Chapter 10 - Media Relations

I think the key point to remember from this week's readings was that the term media relations is often used synonymously with publicity. PR practitioners worked hand-in-hand with the media, just as PR provide information to the media, so too does the media provide information to the PR profession by monitoring news/media every day.

Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the organization and its products. Similar to effective advertising and promotions, effective public relations often depends on designing and implementing a well-designed public relations plan. The plan often includes description of what you want to convey to whom, how you plan to convey it, who is responsible for various activities and by when, and how much money is budgeted to fund these activities. Similar to advertising and promotions, a media plan and calendar can be very useful, which specifies what media methods that are used and when. Often, public relations are conducted through the media that is, newspapers, television, magazines, etc.

The readings made me think more about public relations practice in that public relations include ongoing activities to ensure the organization has a strong public image. Dealing with the media is a crucial part of the PR practitioner's profession. It incorporates both technical as well as people skills. Technical skills as such in writing media releases and compiling media kits, etc whereas people skill is as equally important as publicity is mention in the media. Organizations usually have little control over the message in the media, at least, not as much as they do in advertising. Regarding publicity, reporters and writers decide what will be said.