The NewsWriter

Course Objectives

Following an emergency event, information can be as vital as food, water and shelter to those who are affected. The job of a Public Information Officer (PIO)/Public Affairs Officer (PAO) operating within a Joint Information System (JIS) - either at a Joint Information Center (JIC) or off site - is to contribute to the well-being of the community by disseminating information that is timely, accurate, useful, consistent and easy to understand. To do this successfully, the PIO/PAO must establish a partnership with the news media. One of the most effective and important methods for communicating with the news media is the news release. In its basic form, the news release is a mechanism for providing information to the news media, and by extension to the general public. The value of the news release is that it allows for a uniform, coordinated and consistent message to be presented, which is a central goal of the JIS.

The news release often represents the first opportunity for the JIS to deliver critical response information regarding an emergency event to the media and to the public at large. Further, since a news release is in a written and hence more permanent form, it is seen as a definitive accounting of the situation. For better or worse, the news release is the calling card of the JIS and the JIC. By keeping the topic narrow and focused, the news release will almost always have its intended effect.

This training workbook will cover the practical considerations involved in writing a news release, such as structure, tone and content, as well as other factors that can determine the effectiveness of a news release, like deadlines and dissemination. The practical activities should improve the user’s skills in developing clear, concise, understandable and appropriate news releases and related material for the news media and the public in an emergency. The workbook also will provide other resources helpful to the application of these skills in a real-world situation. Finally, the workbook will address the use of news releases and the many other methods of communication that are available as strategic tools for the PIO/PAO during an emergency response.

It is hoped that upon completion of the training, a solid foundation will have been established for the skillful and effective use of news releases within the JIS framework. Given the myriad demands that occur in the immediate aftermath of an emergency event, the luxury of learning news writing skills on the job does not exist. Time spent in such a pursuit would come at the expense of responding to critical information needs. A small commitment now will yield significant dividends in the future.

About the Newswriter Course

This program is designed to be a self-contained interactive course on CD. It can be viewed on any computer running Adobe’s Acrobat Reader program. It does not require an Internet connection, although the links to external Web sites will not work without one. Please be aware that some functions will be operational only with version 5.0 and higher of Reader. The program is available as a free download for all popular operating systems from www.adobe.com. Several of the activities ask you to enter text or create a written document. For most of these, a field has been provided for you to type into. Keep in mind, however, that your text is not held in memory; it will disappear when you close NewsWriter. Another option is to open a new document in your word processor (e.g., Microsoft Word) and type your work there. You can save, edit and print from it as usual, keeping NewsWriter open simultaneously. This navigational system has been designed to operate much like that of a standard Web site. Most words and graphics in blue are hyperlinks that will take you to the appropriate destination within NewsWriter. To navigate between sections or to exit the program, use the links provided at the bottom of each page. The interface has been designed to allow easy access to all areas of the program, while keeping your computer’s standard menu bars out of sight. However, should you desire to access your computer’s standard navigational tools (for instance, when using a word processor simultaneously), just use the Menu Bar control at the bottom of each page. Press the control once to turn the controls off and press again to turn them back on.

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Prepared for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) by Argonne National Laboratory.

Please submit comments and suggestions regarding this training course to Robert.Norville@dhs.gov or bhansard@anl.gov