After reading the set texts it was clear that media relations plays an enormous role in public relations practice. Chapter 10 focuses on the power and impact that media relations has on public relations activities in an organisation and emphasises its importance in regards to publicity, crisis management, campaigns and sponsorships. I found it particularly interesting that media relations is in fact a two-way relationship. It doesn’t merely involve journalists seeking information from PR professionals but also includes PR professionals monitoring the media to be aware of current issues, events and changes that may occur. Being aware of the media will give PR practitioners a competitive advantage when it comes to identifying trends and acknowledging times of heightened public interest that can ultimately lead to greater profitability. For example if the media was currently fixated on obesity it would be a great time for McDonalds to launch a healthy food campaign, this illustrates the importance for public relations practitioners to be continually aware of current media.
My learning builds upon previous learning about public relations in that there is a lot to acknowledge when communicating with the media. It is essential for PR professionals to understand what makes their product, organisation, event or profile newsworthy. Newsworthiness is often defined by impact, conflict, timeliness, proximity, prominence, currency, human interest, the unusual or money (Johnston, 2004: p. 264). It is also important for PR practitioners to understand their target audience and identifying what needs to be done to reach that target audience. For example if your target audience is children it would be unlikely for an organisation to advertise in business newspapers.
I also found both of the articles on presentations and speaking in public very useful to the preparation of our public relations debates. However I found that both of the texts were fairly similar but both offered helpful and applicable tips for creating a successful oral presentation. In summary, the key points I learnt from this week's readings were that when speaking in public it is essential to control your nerves. This can be done by having extensive knowledge on what you are going to say and being prepared to answer tricky questions. When speaking in front of an audience it’s important to have an aim and purpose to what you are trying to get across and its essential that your material coincides with your topic.
I believe that all of the readings this week gave a great outlook on what skills are needed within the PR industry, whether it is good oral and group skills or effective media relations.
5 comments:
Hi Jo,
You made a really great summary of the week's readings. I spoke about very similar things in the media relations chapter in my blog. Particularly the point about the two way relationship between PR practitioners and journalists. I think this point is vital to the success of strong media relations. The way you illustrated this point will the McDonald's example was a really great way to demonstrate your point of view. I also think it is important to note the various tools used by practioners to achieve this two-way relationships. Tools such as media kits and press releases.
This readings summary I feel is very clear and precise. Overall, I strongly agree that both of the readings express some skills that us as students can use in the future. In regards to media relations, I also feel that it is a vital component within this business. It was interesting to view your comments on media relations as a two-way relationship. I feel that the example that you gave of the McDonalds food chain clarified understanding greater in this aspect of the readings.
Overall, the readings summary gave me a greater insight into media relations through use of examples and also how you have grown within your learning.
Thankyou for your comment Jo.
I just posted your and I noticed how very similar our views were this week!
hi Jo.
I agree with what you said about media relations being a two-way relationship. i feel that while PR practitioners need to have a mutual relationship with journalists, it is not however, necessary for journalists to have the same sort of relationship with Pr personal because the do not wholly rely on the PR industry to make news. There is enough disaster out in the world to make news.
However, i guess in the long rung it is ok to have these relations, as long as they dont get in the way of ethical and fair journalism.
Thanks for your comment, I totlly agree with what you said. Despite erading how to handle nerves, I still got quite nervous when I did my debate today, however the preparation guidlines were so helpful.
I think your closing statement is very true, and I beleive that having one skill will help the other, for example having great verbal skills will aid us in creating great media relations and maintaining effective relationships with those important liasons in the media.
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