 HOW
TO WRITE AN ITEM By
Jenny Fujita and Joy K.Miura, Fujita & Miura Public Relations, LLC. Dilemma#1:
You want to get your business name in the public spotlight, but you don't have
anything "groundbreaking" to highlight. Dilemma
#2: You've rolled out an extensive advertising and/or publicity campaign and your
information is getting dry and repetitive. What
do you do? Never fear. You don't need a cataclysmic event to get attention. You
just need to know how to write an item. An
item is a short story about something clever, eccentric, unique or humorous. Many
print publications have sections or columns dedicated to featuring these brief
snippets of information. Louella Benson-Garcia, Ed.D. explains that an item is
usually used when the information you want to share does not justify a press release,
to build interest in an upcoming event, or to sustain public enthusiasm in an
ongoing campaign. In the best cases, items can result in expanded media coverage.
When
writing an item, Benson-Garcia suggests using the same format as a press
release, keep the length to 50 words or less, create a eye-catching headline,
and be sure to include the always essential who, what, where, when, why and how
so that the reader is not left guessing. If
you're still unsure about using this PR tool, we all recently witnessed a successful
item at work a few weeks ago. When Miss America, Angela Perez Baraquio, was proposed
to during the Miss Hawaii Pageant last month, the media placements were numerous,
although not lengthy at all. The result? More people knew about the details of
Baraquio's engagement than who actually claimed the Miss Hawaii title. Now, that's
PR.
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