direct mail.. is it good or bad for PR? April 27, 2012

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of direct mail for a Public Relations Professional.

Advantages of Direct Mail:

According to our book, “direct mail allows you to have total control over the format, writing, and timing of a message to audiences as broad or narrow as you wish.” There are 3 advantages to direct mail: Targeting your communication to specific individuals, personalization, and cost-effectiveness. You can create mailing lists for all sorts of audiences; depending on the type of organization, depends on the mailing list. Direct mail is personalized because it comes in an envelope addressed to the recipient and the letter often begins with a personalized greeting such as “Dear Kristen.” As for cost, direct mail is relatively inexpensive.

Disadvantages of Direct Mail:

The major disadvantage is the direct mail can be classified as “junk mail” by some people. This creates an issue, because people are more likely to not read the direct mail and instead put it straight in the trash.

modern communication tools and traditional communication tools April 14, 2012

Compare and Contrast the use for Public Relations Practitioners of modern communication tools and traditional communication tools.

There are two traditional communication tools that I think Public Relation Practitioners use today. First, newspapers. Newspapers are a way for PR Practitioners to provide press releases and news releases of upcoming events as well as introduce products. Newspapers have evolved to be more modern, by being offered online. Instead of buying paper copies, a lot of people get their news and information from newspapers online, which brings me to the second traditional communication tool, the internet. PR practitioners use the internet for everything, from gathering research to promoting an organization or product. The internet has brought them to the more modern tools though, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. These social media tools allow PR practitioners to use different methods for PR. They can reach different audiences on different tools!

PR practitioners and journalism.. why is the relationship changing? March 29, 2012

Why do you think the relationship between Public Relations Practitioners and Journalists is the way that it exists today when the first PR Practitioners were those who had careers in journalism?

I think PR practitioners and journalists have the relationship they have today due to the competition out there. They both rely on eachother, but have different roles. Journalists write factual stories with the purpose to inform while PR practitioners write to advocate. PR professionals rely on journalists to write true, positive stories about their organization, but that is not always the case. Journalists sometimes write negative stories about products or organizations causing tension between the two groups. Journalists are doing their job though, and so are PR professionals. They do not want negative publicity for their client because it causes a negative reputation.

I think the reliance of PR is getting smaller, though has not been eliminated yet, due to newspapers dying off. Newspapers are not as popular as they use to be so PR professionals are having to rely on other forms of media and such to relay their messages and stories. PR is turning to social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These social media sights are popular today but one day these too will die off and PR will have to look at another way to spread their word.

Media and PR

Why is the relationship with the media so important to Public Relations Professionals?

I think the relationship with the media is so important to PR professionals because the media is their basic use of publicity. If they have a bad relationship with the media, then the media is not going to publish their news releases or important stories about their product or organization. Also, word travels fast in this world, so if the relationship is bad because the PR professional was rude or something similar, then no other media outlets will want to work with the professional if they hear of the incident. Maintaining a good relationship is crucial to ensure you get the best use out of the media. You want them writing good things about your organization or product, to increase your reputation and not negative things to hurt it.

PR is growing fast.. but why? March 21, 2012

Why do you think Public Relations is such a rapidly growing field?

I think one reason why PR is growing so fast is because Public Relations is such a huge field. It is not just party planning, but can include working at a firm, as well as work for a non-profit organization. There are so many opportunities for people wanting to go into the PR field. Every organization or business is looking for a way to make themselves look good and generate positive publicity and reputation and it is the PR persons job to do this. I think the fact that there is such a variety, draws such an attraction to the PR field. No matter your interest, you can most likely find a job doing PR that you enjoy.

The need for PR is growing as well. Competition is becoming greater and therefore good publicity is a huge part of being successful.

The fact that PR is growing is so interesting because it shows that having a PR career, you have a chance to grow!

Communication is Power February 29, 2012

Discuss the sentence / thought: “Communication is Power.”

“Communication is Power” is a strong statement, but I think it is a very true statement. Without communication, you have nothing. Communication is the key to change, to persuasion, to informing, etc. If you do not have communication, you can not change things, such as peoples minds, and persuade them to believe one thing over another. Also, you can not inform people and provide them with information. By being able to communicate with someone you can do so many things, which gives you power. There is another quote similar to this that says “the power to change is the power to communicate.” Just think if people couldn’t communicate with one another, through voice, through writing, or anything, the world would be a completely different place!

PR practitioners and the Media February 22, 2012

Discuss the relationship between PR Practitioners and the media.

I think the relationship between PR Practitioners and the media is a complicated, yet important relationship. A PR practitioner has to be sure to have a good reputation and be in good standing with different contacts in media. If a practitioner treats a media contact poorly, and is rude, than that media contact is not going to want to publish anything coming from that practitioner and therefore the organization the practitioner is representing is not being publicized.

The media must also treat practitioners well, also, because otherwise the practitioner will choose different media contacts to get their story out. Media is so large and so competitive these days, that a practitioner has a variety of media outlets to choose from for publicity.

I think relationships can get complicated because there are so many outlets and therefore trying to make a personal relationship with media contacts is hard. Practitioners have to keep up with multiple organizations and multiple media outlets which can make things complicated.

What makes something newsworthy? February 10, 2012

Discuss the concept of news. What makes information newsworthy?

There are 8 characteristics that makes something newsworthy.

The first is timeliness which is probably the most important of the 8 characteristics, because if news isn’t current, people are not going to want to read it. It is important to announce something when it happens. Also, it is important to be up-to-date with current events and stories already being covered by the news.

The next is prominence which is when you use well-known people or organizations to draw attention. An example of this would be having a celebrity at an event, because therefore people would want to read about it.

Another is proximity and this is important because people want to read about things that are happening close to them. Gatekeepers would rather print local stories because it offers a strong news value.

Significance is when a situation or event that effects a large number of people. It is important to know how many people will be affected as well as who will be affected.

Unusualness is anything out of the ordinary that may attract public attention or the press. An example of this would be challenging students to create duct tape prom dresses. This is not something people hear about everyday, but it is something people would want to read about.

Human Interest is an important characteristic as well. People are interested in other people, and it does not just include celebrities. An example of this would be a ninety-year-old being initiated into Zeta Tau Alpha.

Another characteristic, that is pretty common for news stories is Conflict. Conflict is dominant in society, as well as in news, and people enjoy reading about conflicts between people.

The last characteristic is Newness, which is used when a new product is being released. You have to ensure that the product really is new, and it doesn’t just have new packaging.

All of these characteristics make something newsworthy. Some things will have more than one characteristic, while others will only qualify under one.

Why is uniform system of citation and writing needed? February 4, 2012

For your next blog post, discuss the need to have a uniform system of citation and writing by different professionals. Why is it important to have this uniformity? For example: Journalists use AP Style, Researchers use MLA or APA, and Attorneys use a uniform system for court documents and legal briefs

I think that a uniform system of citation and writing is needed because it makes it easier for people in their profession to understand better. Since doctors use the same writing format, and attorneys as well, it makes it easier for them to understand each other and know how to read information. It is important as well in PR because everyone is expected to do the same thing, and therefore makes it easier for the industry to use it and understand it. If a citation and writing were not used for professionals and everyone wrote how they wanted, people would have a harder time finding the important information, and understanding all the information provided.

Citations are also important in order to ensure there isn’t plagiarism. Citations allow everyone to cite their sources, so the person reading knows where they got their information and isn’t taking credit for someone else’s work. Citations also add validity to a story and makes the person seem credible for what they write.

Why am I blogging? January 18, 2012

I am going to be using this blog for my PR Writing class. I will be posting blogs weekly, on specific topics given by my professor. I am excited about blogging more and hope to have some interesting things to say that people will enjoy reading.