Why Style Matters

Most newspapers and magazines have a style guide, but it appears most public relations agencies and departments don't.

The changes in public relations practice that are being driven by communication advances such as weblogs are real and it may well be that in the near future significantly more PR time will be spent dealing with communications that address the reader directly, rather than through media that are tidied up by experienced editors.

This means that the quality of written English, unmediated by trained gatekeepers, will increasingly present a more transparent face of an organisation to its stakeholders and publics.

Before my presentation to the University of Sunderland's Making the News conference I invited delegates to take part in a short online survey, using Survey Monkey. The results were interesting...

Survey (55 respondents)

Does your agency/ organisation have a style guide?

Yes: 25     No: 24     Don’t Know: 4     Not applicable: 2

Research presented to the conference by my University of Sunderland colleague Chris Rushton clearly highlighted the increasing trend for (regional) newspapers to publish stories that show few changes from the submitted news release. This trend offers significant opportunites to those PRs who can most closely meet newspaper expectations.

But my survey suggests almost half of the organisations represented at the conference have no formal way of ensuring consistency in the messages they put out, or of ensuring that those engaged in media relations frame their news releases in ways that are likely to be most effective.

As most people who have previously worked in newspapers or magazines will have been exposed to style guides, it seemed reasonable to ask..

Do you have experience as a journalist working for a newspaper?

Yes: 18 No: 36 Not applicable: 2

So only one in three will have been directly exposed to newspaper/ magazine conventions.

Example of dates

Dates can often be the single most important piece of information given in a news release (as it was, for example, when potential delegates were contact about the Making the News  conference). Even the most unimaginative downtable sub knows how his or her paper displays dates.

Survey

In a news release, how would you write the date of the Making the News Conference?

• 18/11/05: 4     Eighteenth of November: 0     18 November: 22    18th November: 7   
• November 18: 15  November the 18th: 0   Other: 7

Let’s say your agency writes the 18 November (as the majority of delegates do), but the newspaper or magazine which receives your release uses November 18. The sub is going to either delete the 18th and write it in again, or cut and paste the 18 from before November to after. But just as he or she is doing this, the phone goes or someone coughs loudly and they are distracted. Their concentration breaks only momentarily, they type in 28 and go on to the next sentence…. Does this happen – I am sure it does.

I asked seven newspaper editors, three regional morning, two regional evenings and local weekly, how they write dates; all seven said November 18.

Capital letters

Each newspaper has its own style guide and some have quite challenging stances – eg the Guardian's war on capital letters – but the vast majority of titles, especially regionals, observe many common conventions.

Survey

In a news release how would you refer to an executive of a key client?

• md: 0   Managing Director: 32    Managing director: 2    managing director: 23

This is trickier because there several factors (including the vanity of the client) to take into consideration… But again, all the newspapers said managing director (except the local weekly).

When I put together the University of Sunderland style guide I was conscious of need to prepare students for working on a full range of newspapers and magazines, so the choices I made try to reflect clarity and consensus. The goal must be consistency – choose the version that is most likely to be used and make sure everyone in your organisation sticks too it.

Whether PR practitioners they weblogs or websites, internal or external newsletters, financial reports or prospectuses, it is certain that the quality of written English, unmediated by experienced editors, will increasingly present a more transparent face of an organisation to its stakeholders and publics.

The aim almost always must be to produce writing of the highest quality. This will hand considerable advantages to those whose is writing is clear, simple and grammatically correct.

The best way to achieve this is by adopting a style guide.

Comments

[Stuart Bruce]

I claim my £10 for spotting the deliberate "hose PRs" mistake.

[Philip Young]

Sorry, Stuart, I am not paying out - 'hose PRs' is not a style error, it is careless stupidity and will be dealt with in accordance with internal Mediations disciplinary procedures.