Indiana Wing
Conference
Ball State
University
Welcome to the Public Affairs Officer Workshop at the Indiana Wing Conference! Thank you for attending this session and for your continued work as unit Public Affairs Officers.
The workshop material you are looking at has been adopted from the Georgia Wing PAO Workshop put together by 1LT. Rick Williamson who is the Georgia Wing Director of Public Affairs. Williamson sent me this material and I have since made several changes to its content and format. If you’d like to review the original Georgia Workshop material then visit their website at http://gawg.cap.gov/winghq/pao.
The purpose of this workshop is to give you an introduction to what Public Affairs is, the duties of a Public Affairs Officer, how to get started with Public Affairs, instruction on writing techniques, making press releases, and Internet Operations.
Internet Operations? Public Affairs has traditionally dealt with internal (unit, group, wing, and national), and external (business, community, media) public affairs. With the advent of the Internet as a media outlet we need to develop a strategy on how to utilize this media format in both our internal and external public affairs program.
On another note, I would like to point out a very important role of the Public Affairs Officer – member recognition. In an all-volunteer organization the only payment for a member is recognition for his or her actions. The Public Affairs Officer should make a point to send out press releases whenever a member has done something significant. They should also encourage the Commander to recommend individuals for awards for their efforts. Any part that we can play in recognizing our members will surely boost morale.
Again, my thanks to you for attending this Workshop and I look forward to working with you to build a strong Indiana Wing Public Affairs program!
Public Affairs Officer
Shelbyville Composite Squadron
GLR-IN-184
Public Affairs
An introduction
"What is 'Public
Affairs'?"
The term Public Affairs is often interchanged with the terms "Public Information" or "Public Relations." In any case, the goals of a Public Affairs or Public Information Officer are to:
1. Educate and inform the public about your organization.
2. Influence them into supporting it.
3. Create a positive image of your organization within the community.
In order to be able to recruit new members and raise funds, you must establish a higher level of awareness in the community. People will not support an organization they are not familiar with.
"What
makes a great PAO?"
Since the PAO position is so important, it is equally important that a qualified person fill this position. This position isn't for everyone.
Here are some of the skills
and traits necessary for a PAO:
Enthusiasm: Even the most qualified person won't be an asset to the organization if they don't have the enthusiasm to do the job.
Imagination: The ability to come up with ideas that will promote your squadron and CAP.
Language Skills: The ability to express you in both written and verbal formats is absolutely vital. Nothing will thwart your efforts faster than the inability to write and speak in an intelligent, articulate, and understandable manner.
Media Relations Skills: You must be able to interact with the media in a professional manner, establishing and keeping open lines of communications with media and their representatives.
Knowledge: You need knowledge of public affairs and CAP. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you can do your job.
Community Relations Skills: By learning about the people in your community, you can target your PA efforts more effectively.
Audio-Visual Presentation
Skills:
Through pictures, video, written and other visual means (newsletters,
etc.), you can help spread your message.
Getting Started
Going from zero to 60
One
of the most daunting facets of becoming a unit PAO is knowing where to start.
Obviously, there are a few administrative steps that you must complete (filling
out a CAPF-2a to be appointed your unit’s PAO and getting enrolled in the PAO
Specialty Track come immediately to mind.) But from there… WHERE do you go?
These
are steps, in no particular order, which will help you get started if you have
no experience whatsoever in the Public Affairs/Public Relations arena.
Learn
about your organization:
Accumulate
skills:
Learn the tools you need to become an
effective Public Affairs Officer. Take writing classes if they are available
from a local school. Read newspapers to see how “the pros” write. Read CAP News
to see how other PAO’s have written similar activities. Write up some of your
squadron’s past activities for practice.
Analyze
your resources:
Determine supplies and resources you need in
order to perform your duties. Then determine what resources are available to
you. What materials (brochures, etc.) are available from National HQ (Marketing
& Public Relations)? Check with your Group PAO or Wing PA for other
resources. Once you’ve inventoried what you have, you can work up a plan to
gain the resources you need.
Set Goals/Develop your
plan:
Determine what you want to accomplish. Set
some basic goals, and develop a plan to accomplish them. Goals could be:
Getting published in CAP News, Hosting an Open House, Getting your unit
published in the local paper.
Learn your audiences:
Please notice that I spelled audiences.
That’s PLURAL. Each and every organization has more than one audience that it
wants to reach. In CAP, obviously, a unit PAO wants to reach the public at
large. But you should think of other audiences that you want to reach.
Government: You want the powers-that-be to know about your organization. In return,
they may provide funding or other resources, or enlist your squadron’s assistance
in major public outreach events that will provide much-needed exposure. Your
local Emergency Management Agency needs to be informed what your unit can do
for them.
Schools: Schools are an excellent source of potential recruits. If you can effectively
present your squadron and CAP as an organization to local schools and school
boards, you can tap this market.
Businesses: Local businesses are a prime source of badly needed funding for unit
projects or activities. If you can come up with activities that will benefit
local businesses or make them more aware of what you do, they will be more
likely to support your unit’s efforts. There are programs available that are
targeted toward local business sponsorship of units.
Media: This is the audience that you must reach first in order to reach the public at large. You must get to know the reporters and editors at your local newspapers. Develop a working relationship so that when you call, fax, or e-mail them, they know from whom they are hearing from. Learn what they need (deadlines, submission formats, etc.) in order to get your unit published. Editors and reporters change with great frequency, so this is an on-going commitment.
CAP Members: Internal information is an important component in
the PA effort in CAP. Periodic briefings, monthly newsletters and e-mailing can
help you keep your unit’s members up-to-date on the squadron’s latest
activities.
The PAO job in CAP
Who does what?
CAPM
190-1 states:
"The Squadron PAO’s in CAP are the backbone of the national program. The major efforts of National Headquarters/PA are directed on their behalf."
The majority of CAP contact with the public is done at the unit (i.e. squadron or flight) level. School programs, presentations to civic groups, etc., are usually performed at the unit level.
CAPM
190-1 also states:
"As a CAP member, you have an obligation to the people of the United States, to the U.S. Air Force, and to CAP to carry out your responsibilities and services in a professional manner."
WING
PAO DUTIES:
1) Organize and conduct an effective public affairs program for the wing.
2) Encourage assignment of qualified and effective PAO’s in each group, squadron, and flight within the wing; assist them in carrying out their information duties.
3) Performs the duties of working PAO’s at the wing level, acts as PAO for the WING HQ only (not the entire wing).
GROUP
PAO DUTIES:
1) Acts as an advisor to subordinate squadron and flight PAO’s in the same manner as the wing PAO.
2) Coordinates efforts of all squadron and flight PAO’s in their group.
3) Makes frequent visits to local squadrons.
4) Encourage unit PAO’s to exert maximum efforts in all phases of the public affairs program.
UNIT
PAO DUTIES:
1) Responsible for an effective program for the squadron and for publicity on squadron activities.
2) Establish and maintain contacts with local newspapers, radio and TV stations to promote public relations.
3) Arrange speaking engagements for CAP personnel, including cadets, before civic organizations, schools, and municipal and local gatherings.
4) Advises commander on all public relations matters regarding the squadron.
Any PAO may contact Group, Wing, Region and National PA personnel without moving directly up the PAO “Chain of Command.”
Effective Writing
A basic
primer
Writing is the tool most often used by PAO’s to get the
word out to the public on your unit's activities and accomplishments. Whether
you're writing a press release to send to the media, or writing a feature-type
article for Civil Air Patrol News, effective writing is crucial to your
efforts. Here are some tips.
Write in a language your audience can understand - If you're writing a press release or story for publication in a local paper - remember that almost every media outlet (including Civil Air Patrol News) follows the standard "AP" (Associated Press) format. You need to get familiar with the style and format that editors are looking for.
The best guide for this is the "AP Stylebook & Libel Manual," (usually just referred to as the "AP Stylebook"). It is available from the Associated Press, or from some bookstores (especially colleges with Journalism programs). This book has a wealth of very valuable information, and will help you use the language that the media is use to dealing with.
If you're writing an article for
publication in a local paper (or CAP News), remember your audience. You want to
write at your audience's level.
Put the
most important information first - Get the "Five W's" (Who, What,
Where, When, and Why), plus an "H" (how) in the lead paragraph. Your
writing should follow the "Inverted Pyramid" format.
______________________
\ Lead Paragraph /
\ Second Paragraph /
\ Third Paragraph /
\ Other facts /
\ Tag Line
/
\ End /
The wide area at the top is your lead paragraph. As you narrow down the sides toward the point at the bottom, your story or release brings in facts of lesser importance. The closer you get to the point, the less important the facts become.
The reason? There are actually two.
First, an informative lead
sentence grabs the attention an editor or a reader – giving him or her the
important information upfront. If an editor has to read further down to get
more information, chances are ... they won't.
Secondly, it makes a print editor's job easier. A paper has a maximum amount of space available. When a paper runs out of space, editors start cutting. They generally start cutting from the end of the story. By placing the less important facts at the end of your release, the main points of your story aren't lost in the editing.
Spell Check, Proofread, and Pre-Edit - Nothing makes you look worse to an editor or reader than to have a story full of typos and misspelled words. While spell checking will help you identify misspelled words, it does nothing to help detect correctly spelled words used incorrectly.
Proofread your write-up several
times. Put it down, leave it for at least an hour (if it is not an urgent
matter), and then come back and re-read it. If possible, get someone else to
look it over. It always helps to have someone else look things over to make
sure what you wrote actually says what you think it does.
Tailor your
writing to the medium - Writing for a radio spot is different than writing for a
print story. Conversational English is much different from written English. Try
and tailor your writing appropriately.
Quality, not Quantity - There's an old adage among writers to "use your words like you spend money." The adage is supposed to make you use words sparingly. The fewer words you can use to relate the information the better. You don't need flowery words, and you don't need three words when one will do.
For further information on writing (both press releases and other types), look in the Public Affairs Officer's Handbook (CAPM 190-1), which is available from the CAP Bookstore catalog.
News Writing
Getting the word
out
As a PAO, your writing will take one of three forms: Future (advanced notice), present (breaking news), or past (after action). Your writing will vary slightly based on your circumstances.
Advance notice announces that an event will be taking place. A squadron open house, glider encampment, Search and Rescue Exercises (SAREX) or an awards presentation would fall under this heading.
Press releases should be informative but concise. They should generally, be no longer than one page. More than one page runs a risk of losing an editor’s attention. There will be, however, instances where circumstances or the story justify going to a second page.
Press releases for future or current news items should be done in active tense. In other words, they should show that your unit will do something or are doing something. After action news items will obviously be done in past tense.
Stop the Presses!
Writing news
releases
HEADER: At the top of your release will appear your squadron’s “Logo.” A piece squadron letterhead with the CAP emblem and your squadron’s name, and address will do just nicely.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: You must put this on the page. They’ll know it is a release, but the words “For Immediate Release” catch the eyes of editors and reporters alike.
RELEASE DATE: This will tell them the date of the release. If you are going to be sending out more than one release per day you should also include the time of the release to make it easier for them to follow events.
CONTACT INFO: You need to give the person who reads your release an idea of who they can get in touch with if they have questions or need to make arrangements to visit the event. (i.e. reporters visiting units on a military base need to be escorted onto and off the base.)
Give your name, rank, title, and as many contact numbers (pagers, home, work, and cellular) as you can to make it easier for a reporter or editor to get in touch with you. If they can’t get in touch with you, you can kiss their visit good bye.
HEADLINE: You should center a title for your release. The title needs to give the reader a good idea of what they are going to be reading.
DATELINE: Tells the reader where the event is going to take place. Generally it will be your city. (In certain cases where your release may be sent across the “AP wire,” you should also include your state.)
FIRST PARAGRAPH: This is the most important part of the release. Your opening must be catchy, informative, and give the reader as much information as you can in the first one or two sentences. It should give them an overview of the entire release, including the five “W’s” (and an “H” (How) if appropriate.)
SECOND PARAGRAPH: This paragraph should ideally contain a quote from an expert source. For CAP, this is usually the squadron commander. If it’s a multi-unit event such as a Group SAR-Ex, the quote should be from the Group Commander or the Mission Coordinator. Try and use enough of a quote for it to require two sentences. Include facts of slightly less importance than those contained in the first paragraph.
OTHER PARAGRAPHS: This is where the facts of lesser importance are brought into the release. These are the facts that may get cut if they have to edit for space.
TAG LINE: This is the place in the release where you give the reader an idea of what your organization is about. You can use something like “Civil Air Patrol is the official U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. It performs more than 85% of the search and rescue missions assigned by the Air Force’s Rescue Coordination Center.”
You should have three or four tag lines (preferably stressing the three missions of CAP) so you don’t send out the same one every time.
Also, by having more than one tag line, you can tailor it to the particular story. You would use different tag lines for stories about cadets, aerospace events, and emergency services events.
If you are writing a story about something that has already happened, you will include a great deal more detail in your release than if you were writing a breaking news or “coming attractions” story. Those two types of releases should be shorter and more to the point.
Reporters need to know the basics of the event, and can collect the information they think is important upon their arrival. They can ask questions and interview the people they feel warrant coverage.
Press Release Examples
Some basic formats to follow
Example
One:
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For
more information, contact:
Jeremy
Reynolds, 1LT, CAP
Public
Affairs Officer
Shelbyville
Composite Squadron
(317)
624-8772
jeffinvent@yahoo.com
SHELBYVILLE
COMPOSITE SQUADRON PARTICIPATES IN LOCAL SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING.
SHELBYVILLE,
IN – June 25, 2000 – Five members of the Shelbyville Composite Squadron, Civil
Air Patrol took part in a local search and rescue training exercise.
Lt.
Colonel Mark E. Ashcraft led the squadron’s search and rescue team on a joint
exercise with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. The two organizations
worked together on a practice missing person search down by the banks of the
Flat Rock River.
“The exercise went very well and I was
very impressed with Civil Air Patrol’s skill at search and rescue.” - Deputy
Sheriff Smith.
The
Civil Air Patrol is the volunteer, civilian auxiliary of the United States Air
Force, and was formed December 1, 1941, as an emergency measure to make civil
aviation aircraft and pilots available to the national defense effort.
Today,
the Civil Air Patrol conducts search and rescue missions for missing aircraft,
provides emergency disaster relief in conjunction with other relief
organizations, and encourages and fosters civil aviation in local communities
through adult and youth aerospace education programs.
###
Internet Operations
Using the Internet for
Public Affairs
Squadron Website: Each unit should develop their own squadron website. Your unit can use the website for morale building, for Public Affairs, and recruiting. For example, our unit website was designed to service both members and non-members. The site has information about our unit, meeting information (maps, directions), contact information, recruiting material (CAP history, info on the Cadet and Senior Programs). In addition, we maintain current squadron news on the site with online versions of our squadron newsletter, and files that we commonly use in our unit. We keep a current directory of our unit members with their photo, and squadron positions. This serves to let the community know who we are and adds to morale.
Morale Building: Highlight your unit members on the website. Give them something they can show to friends and family. If your unit has an awards banquet (or an awards presentation) put photo’s from the event on the website. Place a “Squadron News” section on your site so that you can highlight promotions, awards, course completions, new qualifications, new staff positions, anything of value. If you have photo’s then put them up. The key is to give your members recognition.
Public Affairs and Recruiting: Many of the news and events you post on the website for your members will also serve to keep non-members informed about what your unit is up to. But lets take it a step further. Place information about your squadron meetings: dates, times, maps, and directions. Place a recruiting page on the website that will give a non-member enough information to understand what CAP is and how they can be a part of it. You will also want a page that gives an email address, mailing address (possible phone and fax), and a contact form for prospective members to get in touch with your unit. After you have set this up spread the word by getting your website listed on community directories at local websites (newspapers, chamber of commerce, community development, local school systems, business, other organizations). When visiting schools and handing out information be sure to put your website address on the material you hand out. This will give prospective members a way to get more information about your unit and further Civil Air Patrol.
Squadron E-mail Newsletter: We’ve all heard of the idea of putting together a squadron newsletter and handing out to your unit members at the meeting but lets update this to include the Internet. Take your newsletter on to the Internet. Create an email newsletter by putting together the e-mail addresses of your unit members (and include your Wing PAO and any others you’d like to add). Write up the newsletter in your email program and send it out to the addresses you have on file. Then you can print the newsletter out and take it to the meeting to show to any members who don’t have email.
In the newsletter put any news, events, or upcoming activities that you want your unit members to know about. You might also want to include a recap of some past month’s activities that your unit participated in (SAREX, conferences, etc), or praise for a particular members work on a class or activity at the unit meeting. In addition, you could put next month’s meeting calendar in the newsletter, and (highly recommended) list any awards and accomplishments of your unit members (promotions, new staff positions, completion of ECI courses, specialty tracks, awards, acceptance to a CAP activity, etc.)
For my unit I create a newsletter in Microsoft Word as a web page. Then I highlight and copy the newsletter text and go to the Internet and login to Listbot, where our mailing list is stored (this allows me to send out a newsletter no matter where I am). Once in Listbot I paste the newsletter text into a new message and then send it out to the mailing list members. I then take the Word document that is saved as a web page and upload it to our website. Then the squadron commander prints out the newsletter from his email and brings it to the unit meeting. So we have a newsletter that gets sent via email, is available online at the website, and yet again in print at the unit meeting. So everyone one way or another gets informed and sometimes they hear about it more than once.
Helpful
Hints
Create a Media Kit: Media Kits are valuable tools in helping educate the media (and your other audiences) about CAP and your squadron. Include enough information to give them an overview, but not so much as to overwhelm them.
Media Kits should be delivered to the editors at your local papers, television stations (if applicable). You will need to call and get the name of the person you need to talk to, and then set up an appointment to meet with him or her.
A Media Kit should be tied to an upcoming event. It gives the editor or reporter more of a reason to look at the information. Plus, it will also give them some background information on CAP and your squadron before they come out and will allow them to “hit the ground running.”
Media Kit contents could include:
A press release about an upcoming event (if being
delivered to a media outlet)
Senior Program Brochure
Cadet Program Brochure
Civil Air Patrol “Fact Sheet”
The Civil Air Patrol History pamphlet
Information specific to your squadron (membership,
years in service, etc.)
Buy and learn the “AP Stylebook”: Nothing can hurt your chances for getting coverage than sending out a release that makes it look like you have no clue what you are doing. The Stylebook gives lots of great information regarding abbreviations, punctuation and more. It’s one of the most worthwhile investments you will make.
Offer to buy a reporter a cup of coffee: Reporters are human, and like being schmoozed. While their schedules are often too busy for a lengthy lunch, they can probably fit in a quick cup of coffee. Once you’ve established a relationship with a reporter, this is a way to keep the lines of communications open. Get to know more about them and what interests them. You can use that information to try and present CAP from different angles. You do not have to talk about CAP every time you meet. Let the reporter lead the conversation to CAP if they want to.
Be accessible: Nothing will turn a reporter or editor off of a story faster than if they can’t get in touch with anyone. Make sure that media representatives know how to get in touch with you at any time. Look into your available options. You could get a pager, cell phone, add a second phone line, or fax line, and get a set of CAP business cards.
Get e-mail: If you have a computer with a modem, you need e-mail. There are a number of services that offer free e-mail. Some are web-based, so you would need an ISP in order to gain Internet access. Juno (among others) offers a free e-mail service that does not require Internet access.
You can e-mail your stories to CAP News. Some media outlets will take e-mail releases rather than via fax or mail. (You should find this out ahead of time.)
Don’t complain about a lack of coverage: If you send releases to local media and don’t get any responses, absolutely DO NOT complain. Nothing will hurt your chances of future coverage than contacting an editor and complaining. There are different reasons why a story won’t get covered. CAP activities not involving missions generally fail to get coverage unless it is a slow news day.
Complaining about not getting coverage is different than letting an editor or reporter know that you think that a story (or items in a story) they wrote wasn’t accurate. If this is the case, be tactful. Thank them for the coverage, but let them know that you felt that certain items were not totally accurate. Be specific with your examples. Let them know they can always contact you if they have any questions.
The better the relationship between yourself and the editors
and reporters, the better chance you have of getting covered. Don’t damage
that relationship.
Thank an editor or reporter: If you feel that a reporter did a really good job on covering your unit, let them know! A quick phone call or a small note of thanks will go far in helping keep your relationship with your local editor and/or reporter positive and constructive.
As stated previously, reporters like being schmoozed. A small gift (a CAP coffee mug, for example) would not be out of line for someone who has consistently been of value to your unit. Plus, it gives them a physical and visual reminder of your unit, and others in the newsroom will notice it as well.
Go back to the 184th Files