Week 9 Readings- Newsletters and Community Relations

I believe the key messages from this weeks readings were that proactive communication can assist with image, and that the role of community relations is an essential one, keeping the community informed and in turn, benefiting the company. The key messages regarding newsletters were the need for clarity surrounding the impression you want to make and what you want to achieve, the importance of reflecting your organisations objectives and allowing for two-way communication and identifying the needs of your audience.

The key points in the readings could be applied to my groups work in that they emphasised the importance of clear information and what to include in a newsletter so it is of interest to your target audience. They also showed how a newsletter can be utilised to put your organisations objectives into context, demonstrating why it is important to the community. This is precisely what we wish to achieve through the communication tools used in our plan.

The readings made me think more about PR theory and practice in that they emphasised the importance of quick and honest communication early on to avoid conflict later, they also outlined the importance of utilising your PR tools effectively (specifically newsletters). There is little point in creating them if they do not fulfil their purpose. The job of a PR practitioner is to identify this purpose and to ensure the writers are meeting it, not solely tooting their own, or the companies horn. We need to know what is it the audience wants to hear? (loved the analogy on this one- the one about the boasting Christmas letters) I now better understand the layout, function and purpose of a newsletter and how every decision is relevant. Newsletters can be directed at a large variety of stakeholders and the newsletter should reflect the interests, and meet the needs of the target audience. Decisions must be made as to how often it will be produced, what it will look like, its content, its language and its format and all decisions must relate back to the audience. There were some clever language tips in the readings covering everything from catchy headlines to sentence structure and the importance of wording a statement in benefit terms and not commanding the reader does something. It’s also important to have up to date contacts and to NEVER send a newsletter as a CC (which was an excellent tip because I didn’t even think of how this technique would expose other email addresses).

The readings related to the other reading I've done in previous weeks in that the construction industry reading reiterated the importance of identifying changes to legislation, which refers back to the importance of SWOT analysis. It also emphasised the importance of clear and honest and coherent communication and that goals must be workable, practical and quantifiable, all of which was emphasised in the chapter about PR plans. The importance of clearly identifying and understanding your audience and stakeholders is again emphasised through the newsletter readings, as is the importance of moving beyond one way communication. It also ties to ethical practice ie someone must be willingly subscribed to your newsletter and be able to unsubscribe. The newsletter readings also emphasised how necessary it is that a communication tool fits into the overall strategic plan.

Week 8 Readings- Media Relations/Releases

I believe the key messages from this weeks readings were that journalists appreciate PR practitioners who are ethical, professional, informed and who attempt to appeal to both the individual preferences of journalists and the overarching structures and practices of the journalism industry. The second reading outlined the correct way to write and present a media release, paying careful attention to its purpose and intended audience. The third reading highlighted the many ways PR practitioners can utilise internet tools to communicate with the press, but emphasised the importance of maintaining the website as a credible source of information. Once again it is important to keep journalists on side as they are identified as an important audience in all the readings. It was evident how many organisations still don’t understand, effectively utilise or update their press centres on the web. Another idea was that regardless of country, similar trends seem to occur when it comes to website upkeep.

The key points in the readings could be applied to my groups work in that they emphasised the need for well refined communication strategies BEFORE the implementation of specific techniques. They also made me think about how we would target our messages to different media and the importance of monitoring whether our strategies are not only effective, but actually being carried out. Also for each initiative we undertake we must consider how to pitch that idea to the media within our small town community, why would they publish our release. We must also be careful not to sound self-serving as many journalists feel some PR releases do.

The readings made me think more about PR theory and practice in that they highlighted the multitude of ways PR practitioners can make use of the internet, but emphasised there was little point to these innovative techniques if they were not correctly utilised. It provided useful tips on what to include on the website (and what not to) and how to utilise the web most effectively. Sallot and Johnson’s reading demonstrated how important it is to consider journalistic techniques before writing a media release and to concentrate on being professional and accurate with everything from spelling, to facts. In the future I intend to keep an updated contact list, outlining how each journalist prefers to be contacted, as I believe this is an important concept. I will also draw on my own knowledge of journalism to improve my work and offer a piece that isn’t overtly self-serving but informative and accurate. I think the point that was also important in Gonzalez-Herrero’s reading was that the internet must complement, not replace other forms of communication and that well refined communication strategies must already be in place in order to succeed. The reading on how to write a media release was also very useful for tips on newsworthiness, emailing and style, including a useful checklist.

The readings related to the other reading I've done in previous weeks in that they again examined media relations and the importance of framing and adhering to the requirements of individual journalists if you are to succeed in your press coverage. Even on the web, two way communication is vital, there is little point setting up an enquiry form online if an answer is never received. This damages the credibility of the site and is a waste of time. So every initiative taken by the PR department must be monitored to ensure it is serving the right function. The media release reading also related to previous readings I have done in journalism and in last years PR course.