Like most of you, I have been immersed into the bona fide realm of Public Relations, where datelines are never exact and work is ever-pending. It's been a whole month since I've started my internship at a PR agency swiftly called:
Each morning, I walk into this tiny office space where rapid strokes of the keyboard is heard and visible stacks of today's newspapers are seen on Rachel (our media monitor person)'s table. The smell of freshly-stirred coffee tickles my nose, reminding me its time to be fully awake and concentrate on my easy-going yet daunting work.
Amongst the three teams in GO, I have been placed under a team of three ladies and as their new intern, I was given the task of arranging, labeling and updating their own virtual media contact list. It took me about a week to sort out the contacts on the existing Excel folder. I categorized each contact under specific tabs such as 'English Dailies', 'Chinese Mags' or 'TV'. Now, I have a mission to gain more contacts, constantly update useful insights into different media houses and cater to each of my team member's information needs so that their press releases would be targeted towards the right media sections.
GO Communications.
Each morning, I walk into this tiny office space where rapid strokes of the keyboard is heard and visible stacks of today's newspapers are seen on Rachel (our media monitor person)'s table. The smell of freshly-stirred coffee tickles my nose, reminding me its time to be fully awake and concentrate on my easy-going yet daunting work. Amongst the three teams in GO, I have been placed under a team of three ladies and as their new intern, I was given the task of arranging, labeling and updating their own virtual media contact list. It took me about a week to sort out the contacts on the existing Excel folder. I categorized each contact under specific tabs such as 'English Dailies', 'Chinese Mags' or 'TV'. Now, I have a mission to gain more contacts, constantly update useful insights into different media houses and cater to each of my team member's information needs so that their press releases would be targeted towards the right media sections.
At first, I found my mundane task to be petty and sidelined but slowly come to realize that without proper media profile and specific contacts, PR value would be lost amongst a sea of useless publicity. A feature article about parenting should be sent out to the editor of appropriate channels like ParenThots and not mistakenly sent to the editor of a youth-focused media, like The Star's R.AGE. Therefore, I make sure each contact detail is legitimate and each media outlet is easy-to-distinguish.
Besides updating the media list, I have also called up and emailed several media dailies and magazines to have them send over their Rate Cards which usually include the circulation and advertisement rates. Most importantly though is data regarding reader demographics. This is key in targeting the right sort of channel for the right publicity alongside our clients' areas of interest.
My team has an extensive and diverse line of clients, which include:
Although my main priority of work is all-things-media, I have also had the privilege of writing some press releases and meeting some clients during various events. I will soon blog about such events so watch this space people!Cheers & Happy New Year,
♥ Mei Anne
2 comments:
Hello dear, hope internship is going great and you are learning a lot.
What you are saying here is very true concerning the media list. When sending something to the media you have to make sure that you send it to the right magazine or newspaper in the right section.
Again i find the media list very important as you have all the contacts details and when you look for a certain contact it is easy to find it rather than to waste time searching for it.
Thank you
Bantle, LUCT
Hey Anne,
Keeping media lists and contacts up-to-date can seem like the dullest job in the world, but the truth is PR wouldn't function without it!
Knowing exactly who to call and where to send press releases will cut the amount of corporate bureaucracy we have to endure. It certainly wouldn't do to be transferred from one department or journalist to another when we have urgent information to be disseminated.
And who would've thought media relations was such a big part of this job? I have never been in the company of so many newspapers and magazines in my entire life! Suffice to say, an in-depth understanding of the media is crucial in our line of work.
Cheers,
John.
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