We’re All Journalists

At a Poynter Institute seminar kickoff today, about a dozen faculty members from Statesboro to San Luis Obispo and from Miami Beach to Toronto gathered to discuss “Teaching Diversity Across the Curriculum.” In Poynter’s words, “If tomorrow’s journalists are to report and write about a dynamic, increasingly diverse society, they’ll need guidance in the classroom. Whatever the course, there’s a place for teaching diversity — issues of race, ethnicity and gender — across the journalism curriculum.”

What do journalists stand for? Here are many of the ideas we brainstormed, in no particular order:

  • Truth, justice & the American way
  • Accuracy
  • Ethics
  • Fairness
  • Completeness, over the long haul
  • Honesty
  • Self-awareness
  • Integrity
  • Mensch (a Yiddish term)
  • Currency (being current)
  • Relevance
  • Accountability
  • Power (as journalists, we have it and must use it wisely)
  • Power of storytelling
  • Understanding (by the journalist, of the people and their issues)
  • Balance
  • Principles
  • Love of storytelling
  • Love of writing
  • Love of reading
  • Transparency
  • Empathy

Do you know an excellent story when you read one? What makes a story excellent? Here are some of our thoughts. Again, these are in no particular order:

  • Transports you
  • Universality
  • Passion
  • Rich characters that you care about (even if you don’t like them)
  • It’s about people
  • Tension à resolution
  • Something new
  • Gripping, through use of quotations and anecdotes
  • Great words
  • Anticipation
  • Balance
  • Visuals through wordcrafting
  • Opens new vistas for us
  • Structure
  • Seamless scene setting
  • Sense of time and place
  • Compelling
  • Imaginative / creative
  • Permanence
  • Discipline

Seminar leader Lillian Dunlap shared a formula with us, which I’ve graphically represented below.

Stay tuned for more as this weeklong seminar progresses.

If Only I’d Known . . .

Back in the dark ages (two years ago), Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications wrote a pair of blog postings about the state of public relations education for undergrads. He wrote about The Trouble with Undergrad PR Programs and Fixing Undergrad PR Programs. Since I teach public relations at Georgia Southern University, this topic piqued my interest. I wondered if his thoughts and research from two years ago still held true today.

If you are a recent PR graduate (or current intern), I’d be quite interested to learn a few things:

  • What’s something you learned in your PR education that you’re applying on a regular basis at work now?
  • What’s something that you wish you had learned more about?
  • And, what’s something that you didn’t really learn anything about in your classes that you’re expected to do on a (fairly) regular basis in your new career in PR?

Comments from recent grads and those who hire recent grads are quite welcome!

Photo titled “graduates” originally uploaded to Flickr by SuzanneK

A Little Surprise




Calla Lily

Originally uploaded by barbara_nixon


Yesterday afternoon, I was at the Savannah Botanical Garden with my #2 son. He was helping me find flowers to take extreme close-ups of. We came across this calla lily. I was struck by how white the petal was. It wasn’t until last night when I was showing my husband my latest photos in Adobe Photoshop Album that I learned that there was a little surprise inside the lily. Can you see it? It made me smile.

News Release Pet Peeves

driven crazyOn Twitter this evening, I noticed that Jeremy Pepper (host of Pop! PR Jots) had started a discussion about things that drive him crazy in news releases. The discussion started like this: “Press release pet peeves: For Immediate Release. Really!? Is that why you sent it out over the wire at that time? Or did you want a delay?”

I started wondering what some other news release pet peeves are.

As for me, mispelt misspelled words make me want to pull my hair out. If I find a misspelled word, it always makes me concerned that will be other, less obvious, mistakes, too.

So (here’s where the audience participation part comes in), what are YOUR pet peeves in press releases?

 

Drats! I Forgot to Include the Attachment . . . Again

Remember (image provided by World of Stock)Ever forget to include an attachment when you sent an e-mail? I bet we all have. It can be frustrating at best and can help you lose a client at the worst.

Here’s my #1 tip that may help you avoid forgetting in the future:

Before you write anything in the message, attach the file.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used this little tip. Easy, no?

Edelman Digital Bootcamp: Energizing and Exhausting