Introduction

No public relations program is complete without a plan for and understanding of dealing with the press. In some ways, the press is the same as the public. What you tell the press, you tell the public if your message is posted, printed, or broadcast by the media.  Of course, working with the media involves a specific set of skills and tools.  This section of the PR Rx Toolkit is designed to give you a review and action checklist that will help you master the many tools available to you to get your library message out through the media.

This section will cover some media essentials, such as writing interesting press releases, submitting letters to the editor, writing guest newspaper columns, attaining editorial board visits and supportive editorials, creating media lists, cultivating relationships with the media, interviewing techniques, and issues management and crisis communications.  In short, this section provides a comprehensive series of how-to guidelines that will make even the most seemingly difficult aspects of media relations attainable.