Deck 9: Writing

Question 1

Listicles, a portmanteau word, are part of the online media landscape.

A) Sporks
B) Listicles
C) Spifes
D) Zootopias

Answer 1

B

Question 2

It takes __________ to articulate your goals and objectives as part of a public relations strategy.

A) Crisp videos
B) Clear writing
C) Talking on the phone
D) Attending meetings

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Writing for search engine optimization has become an important part of __________.

A) Reputation management
B) Economic divergence
C) Small business
D) Big business

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Deidra is a media specialist for Uber and decides on an approach to her campaign that will get the attention of and engage her publics. She highlights the life of a returning veteran who has difficulty finding a job until he knocked on Uber's door. Her approach is known in PR as __________.

A) Storytelling
B) Tugging on the heartstrings
C) An end run
D) A novelty

Question 5

Rather than plainly reporting facts and information, a __________ digs deeper into some angle of an event, a person's life, an organization, or a place.

A) Press release
B) Key message
C) Feature story
D) Media alert

Question 6

The Jackson Agency of St. Louis creates a PR ad for Budweiser that does not even mention beer or have a picture of a beer can or bottle. Instead, the story features a trainer who raises the Clydesdales from birth and then watches them leave the ranch to join the other horses. This is an example of a feature-type story that appeals to ____________.

A) Life on the ranch
B) Common sense
C) Human interest
D) Nothing in particular

Question 7

Whereas a feature writer may delay the most important points while appealing to human interest and emotion, straight news stories get right to the business of reporting the news with a __________. Even if readers never read past the first paragraph, they can get the gist of the content.

A) Meta tag
B) Direct lead
C) Headline
D) Subhead

Question 8

Anna is a freelance online writer who submits articles to various blogs and news websites. She knows that her writing skills must follow the traditional rules of writing to make it past the first cut. She consults which writing style handbook for these rules?

A) Chicago style (CH)
B) New York style (NY)
C) Harvard style (HV)
D) Associated Press style (AP)

Question 9

Boris, a PR writer, drafts and edits a timely article, pitches the story to reporters and editors, and hopes that various news media retell the story. What type of PR article did he write?

A) Delayed lead
B) News release
C) General communication
D) Exposé

Question 10

Cassandra prepares an online-only campaign for Microsoft. She includes sharable online material such as useful chunks of text, quotes, photos, infographics, suggested tweets, hashtags, and embeddable multimedia elements. What kind of campaign is this?

A) Snapchat news release (SNR)
B) Video news release (VNR)
C) Social media release (SMR)
D) Embedded news release (ENR)

Question 11

Lidochka prepares a news release about a Russian oil tanker grounding in the North Sea. Along with the story, she includes an attachment that provides accurate information about the accident and other information that editors can click on and check for themselves. What kind of attachment did she provide?

A) Fact sheet
B) Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
C) Backgrounder
D) Feature

Question 12

Tesla Motors is planning the unveiling of their driverless car. The Tesla PR team assembles news releases, fact sheets, and backgrounders, as well as photos, graphics, position papers, and anything else that might useful for a reporter researching and producing a story. What did the Tesla team create for their big media event?

A) Twitter kit
B) Public kit
C) Newspaper kit
D) Media kit

Question 13

A __________ is essentially a backgrounder for a person who is the main subject of a news release.

A) Bio
B) Selfie
C) Wiki
D) Blog

Question 14

Donald is given the assignment by his PR firm to prepare a news release designed to be distributed through online search engines. Although all search engines operate differently, with different rules (i.e., algorithms) for how search results are produced, some common elements that factor into most searches are headlines, meta tags, links, and URLs. What other factor is very important for Donald to optimize the search engine results?

A) Robots
B) Rhemes
C) Keywords
D) Gifs

Question 15

The PRSA Code of Ethics lists expertise as a core value of the profession, especially expertise in the ethic of reciprocity. Alexandra, a PR media relations specialist, strives to include this principle in all of her work. She is practicing what is also known as __________.

A) The end justifies the means
B) The golden rule
C) The silver lining
D) Situation ethics

Question 16

Elle is often frustrated because more and more, she is competing with __________ for the attention of her audience members. Unfortunately, instead of reading articles about her client, web visitors are instead choosing promotional and sensational content designed primarily to entice them to visit another website.

A) Clickbait
B) Listicles
C) Display ads
D) Memes

Question 17

While critics may complain that ______ are lazy writing, some writers see them as a way to help readers filter and process a lot of information by breaking it into manageable pieces in an order that makes sense.

A) Quotes
B) Tweets
C) Listicles
D) Captions

Question 18

Writing is one of the most sought-after skills employers screen for when hiring public relations talent, and one of the main reasons to write well is to build and maintain __________.

A) Keyboard skills
B) Client share of voice
C) Clever tweets
D) Relationships

Question 19

Nolan, a professional writer, has been very successful because he has a good sense of __________. His news releases speak to journalists, his tweets resonate with followers, and his thank-you notes keep the door open for future opportunities.

A) The timeline of facts
B) Strategy and tactics
C) Humor and creativity
D) Who his readers are

Question 20

Santiago invests a lot of time in the ___________ phase of strategic planning because that is where he learns more about his publics' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, making it easier for him to influence those publics.

A) Brainstorm
B) Research
C) Focus group
D) Situation analysis

Question 21

According to Professor Craig Carroll, a _________ is "a widely circulated, oft-repeated message… revealing something about the organization's nature." While an organization's actions contribute, what people write about an organization is also important.

A) Trademark
B) Brand statement
C) Corporate reputation
D) Jingle

Question 22

__________ involves presenting yourself in ways that help you achieve your goals and aspirations in social interactions, while always being mindful of keeping a balance between being authentic and being professional.

A) Subliminal messaging
B) Impression management
C) Persuasive messaging
D) Corporate management

Question 23

When the World Bicycle Relief Organization chose to feature the story of Esawo, a 59-year-old Malawian dairy farmer, they did so with ________. The non-profit organization's goal was to gain the attention of readers and keep them engaged, ultimately encouraging them to donate.

A) A flair
B) Hesitation
C) A purpose
D) Neglect

Question 24

Writing trainer Ann Wylie advises public relations professionals to drop the _________ and write with more _____________. Writers should tell readers what's in it for them.

A) Adjectives; verbs
B) Human interest; corporate language
C) We's; you's
D) Small words; style

Question 25

Public relations professionals can facilitate great writing simply by providing ________, as in the case of The Kelly Slater Wave Company. The resulting 10,000-word feature story in the New Yorker helped the company gain awareness for a new business venture.

A) A large stipend to a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer
B) A celebrity subject
C) Access to a unique experience
D) Multimedia materials

Question 26

Julian adds shared/social media to the storytelling mix for a PR campaign for Dollywood in Tennessee. The story features a one-minute video of a bear that wanders into the park and starts dancing to the music. Stories like this have more of a chance of going viral because readers and users have the opportunity to become part of the storytelling process. This is an example of __________.

A) Transmedia storytelling
B) Intermedia storytelling
C) High-level storytelling
D) Low-level storytelling

Question 27

Gregory is working on a variety of _________ for his clients, including a personal profile of a CEO, a historical perspective on telephone technology, and a first-person account from a client's customer.

A) News releases
B) Feature stories
C) Blog posts
D) Media kits

Question 28

To give herself some flexibility, Carol is writing a number of stories that are ______. This way, she can pitch them whenever she has a lull in other news because they will maintain their relevance and value throughout the year ahead.

A) Seasonal
B) Timeless
C) Technical
D) Social media-friendly

Question 29

When writing a _________, the writer does not include the "why" of the story in the first few sentences. Instead, the job of the first sentence is to make the reader want to read more, and keep the reader hooked through the body of the story.

A) Direct lead
B) Delayed lead
C) Developed lead
D) Guided lead

Question 30

Elizabeth is a staff writer and media relations specialist for USA Today. She is assigned the task of reporting on disastrous flooding in Louisiana. Instead of employing the delayed-lead style of features stories, she uses the direct-lead format, knowing that even if readers never read past the first paragraph, they will get the gist of the story. This news style of writing is often called the __________.

A) Primary blast
B) Inverted pyramid
C) Standard pyramid
D) Blunt force style

Question 31

Online news feeds, blog rolls, email preview panes and search engine results all favor writers who know how to write ___________.

A) Clickbait
B) Feature stories
C) A surprise twist
D) A good lead

Question 32

Irenka is the editor in chief of the online news website The Woodstock Post. She receives hundreds of news items from her staff as well as independent reporters. She must select 12 to 14 of those to post on the day's website based on what she determines to be newsworthy. From a PR writer's perspective, in which model does she belong?

A) Shared media
B) Gatekeeping
C) Search engine
D) News funnel

Question 33

Hunter is working on a ________ for his company's new product. He is developing a pre-produced news package for broadcast journalists that includes visual and audio content.

A) Television news release
B) Press release
C) Video news release
D) Social media release

Question 34

A news release always starts with a good headline and a ________ so the news media will know when and where a story occurred.

A) Quote
B) Byline
C) Dateline
D) Wire line

Question 35

Cydney, a reporter for a major-metro daily newspaper, depends on public relations practitioners to provide additional information she may need to write a story. Without their help, Cydney would have to search the internet or the __________ to find any archival information.

A) Slug
B) Morgue
C) Library
D) Safe

Question 36

When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues a news release, it often includes an accompanying _____________. Delivered in a narrative form, NOAA can provide context and useful information to make it easy for reporters to understand a cover the news.

A) Chart
B) Backgrounder
C) Bio
D) Blog post

Question 37

Tristan has been an avid social media consumer for many years, but the first few Facebook posts he wrote for his client did not result in any interactions. Tristan's mistake was a common one, and he likely ___________.

A) Used too many hashtags
B) Failed to include multimedia as part of his post
C) Wrote politically incorrect content that offended the group
D) Engaged before observing and understanding the Facebook group

Question 38

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Weibo are all considered _______ because these social media sites allow users to make short, frequent posts.

A) Macroblogs
B) Miniblogs
C) Masterblogs
D) Microblogs

Question 39

Weibo and Twitter differ in how they present content, follow different business models, attract different demographics. In addition, because Chinese characters convey much more information than Roman characters, the _________ is less of a constraint on Weibo than Twitter.

A) Character maximum
B) Character limit
C) Hashtag format
D) Backlink requirement

Question 40

While integrated keywords on a web page will help people searching for those keywords to find that page, there's a point of _______. Keyword stuffing will actually harm a site's ranking.

A) Diminishing returns
B) Increasing results
C) Decreasing ranks
D) Search overload

Question 41

RJ is putting the finishing touches on a new web site he developed for his non-profit organization. Before he finishes, he works with his IT director to add _________. These are important because they describe the web page to search engines.

A) Search keywords
B) Mega bytes
C) Meta tags
D) Search links

Question 42

Even in writing for robots, public relations professionals need to have useful and original information along with good storytelling. The more other sites view a web page as valuable, the more they will provide _____________ to our site.

A) Organic links
B) Natural links
C) Paid links
D) Search links

Question 43

Anwar planned a vacation that is going to delay a client project. He included the hashtag #SorryNotSorry in the e-mail to his boss and client. He obviously was not able to distinguish from the syntax of text messaging and Instagram to the formalities of an interoffice e-mail or client status report. In PR terms, he failed to ____________.

A) Use hashtag conventions
B) Include a salutation
C) Recognize a code switch
D) Include an emoji appropriately

Question 44

Reporter Cornelius Foote understands that publicly traded companies are required to have certain language and boilerplates in ________. However, he sees too many that are written in a cumbersome, wordy style that has become obsolete.

A) Annual reports
B) Biographies
C) News releases
D) Backgrounders

Question 45

Words matter, as public relations firm, ___________, in Austin, Texas, found out. It named its agency, a hospitality PR firm that specializes in food and drink, the same name as a 1937 poem by Abel Meerpol about racism and lynching. The company eventually closed its doors and admitted it should have known better.

A) Slow Food
B) Southern trees
C) Hot Times
D) Strange Fruit