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Tracking Your Blog Comments, Fall Semester

When you blog, you become a part of a community. And as a member of a community, you’re responsible for encouraging conversation. Commenting on others’ blogs is a great way to further conversations.

In addition to writing your own blog posts, you will also comment on others’ blogs; these comments will count as 25% of your grade on your blog. Aim to comment on two blog posts each week; you will need 25 comments before the end of the semester.

Aim to include a variety of blogs that you comment on, ranging from your classmates’ blogs to those of PR professionals. (For a great way to find new and interesting PR blog posts to comment on, subscribe to Ragan’s PR Daily. Or, visit my social bookmarks for PR blogs.)

To track your comments so that I can easily find them, create (and keep adding to) one blog post where you will include

  • Comment # (keep a running list)
  • Title of blog post you commented on, followed by the author’s name
  • Hyperlink to the blog post
  • Date of your comment
  • Your complete comment (copy and paste)

See Lisa McLaughlin’s blog and Marie Walker Ervin’s blog for some great examples of how to track your comments.

NOTE: In order for the comment to “count” as part of your grade for this course, it needs to be at least 100 words long. You are welcome (and even encouraged) to write comments of varying lengths, but for class credit, 100 words is the shortest I’ll accept.

And whatever you do, make sure your blog comments aren’t whack.

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Social Media News Releases :: #PRCA3330 #COMM4333

sf weekly by caffeina.For your final assignment in Public Relations Writing, you have a choice between two projects. You can either prepare a Social Media News Release OR write a detailed blog post about Social Media News Releases.

See GeorgiaVIEW/BlackBoard for the due date.

Option #1: Prepare a Social Media News Release

  • Using either PitchEngine (or PRXbuilder, if you are at Georgia Southern University… it’s blocked at Southeastern University for some reason) OR your WordPress blog create a Social Media News Release for your client.
  • See pages 136-139  in Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques on creating your SMNR (NOTE: Your book calls them Smart Media Releases or Multimedia Releases.)
  • Include one news release (it can be based upon a release you’ve turned in for a previous assignment use your revised Personality Profile), along with
    • at least one photo to accompany the story
    • at least two relevant quotations
    • at least two relevant hyperlinks
    • boilerplate information about your client
    • tags that help describe your release & client
  • If any of the information you are using in the release is not factual, you’ll need to make this very clear with a disclaimer.
  • In GeorgiaVIEW/BlackBoard, submit the URL to your SMNR.

Option #2: Write a Blog Post about Social Media News Releases

  • Blog post should be 500-1000 words. (NOTE: This will be in much more depth than other blog posts you’ve written your Week 15 Topic of the Week.)
  • Include the following in the blog post
    • What is a Social Media News Release?
    • What are the advantages & disadvantages of a SMNR?
    • When should a PR practitioner consider using a SMNR?
    • Offer links to at least two websites that will help one create a SMNR
    • Provide a link to a SMNR that an organization has created
    • Provide 5-10 tips for SMNR creation
  • There should be at least five hyperlinks in your blog post. ALWAYS link to sites where you get your information; not doing so is plagiarism.
  • In GeorgiaVIEW/BlackBoard, submit the URL to your blog post about the SMNR.
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Taking Better Corporate Photos, Or “Avoiding Execution at Dawn”

Mark Ragan, CEO of Ragan Communication, offers five tips for taking better corporate photos:

  1. Ditch the photos of employees “working”
  2. Show the purpose of machines through photos
  3. Capture a group’s shared trait
  4. Get your subject away from their desk
  5. Use black and white photos from time to time

Wondering why “execution at dawn” is part of the headline of this blog post? See what Mark has to say about group shots in the video below.

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Writing a Personality Profile

For my PRCA 3330 and COMM 4333 classes:

Want to show your publics the human side of your organization?

Write a personality profile.

For this assignment, write a personality profile about someone associated with your client’s organization. It could be about a leader in the organization, a member or maybe even a client. However, it must be about a real person (though not about you).

Chapter 7 in your Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques textbook provides a good overview of a personality profile on pages 173-174. Additionally, see pages 175-179 for more information on writing a feature story in general.

Keep these things in mind:

  • Use letterhead from your client for the personality profile (just like you would for a news release)
  • Include pertinent contact information (just like you would for a news release)
  • Write a catchy headline (just like you would for a news release)
  • Be creative, not mechanical, with your lead (see p. 177 for suggestions)
  • Use AP style and standard English grammar (though you can get away with occasional phrases, rather than complete sentences, for dramatic effect)
  • Your personality profile will be much longer than most news releases. Aim for a story between 750-1000 words.
  • Since you also have an assignment of a photo with caption due when this personality profile is due, why not take a photo of the subject of your personality profile when you are interviewing him or her?
  • Consider posting your personality profile on your blog (not required), after you get your graded assignment back

Check your syllabus for the due date for this assignment.

(NOTE: It’s a good idea to read 8-10 personality profiles from your favorite newspapers and magazines before you write your first one.)

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Creating a Media Advisory

For my PRCA 3330 and COMM 4333 classes:

As a public relations writer, one of the collateral pieces you are likely to be writing is a media advisory. A media advisory (or media alert) is designed to encourage a reporter to come and cover an event.

Chapter 6 in your Public Relations Writing & Media Techniques textbook provides a good overview of the contents of a media advisory. See pages 144-146 for details.

That said, with your client in mind, create a media advisory for an upcoming event. Though it’s ideal if this is for a real event, if your client does not have one planned in the near future, you can use your creativity to write about an imaginary event.

When structuring your media advisory, make it as simple as possible for the reporter to find the details. Keep these things in mind:

  • Use letterhead from your client for the media advisory (just like you would for a news release)
  • Include pertinent contact information (just like you would for a news release)
  • Write a catchy headline (just like you would for a news release)
  • Provide a brief opening paragraph with your story idea
  • Create headings including the 5 W’s:
    • Who
    • What
    • Where
    • When
    • Why (Tip: this one is perhaps the most important. This is where you will use your persuasive writing abilities to convince the reporter that the story is newsworthy.)

Check your syllabus for the due date for this assignment.

(NOTE: You can see many, many sample media advisories online by Googling “media advisory sample” or “media alert sample.” I cannot vouch for the content of all of them, but it would be good for you to see them to get a feel for how they look and read.)

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The Anatomy of a News Release :: A Baker’s Dozen

The week of February 22, my PR Writing classes are learning about the components of a news release and writing their first news releases. I have recorded this short presentation for them to share “The Anatomy of a News Release :: A Baker’s Dozen.”

NOTE: I lost my voice earlier this week, and my voice is still pretty wimpy in this recording.

In order to benefit from this presentation, it’s best to have a news release from an organization–any organization–handy so that you can see how the 13 elements are used in “real life.” Go out to your favorite organization or company online, search for a section of the website called “News Room” or something similar, and find a news release there. This week, my favorite product is Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea, so here’s a link to TM’s Press & Media section of its site.

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What PR Writers REALLY Need to Know About AP Style, Revisited

[Updated from a blog post from April 2009]

In the public relations courses that I’ve taught over the years, it seems as though one of the biggest struggles for the students is writing using Associated Press style.

Why is learning AP style so important? PR practitioner Sandra Hernandez offers this:

PR writers really need to know the things that make them effective. I learned to write in AP in college, because it was necessary to pass the class. I continued to write in AP because I found that what I send to media had a better response rate when written in AP.

To help students learn more about AP style, I sought feedback from a variety of public relations practitioners and faculty members, trying to come up with a list of what PR writers REALLY need to know (cold, without even looking in the AP Stylebook) about AP style.

The most helpful advice came from colleagues on PR OpenMic, a social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners. (See the individual responses I received in the PR OpenMic PR Writing Discussion Forum.) Additional helpful advice came from colleagues on Twitter, including Kristie Aylett and Claire Celsi.

The most important (and sometimes confusing) parts of AP Style for PR writers are:

  • dates (especially when to abbreviate)
  • addresses (especially when to abbreviate)
  • names (when to use titles, etc.)
  • numerals (when to spell out, when to use digits)
  • datelines (which cities need to be identified with their states)

Now you have choices about how to access the AP Stylebook. You can purchase a hardcopy of the book, buy an online subscription to it, or download the app from iTunes for use in your iPhone or iTouch.

Many PR writers can also benefit from brushing up on standard grammar. My favorite site for general grammar advice is Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl. Consider subscribing to Grammar Girl’s podcast through iTunes.

Additionally, I found several websites that help my students with AP Style see my Delicious bookmarks on AP style and other posts here that I’ve categorized with AP Style Bootcamp.

So, PR pros and journalists, what would you add? What can help PR students understand what they REALLY need to know about AP style?

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