Transcript Slide 1

Sharing Your CAP Stories
Steve Cox
Public Affairs Manager
Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters
Maj. Steven Solomon
National Volunteer PA Team Leader
Sharing Your CAP Stories
What is news?
American Heritage Dictionary
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Information about recent events or happenings,
especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio
or television.
Other modern-day sources:
Internet, Facebook, Twitter
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Famous “news” quotes:
 “All the news that’s fit to print.”
– New York Times motto (printed in the upper left-hand
corner of the front page)
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“News is the first rough draft of history.”
– Philip L. Graham, Washington Post publisher
“No news is good news.”
– Ludovic Halevy, French author
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Maj. Solomon’s favorite quote about news:
“It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world
every day just exactly fits in the newspaper.” – Jerry Seinfield
My personal favorite:
“There’s nothing like a good news day!” – Steve Cox
This certainly rings true for our purposes. No news is not good
news for Civil Air Patrol. We want to share our good news with
others – with each other, with those in our communities.
We want every day to be a good CAP news day.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Some examples of Civil Air Patrol news that
is attractive to the national media:
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Unprecedented missions (Deepwater Horizon oil spill,
tsunami warnings, Midwest flooding).
Wreaths Across America initiatives.
Longtime members, especially those from the World
War II era (subchasers, Mary Feik, George Boyd).
Our modern-day pioneers (Eric Boe, Nicole
Malachowski, Guy Loughridge, Justin Ogden).
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News that appeals more to the local news media:
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Cadet achievements, honors (the younger the better;
always in uniform).
Change of command ceremonies.
Summer activities, field trips.
Wreaths Across America (any efforts to honor our
nation’s military veterans).
Search and rescue training, new technology.
If all else fails, take them for a ride.
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Remember, you can’t go wrong with any kind of human
interest story. That’s really what works! And there are a
lot of human interest stories in Civil Air Patrol – more
than 61,000 of them. Every member has a story to tell.
And there are enough mediums now available to tell
those stories – conventionally through TV broadcasts
and newspaper articles, or through more nontraditional ways like today’s .com sites in which you
report your news, as well as Twitter and Facebook.
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Let’s examine TV and newspapers. Both are still
viable options with big audiences.
Things to remember:
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TV stations chomp at the bit for great video footage
and fascinating stories to accompany them. PAOs can
easily market these stories.
Newspapers are still nifty, too. Like their broadcast
counterparts, they are looking for your help. Good
photos accompanied by short stories are easy to sell.
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Don’t forget military broadcasts and publications
in your area. They are more likely to pick up
CAP news than those without a military tie.
Take advantage of this.
And, remember, most TV stations and newspapers
in your area, even local magazines, have a .com
component now, which enhances your reach.
Take advantage of today’s multimedia approach.
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One final word of advice on this:
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Get to know the members of your local media. It’s all
about relationships. Get to know these folks.
Check websites for contact info or do directly to
stations and papers to set up one-on-one meetings.
Use these opportunities to tell them what CAP does,
and do this prior to sending them any video footage,
photos or stories.
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So what is the vital tool we use to communicate
with TV viewers or newspaper readers? News
releases, of course. They are still our best way.
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Write your release and send it to the media one week
prior to an event. They need time to assign reporters,
videographers and photographers to cover the event.
Call the media to ensure they received your release and
ask how you can help facilitate their coverage of your
story. Most often, they will appreciate the offer.
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Does everyone know how to write a news release?
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First, determine what is newsworthy about your wing
or squadron. Then get to work.
On your letterhead, place the phrase ‘FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE’ in the upper left corner.
Capitalize every letter.
Below that phrase, skip a couple of lines and place the
contact person’s information. List your name, grade,
title, home, work and mobile telephone and email
address.
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If for any reason you are not going to be available, list
some other spokesperson or the person with the most
information. Reporters often work on a deadline and
may not be available until after hours.
Compose a short headline that clearly describes the
news release content and grabs the reader’s attention.
The ideal headline is less than 80 characters long.
Center it in bold type on the page. Place concise
secondary subheads in italics below the main headline.
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Use a dateline. This is the city your news release is
issued from and the date you are distributing your
release. This is typically the HQ from which your unit is
based or the AFB where the activity was held.
Refer to your AP Stylebook, which lists the U.S. cities
that are so large and well known that they don’t need
the state to be listed, too. (For example, it is
LOUISVILLE, Ky., but only SAN DIEGO. States are
not abbreviated like Zip Codes.)
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Lead – The first paragraph is used to grab the reader’s
attention.
5 W’s and H (Who, What, When, Where, Why and
How) – The most important of the questions should be
answered in the lead. Others are answered later.
Who: Who is announcing the news?
What: What is being announced? A promotion, change of
command, SAREX, encampment.
When: The time – include a.m. or p.m. – and date. Make
certain the day and date correspond. And don’t use military
time.
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Where: The location of the program or activity that
was or will be held.
Why: This is your key message. It is ‘why’ you are
making news.
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Short paragraphs – Paragraphs run one to two
sentences in length. Rarely do you see paragraphs of
more than three sentences, especially with stories that
are put online.
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Quotations – Use them. They bring ‘life’ to your story
because they are the actual words of someone in your
story. Always have at least one. Try for two or more.
Inverted pyramid style – You want to include the
most important information first, then follow in
descending order by less-important information.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Limit your opening (lead) sentence to no more
than 25-28 words. Keep your lead paragraph
below 50 words. It should be very short but can
capture the essence of what you’re writing
about. Readers usually scan a page. If you can
catch their attention, then your press release is
effective. It’s like Greg Soule, PAO, TSA, says:
“The lead makes or breaks the press release.”
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Simple sentence guidelines for the lead:
Who said or did something.
What was said or happened.
When it was said or happened.
Where it was said or happened.
Why it was said or happened.
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Let’s apply those guidelines to our lead for the
initial news release about this conference.
Who – More than 600 Civil Air Patrol members
What – are taking flight
Where – to Louisville, Ky.,
When – this month
Why – as the all-volunteer U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
begins its observance of 70 years of service to America.
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Second paragraph:
CAP officially celebrates its 70th anniversary on Dec. 1
of this year, but will get started early at the 2011 Annual
Conference and National Board meeting Aug. 17-20 at
the Louisville Marriott Downtown.
Third paragraph:
The theme of the conference is “Civil Air Patrol:
Celebrating 70 Years of Service.”
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In the fourth paragraph, insert a quote from a
leader, such as the national commander, about
the event or program. Be sure to identify the
source of all quotes. Make sure that the quote
content explains and enhances the story and that
there is a clear relationship between the person
quoted and the story. Try to limit the number of
quotes to no more than two people.
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Fourth paragraph:
“This conference will celebrate our members’ dedicated
service to America and their extraordinary
achievements above and beyond the call of duty,” said
CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter.
“We will honor members with much-deserved awards
for their service and will participate with them in
training seminars customized to fulfill their unique
professional development needs in CAP.”
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Fifth paragraph:
Its citizen volunteers make CAP one of America’s
premier humanitarian service organizations. With a
versatile fleet of 550 aircraft, members save lives, find
those who are lost, help fellow citizens in times of
disaster, work to keep their communities safe, honor
the nation’s veterans and prepare its future leaders. The
organization also inspires youth to excel through
aerospace education and cyber defense competitions.
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From there, release continues to build with details
of the conference (‘How’ they’re celebrating):
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Speakers – Ky. congressman and Jill Robb Wilson.
Main order of business – election of new national
commander.
Other highlights – training seminars, awards ceremony
and banquet.
Information on this year’s host – the Kentucky Wing.
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And finally, the national CAP boilerplate – a final
paragraph that covers basic organizational
information like who we are, what we do, our
history, how to find out more about us.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit
organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air
Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search
and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center
and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 113 lives in fiscal year 2010.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Its volunteers 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
the more than 26,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet
programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 70 years. It
is a major partner of Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember,
honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit
www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.capvolunteernow.com for more information
on CAP.
You can always find the latest version of the national CAP
boilerplate at www.capmembers.com/boilerplate.
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A good news release, the kind that gets results, always:
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Follows the inverted pyramid style with the most important
facts first.
Keeps sentences short.
Use short, well-known words. Avoid jargon.
Use active words to add immediacy to your writing. Make sure
to use an active verb in your headline, your first sentence.
Use specific, concrete – not abstract – words and terms.
Do not editorialize, which means injecting your own
preferences or even preferences of the subject you are writing
about without attributing. Stick to the facts.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Other helpful hints:
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NEVER WRITE IN ALL UPPER CASE LETTERS! This is
very bad form. Even if your news release makes it past the
editors (highly unlikely), it will definitely be ignored by
journalists. Use mixed case.
Use short, declarative sentences and paragraphs; indent or
double-spaced between graphs.
If your release goes beyond one page, type “-more-” at the
bottom of the first page. Keep the release to a maximum of two
pages, but strive for one when possible.
At the end of the release, type “###” or “-30-” to indicate the
end of the copy.
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Style, grammar and punctuation are important, too!
 The most-used guide for the general public, and one we
recommend for CAP PAOs, is “The Elements of Style”
by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.
 “The Associated Press Stylebook” is recommended as a
must-have reference. This is the guide used by
NHQ/PA, Civil Air Patrol Volunteer and VolunteerNow,
as well as most major TV stations and newspapers in
the United States.
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Do NOT use “The Tongue and Quill.”
 Do NOT use CAPR 10-1 “Preparing and
Processing Correspondence.”
 Do NOT use the “Air University Style Guide.”
These references are great for communicating with each
other, but NOT with the news media. Use the AP
Stylebook. It is your friend. Using it in your news
releases gives you instant credibility with the media.
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Sharing Your CAP Stories
Most common style mistakes made:
 Pay careful attention to abbreviations.
CAP abbreviations used for internal memos are NOT
the same for news releases.
Example:
2d Lt for CAP memos
2nd Lt. for CAP news releases
*Steve’s #1 Rule: Look it up!
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Pay close attention to capitalization; the AP
Stylebook directs that titles before a name are
capitalized, but titles after a name are not. Also,
titles standing alone are not capitalized.
Examples:
Wing Commander Col. John Doe said…
Col. John Doe, wing commander, said…
The wing commander, John Doe, said…
*Steve’s Rules, #2: When in doubt, don’t capitalize.
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Let’s take
the AP Stylebook
Test!
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Final helpful hints on news releases:
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Read through your release as though it’s the first time –
like you are reading it for the first time in the paper.
Look for typos and awkward sentences. If there are a lot of
names (we hope so), ask someone to help you check the spellings
by reading the letters aloud while you hold the original document
that lists them.
If you are using a lot of names, be sure to include their
hometowns, perhaps their ages if pertinent to the story.
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If the release is about one person, as in a story about a
promotion, also list his/her CAP specialties,
qualifications, encampments and activities.
This information is readily available through eServices.
Double-check your facts.
Google the names of the universities your subjects say they
attended, the businesses they say they work for, the aircraft they
say they fly…to ensure you are spelling everything correctly and to
verify the context is right. Getting it right adds to your credibility.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
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After re-checking that your facts are correct and
performing spellcheck, send it out for approval.
At this point, your release is actually only a draft. Always ask
yourself, did everyone quoted or referenced in your story have a
chance to review it for accuracy?
Who should review your news release?
– Your commander
– Activity or mission director
– Next level higher PAO – PAOs from cooperating agencies
– Trusted colleague or family member
– EVERY person quoted
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Steve’s Rules, #3:
DON’T let anyone who reviews your news release force you to
capitalize or abbreviate or make any change contrary to the AP
Stylebook! Gently remind superiors that the style used for
producing a news release for the public is NOT the same as
writing a CAP memo for internal purposes. (If you need help,
call your wing PAO.)
 DO send everyone who has reviewed your news release
a final copy for their files along with a list of media
you’ve sent it to.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Remember, the whole idea is to earn credibility with the
news media, so they will broadcast/publish your story.
Consider the words of Bob Stone, chief of public affairs with the
U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, who says,
“Every organization has a code of ethics. Some even write
them down, and a few actually live up to those ethics…
When we stick to those ethics, even in troubling times, we
flourish and we are believed.”
Sharing Your CAP Stories
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Distribute your news release by email – NOT fax or mail –
to only the most likely TV station/paper that will use them.
(Most likely the one you have a relationship with.)
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Send the release to ONLY one member of the media at
a time. Paste the release as plain text in your email in case the recipient
can’t read your attached document.
Send photos (one or two, maybe three – not of the same
thing). If there are more good photos (or video footage), make note of it in
your email. If they are interested, they will let you know. Always send each
photo as an attachment. Be sure to include a full-sentence caption and give
photo credit for each photo.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Finally, remember NHQ/PA. We WANT your
news releases, too. So much so that we have put
together a template on eServices to make it easy.
Let’s take a look!
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Please, USE this template. Let it be your prompt to do all
those things we have talked about today. Share your
CAP stories with us, so we can, in turn, share them
with other members, as well as the general public.
Remember, we talked earlier about news releases and how
they are still the best way to communicate with the
news media. They are still the best way to
communicate with NHQ/PA, too. They are the tool we
use to select CAP news for Volunteer magazine, as well
as VolunteerNow.
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The Volunteer is CAP’s premier publication,
tailored to educate not only our members, but
our external constituencies. It reaches 100,000
readers each quarter. Copies are often
distributed to members of Congress, aviation
interests and related organizations across the
country and at local events in which CAP
participates – air shows, volunteer expos,
aviation museums, etc. The magazine is also
available online, as an e-zine, and this new
format is already drawing impressive numbers.
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VolunteerNow, CAP’s national news website, is catching on, too. It
provides another option. It reaches an additional 55,000-plus
readers each month, who regularly click on at least four stories
each time they visit the site. That is an impressive number. It
means more than 200,000 CAP stories are being looked at
monthly, or nearly 2.5 million annually.
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How do we decide what CAP news goes where?
That’s easy, really. I would look at it this way, at least as a
general rule:
Your news that you consider national would go in the Volunteer
while your regional or local news would go on VolunteerNow.
Examples:
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Volunteer – Unprecedented missions (Deepwater
Horizon oil spill, tsunami warnings, Midwest flooding,
Sharing Your CAP Stories
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Wreaths Across America, longtime members, like those
from the World War II era (subchasers, Mary Feik,
George Boyd); and modern-day pioneers (Eric Boe,
Nicole Malachowski, Guy Loughridge, Justin Ogden)
VolunteerNow – Cadet achievements, Spaatz-level
honors (the younger the better; always in uniform), wing
or region change of command ceremonies, summer
activities, field trips, Wreaths Across America
fundraising/ceremonies (any efforts to honor military
veterans), search and rescue training, new technology.
Sharing Your CAP Stories
Questions?
Comments?