ABSTRACT
News releases once were the most commonly used tool of media relations, but newspapers and television are not the only fields for organizations to present their strategic messages. This chapter addresses legal concepts that affect public relations writing, particularly defamation and privacy. Veteran journalists and public relations people just seem to know what is newsworthy or how to make something more newsworthy. Bloggers increasingly are being seen as online journalists, and public relations practitioners should view them as potential conduits for organizational information. As a writer for public relations or marketing communications, students are not a magician who can just make news appear, like pulling a rabbit out of a top hat. People in organizations sometimes give speeches, which the public relations writer can use as the basis for news releases, online archives, letters to the editor, newsletter articles, blogs and other communication vehicles.
