Not Your Mother’s News Release by Maj. Jonathan W. Lartigue (50 minutes) 2015 National Conference 26 August, 2015.

Not Your Mother’s News Release

by Maj. Jonathan W. Lartigue(50 minutes)

2015 National Conference

26 August, 2015

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Topics Covered• Introduction• Good and Bad News Releases• Structure of a News Release• Format of a News Release & CAP Regulations• Introduction to AP Style• Writing Style – The Inverted Pyramid• Making Boring Interesting – “Jazzing Up” a release

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Good (and Bad) News Releases• Introduction and Discussion of News Releases.

o Examples brought by PAO Academy Attendees.

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Structure of a News Release• Most news releases

follow a general structure and include at least the following components:o Release date and release timeo Headline and Subheado Datelineo Contento Boilerplateo Contact Details

CAP Official Boilerplate• The content of the boilerplate is updated

annually.• Can be found at http://www.capmembers.com

/ cap_national_hq/public_affairs/boilerplate/o Often easier to get to it using a Google search for “CAP Boilerplate”

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 58,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs about 85 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Its unpaid professionals also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. Performing missions for America for the past 73 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

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Format of a Press ReleaseFormat of written correspondence is governed by:• CAPR 10-1 Preparing Official Correspondence

o Email, Letterhead, Memoranda, Business Letters are all defined.o Structure, margins, fonts, and layout of letterhead is defined.o Applies to internal memoranda as well as external letters and releases.

• CAPR 900-2 Civil Air Patrol Name, Seal, Logo, Command Emblem and Flag Etiquette.o Supersedes some of CAPR 10-1 for external communication and

branding.o Permitted and required uses of the CAP Seal, new triangle logo, and

Command Emblem (a.k.a. patch).o Specifies that Seal must be used on official documents, regulations,

orders, memoranda, letterhead, etc.o The CAP triangle logo is used for marketing and advertising, including

news releases. It is optional but preferred on web pages, email, etc.26 August 2015

Format of a Press Release• Use of official CAP seal and emblem is defined in CAPR 900-2.• Structure, margins, font, and layout defined in CAPR 10-1.

o Applies to internal memoranda as well as external letters and releases.o Seal/Logo is 1 inch in size, aligned ½ inch from the top and left edge of the paper.

Format of a Press Release• Subordinate unit emblem may be added in top right corner.

o Avoid color logos if release is to be faxed or printed in black and white.o It’s a good idea to have black and white version of logos/patches handy.

Internal Releases & Memo• Internal News Releases and Memoranda can

comply with CAPR 10-1 Preparing Official Correspondence.o Structure, margins, fonts, and layout of letterhead is defined.

• Applies to internal memoranda as well as external letters and releases.

o You do not necessarily need or want to follow AP Style for internal releases, and certainly not for internal memoranda. Follow CAPR 10-1 and USAF “Tongue and Quill”.

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Writing Style• In general, press releases

should be be written according to the guidelines found in the Associated Press Stylebook.o “AP Style” is the format that almost

all news organizations follow for writing news content.

o Has many differences from standard business writing or USAF/CAP writing styles.

o AP Stylebook contains many guidelines on how to properly refer to various topics, places, people, ethnicities, military organizations and terms, etc.

o Many common grammar mistakes are also addressed, with examples.

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AP Style – Differences• States are abbreviated differently than postal

style:o Fla. Ga. Tenn. Ala. Miss.o Always write out: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah.

o Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands are never abbreviated, in datelines

or anywhere else.

• Many major cities do NOT list state in the dateline:o Atlanta and Miami are two such cities in the Southeast Region.

• Dates and Times:o Avoid Military-style dates and times.

• Do NOT write dates in DD MMMM YYYY format (e.g. 26 August 2015).

• Do NOT use military or “zulu” time. (e.g. 1745 hours or 0800 zulu)• Correct Example: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015 at 2:45 p.m.

o Days of the week are always capitalized and are never abbreviated.o “a.m.” and “p.m.” are always written with leading space and two

periods.

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AP Style – Differences• Military Ranks are written completely differently:

o Only capitalize the rank if it is in front of a name, otherwise lower case.• John Smith was promoted to colonel.• Lt. Col. Jones assumed command.• Plurals: Majs. John Jones and Robert Smith flew the aircraft.• Don’t append “, Ret.” after the rank of a retired officer. Instead, write

“retired Air Force Col. John Doe”

Officer:Gen.Lt. Gen.Maj. Gen.Brig. Gen.Col.Lt. Col.Maj.Capt.1st Lt.2nd Lt.

Enlisted:Chief Master Sgt. of the Air ForceChief Master Sgt.Senior Master Sgt.Master Sgt.Tech. Sgt.Staff Sgt.Senior AirmanAirman 1st ClassAirman

Note: Airman Basic is also called simply “Airman”

Cadets:As a general rule,use the prefix “cadet”:Cadet Capt.Cadet Staff Sgt.Cadet Airmanetc.

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The Inverted Pyramid• Metaphor to illustrate

the priority of information in a news story or news release.o Most important information is

presented first. • The Five W’s and the H.

o Important details that explain the story follow.

o Less important, general or background information follows.

o Content is “cut from the bottom.”

• Don’t “bury the lead.”o But “feature writing” can often

differ in style.

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Source: Wikimedia Commons, used with permission.

The Inverted PyramidTEENS SENTENCED AFTER PLOTTING ATTACK ON SCHOOLCLEVELAND, OHIO — Two teenagers have been sentenced to a minimum of a year in custody for plotting an attack at their high school.

The two boys, 15 and 16, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder at South High School. They still could be held until age 21, the maximum penalty under juvenile law, but under the sentence pronounced Tuesday, the state Department of Youth Services has the discretion to release them after a year.

The plot was discovered when a student told school officials a group of teenagers planned to open fire on Oct. 29, homecoming day.

Two other students have pleaded guilty to inducing panic. One received a minimum six-month sentence. Sentencing for the other was delayed pending completion of a background report.

SISTER AND BROTHER KILLED WHEN BUS, SNOWPLOW CRASHALBIN, WYOMING — A snowplow slammed into a school bus on an icy road Wednesday, killing two siblings and injuring their older brother and two other people.

The crash occurred just before 8 a.m. about eight miles north of the ranching community of Albin, according to Wyoming State Patrol trooper Perry Jones. The bus had made only one stop before the crash.

An 11-year-old girl died at the scene and her 8-year-old brother died later at a hospital, authorities said. Their 18-year-old brother suffered minor injuries.

The bus driver was in serious condition with chest and abdominal injuries, and the plow driver was treated for minor injuries and released.

The K-12 school the children and the teenager attend canceled classes at midday.

Source: JPROF, Blog of Prof. James Glen Stovall, University of Tennessee. www.jprof.com

Other Good Writing Tips• It’s About People

o News stories, and news releases, are all about how people are affected. o In your release, spend some time focusing on one or more individuals, or on

how the unit morale is doing, or how the community or agencies we benefit are feeling.

o You don’t need to limit your news releases to include only CAP personnel!

• Have an Angleo Most stories can be presented with a particular angle or “slant.”o This can help to make the store clear and give focus.o Avoid releases with too much information; this drowns out your main point.

• Keep it Objectiveo But remember that you’re not a reporter… you’re a PAO, and you’re here to

sell CAP.

• Quote People• Don’t get ‘Flowery’

o Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Don't use lots of heavily descriptive language. When you've finished, go through the entire story and try to remove any words which aren't completely necessary.

Source: MediaCollege.com, “How to Write a News Story”

Turning Boring into Interesting

Included PhotosActive Hyperlinks

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Including Photos with Releases• Append photo captions

to bottom of press release.o Indicate number of file/photo

attachments.o Append the captions as

separate paragraphs that include:

• File name• Caption

o Write caption as if the photo is standalone.

• Photo credit.o “Civil Air Patrol photo

by Maj. John Doe”

Turning Boring into Interesting

InfographicsLiftout Quotes

InfographicsInformation graphics or Infographics:graphic visual representations ofinformation, data or knowledgeintended to present informationquickly and clearly.

• You don’t have to be a graphical design wizard to create a nice infographic.

• The infographic above was created in Microsoft Word in 20 minutes and then simply cut and paste into the news release.

Other Infographic Examples

• What other ideas for Infographics can you think of?

CAP Units(1500 +)

Overseas Units 3 - Japan 2 - Germany

$120 $1,600 $2,600 $4,400$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

$4,000

Auxiliary - Cessna UAV - Predator Helicopter - HH60G Airlift - HC-130

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Including Video Links• When including video

and other multimedia links, such as YouTube, use the “shortened” link provided by YouTube and most other services.o Alternately, consider using a

URL shortening service such as bitly.com.

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Paper or Electronic?• Do you plan to distribute your News Release on

paper or electronically as an email or PDF?o The choice of delivery method will affect your layout and formatting.

• There are several tricks to reduce your workload – write once, distribute multiple ways!

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Activity• Let’s make the boring interesting…

o Using the News Release template provided to you, increase the “visual appeal” of the release by accomplishing the following:

• Correct the writing style and “inverted pyramid” if necessary.• Add the CAP boilerplate.• Make hyperlinks (websites, email, etc.)“active”.• Add links to the unit’s website.• Add links to the unit’s social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

o Feel free to use your own unit’s addresses, or simulate one.• Add an embedded photo, liftout quote, or infographic.

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Evaluation

Please complete the 2015 survey online for a chance to have your conference

registration fee refunded

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/15NatCon

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