Week 7

After having gone through the readings I have decided to put together my own how to guide for dealing with media relations:
1. Monitor the media and its coverage: this helps when dealing with issues and judging the landscape/trends.
2. Know news values and the importance of deadlines: the more you understand what a journalist wants the better coverage you will get when needed.
3. Understand the newsroon: this means knowing who to send particular information to, who to invite to events and who to know by name giving you credibility over another PR consultant.
4. Cater for different mediums: a press release is not always going to cut it. Television news needs visuals, papers need photographs and radio needs up-to-date sound snippets for their regular news.
5. Target your audience: in other words don't send information about a sporting event to the editor of the lifestyle section. Also don't forget minority media, such as alternative radio stations or gay press.
6. The PR practitioner has three main tools to deal with the media they are outlined below.
7. The Press Release: headline, lead and layout are the most important elements. Write for the journalist and fax or email your release.
8. The media kit: include a fact sheet, a backgrounder, a feature article however only made up of ideas the journalist can use. If necessary include profiles, maps, passes, calendars. Always include a business card with contact details and keep everything within the kit clear and uniform.
9. The media conference: it must be on at a conveniant time for journalists, avoid clashing with other events. Target the appropriate media by email invitation. A call on the day and a call for those who did not show is appropriate. The venue must be well equiped for demands such as parking. Monitor media attention afterwards and send press kits to those who did not show up.
10. Always remember people will not remember what you did right they will remember what went wrong.
Follow these basic steps and even in crisis media relations will hopefully be positive ones.

Today I am commenting on Annika's blog

Week 6

This weeks readings were about the legal world and the ethical world of PR. I found the section on Defamation most helpful because I am a journalism major and this concept has always puzzled me. Therefore I have decided to concentrate on defamation and somehow flesh out an easy to use summary.
Defamation- a law aiming to protect ones reputation ( something an organisation has with strangers ). This must be however, balanced against freedom of speech. Defamation can be in the form of words, pictures, cartoons, graphics, effigies, signs and gestures. To prove you have been defamed you must show that material was 'published' in which you were identified and which caused you to be exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule, lowering of others opinions and shunned or avoided without moral blame. Morals are of course different from ethics talked about in the next chapter because ethics are personal values which underpin the moral choices. Almost everyone in the production process can be charged for the defamation whether it was direct or indirect. Finally, there are only three defences to defamation; truth, fair comment and privilege. In summary I would like to say defamation is a mine field and journalists and PR consultants alike should be vary wary of everything they publish.

This week i am commenting on Jessica Cappars blog

Week 5

This weeks readings were about strategy, that is a pattern or plan that integrates an organisation's major goals, policies and action. Part of a good strategy is the development of a vision and mission statement. A vision statement looks at the future state of the organisation at a selected time and a mission statement looks at steps to reaching this vision. In last weeks tut i learnt that a these statements are very important because it is difficult for exterior public to be able to identify with the aims of a company without them. For example, it was clear and easiy to discover the Australian Red Cross' mission was to be a leading humanitarian organisation interested in improving the lives of the vulnerable. After looking for over ten minutes however, it was impossible to discover the ABCs mission based on the information on their website. This shows better planning needed to be implemented when developing this site.
Secondly Key Performance Indicators should be identified to measure the progress of the company towards its mission. A strategic plan includes things such as budgeting, executive summaries and situation analysis. It is implemented through scheduling, creating checklists, flowcharts, calendars and gantti charts. After discovering all of these facets of PR strategies i have come to the understanding that a very important and useful skill to have in this industry is ORGANISATION.

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Today i will be commenting on Thomas' blog

Week 4

I believe the most important aspect of this weeks readings to take away and remember is that of caring. Especially when working with large companies goodwill and a company that 'cares' will have a better standing in its local community. So a company must:
1. Consultate: with the community this could include information nights and town meetings
2. Scan the environment: that is the social environment so that issues can be managed. This could include surveys, focus groups and monitoring the media agenda.
3. Filling in the gaps: squashing rumours by providing as much information as possible through fliers, brochures, hotlines and a booth at the local shopping centre
4. Collaborations with community groups: key leaders involved in a task force with their own budget and own projects
5. Negotiation: the key to symmetrical PR
This leads to mutual gain and a good community relationship.