I found this chapter really interesting, because it's such an integral part of public relations practice. I liked how it was pointed out that "the media" in the context of public relations shouldn't be thought of en masse, but rather as a "complex and multi-layered part of society". There are many different forms of media - from the major monopolies to the more alternative forms that are targeted more to specific audiences. This ought to be a major consideration in media relations planning. The media can be an enormously useful tool in a successful PR campaign, so it was great to read all of the different ways to reach a target audience.
We covered a bit on media releases in first semester in Intro to Professional Writing, so it was helpful to read a bit about how it works more from a PR perspective. It was interesting to read how editors take 30 seconds to read a media release, judging it by who you are, the headline and the lead. I guess it makes writing a really good media release pretty important hey?
Media kits sounded really great for creating interest, and with a bit of creative thought and innovation could be a great catalyst to a successful campaign. Reading the section on media kits, I thought it sounded like great fun - bolstering my opinion of being involved in the planning of a campaign. It got me wondering about what sort of things you could include in a media kit for our major assignment on Surfest.......
All in all though, this reading gave me the impression that the need to take a holistic approach to media relations is imperative in planning a successful campaign and doing so can give a strong leg-up on getting the message "out there". A PR practitioner will need to take into consideration every avenue of media, and every method of reaching that media - from media releases, press conferences and media kits.
It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in a PR planning meeting for a big campaign, to see how they work and what sort of ideas practitioners come up with...
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4 comments:
Great blog. You gave a good summary of the important points of the reading. The media Kits are what intrigued me. I agree they sound like a great way to create interest. You are right that with some creative thought it could really boost your campaign and strengthen relationships which are so important in making it easier to promote your campaign.
You summed up the readings really well! Sounds like your steaming along with thoughts on how to practically apply all of the tactics we are gathering on our journey through this course!
The key point you pick out at the beginning of this reflection:
“…public relations shouldn't be thought of en masse, but rather as a "complex and multi-layered part of society". There are many different forms of media - from the major monopolies to the more alternative forms that are targeted more to specific audiences.”
is the same as the main ideas that I drew out of this weeks reading. However the way you worded that really summed it up perfectly so I thank you for making my impressions more clear!
Good luck with the rest of the course! Sounds like you have a handle on things!
Laurie
I agree with the previous blogger and it has a lot of commonsense. The media is just like society and we have to talk in the culturally-appropriate form to ensure we communicate our message.
Hi Laurie, I share your sentiments for this weeks readings in that i too believe media relations is an integral part of Public Relations. A practitioner's conduct and level of engagement when liasing with the media can often mean the difference between a successful campaign and a campaign that is doomed to fail. I found the following points the most inetresting this week. Although the concept of friendly relations between journalists and PR practitioners is surrounded with stigma and tension, it is now generally understood that mutual respect between journalists and PR practitioners needs to be established. The gradual demise of the existing negative relationship between the PR world and the realm of journalism should see an increase in effective media relations. This shall provide the PR practitioner with an extra voice or medium to communicate messages by.
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