Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The Art of Making News Relevant
The main projects I have been working on at the Department of Sport and Recreation have been
news stories, eNewsletters and Media releases. These have been about new
programs and events which are on. Whilst this work sounds very routine, I have
learnt something new from it. At uni we are taught about all communications
material needs a message, which was easy enough as I could make up my own
message. Out in the workforce, you have to capture someone else's message and
aim for their program they made. Again this may not sound as hard as you may
think, but because not everyone works in communications, not everyone
knows how to write a message.
This is where my learning begun. I had to learn how to read
in between the lines. I get given the information, and from that I need to try
to understand what it is they are really trying to say. I really learnt the
importance of making something exciting to your audience. One of the
stories I was working on was development programs for volunteers. This was very
exciting news at the Department of Sport and Recreation, as it was another
great way to support community sport. The issue was how I convince a volunteer,
who already has a job, has kids and needs to do the food shopping, to give up a
night to come to a development program to benefit their sports club they volunteer
for on the weekends. I suddenly realised just because it is free and benefit
the volunteer, I still need to convey the development programs worth.
Community Volunteers Project
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1 comment:
Hi Kristie,
Great post! It brings up something I had on my mind a while ago – that our school assignments, no matter how “hands on” they might be can never be quite the same as the real life assignments work throws us!
Your post also brought up another important point or reminder for me: PR isn’t just about the style of writing (I lose myself too much in that sometimes), but the messaging and content of your piece. Note to self: Must remember who I’m crafting the piece for – ie, target audience, target audience, target audience!
You are right in saying that it is a lot easier at school because the key messages and style of writing is solely decided by us. At work – working with clients, especially – there is always a certain style of writing (tone-of-voice) to follow and everything has to be thought through. Throw in brand guidelines, key messages, client revisions et cetera (all that PR jargon)… Yeah, it can get quite messy.
The fun is in the learning though, and I’m sure it gets easier with experience! :)
p/s: Reading your post has been a great reminder for me to start thinking strategically… I'm glad it sounds like you're learning so much in your internship!
Cheers,
Cheryl
15062105 / Curtin Singapore
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