[READ THIS] Beaulieu Park & Taking Press Actions in Alduria

[Alduria]

Beaulieu Park: Speeches, Press Conferences, and Press Releases

Under the new press system, speeches, press releases (PRs), and press conferences will all be posted in Beaulieu Park (this forum) and will receive a mark based on quality and message.

However, it is important to distinguish between speeches and press releases and their distinct impacts.

Press Releases

A press release is a memo sent out to major media outlets detailing your individual or party stance on a particular issue, highlighting events in parliament, or publicizing things you as an MP or a Government/Opposition have done recently. They are used to draw attention to events or policy stances in the hope that this will be picked up by the media.

A press release should not be a speech. It should include quotes from the relevant author or from other players if you so wish, but its purpose is to inform the press and as such should read like a press release. If you haven't done a press release before, then here is an example.

An important point to make is that the media isn't going to read through 500 press releases if you choose to release that many. There are diminishing returns to continually posting press releases saying virtually the same thing. As long as your message is clear and well-articulated, one press release in as good as ten.

Speeches

Speeches are made to a certain group of people, such as a trade union or a business organization, with the content of the speech generally then being known across related channels (if you speak to one trade union, then you can be fairly sure other trade unions will hear what you said, although they obviously weren't there to hear it). Generally, only speeches made by the Prime Minister/Leader of the Opposition or speeches that unveil significant policy receive extensive media coverage.

A speech's advantage is that it allows you to talk directly to a group of people about an issue that concerns them and to go into detail on the specifics of policy, as well as allowing you to show off some rhetorical flare. Their impact is not as wide as a successful press release but it is more powerful when well focussed, and so a good speech should be focussed on the issues the group you're addressing is concerned with.

Speeches, as said above, are to specific groups of people. Not to journalists outside of the Palace of Parliament. There is no one outside the Parliament building just dying to hear a 1,000-word speech or so.

Generally, you will need permission to make a speech to a specific group, although you may freely speak to a group of supporters or party members in a given location if you wish.

Press Conferences

A Press Conference is where you invite a lot of media and invite them to grill you. It consists of a short opening speech (remember, the media aren't your party members, they don't want to listen to a flowy rhetorical speech for half an hour) after which the press will be able to ask questions.

Press Conferences, especially by significant individuals garner a great deal of media attention. However, they come with stipulations. Obviously, engaging with the press entails its own risks. A press conference also needs a raison d'etre; that is, you shouldn't call a press conference to complain about the Prime Minister's conduct. A press conference is best used to announce a new policy or something of that magnitude.

As such, only the Prime Minister, the President, and cabinet ministers (includes Leader of Oppo and shadow cabinet figures) as a rule should be calling press conferences. Of course, if a high profile backbencher is launching some campaign, private members bill, or such sort, a press conference is appropriate, but otherwise, there won't be much reason for them to do so.

TL;DR

What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to target your message to? Consider this:

• Speech: Selling something to a specific group of people.
  
• Press Conference: Announcing a new policy, initiative or campaign.
  
• Press Release: Any issue that you want to bring to the attention of the mass media and wish to receive broad media coverage.
  

[Alduria]

Notes on Strong PR Writing

This is mostly for new(er) players, but some more experienced players experiencing writer's block might find this post helpful as well. None of this is a requirement -- it's totally unsolicited guidance, free for use or for crumpling up and throwing in the trash. Anyways...

Try using the well-known Monroe's motivated sequence. It is used by speechwriters and politicians across the globe in conveying a point and winning over an audience.  It's an easy, five-step process to make sure that your PR is hitting each point that it needs to and isn't going too far down any tangential roads that it need not.

Anyways, the five steps are (1) attention, (2) problem, (3) solution, (4) visualization, and (5) call to action. Here is some guidance on each step:

Attention — Known in press circles as 'the lede', this should be a snappy, one-to-two sentence opener that makes your audience want to read more.  Some helpful questions for getting it right:
. Why should people care about this issue?  Write the reason.
. Is the reason short enough that they could remember the whole thing when they walk away? If not, rewrite.  Cut it down.
. Can I make the reason I wrote snappier?  Use alliteration, hyperbole, an analogy? If you can think of one, do it.

Problem — Every PR, whether you realise it or not, is about some kind of social/economic/political problem in the world.  Or, at least, it should be.  This is where you set out the 'gap' or 'need' that you're going to cover in the rest of your PR.
. What's wrong with the status quo?
. What's wrong with how the other party/ies have approached the issue?
. What's wrong with something that someone has proposed or analysed?

Solution — This section is where you tell people how you would/will solve the problem that you just mention.  Don't go into too great detail yet.  Just tell them, pointe blank, what the solution is.
. How can we fix the problem?
. Can someone walk away and remember what my solution is?  If not, cut it down.
. How am I related to the process of fixing the problem?

Visualisation — This is where you go into greater detail about your solution.  This is where you sell it to the audience.  This is where you put your solution in a box and wrap it up as a nice gift for the world.
. What is the process for achieving the solution?
. Can I make the process more simple? No, really, make the process more simple.
. What are the benefits of this solution? Here's a good point for a quick, 3-4 sentence 'human interest' story, if you have one on hand.  You can make something up, but make it believable and ordinary enough that it's not considered meta-gaming.
. What further negative consequences do we avoid if we choose my solution?

Call to Action — Okay, you have everyone on your side.  They've heard the sermon: they know the problem, they know the solution, and they know what good things will come with your solution.  Now, get them involved.
. What can the average person do to help advance the solution?  Voting Tory and supporting the government's a good place to start, but there are other options, too.
. Is there something that people could stop doing that would also then help the solution?
. What's the timeline for this activity?

So, let's apply this rubric to a couple of examples to give some flesh to these bones -

Con PR: RMT Strike Means Risk for You[Attention] Welsh Conservative MP Rhys Carew-Berkeley responded to the RMT's threat to strike, calling it "a costly mistake that will harm everyone in Britain."[Problem] Carew-Berkeley spoke on the matter of the RMT's vote to strike: "It's easy for the RMT workers to vote for a strike when it's the economic wellbeing of the rest of the United Kingdom that they're wagering here.  They are knowingly using the average, hard working Brit as their middleman to leverage for a better deal, despite belonging to a pay bracket higher than 90% than everyone else in this country.  They are using working people to their private benefit and hoping that no one would be the wiser that they already have a sweeter deal in this economy than nearly all the rest of us.  This is not just about London: people in rural, distant constituencies like my own of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire will feel their own brunt of the pain.  They won't even get the delight of facing an overcrowded alternative: they will be stranded, unable to commute to work where there is no regularly-running bus service.  Instead of working through the realities of the situation, the striking workers are lost in the clouds, leaving behind workers, students, and other travellers who rely on these daily services."[Solution] Carew-Berkeley applauded the government's proposed Trade Union Bill.[Visualise]  The legislation would require a 50% turnout minimum for a strike vote to be valid, with public sector unions required to earn the backing from 40% of all their members.  "This bill would make people think twice they pull the trigger to play Russian roulette with their neighbours' livelihoods," said Carew-Berkeley.  "The British people have said enough to being used and, frankly, abused for the private gain of these striking workers.  This government campaigned on this promise, and we won.  We will deliver on this promise to the British people, and we will end this kind of hostage-taking tactic from these unions."[Call to Action] "If you wish to see a resolution to this matter," said Carew-Berkeley, now speaking directly to the public, "Call your Member of Parliament and let them know that you want Parliament to take action now to end these needless showdowns that hurt the British economy more than anything else."

 

Con PR: When you can't win, make things up[Attention] The new Minister for Women & Equalities, Rhys Carew-Berkeley, spoke to reporters today outside Parliament Hall after a series of questions from Labour's Shadow Minister, Astrid Vincenti, on the spousal veto within the landmark Marriage Act 2013.  "While I share her concern on the matter," said the Minister, "The narrative she told in Question Time today was more fiction than fact.  If nothing else, today's exchange exampled her storytelling abilities to a live national audience."[Problem] The Shadow Minister's questions pertained to a narrow detail within the marriage equality legislation, enacted by the coalition government in 2013.  According to her, the legislation's passage 'created injustices' in the inclusion of language for a spousal veto.  This veto would require a married individual's partner to consent to the changing nature of their marriage, and by proxy, the new legal gender of the person they married.  The Shadow Minister would continue, attempting to lay blame for the language's inclusion at the feet of the 'Tory-led Coalition government'.  Omitted from her remarks was any mention of her own party's near-unanimous support of the legislation, inclusive of the spousal veto, at Third Reading.  "Then, even if not any longer, the Labour Party recognised that this legislation was a step forward for our country.  Thus why it is so peculiar to hear that the Labour Party is suddenly so dismissive of the legislation.  It was a step forward for this country and in advancing the rights of LGBT Brits," affirmed Carew-Berkeley.  "They supported the legislation, just as many in all three of the major parties did at the final vote.  To suggest that this legislation was a partisan exercise is simply false."[Solution] "I'm disappointed that the line of questioning was more about attacking the Marriage Act and less about building a coalition of support for further changes in our laws," remarked the Minister.[Visaulise] "This government has committed to further legislative progress in welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people into our society.  We have clearly affirmed that the spousal veto is a concern and that we are reviewing all our laws constantly on how we can make our country a fairer place for all.  We will work on this issue as we look on the wide range of issues that matter to everyone in this country: keeping our economy strong, establishing our place vis-a-vis Europe, and protecting our communities.  We will carve out progress for this country as we proceed over the next few years."[Call to Action] The Minister concluded: "While the Labour Party is busy giving their frontbench the opportunity to write fantasy – from this issue to our leaving NATO –, this government is interested in writing history.  I welcome each and every contribution that the British people can make towards this objective."

You'll see that the five steps also, for the most part, fit easily into individual paragraphs.   By using this sequence, you'll gain a natural, logical order that make your paragraphs feel intuitive.

That's basically it.  Feel free to follow this guide or to leave it behind.
 

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CREDIT and SPECIAL THANK YOU

We also give a special thank you to Layna in the government online simulations Statecraft and USG for writing this article and granting us permission to use and modify.