By Deborah Baum, Senior Editor

Journalists are well aware of the Man Bites Dog[1] phenomenon in public relations and journalistic writing. No one reports that all things are flowing smoothly and going as planned; all news is news because it is unusual and interesting. Just be careful — this technique tends to put journalists on their guard. It’s fine to report the news in an arresting manner, but be aware that the more inflammatory the copy, the more care your company will need to take in order to keep the reader at ease with the information. Using too much bait-and-switch verbiage will easily become confusing and repulse interest in your news.

Here are a few tips to eliminate confusing text and help keep the focus of a press release on the news announcement: (more…)

The business of journalism revolves around the creation of news. But, recently, journalism has become news itself with the phone-hacking scandal that took place at the British tabloid, News of the World. In the May/June 2011 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, Archie Bland, the foreign editor of The Independent, wrote an article, “Anybody There?,” describing the sequence of events that led to the News of the World permanently closing its doors after 168 years. The article is an astounding account of human greed and secrecy in a profession that typically upholds the highest moral standards.  (more…)

For media professionals, communication is what it’s all about — clear, concise and sometimes clever messaging is essential. But, if you’ve ever flipped through a technical journal on immunological bioinformatics or a dissertation on electrophoretic systems (both of which are actual disciplines), you probably didn’t understand, much less were able to pronounce, many words even though these documents are (seemingly) written in English. That’s because they were written for an audience that has the vocabulary to understand those concepts. They’re “all Greek” to people within the general population. (more…)