DPR 111: INTRODUCTION TO PR – 25th October, 2022

IN THE NEWSROOM
What is a newsroom?
A newsroom can be defined as: "an office at a television or radio station or a newspaper where
news is gathered and reports are prepared for broadcasting or publishing."
The newsroom is where the stories are gathered, written, put together, edited and assembled for the
news broadcast, telecast or newspaper.

Who is in the newsroom?

The number of jobs and people working in the newsroom vary depending on the media outlet. In
smaller media outlets, at suburban weekly newspapers for example the newsroom will probably
feature only a couple of journalists and a photographer. Sometimes the editor will be there, although in
many suburban newspapers the editor has a roving role overseeing a number of newspapers in
different offices.
In larger media outlets, such as metropolitan newspapers, radio or television, the newsroom is much
bigger, with a larger staff of people. They can include:
 Journalists/reporters.
 Photographers.

 Camera operators.
 Sound and lighting technicians.
 Editing room staff (where television and radio stories are cut and compiled).
 Sub-editors (who edit newspaper journalists' stories and check them for any legal, factual or
other problems before publication).
 Receptionists and News Desk coordinators.
 Archive or Library staff (sometimes)
 Graphic designers
 Editors or chiefs of staff - either in charge of sections of the media's coverage, or of its overall
coverage.
How the newsroom works
Each newsroom has differences - they can be slight or significant. Only by working with an individual
media outlet and developing a solid relationship over time can your organisation gain a little more
insight into how it operates.

Generally, a newsroom works along these lines:

 Stories come into the newsroom - this can occur in a number of ways, some of which are:
o Through tip-offs from contacts, or press releases
o Through coverage of newsworthy events, activities and occasions.
o From story leads followed-up by journalists.
o From issues or stories the editors, producers or chiefs-of-staff themselves want covered.
o From calls by journalists chasing up new angles on current stories.
 As this pool of stories develops, journalists are either assigned stories by editors or, in
some smaller media organisations, cover the stories themselves.
o is stored in This is done either by attending the event or through phone or face-to-face
interviews or the use of press releases.
 o At times they may use archival material, such as old photographs, footage or sound,
which written archives or on computer.
 At this time photographers, camera operators, sound and lighting technicians come into
play.
o In larger print media organisations, the visuals for stories can be organised through the
photographic editor.
o Often TV camera crews are assigned jobs through the editor or chief-of-staff after they
have looked at the pool of stories.
o In smaller organisations like suburban newspapers, journalists and photographers often
liaise directly to organise photo opportunities and book photos.
o Sometimes photographers and camera operators get sent out to do their job on site, while
journalists stay in the office to follow up the story or conduct interviews on the phone.
o Any graphics needed to accompany a story is organised and the work allocated to graphic
designers.
 Once photographers or camera operators return with their visuals the newsroom can
become a frantic place, as items are put together and the stories are completed before
deadline.
o With electronic media, raw visual footage or audio ends up in the editing suite, where it is
reviewed and the most relevant or newsworthy grabs are used to put together the story. Any
overdubbing or re-recording also occurs at this stage.
o For print media, photographs are loaded into a computer and saved.

o At this stage any other graphic information needed is completed or almost completed and
ready for use.
o Meanwhile, the journalist spends time finishing their story before it is saved and sent to
sub-editors.
o At this time, particularly in larger newsrooms, editors, producers and chiefs-of-staff often
meet again to review the story list and see if there are any new stories to include (or others
to discard) and re-order them in priority for presentation in the newspaper or bulletin.
 When stories or news items are completed, they are usually checked to ensure they are
factually correct, make sense and adhere to any legal requirements.
o Copy or check sub-editors (copy subs or check subs) will go through stories, particularly in
newspapers, and often make changes to improve readability and ensure they are not libellous.
Stories receive headings and photo captions are checked.
o Lay-out sub-editors then draw the story, photograph and graphic elements together and lay
them out through a computer on the page.
o In visual or broadcast media, production staff are responsible for ensuring tapes for
completed stories are ready to be played in the right order as the bulletin progresses.
o Competition for space or air-time can be fierce, with stories often missing the cut, or being
cut-down, due to space or time restrictions.
 Even at this late stage things can change if a big news story occurs.
o Some stories might be cut back or even left out of the newspaper or news bulletin to
accommodate any "late breaking news".
o Those stories may then appear in a truncated form, or could be cut completely and never
appear at all.

MEDIA RELATIONS
Public relations people are a potential source of information on a story that a reporter want to tell. Reporters
are always working on tight deadlines and have no time to think about building a relationship with an
organization and whether an interview will help or hurt your an organization.
It is the job of a public relation person to know what the organization wants to say to the audience and how
best to communicate that, not the reporters.
The deadlines that reporters work on are tight and it is likely that there will be no time to prepare a story
when the reporter calls. Therefore there is need to prepare messages in advance.
Why a Reporter Calls
Reporters call because they need a story. It may be a specific story related to breaking news, about your
organization or a competitor’s, or about an individual or family member of someone employed at your
organization.
Reporters will often follow up on a lead or be on a fishing expedition about an issue they wish to report on.
How did they find you? Are you the media contact for your organization? Do they know you in some way or
find your name on commentary in relation to another story or social media?
Determine as best you can what lead the reporter to call you. If the opportunity presents itself, pitch story
ideas about what your organization is working on and why it matters.
Remember the reporter has a job to do - they get to write the story. You get to answer the questions, but not
tell the reporter what to write or broadcast to their viewers and how you wish to be observed.
Your job is to be prepared, answer questions, knowledgeably and truthfully, while anticipating s, needs and
expectations audience. Talking to reporters gives a PR person the task of Knowing how to manage your public
profile and your organization’s brand is more important than ever.
REASONS ORGANIZATIONS REACH OUT THE MEDIA
a) To launch a new product or service
b) Initiate new offices or factory
c) Financial results
d) Organization sponsored events or awards
e) Launch of organizational promotional campaigns
f) Recent disasters, strikes or organized closures
g) Visits from company dignitaries/celebrities
h) Community engagement
Types of media in Kenya
1. Radio e.g. Kiss 100, FM, Mulembe FM etc.
There are three types of radio
a. National radio e.g. KBC
b. Regional radio e.g. Kiss FM
c. Community radio e.g. MMU radio
2. Television i.e. KTN, NTV, Kiss TV, Citizen, KBC
3. Newspapers i.e. Daily Nation, Taifa leo and the standard
Organization of a publishing house
a. Editorial
b. Advertisement- deals with adverts
c. Production- printing of the copies
d. Circulation- selling department
How The Press Works
1. News is gathered by reports, special correspondence, foreign, correspondence, feature writers and
news agencies.
2. The news from reporters, lands at sub-editors desk who edit.
3. The managing editor has the overall responsibility of deciding what is carried in the newspaper.
News Values
There are six aspects:
a. Impact i.e. something big in nature like the selling of body parts which affects everyone.
b. Proximity i.e. the nearness to the event
c. Timeliness i.e. it has to be something that has just happened. It should be perishable.
d. Prominence i.e. who is well known, recognized by people of big importance.
e. Unusual/novelty i.e. unique, unexpected i.e. when a man bites a dog.
f. Conflict i.e. war, Mungiki, crime, Sungu sungu etc.
How To Create News For Your Organization
1. Arrange a trip/tour for members of staff.
2. You can tie your organization with the current news of the day or event.
3. You can make an award ceremony and invite reporters for outstanding staff.
4. You can hold a contest i.e. beauty contest.
5. You can tie the function with a publicity person with organization.
6. You can set a resolution
7. Conduct a survey then release the results to the media.
8. You can issues a report i.e. for investigations.
9. You can arrange an interview with a celebrity.
10. You can take part in a controversy.
11. Stage a special event i.e. anniversary, luncheon
12. Arrange a speech and call the press
13. Make an analysis and predict something i.e. which team will win.
14. Form a committee and announce the names to the press i.e. education standards, KNH on where
and why the bodies are missing body parts.
15. Announce an appointment
16. Hold elections
17. Start a debate i.e. where Sonko gets all the money at his age.
18. Honor a personality i.e. the president for free primary education
19. Tie function with a holiday
20. Issue an annual report of accounts and how much profit has been analyzed
21. Inspect a project i.e. construction of buildings.
Characteristics of newspapers
1. It provides information in department
2. It can be read anywhere
3. It has as extended life
4. Items can be cut and retained.
Special characteristics of radio
1. It has intimacy of the human voice and attractiveness of broadcasters voice
2. Program material can be produced very quickly and inexpensively.
3. Radio can reach millions of people including the illiterate
4. It’s possible to communicate in many languages using the same media.
Characteristics of TV
1. In addition to sound, Tv has movement, vision and color.
2. The production of tv programs is time consuming and costly.
3. Being a predominantly visual medium, serious considerations have to be considered on the
personality of the presenters.
4. TV coverage requires expensive equipment and well trained techniques.
Guidelines for good media relations
1. Always talk from the view point of the public interest and no the organization.
2. Make the news easy to read and do not use jargon and unfamiliar words or technical terms.
3. When talking to the press, if you don’t want a statement to be quoted don’t make that statement.
4. Always state the most important facts at the beginning of your statement or press release.
5. Never argue with a reporter.
6. If questions from a reporter contains offensive language do not repeat or even deny.
7. If the reporter asks a direct questions give unequally direct answers do not say more of what you
are asked.
8. Always prepare for press interviews by anticipating what questions to be asked.
9. Always tell the truth even if it hurts.
10. Never call a press conference unless you have important information to the reporters.
11. Never bribe reporters.