Guide to Managing Media and Public Relations in the Linux Community

Sheldon Rose

Copyright © 2005 by Linux Professional Institute. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/). Distribution of the work or derivative of the work in any standard (paper) book form is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

2004-01-08

Revision History
Revision 1.12005-04-21TM
Update to correct links, update copyright notice
Revision 1.02003-12-02SR
Initial Release, reviewed by TM at LDP.

Abstract

This guide provides useful information on how to generate positive public relations and news media coverage for Linux.


Table of Contents

1. Introduction
1. Who Should Be Reading This Guide?
2. What is Public Relations?
3. How Public Relations Differs from Advertising
4. What Public Relations Can Do
5. The Benefits of a Public and Media Relations Program
2. Public and Media Relations Planning
1. What Do You Want to Accomplish?
2. Who Needs to Know About Your Organization?
3. What Do You Want to Say?
4. What Kind of Information is Newsworthy?
3. Contacting the News Media
1. Creating a Media Contact Database
2. Maintaining Your Database
3. Contacting the Editors
3.1. Letter of Introduction
3.2. Using the Phone
4. Making the Pitch
4.1. Getting the Editor's Attention
5. Pitching for Different Media
5.1. Print-based Media
5.2. Television and Radio
4. Working with the Media
1. Duties of an Editor
1.1. Newspaper Editors
1.2. Magazine Editors
2. Targeting Other Medias
2.1. Television
2.2. Radio
2.3. Talk Shows
3. Selling Your Story to the Media
3.1. Who
3.2. What
3.3. Where
3.4. When
3.5. Why
3.6. How
4. Do's and Don'ts When Dealing with the News Media
4.1. Do's
4.2. Don'ts
5. Monitoring Media Coverage
5. News Releases—the Major Communications Tool
1. Writing News Releases
1.1. The Headline
1.2. The First Paragraph
1.3. The Middle Paragraphs
1.4. Final Details
2. What Makes a News Release Good (or Bad)
3. Top Ten Tips for Writing Releases
4. Distributing the News Release
6. Other Public Relations Tools
1. Feature Articles
2. Bylined Articles
3. Email Writing
4. Miscellaneous Communications Tools
5. Don't Forget Emphasizing Core Messages
7. Working the Trade Show
1. Arranging Speaking Opportunities
2. Getting Media Attention at Trade Shows
3. Planning for a Trade Show
3.1. Before the Show
3.2. During the Show
3.3. After the Show
8. Quick Tips for Maximizing Coverage
1. How to Maximize Media Coverage
A. Monitoring Media Coverage
1. Media Monitor Services and Clipping Services

List of Tables

3.1. News Media Organizations