Week Nine

I believe the key messages from this weeks readings were… that local media are extremely important in the community’s acceptance or rejection of an issue, that building a long term relationship with a community is important and a newsletter fosters a sense of community, and that providing a community with information about what’s going on lets them feel involved and improves community relations, making the whole process easier for everybody.

The key points in the readings could be applied to my groups work in that…newsletters are one method of getting information out to a community on a mass scale and that is something we’re trying to do in our program. The problem we have with that though is that we are working for a non profit organization and therefore our budget is limited to nil. Printing out a newsletter can be expensive. An alternative could be that we create an e-newsletter and send it out to existing members but then we face the problem of just reaching an audience that is already familiar rather than recruiting new members.

The readings made me think more about PR theory and practice in that…even a small publication like a newsletter needs a lot of effort and research put into it to be successful. PR professionals really need to have a good sense of people and what they want in order to create that communication bond and trust between an organization and their publics.

The readings related to the other reading I've done in previous weeks in that…they emphasized the importance of building long term relationships with your target publics in order to gain their trust in the organization and its reputation. They also related to the group work readings which stated that communication methods that are practical are needed so that your message is clear and obvious to your particular demographic or community.

Required reading for Week 9

1. Smith, A. (2003). Community relations: How an entire industry can change its image through proactive local communications. Journal of Communication Management. 7(3) 254-265.
2. Tymson, C., Lazar, P. & Lazar, R. (2006) Producing a newsletter. In C. Tymson, P. Lazar, P and R. Lazar, (Eds.)The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual (5^th ed.) (pp. 564-575) Manly: Tymson Communications
3. Baverstock, A. (2002) Newsletters (pp 47-62) in Publicity, Newsletter and Press Releases. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Week Eight

I believe the key messages from this weeks readings were…that media relations between journalists and PR practitioners are extremely important and need to be based on mutual respect, brought about by ethical, professional, and unbiased behaviour by both sides. Gonzalez-Herrero’s reading explored how the internet has become a very powerful and effective tool for PR practitioners and can dramatically help or hinder an organization depending on whether it is utilized properly. The Tymson and Lazar reading looked at writing effective media releases and the need to decide on a target audience and write in a relative style.

The key points in the readings could be applied to my groups work in that…we believe that Toastmasters website is a great way for people to gather information about the organization but that they have definitely not made the most of its potential. Alpha Toastmasters doesn’t have any formal PR team either so the media releases are definitely not up to scratch in getting their message out.

The readings made me think more about PR theory and practice in that…the relationship between journos and PR practitioners needs to be treated with respect because both need each other to do their jobs properly. A journalist will appreciate and work well with you if you put the effort into your work that will make their job easier. Writing that isn’t overly biased or self-serving will give you a better relationship with journalists and more credibility as a PR practitioner. Gonzalez-Herrero’s reading explained that the internet is a great tool for PR practitioners in this age because of its immediacy and easy access for the public.

The readings related to the other reading I've done in previous weeks in that…they looked at media relations and target audience and public relationships and how vital these are to an organizations success. The relationships we build with others in the profession and the clients we work with reflect not only on those organizations but also on us as professionals. Credibility is a huge aspect of being a successful PR practitioner and the relationships we build are paramount to how others judge us.

Required reading for Week 8

1. Tymson, C., Lazar, P. & Lazar, R. (2006) Writing a media release. In C. Tymson, P. Lazar, P and R. Lazar, (Eds.)The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual (5^th ed.) (pp. 74-117) Manly: Tymson Communications
2. González-Herrero, A. & Ruiz de Valbuena, M (2006). Trends in online media relations: Web-based corporate press rooms in leading international companies. Public Relations Review. 32(3) 3, 267-275.
3. Sallot, M. & Johnson, A. (2006). To contact … or not?: Investigating journalists’ assessments of public relations subsidies and contact preferences. Public Relations Review. 32(1) 83-86.