Writing News for the Company Magazine
Douglas Perret Starr
Writing is the most difficult work imaginable. The writer must not only know
everything possible about the topic, but also must be able to explain and describe, without
opinion, information about which the readers may have little or no information.
Because of those demands, writers, real writers, do not “love to write," they love "to
have written." Real writers write because they must, because they cannot imagine doing
anything else.
Moreover, real writers do not just write, they rewrite, revise, recast. Anything less is
just typewriting.
For writers today, rewriting is essential. It tightens the writing and reduces the length
of the copy by cutting out unnecessary words and by rearranging sentences for greater
impact.
The Company Magazine
Most corporations have either a monthly company magazine or a weekly or twicemonthly newsletter. The monthly magazine is published; the newsletter is produced inhouse; both are produced by public relations department personnel.
Two photographic agreements are needed: one to use photographs of employees and
one to hire an independent photographer. The best photographic agreements are drawn by
your company attorney, but here are some suggestions about photographic agreements
that you could use.
A person’s name and image are considered, in law, to be property rights, and they
may not be used for commercial or trade purposes without the person’s permission. To do
otherwise is an invasion of privacy and could lead to legal problems.
If you plan to use a photograph of an employee in the company magazine or for
company advertising purposes, you need a photographic consent release signed by the
employee before or at the time the photograph is made.
The photographic consent release gives the company (and/or you) the right to use the
photograph not only for the use for which it was made, but also for other uses later.
Without a photographic consent release, you or your company may not use the
photograph for any purpose other than that for which it was made and only as long as the
employee works for the company.
Both you and the employee should sign and date two copies of the photographic
consent release, a copy for each of you. A witness is not necessary. I refers to the
employee, the subject of the photograph. Here are the parts of a photographic consent
release:
The Photographic Consent Release
States that the employee certifies to being an adult and that, in consideration of
whatever amount of money or other considerations provided, authorizes the company to
reproduce, copyright, publish, circulate, or otherwise use the photograph.
States that the authorization and release covers the use of material in any
published form and in any medium of advertising, publicity, or trade in any part of the
world for ten years [the usual length of time] from the date of the release.
States that the employee and heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns transfer to
the company and its successors all rights, title, and interest in all photographic
reproductions taken by representatives of the company.
States that the agreement fully represents all terms and considerations and that no
other inducements, statements, or promises were made to the employee.
Independent Photographer
When you need a photograph, or several photographs, it is easier and cheaper to hire
an independent photographer. This frees the company from having to provide retirement
programs and medical insurance, to deduct and pay Social Security taxes, to withhold
income tax, and to provide Worker’s Compensation insurance, sick leave, vacation, and
other benefits. But you need an agreement, a contract, between you and the photographer
because it gives you many advantages.
You and your in the consent agreement refer to the photographer; company refers to
your company. Both you and the photographer should sign and date two copies of the
photographic agreement, a copy for each of you. A witness is not necessary.
The independent photographic contract:
States that the photographer’s duties will include photographic assignments for
your company, by name, in specific places, and performed under your (and state your
name and title) direction or under a representative of your company. This gives you
control of the photographer’s activities and authorizes you to direct the photographs
to be made. The photographer may make suggestions that you may accept.
States the amount of money your company will pay in wages and expenses for
each day of services. Expenses should cover food, lodging, travel, and the cost of
film, paper, and developing and printing of the photographs. State that payment will
be made upon receipt an itemized bill and an itemized expense report.
States—and this one is important—that all photographs, digital images and prints
and negatives, become the property of the company, and that the company has the
right to use all the photographs any way it wishes without limitation or restriction.
States the beginning date of the photographic agreement and that it remains in
effect until the assignment is completed. State that either party may cancel the
agreement at any time upon notice to the other party, and that cancellation does affect
the company’s right to own and use the photographs.
The Second-Day Approach
Writing for the company magazine is not the same as writing for a newspaper. A
newspaper reporter covers a copy today and writes it today for the newspaper’s World
Wide Website and for tomorrow's newspaper.
Public relations writers cover an event today and write it today, but not for
tomorrow's publication. In fact, your copy may not be published until next week or next
month or two months from now. By the time readers read your copy, it's old news.
Moreover, everyone in the company will have heard the information through the
grapevine—which is 85 percent accurate and very fast—long before the company
magazine is published. In general, the company magazine serves as verification of the
grapevine.
Your task, then, is to make your past copy current in the future.
To do that, use the approach afternoon newspaper reporters have perfected: the
Second-Day Approach.
Seek the Next Action
For example, if your company receives a contract for $20 million for a new
product, that's news. But there's no way to prevent the grapevine from spreading the
word quickly. Long before your magazine is published, nearly everyone in the
company will have heard about the contract, and some departments might even have
begun tooling up to produce the product. The contract itself no longer is news.
The news is not the fact of the contract, the news is what happens next.
So, in writing your magazine story, seek the next action; lead with what the company
is doing to meet the contract, how far along the preparation is, who is in charge, what
progress has been made so far, what the next step is, what the contract will mean to the
company, whether additional employees will be or have been hired, … the list is endless.
All it takes is your imagination.
And don't worry about getting the details of the contract into the lead. You're not
writing legal matters; you're writing a story. Begin with what happens now that the
contract is signed; save the contract details for later in the story.
Don't forget to get a quotation from the CEO about the value of the contract to the
company.
Writing Tips
Here are some suggestions to help ensure that your writing is the best you can
produce.
Use short words; they are more powerful than long words.
Use short sentences; they are more powerful than long sentences.
Use short paragraphs because of the narrow columns your copy will occupy. Readers
want plenty of white space in their reading matter. Short words, short sentences, short
paragraphs provide the necessary white space.
Rely heavily upon the six traditional questions, and usually in this order:
These first three questions constitute the most important information in the story:
Who? … The person or group you are covering, writing about.
Did What? … What the person or group did.
or Said What? To Whom? … (in case of a speech or an interview) This is a
summary of the speech or the interview, not a statement that the speaker spoke or
delivered a speech.
Why? … The reason that the person or the group did what it did.
Of secondary importance are these three:
Where? … The city where the story took place.
When? … The day of the week that the story took place.
How? … How the person or the group did or plans to achieve what it plans. Not
every story has a How.
The second three questions, though they constitute important information, can be
saved for the second paragraph. In fact, the “where” may be built into the name of
the city council or of the county government agency.
And one more: So What? … This is important in that it helps the writer decide
whether the story is really news.
Above all, Get to the Point. Right away
For example, if your board of directors votes for a 4 percent raise for all employees
effective next fiscal year, don't write that the board met and voted in favor of a 4 percent
raise. Boards—groups of all kinds—do nothing but meet and vote. Readers want to know
what the board voted for. So write that the board authorized a 4 percent raise for all
employees. You may write so because when the board voted "aye," what it approved
became effective.
Use action verbs rather than "to be" verbs; they are more powerful. The predicate—
the verb—is the focal point of the sentence, the strength of the sentence.
Write in the active voice, in which the subject does the action, because that's
conversational style.
Polish Your Writing
After you've written your copy, read it aloud and listen to the flow of language. Listen
to the words: Do they merge into a meaningful whole? Do they flow smoothly? Does the
language get into the way of the information?
If not, rewrite. Make the writing sing to you; readers will appreciate it. They may not
realize it consciously, but they will appreciate it unconsciously, because, as they read
silently to themselves, their mind's ear will tell them whether the language is pleasing.
Use a Copy Editor
You could copy edit your own copy, but it is far better to use a copy editor because
the copy editor is like readers, but without your intimate knowledge of the topic.
If you want to edit your own copy, set it aside for a day or so before you do so. You
will tend to forget the details, making copy editing possible. Not easy, possible.
Whoever edits your copy should look for errors of style, spelling, of punctuation, of
grammar, and so on, of course, but also of misuse of words and of incomplete and
incorrect information.
Proofreading … Copyediting … Editing
Proofreading, Copyediting, and Editing have different meanings and usages.
Webster’s New World Collegiate Dictionary, 4th ed., © 2005, provides these
definitions:
Proofread—to read and mark corrections on printers’ proofs, etc. to ensure that the
typeset version is identical to the writer’s final draft. But, if the final draft contains errors,
so does the published version.
Proofreading—done by two people, one to read aloud the writer’s final draft; the
other to follow and correct the typeset version.
Edit—to revise and make ready for publication a writer’s work by selection,
arrangement, and annotation.
Copyedit—to edit and correct the grammar, punctuation, etc. of articles or
manuscripts, as in a newspaper office or publishing house.
Editing and Copyediting are done by one person well versed in grammar, word use,
spelling, punctuation, syntax, all the requirements of fine writing. That is the final step in
publishing, the final step in helping guarantee that the writer’s work is accurate.
It is extremely difficult to copyedit your one work. The best way to copyedit your
own work is to set it aside for a day or two, letting the details of the work slip away from
your active memory. Even so, you will miss a lot.
Use the Right Word
Use the proper writing aids: your style sheet and the dictionary, particularly the
dictionary.
Speaking English as your native tongue does not guarantee knowledge of the
language. You may be misusing words without realizing it. Look up words, even words
you think you know. You may be surprised.
If you use a thesaurus, use it in conjunction with the dictionary. Don't use a synonym
from a thesaurus without checking the dictionary meaning. For example, the thesaurus
lists "prevent" as a synonym for "stop." But it would be silly to say, "Prevent your car at a
red light" when you mean, "Stop your car at a red light.”
Avoid unnecessary approximation of numbers. Few numbers are ever round:
$20,000,000 … $250,000 … $2,500,000. More than likely, numbers are $20,583,451 …
$249,737 … $2,522,475. When you round them off, you do so because the detailed
amount is not as important as the general size of the number.
Some numbers, such as distances, rarely are exact. If your company is building a
plant outside of town, "five miles" is sufficient. “Approximately five miles" is
unnecessary detail. And spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence.
When you do round off numbers, don't insult readers by telling them so. They
understand.
Moreover—and more important—in listing numbers, you may forget to approximate
every rounded number, which may confuse readers into thinking that the nonapproximated number, however round it appears, is accurate.
The same admonition holds for use of "he or she," "him or her," his or her.” If you
forget and use just "he," you confuse readers into thinking that only men are meant.
Instead, pluralize your nouns so you may use plural pronouns.
Stay Out of the Story
It is unprofessional to use the first person pronoun—I, me, my, mine, we, us, our,
ours—in copy, except as part of quotations. Non-quoted usage of first person bestows
upon the writer unwarranted expertise and detracts from the editor’s prerogative of
writing opinion.
Write as an observer, not as a participant.