Many communications experts, journalism
professionals and professors will tell aspiring journalists that in order to be
successful in journalism you need to be able to write in different forms. The
forms they speak of are news, broadcast (TV and radio), the online news and
public relations. As I see myself as a strictly news writer who does everything
according to the book of AP, I often wonder how does someone as a print person
transition his writing style to public relations. Dictionary.com defines it as
the actions of a corporation, government, or individual promoting goodwill
between itself and the public, customers, and community.
PR is needed to put the image of the company
one represents in a positive light or to make amends when the company makes a
mistake. I can only imagine what the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill could
have been if they took the time to have great PR amid the tragedy but I
digress. The primary method of communication in PR is a press release. I
believe companies take them for granted because they don’t make it a priority
to share quality content with their customers which could decide if they stay
in business or not. According to Wordsmith Consulting, the best press releases allow
journalists to find story leads about your company and covers the 5 W’s (who,
what when, where, & why). For more information, click here. In addition,
make sure that all facts and figures related to the company are correct. Double
and triple check if possible. Oh and one
other thing. Use Spell Check!!! That’s what it’s made for but don’t rely too
much on it. It doesn’t catch everything. Once you have these things down you
can be well on your way to writing press releases with no major errors and
become that sought after PR professional. Maybe not like Olivia Pope but close
enough. Lol.
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