I swear I could just scream and then drop dead from joy right now because this is the last post for the course!! But then again... We still have to work on our final assignment for this course and that would be the PR plan, essay and media release.
So anyway, reading this week is Writing a Media Release.
I think media releases are really powerful. It provides a number of journalists with the much-needed information (that is, if it fits the news at the moment) at a single time. Media releases are normally used to sell a product or service, from my point of view. I think it is normally used as a starter for a news story so journalists might probably need a PR more than a PR need a journalist just so they can get news from reliable sources.
So what else can I possibly add about media releases?
Hmm, well, the standard 5W and 1H (Who What Where Why When How) must not be missed out if you want to write a proper and (maybe) successful one. Journalists spend a whole lot of their time in the office chucking releases after releases into the waste bins so to avoid yours from ending up in that sad place, you have to ensure that the headline is catchy. Like very catchy infact. And so, the two keypoints to take note when writing a headline are:
1) Tells what your article is about.
2) Makes the reader want to read the article.
Maybe include keywords so Google can categorize it during searches. And of course the most important thing next is to not make silly grammar mistakes. I understand that like everyone else, I am used to typing and shooting off emails quickly. So I realized that doing so will only cause me silly mistakes like a not capitalized 'I', 'It's' without the ' , spelling errors or worse of all... Something that doesn't even make sense...
LOL. I know these pictures above have totally nothing to do with media releases but I am just trying to show what could happen if there are insufficient research, effort and time put into doing an assigned task. Silly mistakes. Very very very silly as you can see.
Whoop, don't be happy too soon. The blog is over, but other things are just started :D
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ that journalists probably need PR practitioners more than the other way round. As Ms. Tanya always said, we have to write an interesting media release, as journalists receive dozends of media releases everyday. Somehow, PR is "at the mercy" of the journalist. But not exactly, it's a mutual relationship. Without PR, journalists will have a hard time finding news as well.
you mean PR practitioners need a journalist more than the other way round...?
ReplyDeletewell i think it works both way actually. because then again, i am sure journalists also have other reliable sources apart from the PR people.
so i guess both need each other as much?