post Raw Video

Edit your footage to ensure relevance, continuity, and length. Use production techniques such as color correction to improve the quality.

Video News Release Delivery

Email advisories are usually sent to television stations notifying them that a video news release or RB roll package is available via satellite link or as a download from the website of a distribution firm.

Interview a Variety of People

Employees get tired of seeing the CEO all the time period planned use a diverse group of your workforce in terms of gender, age, rais, departments, and salary levels.

Audio News Release Production

Every audio news release starts the carefully written and accurately time script. In doing this, it is imperative to control the quality of the sound.

Make People Laugh

Few things spread as fast as humor online, especially if you can hit the board at work crowd.

How to Conduct An Interview On a TV Talk Show

Gas should be passionate about the subject. A person excited about his or her subject is more interesting, personable, and convincing. Debate without getting personal or mean spirited. Smile. Audiences like to see someone who is comfortable on screen, so of one who is happy to be there. Remember your posture. If you stand, don't sway. If you sit, don't jiggle your legs. Also, look at the reporter a moderator commer not the camera. Stay on message. Keep in the mind the 3 or 4 major points that you want to make India interview. Never just say no comment. It looks like you are hiding something. But it to explain that due to legal constraints or protection of proper IA tyrion formation, you can't comment. If you don't know the answer, it's all through OK to simply say I don't know. Use the bridging technique. The flectere a Porter's aggressive question by saying I have no comments all now but I want to let you know that XYZ company is now pursuing a new strategy. Avoid industry jargon. Keep your comments to the 6th grade level for better understanding by the audience. Be accurate. Double check any and all facts that you provide. Mention the company name or the brand only once or twice in the interview. Otherwise, it gets too commercial and promotional. Keep your senses shorts, especially in radio interviews. Dress appropriately. Celebrities on Jimmy Kimmel show can wear just about anything, but spokes persons for organizations should wear suits, blouses, and skirts that are fashionable but conservative. Excess of jewelry is also unknown now.

Multiply Your Distribution

Great post on the organization's website, YouTube, and Facebook, post and post links via Twitter. Distributes a key bloggers. Post experts on Vimeo, Vine, and Instagram. Make video versions adapt its a viewing on mobile devices.

Use a Make Up Artist

HD cameras intensifies skin color and highlight imperfections, so production quality can be enhanced by paying attention to cosmetics.

Dub

I duplicate of an audio or video tape.

Use Cats

If I love spells, use cats in your video. For some reason, cats almost always go viral.

Make It Original

If it's not 100% original, execute better.

Make Them Feel Good

If you make viewers smile, they will be more likely to spread the video.

Guidelines For a Successful Satelite Media Tour (Dos)

Include a relevant tangle for the stations in every market you pitch. Localize your satellite media 2 hours. If local audiences aren't going to be intrested, neither the producers are airing the story. Use an interesting, visually appealing background or set. It often makes the difference between your satellite media to are getting on the aranotz. Get stations involved by sending items that will help them perform and promote their interview. Respect produces his wishes when they tell you they will get back to you. Incessant follow up will only annoy those who are trying to convince. Be clear in your pitch. Provide producers with the who, what, when, and why right away. Use credible, knowledgeable spokes persons who project confidence in our personable.

Use a Good Microphone

Internet Mike's on most cameras don't produce a good quality sound, which is important. Use ax stone or clip on Mike's, which are cheap and more effective. For more sophisticated recording a, learn how to record separate sound of the digital audio were quarter and then sync it with the video during the editing process.

Ask Yourself These Questions

Is the topic a news worthy? The a have a new angle on something in the news? Is the topic timely? Can you tie the idea to some lifestyle a cultural trend? Is the information useful to the viewer's? How to ideas may be welcomed? Does your spokes person have your appeal? A celebrity may be acceptable, but there must be a logical tie and to organization and to the topic to be discussed. A professional athlete might be plausible thinking about top running shoes but one out of place in a discussion about the economy. Can the spokes person stay on track? A spokes person should have 2 or 3 key messages and avoid tangents. Can you keep the speaker from stressing the commercial angle? Most talk show hosts will allow a brief mention of a brand name or sponsor identification. If you're speaker gets to commercial, the entire interview may be deleted, and your organization May land on the list of those who will not be invited back. Those the speaker fit the program? If he or she is and on a fast thinker, avoid shows of full of rapid exchanges and loaded questions. Is the speaker and expert on the topic will be discussed?

Guidelines For Product Placement On Your Favorite TV Show

It's quite make the product prominent enough to get noticed but not so obvious that it's annoying. Publicize the place in with other efforts, such as an in store promotion, sponsorship, product news release in media kit, and program exort on YouTube or other viral media. Consider product placement in soap operas, sports programs, food shows, and reality television shows. Keep the placement relevant to both the characters and the tone of the show. Check the demographics of the viewers. Is it a prime audience for your products? Limit placements to a maximum of 5 per show. Sign long term deals for frequent placements to ensure greater memorability. Monitor social networks for good and badd comments by the placement.

Produce a Video News Release

Like an audio news release, a video news releases formatted it for immediate use with a minimum of effort by station personnel. The video news release also has the advantage of being a complete package that requires little effort on the part of the television station to use all or part of it.

Producing Online Videos

Major organizations hire teams of writers, graphic artists, and video Grapher is to manage their YouTube presents and do such tasks as filming, editing, tagging, promoting, and uploading. Smaller organizations, lacking such staffs, often outsource video projects the production companies. Today's generation records videos on smart phones and compact or clam quarters that are often Uploaded a company internets as part of an organization's employee communications strategy.

Here Are Some Planning Trips From Various Production Companies

Make sure the location has some tie in with your subject. Do a site survey. Figure out the logistics for sound, lighting, telephones, and satellites. Make contingency arrangements in case of badd weather. Arrange for necessary permits and permissions if using public or private property. Make certain that the location is free from general public access to have white background distractions. Be conscious of other complications, such as noise from honking horns and even air traffic. Make sure your spokes person is adaptable and prepared to answer all sorts of questions.

Radio PSA Production

Most PSA scripts are mailed or e-mail to the station's director of public and community affairs. A more sophisticated approaches to record your P essays, particularly those of music and sound effects, and use a good production house to make copies that can be distributed on C d's or a dedicated phone line or downloaded from a website. They also included a basic fact sheet giving more detail by the topics presented in the PS a's.

Pan

Moving the camera from side to side.

Audio News Release Delivery

Once the audio news release has been produced, the public relations professional must notify the station's news department that and audio news releases available. You need to give the subject of the release and tell editors how to retrieve its. Radio releases, like a news releases, should not be shocked gone to every radio station. An organization can set up a dedicated phone line that has recordings of various news releases or king contract with an organization such as Strauss radio strategies, which was set up and maintain and actuality line for its clients. Another method of delivery is via satellite or the Internet. A seedy can also be mailed to stations, along with a script, but this only works if the news is not particularly time sensitive.

PSAs

Only non profit, civic, and voluntary organizations are eligible to use PS a's. A survey by the pew research center found that less than 1% of air time is dedicated to PS a's. Few PS a's or air during periods of peak listening, when a station can run revenue producing advertisements.

B Roll

Only the video portion, without sound.

Radio PSA Format

PSA's, like radio news releases, I usually written in upper case and double spaced. They can be 60, 30, twenny, 15, or 10 seconds long. Unlike with audio news releases, the standard practice is to submit multiple PSA's on the same subject in various lengths. The idea is to give the station announcer flexibility and using a particular length the Philip aticular time slot throughout the day.

Use a Tripod

Pans and zooms are smoother of the camera is anchored to the floor. The handheld approach causes too many shaky images. Keep the camera and I level.

On Cam

Person or object is on camera, part of what is being video taped.

Super

Printing material, usually words, to show the name of a person, a telephone number, or location.

The Case of ET

Product placements come of age with the movie ET back in the early 1980s. The story goes that Eminem candies made a classic marketing mistake by not allowing the film to use eminem's as that promotes an early displayed trail of candy that the young hero used to lower his big eyed friend home. Instead, Hershey's Reese's pieces jumped at the chance, and the rest is history. Sales of Reese's pieces skyrocketed, and even today, Reese's pieces and ET remain linked and popular culture.

Radio

Radio Continues to thrive because of its ability to be heard almost anywhere. Radio releases a similar to press releases, but they require more concise writing in a conversational tone. Audio news releases a more interesting because they include sound bites, music, and sound effects. Public service announcements are short broadcast announcements used by nonprofit groups and public agencies. Radio media tours are cost effective way to reach many stations with an exclusive interview over a wide geographic area. Organizations often partner with radio stations to promote an event, and can get additional exposure by using community calendars.

The Reach of Broadcast Media & Online Video

Radio and television are pervasive in societee is major sources of news and information. Despite the Internet, television remains the number one source of news for most Americans. Online video is growing at an explosive rate as organizations produce and distribute their own video contents on websites and social networks. Producing materials for broadcast and online video requires thinking and scripting and terms of sound and visual elements.

Rotary International

Rotary internatonal, with 1.2 million members in more than a 115 nations, produces a number of short videos on its projects around the world. Their long term projects involve peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention, children's health, basic education and literacy, and community involvement. One series of videos had the theme doing good in the world.

Send a Standard News Release

Send the station the same news release that your sense of local print media. If the news editor thinks the topic is newsworthy and lends itself to visual representation, here she might tell the assignment editor to have a reporter and camera crew follow up on the news release.

Get Influencers to Like It

Send the video to people who have large followings on Twitter or blogs. If they like it, they will share it.

Provide Stock Footage

Send video clips showing and organizations production line, new product, or special event. This gives the station an archive of video that can be used with the immediate story or a feature story about the organization. This is often called AB roll, which is discussed shortly.

SOT

Sound on tape. Usually refers to an interview.

Television

Television is an excellent medium of communication because it combines the elements of sight, sound, motion, and color. Television news releases must contain both sound and visual elements such as graphics, slides, or videotape. It should be a journalistic story in avoid the appearance of promotion or advertising. A video news release should be done only if the topic lends itself to good visuals and action. Video news releases are used by TV stations and cable systems. They are also posted on organizational websites and social media sites such as YouTube. B-roll footage, is loosely scripted and without narration, is now more popular with television stations then video news releases. Satellite media tours are widely used in the broadcast industry. A popular format a setting up Prince of use from a location that reinforces the story.

Satelite Media Tour Formats

The easiest way to do with satellite media tour is simply to make an articulate spokesperson available for an interview. The was usually see the local news anchor asking questions and the spokes person on a newsroom monitor Kama via satellites, answering them in much the same way that anchors talk with reporters at the scene of an event. Basically, the format is to Talking Heads common the news anchor in the spokes person. Although Talking Heads, as they are known in the industry, often used for satellite media to ers, today's most successful satellite media towards a more interactive and dynamic. One approach is to integrate additional video into the satellite mediates war. At times, a satellite media tours also coordinated with the release of a video news release or b-roll package about the same topic.

Producing a Video News Release

The entire process is highly technical, requiring trained professionals and sophisticated equipment. Consequently, the public relations writer primarily serves as an idea creator and a facilitator. The public relations professional may come up with the idea, write a rough script outlining the visual and audio elements, and make arrangements for video production and distribution service to produce the video. Consequently, it is not necessary to write a prepared script for everyone who appears on video.

Keep Videos to Three Minutes

The industry standard is that people are not engage longer than 3 minutes. People will watch your video even longer, however, if it's entertaining and has value.

Video News Release Consideration Factors

The news value of the topic, whether the topic lends itself to a visual treatment Tama whether it can be recycled for use in social networking sites and blogs, and whether this is a cost effective method of reaching your target audience.

Audio News Release Format

The preferred length for an audio news release is 60 seconds, including a soundbite of 20 seconds or less. You can preface each paragraph with the name of the person providing the soundbites, accordingly.

Keep It Short

The shorter and more to the point the better. 3 minutes is a good rule of thumb.

Audio News Release Uses

The use of audio news releases is increasingly popular with radio stations because of cost cutting and staff cuts.

Radio News Release Format

There are several major differences between a radio release in a news release prepared for print media. The standard practice is to write a radio release using all uppercase letters in a double spaced format. The timing is vital because broadcasters must fit their messages into a rigid time frame that is measured down to the 2nd period a news release for print uses standard English grammar and punctuation. In a radio release, a more conversational style as used, and the emphasis is on strong, short sentences. An average sentence length of 10 words is a good goal.

How to Write a Radio News Release

Time is money in radio. Story should be no longer than 60 seconds. Stories about actuality should be 30 seconds or less. The only way to time your story is to read out loud cama slowly. Soundbite should be short, about 15 words or less, and capture most important point. Convey your message with the smallest possible number of words and facts. A radio news releases non advertisement. It is not a sales promotion piece. A radio news releases journalism, spoke in period announcers punctuate with their voices. Not all senses need verbs are subjects. Releases should be conversational. You simple words and avoid legal speak. After riding a newsroom release radio, try to shorten every sense. Listeners have short attention spans. Have something to say and say it right away. Never start a story with the name. While listeners are trying to figure out to the person is, they forget to listen to the senses that follow.

B Roll Delivery & Use

To share your b-roll, the last thing you want to do with attach the file to an email.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Topola a Mexican girl produced a series of 420 minute videos titled farmed and dangerous, a comedy series that ran on hulu. According to Chipotle a, its mission was to educate consumers about where food came from.

Tips For Producing Video News Releases

Use outside experts to give credibility. Avoid commercialism and hype. Produced a video news release with the news footage and mind. Never super impose your own read information on the actual videotape. Never use a stand up reporter. Provide TV stations of the local angle. Good graphics, including animation, are a plus. Avoid overproduction, commercial like shots with sophisticated effects.

A Roll

Video that contains the audio portion. This may be an announcer speaking or quote from someone being interviewed.

V/O

Voice over. A story where someone off camera, usually an announcer, read the portion of the video story. Sometimes written as announcer: video.

Video News Release Format

Writing a script for video news releases a bit more complicated than riding one for an audio news release because you also off to visualize the scene, much like a playwright or a screen writer.