PR image and document packs

A useful PR pack gives a journalist the files needed to understand and check a particular story. Include only relevant, current material. Identify what each asset shows, who can answer questions about it, and what permission covers its use. A pack cannot make an unsupported claim reliable or guarantee coverage.

Choose files for the story

A service announcement might need a photograph of the affected location and a short fact sheet. A research finding might need a chart, its underlying values and an explanation of the measure. Include a portrait when the named person is available to comment; several similar portraits rarely help.

For each file, ask what a journalist can learn or verify from it. Leave out decorative stock images, superseded versions and documents that merely repeat the pitch. Keep confidential working records separate from material cleared for distribution.

A compact pack can contain an index of files and contacts, selected photographs with captions and usage terms, a fact sheet, and a chart or table where it clarifies a checked finding. Include only the items the story needs; a story with no useful image needs none.

Check permission and context

Confirm each image is cleared for the intended distribution and publication use. An image supplied by an employee, agency or partner is not automatically cleared for press reuse. Hold an image whose rights remain uncertain.

For a photograph of an identifiable person, consider separately how it was obtained and whether the proposed use raises privacy or other permission concerns. Copyright clearance alone does not settle those questions.

Check the privacy implications of identifiable people

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner says a photo or video is personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 if a person's identity is clear or could reasonably be worked out. Apply that test when deciding whether an image of a person is suitable for the pack; the person does not need to be named in the caption.

Privacy rights depend on the situation. The Privacy Act does not apply when someone takes a photo or video in a personal capacity, because it does not cover individuals. That does not rule out other concerns: state or territory laws may prevent photographing private activities without consent. If those circumstances apply, check the relevant local position before release.

If an image has been posted online without permission, the OAIC advises first asking the person who posted it to take it down. Treat an unresolved concern about a person's image as a reason to pause its release rather than assuming that online availability settles permission.

Key privacy considerations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)

Make every asset understandable on its own

Make sure images and charts have enough accompanying context for a journalist to interpret them, and that they match the approved information.

Give documents clear titles and versions. Put essential facts in accessible web text where possible. If a PDF is useful for a stable layout, check its tags and reading order, provide an accessible way to obtain the information, and show its title, file type and size at the download link. Downloaded copies may keep circulating after an update.

Release one consistent version

Compare the index, captions, charts, fact sheet and downloads against the same approved information. Check names, dates, roles, locations, availability and calculations. Open the files through the route recipients will use and confirm that the intended versions are readable.

Before release, confirm the pack contains the approved files and identify who can answer follow-up questions.