I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were that interaction with the media is a significant aspect of public relations practice. There are a lot of things to consider when holding media conferences, such as logistics, providing refreshments, and providing factsheets during media conferences.
Also, time planning is an important facet of organizing press conferences. The event has to be held at a time when people will actually show up. Hence, the PR department has to ensure that their event does not clash with other events. In addition, there is always a possibility that unforeseen circumstances may arise, such as the arrival of a celebrity to the country, or a bridge may collapse, drawing attention away from the media conference.
The readings made me think more about public relations theory and practice in that I did not know that news releases were written according to the news style of writing, which is the inverted pyramid. It is no wonder then, that in chapter two, we saw how the pioneers of in the field of PR were actually journalists.
Furthermore, a PR practitioner needs to have some degree of aptitude for writing as they have to prepare media kits that often consist of factsheets, backgrounders, feature articles and profiles.
Therefore, while there are many perks that come with a job in PR, the job is a difficult one where a lot of things need to be taken into consideration in order for the effective execution of a PR campaign.
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3 comments:
I think in addition to good writing skills as you have mentioned, which i do agree that PR practitioners require, they should also have a journalistic perception.
This will enable them to view their media releases or PR Campaign from a journalistic point of view, and thus modify their writing or media presentation to appeal more to journalists.
This will help improve the chances of a PR event/campaign/media releases getting publicised in the newspapers or on television news.
Dear Denise,
You mentioned about the aptitude for writing as a perquisite for practitioners.
Lester articulated that a journalistic point of view is necessary for PR publications to appeal to journalists.
Here is what I see...These are technical aspects that function to further a larger purpose or (agenda)of influencing the media.
You pointed out that “interaction with the media is a significant aspect of public relations practice”.
As such, in a broader context, this “interaction” necessitates a fundamental mindset shift in terms of how PR professionals and the media view each other. PR practitioners have to discard the siege mentality and embrace possibility of winning over the media.
Thank you Lester and Jufri.
Lester, I agree that journalistic perception is something that PR practitioners should try to develop to some degree.
Jufri,
You siad:
"PR practitioners have to discard the siege mentality and embrace possibility of winning over the media."
I think you brought up a valid point. We often only look at jounalists having a cynical view towards PR practitioners, but we often overlook how PR practitioners regard the media. Perhaps you're right that a shift in mindset needs to take place, but whether that is possible remains to be seen.
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