Vincent F. Filak 
Dynamics of Media Writing 
Adapt and Connect

Dynamics of Media Writing Third Edition gives students transferable skills that can be applied across all media platforms—from traditional mass media formats like news, public relations, and advertising to emerging digital media platforms. Whether issuing a press release or tweeting about a new app, today’s media writers need to 
adapt their message for each specific media format in order to successfully 
connect with their audience. Throughout this text,  
award-winning teacher and college media adviser 
Vincent F. Filak introduces fundamental writing skills that apply to all media, while also highlighting which writing tools and techniques are most effective for specific media formats and why. User-friendly and loaded with practical examples and tips from professionals across mass media, this is the perfect guide for any student wanting to launch a professional media writing career.

Table of Content

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

PART I. THE BASICS YOU NEED, REGARDLESS OF FIELD

Chapter 1. Know Your Audience

How to Define an Audience

Key Questions to Ask in Serving Your Readers

What Attracts an Audience?

What Audiences Need to Know and How to Make Them Care

The Big Three

Chapter 2. Being Accurate, Relying on the Facts

Why Is Journalism Such a Picky Field?

Why Media Professionals Matter More Than Ever

Making Sure You Are Sure

Examining the Broader Issues

The Big Three

Chapter 3. Grammar, Style and Language Basics

Why Do Grammar and Style Matter?

Sentence Structure

Sentence Length

Read Your Work Aloud

How to Keep Writing Tight and Right

The Big Three

Chapter 4. Basic Media Writing

The “Killer Be’s” of Good Writing

The Inverted Pyramid

Leads: The Prominence of Importance

Types of Leads

Problematic Leads and Potential Fixes

How to Order the Rest of Your Pyramid

The Big Three

Chapter 5. Interviewing

Interview Preparation

Places to Dig

Getting the Interview

Interacting With Your Source

Interviewing via Email or Text

Interviewing for Multiple Media

The Questions

Interview Flow

Silence as an Ally

The Nonverbal Approach: How to Ask a Question Without Asking

The End of the Interview (Almost)

Follow-Up Interviews

The Big Three

Chapter 6. Writing for Websites and Blogs

Working on the Web

Blogging

Best Blogging Practices

How to Build a Quality Blog Post

Linking and Other Interactive Elements

Engaging Readers

The Big Three

Chapter 7. Social Media

What Does Social Media Do?

Why Is Social Media Valuable?

Social Media Tools

How to Avoid #Fail

Building a Social Media Audience

The Big Three

Chapter 8. Law and Ethics in Media Writing

The First Amendment

Libel

Legal Defenses Against Libel

Getting SLAPP-ed Anyway

Copyright

How to Avoid Copyright Infringement

Ethics and the Media

Ethical Concerns

How to Work Through Ethical Dilemmas

Determining Your Own Approach to Ethics

The Big Three

PART II. FOCUS ON NEWS MEDIA

Chapter 9. Reporting: The Basics and Beyond

Event Coverage

Preparing for the Event

How to Cover the Event

News Reporting Beyond the Event

Beats

Features

Profile Writing

Localizations

Obituaries

The Big Three

Chapter 10. Writing for Traditional Print News Products

Nuances for Print Writing

Attributions

Expanding the Inverted Pyramid

The Big Three

Chapter 11. Writing for Broadcast

Nuances for Broadcast Writing

Structure

Integrating Additional Elements

Types of Stories

Polishing Your Final Piece for Delivery

The Big Three

PART III. FOCUS ON MARKETING MEDIA

Chapter 12. Public Relations

Defining PR

Types of PR Writing

Keys to PR

Why the Media Matters

The Big Three

Chapter 13. Advertising

Defining Advertising

The Creative Brief

Message Formation

Writing in Advertising

The Big Three

Chapter 14. Marketing

Brands and Branding

Campaigns Versus Brands

Useful Marketing Platforms and Tools

Copywriting for a Brand

Ways to Work With and for Your Readers

Writing Creatively for Marketing

The Big Three

Glossary

Index

About the author

Vincent F. Filak, Ph.D., is an award-winning teacher and scholar who serves as a professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he primarily teaches courses on media writing and reporting. Prior to his arrival at UWO, he served on the faculty at Ball State University and also taught courses at the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also previously worked for the Wisconsin State Journal and the Columbia Missourian newspapers. He was also unanimously voted and selected as the next editor of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.The Associated Collegiate Press honored him as part of the organization’s inaugural class of Pioneer Award Winners in 2022. The Scholastic Journalism Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication presented him with the Educator of the Year award in 2021, a year after he was honored by the National Society of Leadership and Success with an Excellence in Teaching award. In 2019, he received the Friend of KEMPA award for his work with high school journalism students through the Kettle Moraine Press Association. In addition, he has received awards from the College Media Association (CMA) and the National Scholastic Press Association for his work as a college media adviser and a mentor to high school journalists.As a scholar, Filak has received thirteen top conference paper awards, including those from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Broadcast Education Association, and the International Public Relations Society of America. He has published more than thirty scholarly, peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, including Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, the Newspaper Research Journal, the Atlantic Journal of Communication, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, the Howard Journal of Communication, Educational Psychology, and the British Journal of Social Psychology. He is also the winner of CMA’s Nordin Research Award, which goes to the best research paper completed on a topic pertaining to media advisers within a given year.He has published several textbooks in the field of journalism, including Dynamics of Media Writing (SAGE), Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing (SAGE), Dynamics of Media Editing (SAGE), Convergent Journalism (Focal), and The Journalist’s Handbook to Online Editing (with Kenneth Rosenauer; Pearson). He also blogs about media-related topics at Dynamics Of Writing.com.xxiv He lives outside Auroraville, Wisconsin, with his wife, Amy, and their daughter, Zoe.