1. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...
- The influence of the PR practitioner on the work of the journalist is viewed differently by different journalists, some comments are very positive while others are extremely negative.
- Since the 1960s studies have proven that the crux of the news gathering process is the transactional information exchanges between practitioners and journalists that quite often become the news of the day.
- PR practitioners that are familiar with media processes can most effectively frame a story for the targeted journalists; this is called the framing theory.
- Estimates of the percentage of news content influenced by PR’s subsidies or journalists’ contacts with practitioners range from 25% to 80%.
- From a study conducted on journalists there were many complaints on the use of the PR practitioner as a news source. These included:
· Lack of news sense, values, accuracy, timeliness, and the style of presentation (such as using the inverted pyramid).
· Lack of local angle was a major problem as it is an important requirement for an effective news release.
· 78% of the results included laments about practitioners offering information that was overtly or overly self-serving. Practitioners that represent non-profit organisations are seen as less self-serving and are more appreciative of the publicity they gain which fosters more positive relationships.
· Poor quality of writing.
· Practitioners lacking ethics.
· Practitioners perceived to lack professionalism.
- Practitioners with prior experience as journalists are viewed as more skilled and ethical than those with no prior experience.
- Practitioners engaged in media relations must work harder to sharpen their framing skills.
- They must always be accurate, act ethically, become better writers, and satisfy the local angle requirement to become more efficient PR practitioners.
- Journalists have preferences as to how they wish the PR practitioner to contact them. The most popular is email; however face-to-face contact is following closely.
- To effectively communicate with journalists, the practitioner must lean individual gatekeeper’s preferences and stay with them.
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
It is quite clear that PR practitioners are not perceived by the journalist to be doing their job efficiently enough. Practitioners are needed by the journalist and the journalist is needed by the practitioner, therefore the communication problems need to be resolved. Journalists depend considerably on the PR practitioners to help set, build and frame news agendas, which puts greater pressure on the practitioner to perform to a high standard. It is quite simple, if the PR practitioner is not performing to a satisfactory standard the journalist will look elsewhere, which is not good for either the practitioner or their organisation.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Week 8 Blog- Press Release
1. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...
- The reading shows a beginning PR practitioner how to brush up their writing skills in order to produce a well polished press release.
- There are 10 steps in ensuring that the text of a press release is of a high standard. They are:
· Ensure that you are presenting information that is of genuine worth to the audience and general public.
· Don’t mistake a press release for an advertisement, this means that you shouldn’t have to sell the content of the press release, if you do than it is obviously not newsworthy.
· Always write to your audience. Don’t think that one size will fit all, it is important to vary the style and format for different newspapers.
· Keep it short and succinct, no more than two pages.
· Make the heading relevant and use a sub heading if necessary.
· Be careful and clever with quotes; use a credible third party as their words are usually not subject to bias.
· Do the reporter’s job for them. If you provide support material to the reporter and show them how the story impacts their readers, it is more likely to get published.
· Keep the boilerplate to a minimum; only include a brief company description and some information on when the company was established, number of offices it operates, and contact and web site information.
· Give a tag-team of contacts; put a pair of contact people on the release.
· Check and double check, this includes both spelling and fact checking.
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
The reading made me think about how I write a press release and whether or not I follow any of these guidelines. These guidelines will assist me in the future when writing a press release. They are clear, concise and to the point which is beneficial when trying to remember a number of valuable tips and words of advice. I will be keeping these guidelines for further use.
- The reading shows a beginning PR practitioner how to brush up their writing skills in order to produce a well polished press release.
- There are 10 steps in ensuring that the text of a press release is of a high standard. They are:
· Ensure that you are presenting information that is of genuine worth to the audience and general public.
· Don’t mistake a press release for an advertisement, this means that you shouldn’t have to sell the content of the press release, if you do than it is obviously not newsworthy.
· Always write to your audience. Don’t think that one size will fit all, it is important to vary the style and format for different newspapers.
· Keep it short and succinct, no more than two pages.
· Make the heading relevant and use a sub heading if necessary.
· Be careful and clever with quotes; use a credible third party as their words are usually not subject to bias.
· Do the reporter’s job for them. If you provide support material to the reporter and show them how the story impacts their readers, it is more likely to get published.
· Keep the boilerplate to a minimum; only include a brief company description and some information on when the company was established, number of offices it operates, and contact and web site information.
· Give a tag-team of contacts; put a pair of contact people on the release.
· Check and double check, this includes both spelling and fact checking.
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
The reading made me think about how I write a press release and whether or not I follow any of these guidelines. These guidelines will assist me in the future when writing a press release. They are clear, concise and to the point which is beneficial when trying to remember a number of valuable tips and words of advice. I will be keeping these guidelines for further use.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
Week 7 Additional Readings
Hi,
Sorry I have not commented on the other two readings for week 7 as I cannot access them from my home connection. I will have to read them at uni. I will blog on them at uni on Monday.
Sorry I have not commented on the other two readings for week 7 as I cannot access them from my home connection. I will have to read them at uni. I will blog on them at uni on Monday.
Week 8- Writing Skills Blog
1. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...
-Public relations students would definitely benefit from media writing courses, news writing courses and public relations writing courses.
- Writing is an essential public relations skill.
- Regular practitioner assessment is conducted to ensure that specific programs are established to teach public relations students to write well.
- Surveys have shown that PR practitioners believe writing constitutes at least 71% of their work.
- The most common complaint about the writing of entry level PR practitioners was based on grammar, other common problems were run-on sentences and paragraph structure.
- Writing for the web requires a different style of writing compared to that required for standard press releases.
- This writing has to be very direct and concise to hold the attention of the reader.
- The best skill of a good writer is to be able to tackle different types of writing tasks, as versatility is the key to success.
- More learning time needs to be devoted to client-focused writing assignments rather than media-focused assignments.
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
Beginner level public relations practitioners do not have the writing skills that are required of them when they first enter into their jobs. Universities and other educational associations need to integrate quality writing programs into their courses to enhance the ability of their graduates to write well. Students not only need to be able to write press releases and feature articles, but also need to be able to write for the web and for clients. The importance of client-focused writing is growing; it has even started to take over the need for media related writing skills.
-Public relations students would definitely benefit from media writing courses, news writing courses and public relations writing courses.
- Writing is an essential public relations skill.
- Regular practitioner assessment is conducted to ensure that specific programs are established to teach public relations students to write well.
- Surveys have shown that PR practitioners believe writing constitutes at least 71% of their work.
- The most common complaint about the writing of entry level PR practitioners was based on grammar, other common problems were run-on sentences and paragraph structure.
- Writing for the web requires a different style of writing compared to that required for standard press releases.
- This writing has to be very direct and concise to hold the attention of the reader.
- The best skill of a good writer is to be able to tackle different types of writing tasks, as versatility is the key to success.
- More learning time needs to be devoted to client-focused writing assignments rather than media-focused assignments.
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
Beginner level public relations practitioners do not have the writing skills that are required of them when they first enter into their jobs. Universities and other educational associations need to integrate quality writing programs into their courses to enhance the ability of their graduates to write well. Students not only need to be able to write press releases and feature articles, but also need to be able to write for the web and for clients. The importance of client-focused writing is growing; it has even started to take over the need for media related writing skills.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Week 7 Blog- Chapter 10
1. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...
- Media relations are often used synonymously with publicity.
- Media relations can refer to two different things; it can mean dealing with a few select contacts on a regular basis; or managing hundreds of media personnel at a national event.
- The impact and power of the media should never be under-estimated.
- Operation of media outlets by volunteers or small staff often means a reliance on information from public relations outlets.
- PR has become one of the most important external influences on journalism as it is now practiced.
- The movement of information between PR practitioners and the media is two way. Public relations provide information to the media and the media provides information to the public relations profession.
- The practitioners use the media in many of their roles including the issues manager, monitoring trends, government policy and legislation, debates and opinion.
- For PR practitioners to use the media the value of news must be determined, this is achieved through the use of the eight news values: impact, conflict, timeliness, proximity, prominence, currency, human interest, and the unusual.
- It is important for PR professionals to know their media, this is achieved by understanding:
· Deadlines- it is essential that practitioners who deal with different media become familiar with all styles and deadlines in order to work within them.
· Who’s who in the newsroom- learn who makes the decisions and who writes the news. PR practitioners should make good positive relationships with journalists and editors in a news organisation. It is critical to have the respect and trust of the media.
- Differences in media styles also need to be observed- the practitioner should consider the medium’s particular needs. The key for PR practitioners is to avoid being too promotional while providing useful visual material that allows journalistic input, especially in the areas of the voice-over and script.
- All releases by PR practitioner’s need to target a specific audience. Selecting the best media for the message is extremely important.
- Media tools are used to deal with the media; these include the media release, media kit and media conferences.
· Media release- write in news style where possible, use inverted pyramid or narrative structure.
· Media kits- made up of a variety of items to make the journalist’s job easier, including fact sheets, backgrounders, feature articles, profiles or ‘biogs’, business cards, media passes, maps, posters, t-shirts, key rings, caps, newsletters, brochures, annual reports and calendars.
· Media conference- needs to consider questions such as; why hold a media conference? When to hold the media conference? Who to invite? How to invite them? Where to hold the media conference?
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
The relationship between the public relations practitioner and the media is one that needs to be given special attention by both parties. Each of the subjects relies on each other for success in their position. The PR practitioner relies on the media to use their stories and promote their organisation, and the journalists require the news releases from the PR practitioners to base their stories on. This reading has emphasised the many links between the journalist and the PR practitioner. The tools that can be used by the PR practitioner are numerous and varied, therefore they should be able to perform their job to a high standard.
- Media relations are often used synonymously with publicity.
- Media relations can refer to two different things; it can mean dealing with a few select contacts on a regular basis; or managing hundreds of media personnel at a national event.
- The impact and power of the media should never be under-estimated.
- Operation of media outlets by volunteers or small staff often means a reliance on information from public relations outlets.
- PR has become one of the most important external influences on journalism as it is now practiced.
- The movement of information between PR practitioners and the media is two way. Public relations provide information to the media and the media provides information to the public relations profession.
- The practitioners use the media in many of their roles including the issues manager, monitoring trends, government policy and legislation, debates and opinion.
- For PR practitioners to use the media the value of news must be determined, this is achieved through the use of the eight news values: impact, conflict, timeliness, proximity, prominence, currency, human interest, and the unusual.
- It is important for PR professionals to know their media, this is achieved by understanding:
· Deadlines- it is essential that practitioners who deal with different media become familiar with all styles and deadlines in order to work within them.
· Who’s who in the newsroom- learn who makes the decisions and who writes the news. PR practitioners should make good positive relationships with journalists and editors in a news organisation. It is critical to have the respect and trust of the media.
- Differences in media styles also need to be observed- the practitioner should consider the medium’s particular needs. The key for PR practitioners is to avoid being too promotional while providing useful visual material that allows journalistic input, especially in the areas of the voice-over and script.
- All releases by PR practitioner’s need to target a specific audience. Selecting the best media for the message is extremely important.
- Media tools are used to deal with the media; these include the media release, media kit and media conferences.
· Media release- write in news style where possible, use inverted pyramid or narrative structure.
· Media kits- made up of a variety of items to make the journalist’s job easier, including fact sheets, backgrounders, feature articles, profiles or ‘biogs’, business cards, media passes, maps, posters, t-shirts, key rings, caps, newsletters, brochures, annual reports and calendars.
· Media conference- needs to consider questions such as; why hold a media conference? When to hold the media conference? Who to invite? How to invite them? Where to hold the media conference?
2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
The relationship between the public relations practitioner and the media is one that needs to be given special attention by both parties. Each of the subjects relies on each other for success in their position. The PR practitioner relies on the media to use their stories and promote their organisation, and the journalists require the news releases from the PR practitioners to base their stories on. This reading has emphasised the many links between the journalist and the PR practitioner. The tools that can be used by the PR practitioner are numerous and varied, therefore they should be able to perform their job to a high standard.
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