Breadth and balance in content are the primary attributes of this book, which is designed to equip undergraduate students for the broad range of writing tasks involved in contemporary public relations practice. This comprehensive text addresses writing tasks undertaken for print and electronic media as well as those that arise in the business component of public relations, providing: insights into the roles and responsibilities of practitioners and the nature of persuasion; techniques in message development and public relations writing; separate sets of chapters dedicated to print and electronic writing tasks; and three case histories each accompanied by a set of writing problems, to create complete flexibility for faculty. The first five chapters of the book deal with practitioners' roles, theories of persuasion, public relations writing styles, and message development. Print-oriented chapters deal with news and feature releases, printed materials, media kits and their contents, and business writing relating to public relations practice. Electronic-oriented chapters focus on the basics of broadcast writing, audio-visual script writing, video news releases, slide-tape presentations, and public service announcements. Case histories deal with a large for-profit corporation, a not-for-profit corporation, and a charitable organization.