This weeks readings were of great interest to me because media releases obviously are an essential tool for the PR practioner.
Some key points of interest in Writing a Media Release (Lazar) was the importance of finding a "hook" for your release and targeting the appropriate media. The reading particularly reinforced the importance of identifying the newsworthy elements of the information you are trying to present. This reading built on my knowledge of how to generate a successful media release. WHile I've previously been taught how to construct a media release i think a key learning for me in this reading was the importance of presentation. Tips such as:
-use one side of paper only
-keep the release to 2 pages max if possible
-clearly indicate if there is more to follow
were of particular use to me and the fact that embargoed releases are mostly undesriable to journalists.
This reading really highlighted that a PR practioner must also think like a journalist to ensure their media releases are successful.
This point was made even more obvious in To contact....or not (Sallot and Johnson). Perhaps the most shocking part of this reading was the large number of journalists that are frustrated by poorly constructed media releases. I found this reading really interesting and helpful to have tips as such from the other side. While I previously knew that developing and maintaining media relations would be an important part of a practioners job this reading made it obvious that its an integral part of our job!!!
Of particular interest to me were the following learnings:
-Journalists respond better to releases written by practioners with a journalism background.
-It is important not to seem biased (journalists don't responde well to this)
-Journalists noted that a practioners inability to create a local angle in their releases was one of the major reasons a release isn't used
-Be careful of innaccurate information...journalists are very unforgiving of this!
Although there were many helpful hints in both readings (especially the tips on emailing!) I have been left with two obvious conclusions.
The first is that it's esssential that a PR praticioner not take their writing skills for granted. We need ensure our media releases are written clearly, concisely and with correct grammar. We need to write our releases so that journalists are able to "cut and paste" if neccessary. Rather than churn out 2-3 media releases a week that end up in recycling bins surely its better write 2-3 quality releases a month that are published. This idea is supported by the figures in To contact....or not.
From these readings I also concluded that it is essential as practioners that we be creative. Of course we need to target the correct media outlets for our publics but more important than that is presenting our ideas so that they're interesting. If we are working for a company that has a new product then we cannot just send a media release listing all the features/benfits of this product. We need to work to find that "hook", that is that one thing that makes it relevent. We need to create human interest and localise it. If its a new insurance policy than perhaps its relevant to a particular area because there's been alot of bushfires.
These readings made me start thinking creatively about media releases and realise we need to be very pro-active and acutely aware of our audiences and create contacts in the media industry.
Finally, I was given the opportunity to speak with the Corporate Affairs officer of AAMI through the week and he was able to give me an example of a media release he wrote recently which ended up on the front page of a local newspaper in Queensland. His media release and the article were almost identical which proves the importance of a well written press release. He had also ensured that the media release he sent out had relevence locally. I just thought that it was a pretty good example of how important it is that we understand the key elements of a media release!!
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3 comments:
Holly,
Your example down the bottom of the page of speaking with the Corporate Affairs officer of AAMI is great. Certainly, this provides a brilliant example of how important the key features of media relations and media releases are to us as budding PR practitioners. In this way, your example, coupled with your detailed summary of the readings from this week, aid other students by showing just how crucial the development of skills and an angle ('hook') are to the PR practitioner. Thus, this week I feel you have really gained a lot from the readings and your blog is one that other students can come back to to refresh their memory on this weeks topic.
Great work.
Holly's reading was very concise in that it clearly outlined the most important points of both readings. I believe this would be useful to students who may have not read the readings. I believe Holly did a succinct summary of the 'To contact...or not reading as the first few sections were rather technical.
Like Holly, I also learned how significant the presentation of a media release is. This was an advantage of the Tymson and Lazar reading, as it effectively gave very direct and concise tips. I also thought it was interesting how Holly highlighted that a PR practioner must think like a journalist to ensure their media releases are successful.
However, I have to make mention of the figures in 'To contact...or not'. Holly gleaned and supported from the reading that it is better to create 2-3 'quality' media releases a month rather than churning 2-3 media releases a week. While this is a honourable objective, the public relations practitioner would likely be out of a job. It is just not feasible in reality.
That's all.
Ben I'm glad by sharing my experience with AAMI it has helped your understanding of these readings. It certainly helped mine and I thought it would be a great "real-world" example to give!
Karina makes a point in her comment that it is unlikey a practitioner would be allowed to only produce 2-3 media releases a month. Thinking more about this I do tend to agree with you Karina, we are likely to be expected to produce these continuously. It would be nice to think though that we would be able to have that one "front-page" media release each couple of months. If only!!
I'm glad my summary of "To contact....or not" was helpful as I actually found this really interesting. I found that in this reading it was much easier to skip over the bits we didn't need to focus on (the percentages and sample numbers etc) and concerntrate on the points that are relevent to understanding the strains between PR practioners and journalists. I'm glad that by adopting this technique my summary has been helpful to other students understanding of the important points in this reading.
It seems that we've all beneifted from the tips in Tymson and Lazar's readings about how to construct and effective media release. These comments reconfirm that understanding how to write a media release (or how not to) will help how it is received by journalists. This is really important as journalists determine whether or not the target audience ever see it. Thanks for you feedback guys!
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