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● Introduction & Index ● What is PR ● Job Expectations ● Types of Media ● Building Relationships ● Media, Hams & FCC Rules ● The Basic News Release ● Interviews and Live ● Making your own show ● Easy P.R. ● Public Service Events ● Piggy-back to Events ● Pictures NOW! ● P.R. Research Aids ● Making Friends ● ARES® PIO ● Final Exam Information |
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VIDEO POSTINGS Few things are more impactful than a video of Hams in action. In fact, such videos are quite scarce and are in high demand. So are still pictures of Hams in action. If you know amateur radio is at an event, take pictures or videos. Such action shots will be much appreciated by media. While this is “Easy reactive P.R.”, you should obtain signed releases of people whose faces appear on camera. This can be a hassle, but it is the right thing to do legally, and will make the video easier to be accepted and used by a media outlet, or a website that posts submitted pictures and videos BLOGS Web logs, or “Blogs”, are the easiest way to post “Easy Reactive P.R.” The key with such postings is to ensure accuracy and not to “flame”, or be overly critical of other postings. Use common sense and the tenets of good, old-fashioned journalism of stating the facts about the role of amateur radio in an event. LETTERS TO EDITORS We wrote about letters to the editors before, but what about when you are reacting to something you saw in the news? There is no more classic example of “Easy Reactive P.R.” than the traditional “Letter to The Editor”. As a PIO, you are a subject matter expert on amateur radio. Your signature should not only include your name, but your PIO title too. If you are writing a letter to a public newspaper or magazine, avoid using your callsign and the other idiosyncrasies unique to amateur radio, such as CW abbreviations. As with every other reactive P.R. submission, stay factual, balanced and not inflammatory. Do not assign blame, but point out the error, quickly give the correct information and your source for it, and then (here’s the good part!) offer more information about Amateur Radio. Sir: The February 34th edition of the paper contained a error stating that there are only 63,000 hams in the US. According to the FCC database, there are approximately 654,000 in the US and over two million world wide. If you would like more information about Amateur Radio activities in Yourtown, please go to www.mysite.org SUMMARY By being observant, a PIO can spot lots of “Easy P.R.” opportunities, both proactive and reactive. These will be the easiest ways in which you will have the greatest chance of having a Ham Radio story posted, broadcast or published. |
