Step-by-Step Guides to Strategic Media Relations by Hoem Seiha

Strategic Media Relations
By Hoem Seiha
H/p: 012-699-553
Email: entrepconsulting@gmail.com

Session 1
Pre-Learning Test
You are given 20 minutes to take a pre-test on general
understanding of Media Relations. You’re not allowed
to cheat in any form during this test. The test is only
intended to measure your knowledge about the whole
subject, and it does not affect your scores. Return
your paper to the committee upon your completion.

Work individually:
1. What is Media Relations?
2. What are the importance and roles of Media Relations?
3. What are the main activities of Media Relations?
4. What are the differences between Public Relations and
Media Relations? Describe the main activities of Public
Relations.
5. For your own perspectives, between Public Relations
and Media Relations, which one is most effective for
your organizational advocacy campaigns?
Pre-Learning Test

The primary goal of Media Relations is to garner
positive publicity for an organization’s mission,
policies, and practices.
 Media relations refers to the connection
between an organization and journalists.
 Public relations extends beyond the media to
the general public.
Understanding of Media Relations

Media Roles & Social
Influences

Media refers to newspapers,
magazines, radios and
televisions as a whole. They
bring information to the
public (audiences) within a
society, country or the whole
world based on their reach
capacity.
Understanding the Media

The role of media has become one way of trading and
marketing of products and prejudices. The media
claimed to be governed by righteousness and equity,
but greed and self-aggrandizement has poisoned its
virtues. Media is in charge of major roles in providing :
1. information
2. education and advocacy
3. entertainment
4. advertising
5. correlation of parts of society
Roles of Media

Media brings information
such as fire, change of
fiscal policy of the
government, upcoming
election, etc., to the
public.
Information

Advertising
Advertising is most common
in any kinds of media.
Because media is the central
information disseminators,
advertisers buy space on
newspapers, time on TVs or
radios, etc., to bring their
marketing messages to the
their audiences.

Correlation of parts of society
refers to the interpretive or
analytical activities of the
media. For instance, if you know
from the media that the
government passes a law against
network marketing, you’re not
likely to get involved in it.
Correlation of Parts of Society

Media influences the ways of thinking of the people.
and change particular behavior of the population within
a society from one point of view to another. For most of
corporate entities, they use media to achieve their
campaigns by applying awareness program and educate
and advocate people about their products, services, and
other programs. By doing so, media can change public
opinions, urge policy-makers to adapt or change
policies, warn the public of something that might
impact on them.
Influences of Media

For instance, stories
concerning an
increase demand of
housing will urge
property investors to
build new borei
houses to cater to the
rising need.
Influence on Policy

Work individually. Answer the following questions:
Red Bull has existed and predominated Cambodian market for
many years. Recent existence of Bachhus has taken a big
market share from Red Bull, though Red Bull is believed to have
better quality and taste.
1. What strategies has Bachhus applied to gain a big market
share from Red Bull in Cambodia?
2. Why people change their perception of traditional energy
drinks (with more sugar) to light energy drinks (less
sugar)?
Case Study: Red Bull Vs Bachhus

Media have been changing faces throughout the
history. Long time ago, the westerners first printed
newspapers. Now, there are many types of media
(print, broadcast, online, social, etc.) coming to serve
and change the face of the world. There major types of
media in Cambodia:
 Print media, broadcast media, online media (including
email), social media, and mobile SMS
Types of Media

Print media is most
common in Cambodia.
Print media outlets are
newspapers,
magazines,
newsletters, and other
periodic publications.
Access to print media is
limited, usually popular
in the urban areas like
Phnom Penh.
Print Media

Popular and widely read
by urban population, especially in Phnom Penh, are daily
newspapers with circulation of 5,000 to 18,000.
Getting low readership
are periodic magazines, usually only population in the urban
areas, because of too many magazines coming. The
circulation is around 1,000 to 5,000.
Print Media Stats

Mostof professionals and business people read the
Phnom Penh Post.
Many newspapers are getting less public confidence
because of its unbalanced reporting and political bias, and
lack of innovation and changes.
Over 100 is the number of newspapers in Cambodia.
Did You Know?

Broadcast media refers to
media outlets that broadcast
news and other messages via
TVs and radios. Such media
outlets are Hang Meas HDTV,
RFI Khmer, Apsara TV, etc.
The reach of TV is great
regardless of rural or urban
areas. The reach of Radio is only
inside and around the areas of
broadcasting.
Broadcast Media

98% of the households in Phnom Penh has TV.
73% of the households in Kampong Cham has TV.
65% of the households in Battambang has TV.
Statistics was in 2010.
TV Stats

77% of Cambodian youths are TV viewers.
87% of Cambodian youths watch international
film programs on TV.
65% of Cambodian youths watch Khmer film
series on TV.
Did You Know?

Online media refers to any media
outlets that provide news on online
platforms such as Phnom Penh Post
online, DAP online, and email
dissemination system platforms
such as Gmail.com or Yahoo.com.
The reach of online media is
generally within and around the
urban areas and among only the
highly educated population.
Online Media

2.7 million
is the number of Cambodian
Internet users estimated by
the end of 2012.
Did You Know?

Email is the use of electronic means to deliver the message
across the country and continents. The reach of email in
Cambodia is only among the highly educated population.
Email
 It’s estimated that around 100,000
people use email for communications.
 Around 50,000people open emails
frequently.

742,220
is the number of Cambodian
people using Facebook (5% of the
whole population) by the end of
2012.
Facebook Stats

1 million
is the number of Facebook
users estimated by 2013.
Did You Know?

44,071
is the number of frequent
LinkedIn unique visitors in
Cambodia.
LinkedIn Stats

19.6 million
is the number of mobile
subscriptions in Cambodia.
Mobile & SMS

Building Relationship
with the Media
Session 2

Relationship with the right
persons in the media accounts
for the success for media
relations and PR plans. Building a
good and strong relationship
with the media is a professional
process, not involved in
entertaining meals and drinks, by
providing them information and
opportunities to interest their
readers and audiences. There are
some practical guides regarding
building strong relationship with
the media.
Relationships with the Media

Try to understand what are the best
media outlets that can achieve your
media coverage planning. Media
stands on the middle of your
organization and the public, so make
sure your story pitches go with the
media outlets you’re going to build
relationship. For instance, real estate
related news stories are newsworthy
for Phnom Pen Post, CNC TV, Hang
Meas HDTV, etc. Corruption related
stories are newsworthy for Radio RFA
and Radio VOA, but not for DAP news
online.
Identifying Your Media

Try to identify the persons with the right power that can decide to
or not to run your news stories of your organization.
Recommended persons to build relations with are:
 Editor-in-Chief – one who’s in charge of the whole newspaper
or magazine
 Section Editor – one who’s in charge of a certain section of the
newspaper or magazine
 (Section) Reporters – ones who’re in charge of collecting and
reporting the news stories for a newspaper or magazine
Identifying the Right Persons
in the Media

Offering news pitches, news stories, or
editorials produced by your
organization is a way to build good
relationship with the media. Since
sometimes newspapers, magazines or
TV outlets are stuck by a lack of stories
to run on their outlets, your offers
should help them a lot. They won’t
forget you when you frequently offer
them your news stories.
However, if you produce a stories for
them, be sure to do professionally in
accordance with the standard of
journalism.
Offer News Pitches

News reporters need human
voices to fill up their news
stories – this makes their stories
sound stronger. For a success of
media relations campaign, offer
an access for reporters to reach
your executives who can provide
information the reporters needs
for their stories.
Offer Access to Executives

A way to build and
attract the media is to
specialize a news beat
(such as real estate) for
the news media. When
reporters think of
writing, for instance, a
story on real estate, they
will come to you.
Specializing a News Beat

Provide media kits such as quarterly
or monthly newsletters, monthly
reviews, or press releases can be a
good way to maintain relationship
with the media. If your publications
contain newsworthy information
for the reporters to cite as
references, they will enjoy and also
enthusiastically wait for your later
publications.
Offer Publications

Social, business or public events and workshops, exhibitions, etc., are a good
place for PR practitioners to meet reporters from many media outlets. Below
are some tips to build media lists at the events or workshops:
 Try to attend these kinds of events and workshops that related to your
organizations’ news beats.
 Drop your name cards at the registration desk of the events or workshops
 Ask reporters you meet for their business cards, and list them in your
contact lists of media.
 Notice if there is an PR email sending to a list of media, don’t forget to
check the CC section. If there is a CC attached, copy those email and save it
in one of your lists.
 Send them your periodic publications or invitation to media conferences.
Building Media Lists

Don’t ignore email. It’s cheap,
fast and convenient. Once you
have built lists of media outlets,
group them accordingly. Use
email to send your publications
and press releases, periodic
reviews, editorials, and several
other articles that newspapers
or magazines can cite or totally
run them on their newspapers.
Emails as Communication Means

Making Media Pitches
Session 3

Media pitch – a direct communication to a writer,
reporter, blogger or editor via email or telephone to
convince him to write a story of your organization.
A good media relations practitioner can pitch a story of
his organization and interest the news writer who are
likely to write the suggested story.
Making Media Pitches

 Step 1: Pitch a story (create a story idea) that brands or promotes
your organization professionally without using promotional
messages.
 Step 2: Prepare a letter to editor (or directly to news reporter)
stating why the story matters and why it’s newsworthy for the
audiences.
 Step 3: Talk to the editor (directly to news reporter) about the story
idea. Once he says he want to see the idea in details, you can send
him the letter to him via email.
 Step 4: Follow up the story idea by phone call or via email
communications with the editor or reporter.
 Step 5: Facilitate the information needed for the story such as
executive interview, factsheet, newsletter, etc.
Steps in Making Media Pitches

A story pitch is a story idea (a narrower topic)
covering a specific angle about a broad topic. A
story pitch has a topic and its controlling ideas.
Example:
 diabetes prevalence increases among middle-
age Cambodians
 Fast Foods are getting popular among
Cambodian urban population
A Story Pitch

Nonprofits that are featured in media stories share
their story with their audience without paying for
advertising space, graphic designers or printing costs.
While there is no guaranteed method for gaining a
media attention for a nonprofit, there are several
techniques that can make a nonprofit’s pitch more
marketable for media coverage, or a simple mention in
a news story.
Pitch – It’s an Editorial Job

 Step 1: Identify the areas of interest of the
media outlets.
 Step 2: Think of relating your organization’s
story with the areas of media interest.
 Step 3: Or if possible, discuss with the
reporters over how to make the story
newsworthy for the media.
How to Pitch a Story

If you’re working to promote a property management
company using media relations strategies, think of
these themes for media to cover your stories.
 New approach to investing in serviced property
 Update of serviced apartment market
 Update of serviced office space market
 Vtrust achieves 95% of office occupancy rate
 Etc.,
Example of Story Pitches

Study an example of a story pitch:
Vtrust achieves 95% of office occupancy rate
 “Vtrust” is a topic.
 achieves 95% of office occupancy rate” is a controlling
idea.
 Vtrust is involved in the story.
 Vtrust’s executive will have voices in the story
Direct Pitch

Study an example of a story pitch:
Entrepreneurs attach integrity to business success
 “integrity” is a topic.
 “Entrepreneurs attach... to business success” is a
controlling.
 Entrepreneurs involve in the story.
 Vtrust’s executive will have a voice in the story.
Indirect Pitch

A story that might be interesting
for some professional
newspapers might not be of the
interest at some TV. So the areas
of interest for broadcast media
are different according to their
expertise and censorship by the
government, etc. For example, a
story about human right violation
is well suited with VOA, RFA, RFI,
but not suitable for almost the
rest of other radio or TV outlets.
Pitch for Broadcast Media

These two TV outlets are fond
of business and economic
stories like any industry, real
estate, foods, etc.
However, all TVs in Cambodia
is non-neutral and has a
tendency to the ruling party,
hiding some of the true
stories about those issues
behind.
Hang Meas HDTV, CNC News
Sensitive stories are not broadcast on TVs

Among print media outlets, Phnom Penh Post (Khmer & English) is now
becoming most popular in Phnom Penh and throughout the provinces for its
fairness in reporting sensitive stories, economic and business stories alike.
Phnom Penh has several sections that serve different group of people with
different interests. Such sections:
 Local – focusing on crimes, human rights violation, politics, and many other
issues
 Business – focusing on business and economic sectors
 Real Estate – focusing on real estate and property sectors
 Lift – focusing on youth issues and entertainment
 Sports – focusing on sports
 7Days – focusing on features of prominent people and entertainment
 Special Reports – focusing on special events, happening and stories with
in-depth analyses.
Print Media

There are few online media outlets in Cambodia, but
most common online media are Phnom Penh Post,
Raskmey Kampuchea, Kosantepheap, DAP News, and
others that are not so popular.
 Raskmey Kampuchea – reporting on general issues
 Kosantepheap – reporting on general issues
 DAP News – reporting on general issues
Online Media

Pay-as-you-go, email delivery service whose reach is up
to 45,000 email addresses is most common for
updates of trainings, events, and jobs and some of
notifications of special events. For delivery of sensitive
information like human rights violation or political
issues, the service providers do not offer.
However, you can own your own email system to
achieve your media campaign at low costs.
Emails & SMS

1) Work individually.
2) Time allowed for this test is 20 minutes.
Instruction: Think of a story idea that relates to your
own organization and suggest a pitch for the media to
cover that story for you. Tell what the story is about,
how this story is interesting for the media to cover up
their publication. Write your ideas down.
3) After you finish, hand your paper to the trainer.
Session 4: Test 1

Organizing Public and
Media Events
Session 5

Event is one of the strategies to get your company’s stories covered in
the media. However, planning an event to attract the media isn’t an
easy task. There are some practical experiences to make it attractive:
 Create an event that relate to the media’s areas of interest (such as
opening, briefing on new report, special public event, etc.).
 Create story ideas that reporters can use to write their stories for
their newspapers.
 Prepare press kits (review, press release, speech, factsheet,
newsletter) to help them find necessary information.
Organizing Public and Media Events

1). Identify your organizational objective of the event
you’re going to hold.
For an organization, whatever event is a good way to bring certain
group of people, public and media in in order see what’s going at
your organization. However, not all events can attract the attention
of the media, and the coverage could be kind of promotional. To
achieve that, you have to identify a clear objective of your event and
think of how to create your event attractive to the media by creating
possible story pitches to suit different media.
Process of Creating an Event

2). Relate your event to a story pitch of the media.
By pitching news stories within your event, media reporters
become interested in it and will set aside other tasks to
attending your event for possible coverage. For instance, if
your event is the “Grand Opening of Park Café’s new outlet”
(restaurant chain), then you should make a pitch that suggests
restaurant industry is growing in Cambodia, as example set by
the expansion of Park Café.
Process of Creating an Event (cont.)

3). Work with the speakers/presenters
Now you have a story idea that the media are hunting
for. However, you have to talk to your speakers of the
event and provide them what should be raised at the
event. Talking about many things without a clear
objective only makes news reporters boring and find it
uninteresting.

4). Create an agenda for the event
Creating an agenda for the event makes the news
reporters know clearly where/when the event is to be
hold, what the event is about, what speeches or what
topics should be of their interest for the stories they’re
going to write, or who are of their targets for the news
reporting.

5). Assign teams for the event
No team, you cannot make the event go smoothly. So
assign people of your team the duties and
responsibility of each tasks in the event (like facilitator,
MC, registration officers, etc.)

6). Create media invitation and media kits
Write an advisory to the media, press release, speech of
the president, factsheet, review if necessary. Burn it on
a CD or print in handouts. You can send these tools to
the media prior to event, except speech.

7). Plan the budget for the event
Without budget, you can’t host an event. Plan the
budget and submit a proposal to the management to
approve. Here, the proposal should be attached with an
event plan (including agenda), media plan (including
media advisory and media list of attendants).

8). Book a venue for your event
Once your proposal is approved, you can proceed the
next step of booking a venue for your event. Prepare
all what you need for the day to happen. Be careful!
Poorly-prepared event can cause your event out of
control.

9). Keep everyone involved in the event
informed
Once your proposal is approved, you can proceed the
final step of holding an event. Make an invitation and
alert them in advance. The event is full of joy when
everyone of the people involved in the event come.

It’s always eventful at the day of the event. Participants
and media start to arrive, and registration become
busy, while distinguished guests are anticipated by you.
At the time of start, of course, opening starts and
speech delivery follows. Media starts to questions. And
if no questions from the media, your event is likely to
be out of interest for the media.
On the Event Day

Producing Media Kits
Session 6

There are several media kits used at the event or without the event.
 Press release – normally used when there’s an event
 Speech – normally used when there’s an event (rarely used in non-
event but still in special case like immediate press release or special
occasion)
 Factsheet – can be used in many occasions
 Newsletter – usually delivered periodically (monthly, quarterly, or
yearly)
 Review – just like newsletter but shorter and with detailed
information on specific areas of interest.
Media Kits

Press release is a piece of
information about something of
or relating to an organization. A
press release is used to pitch
the media so that reporters or
editors might be interested and
cover on that in their
publications. Examples of press
release is a release telling about
“grand opening, joint venture
agreement, new data release,
etc.”
How to Write a Press Release

A news release has the following elements:
1. Company name (and logo)
2. Headline (sometimes also subhead)
3. Issue date
4. Lead (the first few sentences)
5. Body (details of the story)
6. Conclusion (not mandatory)
7. Editorial notice (editor’s note)
8. Media Inquiry Contact
The Basic Elements

Sample:ElectronicNews
Release
Company name
Headline
lead
body
Editor’s note
Media Inquiry Contact
Company & Issue date

Sample: Email-Based News Release
Headline
Company & issue date
Attached e-release

Headline – It’s the subject line (the title of the news
release). Either it’s electronically used or printed on the
paper, headline nature is still the same. Write it
concisely but meaningfully. A good headline of a news
release should convince news writers or editors to get
it published. It should:
 Capture the news writers/editors’ attentions
 Summarize the overall content of the release
Writing a Headline

 Be short.
 Be straightforward, not misleading.
 Not be promotional.
 Not include company’s name (except some cases).
 Use simple words.
 Comply to style guides.
 Not be written in BLOCK.
 Be capitalized or lowercased.
Writing a Headline (Cont.)

Too long
 More than a Hundred Buyers Queue for the Arrival
of iPhone 4S in front of iOne at Canadia Tower from
Morning until Evening
Acceptable
 Hundreds of Buyers Queue for iPhone 4S Arrival at
iOne All Day
Example: Length

Non-Standard
 Apartment and Office Realty Revenues Are
Expected to Rise Up in the Upcoming Years.
Standard
 Apartment, Office Realty Revenues Expected to
Increase Next Years
Example: Style

Since lead is the first line(s) of the news release, it
should be short, summarizing the overall content of
the release. An effective lead should:
 Capture the news writers or editors’ attentions
 Reveal the overall meaning of the release content.
 Provide a brief of the “5 Ws” and the “H”.
 Not run more than 5 lines (best, 50-80 words)
 Not exceed 2 sentences
Writing a Lead

Not Effective: Too long, poorly structured, delayed lead
In time of ASEAN Integration over the next few years,
free market is open to this community and foreign
investors have already looked to invest in the country.
Cambodia will no doubt improve many economic
sectors. For instance, Cambodia’s apartment and
office realty revenues are predicted to grow by the
next years, said industry leaders at the economic
review session yesterday.
Example: Lead

Effective: Concise, immediate lead, well-structured
Apartment and office realty revenues are predicted to
grow by the next coming years, as bolstered by ASEAN
Integration when foreign investors have already
looked to invest in the country, industry leaders said at
the economic review session yesterday.
Example: Lead (Cont.)

The body of a news release provide details of the headline of the
release, narrowing down the points in an inverted pyramid style.
An effective body should:
 Provide details of the subject matters
 Answer to the “5Ws” and the “H”
 Include the intended messages
 Include background information
 Include supporting elements such as human quotes from
involved individuals, figures, statistics, factual information
Writing a Body

Even if the conclusion is not always necessary for a
news release, sometimes writers use it to leave a
special message for the readers so that the readers are
drawn by it at last. An effective conclusion should:
 Briefly restate the lead (in a far different way)
 Leave a message for the readers to consider
 Urge for an action
 Not run more than 5 lines (best, 50-80 words)
Conclusion (Not Mandatory)

Prewriting is the first step of all writing activities. It includes the
followings:
 Defining recipients (clients or potential clients)
 Choosing an email campaign
 Brainstorming
 Gathering information
 Outlining the content (of a campaign)
 Choosing a format & design style
Prewriting

Audiences are the first priority to consider
before writing a news story. To succeed in your
writing, define for whom the stories are
intended. Such considerations are demography
(age, gender, living standard, occupation,
location, etc.), old or loyal clients, potential
clients, preference, etc.
Defining Audiences

Example 2
Corporate
Internet
Package:
$90 - $300
Unlikely
Retail user

Now that you’ve got the ideas of story, the next
step is to think briefly about what information
should be included in the your story. Remember
the “5 Ws” and the “H” for brainstorming
techniques.
5 Ws: What, where, when, why and who
The H: How
Brainstorming

Example: Event
Press
ReleaseEvent name
What’s the
event about?
Event location
Who presides
the event?
Starting &
lasting time
Who
organizes/
Hosts?
Who are
invited?

You’ve come up with the all the ideas of what to write
in your email marketing message, and the next step
you have to take is to gather all the information you
have listed in the brainstorming process. Think of
resource persons who share the responsibility of
providing you the information regarding the what
you’re going to write. Sometimes, you have to sit your
marketing counterparts, upline managers, CEO down
for the information.
Gathering Information

Gathering Information can be done by:
 Desk Review
 Use computer and internet (for electronic materials)
 Find print materials (brochure, flyer, etc.)
 In-Person Interview
 Meet marketing counterparts, upline managers and CEO for
the interview
 Clients (for newsletter only)
Information Gathering Approaches

An effective interview should be planned in advance. A list of
questions should be established. Here are the tips:
 Choose what to write about
 Generate a list of questions (what, where, when, who, why,
how)
 Determine who should be interviewed
 Make appointment with the resource
Interviewing Tips: Question List

A good interview is better done with a good communication and
closeness between the interviewer and interviewee. Here are
some tips:
 Warm up – start the conversation by a warm-up.
 Let him know why you need the information.
 Ask him according to question list, but be flexible with the
unexpectedly told pieces of information
 Think of pop-up questions and follow up
 End the interview with a full of information
Interviewing Tips: Interviewing
Process

News –sometimes called “news story” – is mostly published on newspapers,
magazines or other online media. A news story tells you about something
unusual happening around you. Like a news release, news story has to answer
the “5Ws” and the “H”. A good news story should:
 Answer the “5Ws” and the “H”.
 Be narrowed down in “inverted pyramid” style
 Have a clear angle
 Be objective (avoid subject “I”)
 Quote human voices
 Have supporting elements
 Be factual
 Be word-economic
News

A good news story should have one or more of the following
characteristics:
 Proximity – Nearness to your audience / Are they directly
affected?
 Timeliness – Is this something new?
 Prominence – Are those involved of importance to the
audience?
 Novelty – Is this something unusual, first, largest etc.?
 Conflict – Are there competing sides, big or small?
News (Cont.)

 Wide Appeal – In many cases local media appeals to an
eighth-grade reading level and topics that appeal to mass
audiences. Does your story have wide appeal or can you
describe why it should?
News (Cont.)

Like a news release, news story has basic elements described
below:
 Lead – the first few lines (sometimes only 1 sentence) of the
news story
 Body – a block of paragraphs. All the details, usually written
in an inverted pyramid style, are given to support the lead.
 Conclusion – a paragraph. A special message is left for the
readers. Even if this sometimes used by writers, this is not so
important for journalistic writing.
News Basics

The basic elements of the body of a news story should
have the followings:
 The “5Ws” and the “H” – telling about what, where,
when, why, who, and how
 Background Information - telling something related
to the main idea of the story
 Supporting elements – like details, print or human
quotes, statistics, figures, (sometimes rumors)
Body

A paragraph is a block of sentence grouped together to state a
idea or thing. An effective paragraph has the following
characteristics:
 Concise but meaningful (not exceed 100 words)
 Word-economy (make every word counts)
 Should contain only main idea or point (and followed by
supporting elements).
 Appropriate word choices
 Should contain no cliché, jargon, or idiom.
Body: Paragraph

A supporting element is a sentence or few sentences
that support a certain statement in a paragraph of the
body. Supporting elements can be the followings:
 Details
 Figures or statistics
 Human or print quotes
 Rumors (rare case)
Body: Supporting Elements

Every year Beeline gives away school materials to
students throughout Cambodia. Last year the company
distributed more than 1,000 school bags, 4,300 books,
4,200 pencils and pens, and over 1,000 t-shirt printed
with the slogan “Study for a Bright Future” to 1,000 top
students from 23 schools in 20 provinces.
Example 1: Paragraph
Main point
Supporting elements: figures

The two paragraphs have different points.
 The company is ready to distribute more than 59,000 books
and 59,000 pencils and pens that were printed with the
slogan “Study for a Bright Future”.
 Ham Phearum said that this year the company gives away
those materials to all young children, unlike the previous year
that the company rewarded the materials to only top students.
Example 2: Paragraph
Point A
Point B
Human indirect quote

There are basically two types of news—hard and soft
news.
Hard News – Hard news, sometimes called “hot news”
is a type of news of something or event happening
currently.
Soft News – Soft news, sometimes called “feature” is a
type of news story about something or event occurring
at a time around now. It’s usually long, providing in-
depth views and analyses.
Types of News Stories

A structure of a news story is based on the style
a writer applies. Styles are divided into two
common ways:
1. Inverted Pyramid Style (most common)
2. Hourglass Style
3. Chronological Style
Basic News Story Structures

Most commonly, news writers use inverted pyramid style
for their story reporting. It can easily and quickly deliver the
message to the readers, since the modern day people do
not have much time to read the rest of the story if the news
is not very interesting for them. Inverted pyramid style
starts with:
 Lead – a summary of the topic (with five Ws, the H)
 Supporting details – important supporting information
 Less important details – less important information
Inverted Pyramid Style

The hourglass form summarizes the news, then shifts to a
narrative. The top delivers the news, the turn acts as a transition,
the narrative tells the story.
 THE TOP. Here you deliver the news in a summary lead,
followed by three or four paragraphs that answer the reader’s
most pressing questions. In the top you give the basic news,
enough to satisfy a time-pressed reader. You report the story
in its most concise form. If all that is read is the top, the reader
is still informed. Because it’s limited to four to six paragraphs,
the top of the story should contain only the most significant
information.
Hourglass Style

 THE TURN. Here you signal the reader that a narrative,
usually chronological, is beginning. Usually, the turn is a
transitional phrase that contains attribution for the narrative
that follows: according to police, eyewitnesses described the
event this way, the shooting unfolded this way, law
enforcement sources and neighbors agree.
 THE NARRATIVE. The story has three elements: a beginning,
middle and end. The bottom allows the writer to tell a
chronological narrative complete with detail, dialogue, and
background information.
Hourglass Style (Cont.)

Hourglass Diagram
The Top, summarizing the news
The Turn (transition), shifting to a narrative
The Narrative, telling the story

Identifythetop,theturn,
andthenarrative.

Like spatial and logical orders, chronological style is rarely used
for journalistic writing since the most important point will stand
at the end of the article, where most of the readers fail to get
the message after a few seconds of reading the “boring”
opening. It tells a story narratively and chronologically. It begins
with:
 Lead
 Foreshadowing (nut graph)
 Chronological Storytelling
 Climax at End
Chronological Style

Lead
Foreshadowing
Chronological Storytelling
Climax
Chronological Style Diagram

Writing a Feature Story
Session 8

A feature, sometimes called feature story, is a type of
news articles intended for newsletter, newspapers,
magazines, or other online media. Unlike a hard news
story, a feature story has much more space to go in-
depth, providing analyses, investigations and different
points of view from different sources. An effective
feature story should better run between 500-2,500
words. (sometimes reach 5,000 for magazine)
Features

There are many kinds of feature stories. Here are some
popular types:
 Human Interest: The best-known kind of feature
story is the human-interest story that discusses
issues through the experiences of another.
 Profiles: A very common type of feature is the profile
that reveals an individual's character and lifestyle.
The profile exposes different facets of the subject so
readers will feel they know the person.
Types of Features (1)

 How-To: These articles help people learn by telling them how
to do something. The writer learns about the topic through
education, experience, research or interviews with experts.
 Historical Features: These features commemorate important
dates in history or turning points in our social, political and
cultural development. They offer a useful juxtaposition of then
and now. Historical features take the reader back to revisit an
event and issues surrounding it. A variation is the this date in
history short feature, which reminds people of significant
events on a particular date.

 Seasonal Themes: Stories about holidays and the change of
seasons address matters at specific times of a year. For
instance, they cover life milestones, social, political and
cultural cycles, and business cycles.
 Behind the Scenes: Inside views of unusual occupations, issues,
and events give readers a feeling of penetrating the inner
circle or being a mouse in a corner. Readers like feeling privy
to unusual details and well kept secrets about procedures or
activities they might not ordinarily be exposed to or allowed to
participate in.

Unlike the lead of a hard news story, a feature lead does
not necessarily summarize the overall content of the
story in a sentence. Feature lead:
 Can be delayed (delayed lead)
 Does not necessarily state the main point strait away
 Sometimes acts like a thesis statement of an essay
 Can be several paragraphs long
 Can be different types: descriptive, anecdotal,
narrative, mystery, teaser, and question
Lead

Practice:IdentifyEach
Paragraph&ItsFunction

You have 45 minutes to write a hot news story consisting of 300
– 400 words, using the given information below.
Scenario: Your organization has organized a media briefing
session on 12 November, 2012. The briefing is to inform media
reporters about the yearly report of your organization on the
achievement. Write a hot news story that covers the briefing
event and the yearly report, using the provided information and
your additional ideas as appropriately as possible.
Test 2: Writing a News Story

Write a lead for a feature story.
 Topic 1: Your company’s survey shows clients’ satisfaction reach
95%.
 Topic 2: Your computer shop makes computer sales 60% (1,000
units) higher than last year.
 Topic 3: Your company’s success in a joint venture with Korean
company.
 Topic 4: An advantage of your organized tour to Sihanouk on a
national holiday.
 Topic 5: Yearly report of your organization (HelpAge) shows that 100
old people in 7 communities were helped by your organization
during 2012, compared 60 old people in 2011.
Test 3: Writing a Lead

Media Coverage
Monitoring
Session 9

Media coverage monitoring
is the daunting tasks in the
current context of Cambodia
PR and advertising industry.
However, media coverage
monitoring helps your
organization achieve the
goal better compared to
non-monitoring. A media
monitoring program aims to
meet the following
objectives:
Media Coverage Monitoring

1. To track relationships between your organization and individual
media outlets/reporters.
2. To monitor mention of your organization, its programs and/or staff
in order to evaluate brand strength, positioning and the need to
correct erroneous information in the public sphere.
3. Clip the pieces of the coverage and keep it in place for your later
consideration, policy and change of the media pattern.
4. To evaluate trends in media reporting in order to identify
information gaps and to guide what kind of information to release
to media.
5. To aid in the evaluation of the effectiveness of your organization’s
public relations campaigns
Media Coverage Monitoring (c0nt.)

The saying ‘you can never find one when you need one’ is
very true of journalists –except when there’s bad news.
Then you have an opening, event, program, venue or
activity to promote, it is increasingly difficult to get media
attention in today’s information overloaded world. But
when something goes wrong, the media inevitably turn up
at your door or on the phone in a matter of hours, or even
minutes.
By Jim R. Macnamara
Facts

A crisis happens when your
company meets a controversial
issue that might conflict a
society or the public, bring your
company’s image down, result
in a loss of customers’
confidence, etc. An example of
a crisis could be a death of a
consumer in association with
your products.
What’s a crisis?

No preparation to deal with the media will result in erroneous
information, distortion of facts, and publicly embarrassing gaffe
(confuse of something). Therefore, preparation is the best way
to handle the media during a crisis. Below are some strategies
for media relations in time of crises.
 Being cooperative with the media
 Designate media relations spokesperson
 Develop a crisis response strategy
 Manage media events to show crisis responses
How to Handle the Media

Staying silent at your side could result in an error in news
reporting because the news media have no clear information
about the crises and what your organization respond to them.
Being cooperative with the media

Not all the people in an organization can speak to the
news media. Designate a skillful person in charge of
responses to the media. The benefits are:
 He knows how to turn things bad to good.
 He knows a series of information flows from the
organization clearly, and thus he responds accordingly.
 He has more time to focus on the response strategies.
Designate media relations
spokesperson

The company has to develop a crisis response
strategies in order to stand well with the news
media. Strategies could be how the company
responds to the death of his consumer
associated with its products.
Develop a crisis response strategy

Planning media events to show how your organization
response to the crisis is a good opportunity to bring
your messages out to the media.
 Interviews
 Editorials
 Press briefings
 Press releases on specific policy or real-story
 Press packages and fact sheets
Manage media events to show crisis
responses

Whenever you take over a position of PR,
establishing a good relationship with the news
media (news reporters) is a good way to deal
with the media during a crisis. Tasks should be:
 Build both Contacts & Relationship
 Be a source for the media
Pre-Crisis Tasks

A media strategy is more than developing
‘contacts’. Having ‘contacts’ will not prevent
the publication or broadcast of bad news. But
relationships established over time can make
you a known source (it is always easier to
attack strangers) and build a reputation and
trust which will frame future interaction.
Build both Contacts & Relationship

A practical step in building relationships with
journalists is helping them when they want something
– not only when you do. Help journalists find
information – even if it is outside your area of interest,
give them background without expecting a story,
point them to other contacts who can assist them, and
you will find they value you as
a reliable and credible ‘source’ and mutual respect and
reciprocity are developed.
Be a source for the media

Divide participants into three groups. Create a story
pitch about your organization for the media to cover
or write it for your organization’s newsletter. Tell
what the story is about, why it’s newsworthy, how
this story is interesting for the media to cover up
their publication. Write your ideas down. You have
only 30 minutes for this group test.
Session 10
Group Test

Each of the group presents their ideas, being
allowed only 10 minutes for the presentation.
Other groups can challenge. Each group has an
opportunity to earn 10 marks that will be added
to each member directly and equally.
Session 11
Group Presentation

Overall, media planning is the first thing to do
before implementing the actions on media
relations. Without an appropriate plan, PR or
media practitioners often don’t know where to
start or to end. Therefore, plan is crucial for
media relations practitioners to achieve the
goal of the organization.
Media Planning

It’s a basis program for your media relations campaign.
Example of the campaign should be:
 Brand awareness program
 Product publicity program
 advocacy program
 Product value awareness program
 Public announcement program
What is a Media Relations Plan?

There are 9 steps in planning your media relations
campaign.
1. Situation Analysis
2. Goal
3. Objectives
4. Target Media
5. Key Messages
6. Strategies
7. Tactics
8. Budget
9. Measurement
The Plan Components

Objective
Media
Messages
Strategies
Tactics
Budget
Measurement
Goal
Plan of Media Relations

After your public research, you’ll have a deep
understanding of your target media. It’s time
for you to analyze and design a media plan that
your suits your media targets and audience,
objective and budget.
Situation Analysis

Address your single goal of
your media relations
program. Example:
 If your product is new to
the market, you might plan
a product publicity for it.
Then this is called “Product
Publicity”.
Goal

Two or more objectives are the smaller
elements of the main goal. These should be
specific, measurable and attainable and have a
specific deadline for completion. For instance,
one of your objectives is to get your message to
certain groups of your audiences with a month
or year. It’s called Objective 1, 2 or so.
Objectives

It’s who you want to reach and impact through your
media plan. Examples of target media and audiences
can be:
 Middle class consumers
 Media
 Investors
 Corporate audience
 Government
 Grassroots
 Etc.
Target Media & Audience

There should be no more than three key messages that
you want to impress upon your target audience. Too
many messages create “noise” and confusion, reducing
the possibility that your most important messages will
get through. For example of key messages:
 Bacchus Energy Drink helps enhance performance,
reduce sleepiness while driving, and reduce
drunkenness.
Key Messages

Your key messages
should not be self-
centered. It should be
audience-centered.
Beware!

It’s methods that you will use to get your message across your
target media in order for them to cover it up in their publications.
It addresses broadly on what, who, how to achieve your media
objectives. Some of examples of strategies that you want to
bring your key messages out: (Bacchus helps enhance
performance, reduce sleepiness while driving, and reduce
drunkenness.)
 Newsletter to the consumers or media
 News release for free coverage on media
 Letter-to-editor or column to a newspaper
 Event, etc.
Strategies

It’s a communication process to support your
strategies. Here, you’ll have to set a deadline and
estimate the cost for your communication process.
Example:
 4 Events: $1,500
 Media briefings: $1,000
 Quarterly newsletter, monthly review, special
releases : $6,000
 Youtube & other social media: Jan – June
Tactics

Plan and allocate
your budget to meet
your objectives of
your media relations
plan. Each spending
item should be listed
at Tactic process.
Budget

Evaluate your media plan to
measure whether it will
meet your objectives.
Revise or eliminate some
strategies that do not suit
your budget or objectives.
Keep it as a historical
reference for your next
media relations plan.
Measurement

Additional Lesson 1
How to Write a Media-
Centric Speech

For media and PR practices, a media-centric
speech is a piece of script for a top executive to
speak at an event, for instance, media briefing,
grand opening, or public or media conference. A
printed speech is generally intended as a media
kit to the news reporters.
What is a Speech?

Common sections in the media-centric speech:
-Name of the speaker
-Greeting and thanks-note
-Introduction
-Body
-Conclusion or End-Note
-Thanks-note
Media-Centric Speech

In this section, greeting and thank-you note is given in
order to show respect to the audiences. For example:
Good morning His Excellency, oknha, ladies and
gentlemen, and distinguished guests!
First, on behalf of Park Café’s management team, we’d
like to thank you for your highly honorable presence at
our Grand Opening Ceremony of new branch of Park
Café.
Greeting & Thanks-Note

This section cover a brief information of the whole event:
As you might know, Park Café has successfully grown from
the small first establishment in front of Parkway Square and
for now we’ve expanded 6 Park Café’s outlets. Today, the
Grand Opening Ceremony indicates our 6th establishment,
and this is our pride to announce that Park Café (Psar
Kandal Outlet) now officially opens to serve our customers.
Introduction

In the body, details of the intended event or something of the
company are provided:
We’re proud to introduce you to all of our branches that we’re
established so far. Thanks to the continual support from our
customers, we have established 6 branches as indicated below:
 Park Café, Parkway: located on Mao Tse Tong Boulevard, in front
of Parkway Square
 Park Café, Sovanna: located on Corner of st.271 and entrance to
Sovanna Super market
 ...
Body

It’s the last message or the media or the audiences.
Often, thanks-note is again addressed:
Last of all, we’d like to say “thanks” again to His
Excellency, oknha, ladies and gentlemen, and
distinguished guests who have taken their valuable time
off to participating this Grand Opening Ceremony, and
we expect your continual support to all of Park Café
outlets.
Conclusion or End-Note

Additional Lesson 2
How to Write a
Factsheet

A fact sheet is an important, at-a-glance tool used in
public relations to provide an overview of your chapter.
Though fact sheets can stand alone, they are more
commonly used to supplement a news release, anchor
a press kit, or replace a brochure.
What’s Factsheet?

A fact sheet is generally one or two pages and
includes “the who, what, when, where, why
and how” about a chapter or event.
Components of a fact sheet include the
following:
Elements of a Factsheet 1

 Your chapter name, address and phone number should
be on the upper left. If using chapter letterhead,
disregard this step.
 A contact name, title, and phone number should be on
the upper right.
 Triple space down and type the name of the subject.
This should be centered and in upper case letters.
 Double space down and type “Fact Sheet,” which
should also be centered.

 The body of the fact sheet is set up in two columns. The left
side includes the headings, such as history, vision, mission,
purpose, future, etc., all in upper case lettering. The right side
contains the heading descriptions. The descriptions should
consist of short sentences that align under the second column.
 If the document is longer than one page, type “-more-” at the
center of the bottom of the first page.
 At the end of the fact sheet, “###” should be centered and
inserted.
 Finally, double space down and type the month and year, flush
right.

 One page is best
 Make it readable - use at least a 12 point font
 Keep the text brief - no one wants to read tons of information
in a small font
 Keep the most important information in the first paragraph -
what the issue is, what action is needed, and label the main
message(s)
 Give references for more information - in electronic
communications you can offer links
Tips

 The fact sheet must be self-contained - do not refer to
previous documents or assume that the reader remembers the
information
 Use bullets when you can
 Leave lots of white space
 Make it very clear what you want the reader to do - bold type
face, text boxes, and graphics add emphasis
 Give the reader all the tools he/she may need to take action --
do not say "call for more information"; instead give the reader
all the information he/she will need
Tips (Cont.)

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