Writing for the Media

Adrian Wheeler was a reporter on a weekly newspaper before joining a City PR firm. He co-founded Sterling Public Relations which was acquired by Grey Advertising, where Wheeler became CEO of GCI UK and chairman of GCI Europe. He was chairman of the PRCA in 1999-2000 and chairman of the CIPR's Professional Practices Committee in 2008-2012. In 2010 he was awarded the Sir Stephen Tallents Medal. He is the author of Purchasing Public Relations for the PRCA and editor of Best Business Advice. He works as a crisis communications consultant, as a non-executive with four public relations agencies, and as a PR and media trainer.

Foreword by Francis Ingham Introduction 
Good media writing - the business case 
The ROI – media messages 
The media writing challenge: editorial choice 
B2B and B2C – what’s the difference? 
How journalists write 
The journalist’s PR challenge 
Journalists’ rules 
Researching a story 
Interview tips 




Composition: 
Headlines and leads 
Format, structure 
Short-form and long-form 
The human factor and illustrations 
Media language 
Enemies of clarity 
Style 
Quotations 
Self-editing
 



What the media want and don’t want 
What the media say they want and don’t want 
Story ingredients: the Trevor Morris system 
Writing for screens: advice from Steve Dunne 
Pitching a story to the media 
Making a soft story stronger 
Distribution: the PESO model 




Appendix 
Advice from journalists and editors 
Good media relations – five top tips 
Books about the media and media writing 
Improving your media writing 

A selection of journalism terms 
Media story platforms 
Putting it into practice (exercises) 
 Media quotes about the media