Hello!
I'm Magdalene from the Singapore
campus. I'm currently in my final semester, so it's really exciting to be
working in a PR agency and get some real experience before I graduate.
Unlike some of my peers, I have not
had any internship experience prior to this, so even searching for an
internship placement was quite daunting. Thankfully, after four emails to four
different prospective employers, one replied in April, two months prior to
starting my internship.
The interview process was daunting,
but I was well-prepared. Prior to the interview, I prepared a physical copy of
the relevant PR assignments we did in school. With some advice from my
lecturer, Ms Shalu, I had also prepped myself for the interview by
understanding the kind of work the agency does and the industry they work in.
With some good luck shining on me, I was
confirmed for an intern position at Grebstad Hicks Communications a month
before I officially start my internship.
GHC has offices in five cities, and
most of our clients are Asian-based, but we do get international clients such as
luxury hotel chains. GHC specialises in PR in the travel and luxury lifestyle
industries so our clients are mostly hotels, F&B outlets and luxury
lifestyle brands.
Specialisation is a benefit to smaller
PR agencies as the agency focuses and concentrates all its resources on a
similar target audience. Travel, luxury, aviation, hospitality – these are some
of the words that are of particular concern to us. We target the lifestyle and
travel sections of newspaper and magazines; we aim to be associated with the
likes of Tatler magazines and Conde Nast Traveller.
Another form of specialization we do
is in the type of work we do. For us, it is media relations, as this is the
agency’s core competency.
Public relations is often used interchangeably
with media relations by many, however, they are vastly different concepts. The
latter only addresses the relationship of the organisation with journalists and
editors, and is a part of the former but not the only component of it.
Despite this confusion, it is probably
universally recognized that building strong relations with the media is
important. The extent of this importance of media relations can be illustrated
by the amount of hours dedicated in our course to media relations – a 25-credits
module, Public Relations (Media) 250.
My internship at GHC has definitely
given me a better understanding of media relations and the effort that goes
into building a good relationship with the media.
Meet-ups and phone calls are some of
the basic initiatives from the part of a PR practioner that goes into building
a good relationship with journalists and editors. Often, I find that calling up
a journalist makes the job so much easier.
There was however, a different
initiative that really caught my attention. At the office, there is an open
invitation for journalists and freelance writers who need a space to work to
come in and join us in the office. Once, I’ve met a journalist pop by and say
thank you because we lent her a space to work. This really reinforces what we
learn in media relations about understanding a journalist’s needs – needs that
go beyond their need for newsworthy information.
Why
did you choose to do Public Relations?
On several occasions, I have been
asked why I chose to do public relations.
An initiative we took up in the office
really sums up why I chose to do public relations in the first place.
Less than one month into my internship,
we decided together as an office that we would do some pro-bono work for a
charitable organisation. One meeting later, we picked Make-A-Wish Foundation
Singapore as the charity of our choice. We have since started helping them with
media relations work such as writing and distributing press releases and media
liaison.
The choice to do pro-bono media
relations work for a charitable organisation, is in my opinion, a really good
decision made by the office.
Other than for reasons such as
corporate responsibility and helping the charity raise their media profile, it
makes the work we do so much more worthwhile. It transforms us to some extent,
I feel, into ambassadors of the Public Relations industry. You ponder about how
the job and industry you have chosen to be in can make a difference to the
society and the less-privileged in the society.
It is a decision like this which makes
me glad that I chose to be where I am now.
With much love,
Magdalene
15096324
Curtin Singapore
Next post: The little nitty-gritty daily things we do in the office!
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