After grading my students' final projects (media kits), one thing was clear-- there was still a misunderstanding of what makes a news release newsworthy. Now, this is something I see as fairly common for the PR-inclined. They are drawn to publicity and and promotion, not so much news. This is why the news release becomes something that can be difficult to master.
While my students are in a journalism program and learn the fundamentals of news (they even said on a end-of-class survey that they felt like they had a good idea of what news is), there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to creating newsworthy releases. I'm wondering what's going on here. In an age where news and entertainment are often blurred, how do I best communicate to my students what is news? I go over in class with them what news values are and even do examples of different releases that do and don't fit those criteria. What else would be helpful?
Next semester I teach writing for public relations, I think I am going to make them find a news article each week and ask them how PR was involved in creating that story. But is that too broad? Some news happens without any assistance from PR types. Open to suggestions.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
It Takes a Semester (Or Don't Judge a Class by Its Complaining)
I know my Writing for PR class is hard. It's probably the hardest class I teach, even though it's only a 200-level class. There are several reasons for this. First is the workload. Students write-- a lot. At least one thing a week, usually more. They also re-write. You aren't going to learn how to write if you rarely do it. Second, I believe you can't really learn how to write well unless you see what you are doing wrong, so papers get bled on with red ink and grades are not inflated for "learning." It's either acceptable for the professional world or it isn't. This can be very discouraging for students who are "good" writers, especially in comparison to most of their mediocre to poor high school peers who made them look amazing a couple years ago. Third, I am a stickler for fairness and doing things right. This includes a pretty strictly enforced no late work policy. Deadlines are deadlines, otherwise I would just make it due "whenever you want."
All of this is usually met with grumbles throughout the semester. Students who are used to doing school work last minute, crammed in between social activities and work commitments, and receiving a good grade hit a brick wall in my class. I KNOW rushed, cobbled together work. I have done this work myself as a student, so I know what it looks like. I also know that this work will get shoved right back at you if you try to give this to your boss (and end up with a million edits like my first press releases did at my first internship). Don't try to act like this is your best. I know it's not.
But this semester I have been met with a surprising amount of excuses, complaints and unlearned lessons. This class in particular has been difficult. The class meets very early (for me too!) and for awkward amounts of time. Only 50 minutes, three days a week at 8:30 a.m. The book was also new and I was sick for about two months of it. To accommodate these variables, I even halted class during the middle of the semester to take one-on-ones with students because I felt like they weren't progressing like my former class had. This still did not keep the chronic (mostly) shoddy work from coming in. It also just makes me feel like I am being mean... all the time. And that gets tiring.
This partly gives me fear that I as a teacher am doing something wrong. Somehow I have run aground. I am not connecting with them for some reason. They are not enjoying this work. I've discouraged them far too much. It also made me wonder (dread) what my feedback would be for this class (the forms they fill out to score me as a teacher matter more than they should in my mind sometimes). Eek!
And then today happens. It was our last class, where all the students turn in their big final project-- a media kit they created for a real-life client. I like this project for them because they have a tangible object that is professionally put together that they can be proud of and use as a portfolio piece. Students also enjoy using their PR skills to actually help someone (which is often why they want to do PR). I had them go around the room and each say one thing they were proud of accomplishing in the class this semester. It's always good to recognize that you've gotten better--you aren't in the same place you started, even if you dragged your feet along the way.
Most students commented on how they now understand formatting and that they've improved as writers. It made me smile. My favorite quote, however, was, "Everyone says how much they hate this class in the beginning. And I knew that. I hated it in the beginning too, but I really grew to appreciate it." And that's all I needed. Later, a student who had been absent in class to turn in work sheepishly gave me his VERY late final in the office. He told me that he had slept in, but that is no excuse and he understands the consequences. Well, that was the cherry on top.
It takes a semester, but they eventually learn and your instincts are usually right-- you can't let them think everything they do can be turned in whenever, however, whatever. They finally understand they aren't entitled to that A (or easy B). The world doesn't bend to you because you've taken on too much, because your printer broke, because you slept in... because life happens. You've got to be willing to accept that before you can demand grace. And if you hold your ground to make them learn these lessons, in the end they do get it and appreciate it.
All of this is usually met with grumbles throughout the semester. Students who are used to doing school work last minute, crammed in between social activities and work commitments, and receiving a good grade hit a brick wall in my class. I KNOW rushed, cobbled together work. I have done this work myself as a student, so I know what it looks like. I also know that this work will get shoved right back at you if you try to give this to your boss (and end up with a million edits like my first press releases did at my first internship). Don't try to act like this is your best. I know it's not.
But this semester I have been met with a surprising amount of excuses, complaints and unlearned lessons. This class in particular has been difficult. The class meets very early (for me too!) and for awkward amounts of time. Only 50 minutes, three days a week at 8:30 a.m. The book was also new and I was sick for about two months of it. To accommodate these variables, I even halted class during the middle of the semester to take one-on-ones with students because I felt like they weren't progressing like my former class had. This still did not keep the chronic (mostly) shoddy work from coming in. It also just makes me feel like I am being mean... all the time. And that gets tiring.
This partly gives me fear that I as a teacher am doing something wrong. Somehow I have run aground. I am not connecting with them for some reason. They are not enjoying this work. I've discouraged them far too much. It also made me wonder (dread) what my feedback would be for this class (the forms they fill out to score me as a teacher matter more than they should in my mind sometimes). Eek!
And then today happens. It was our last class, where all the students turn in their big final project-- a media kit they created for a real-life client. I like this project for them because they have a tangible object that is professionally put together that they can be proud of and use as a portfolio piece. Students also enjoy using their PR skills to actually help someone (which is often why they want to do PR). I had them go around the room and each say one thing they were proud of accomplishing in the class this semester. It's always good to recognize that you've gotten better--you aren't in the same place you started, even if you dragged your feet along the way.
Most students commented on how they now understand formatting and that they've improved as writers. It made me smile. My favorite quote, however, was, "Everyone says how much they hate this class in the beginning. And I knew that. I hated it in the beginning too, but I really grew to appreciate it." And that's all I needed. Later, a student who had been absent in class to turn in work sheepishly gave me his VERY late final in the office. He told me that he had slept in, but that is no excuse and he understands the consequences. Well, that was the cherry on top.
It takes a semester, but they eventually learn and your instincts are usually right-- you can't let them think everything they do can be turned in whenever, however, whatever. They finally understand they aren't entitled to that A (or easy B). The world doesn't bend to you because you've taken on too much, because your printer broke, because you slept in... because life happens. You've got to be willing to accept that before you can demand grace. And if you hold your ground to make them learn these lessons, in the end they do get it and appreciate it.
Monday, November 21, 2011
PR for the Modern World
One of my former clients is an interior designer in Newport Beach. She has a really unique style among other designers in Newport because she has an eclectic, modern perspective. In an area that is filled with overly nostalgic Mediterranean and Spanish inspired homes, my client wanted to reflect the best of former eras but also push it forward and reflect contemporary life. I remember her saying in a meeting once, “We are people living in a modern world. We need to be in homes that reflect our modern lives.” I couldn’t say it better myself.
The same is true if you ever flip open a PR textbook (especially writing ones). I have to wonder, “Have these people done public relations in a modern office?” Now, I have not read all PR textbooks and I have not had every PR experience, but a lot of what I have seen that is out there is bad, bad, bad. When choosing a textbook for my Writing for Public Relations class, I am left with picking the lesser of the “evils.” Our current book, for example, is one that I felt did the best job of explaining the information, didn’t have multiple unnecessary chapters and was reasonably priced (don’t even get me started on how expensive these books are and I will have to sift through useless chapters to find the few sections of gold). It’s most recent publication is 2007. In the digital communication section it talks about pagers. PAGERS. While, I would have been surprised if had talked about Facebook and Twitter, which businesses were still trying to figure out at the time (though the book didn’t even mention them), to talk about a technology that was no longer relevant to business professionals after 2002 (and that's even a little generous) is just shameful and lazy.
I was told that maybe I should focus on finding the latest and greatest that the Internet has to offer. And that’s where it becomes really clear—we in PR assume that most people understand PR (which we really should not do). So, a lot of what is out in the PR blogosphere is tips and trends. Things that are useful to PR professionals who have mastered the art and are looking to keep their skills sharp or others who are looking to make sense of PR for their business.
There’s also few out there who really see (or at least express) writing as fundamental to success in PR. That most everything in this industry begins with the written word is something we either forget or want to cover up because it’s not as sexy. It’s also really hard to teach people how to write. It’s really easy to give them tips on strategy and what not. So, I’m not surprised that books and the Internet fall short when providing knowledge I can use to show my students how valuable writing is AND how they can do it.
And so, here I am, looking to sort out my ideas for my PR classes online (namely my writing one). Trying to make sure I don’t miss anything. Looking for what is out there that is useful and usable. Hoping that maybe I can also help others along the way.
The same is true if you ever flip open a PR textbook (especially writing ones). I have to wonder, “Have these people done public relations in a modern office?” Now, I have not read all PR textbooks and I have not had every PR experience, but a lot of what I have seen that is out there is bad, bad, bad. When choosing a textbook for my Writing for Public Relations class, I am left with picking the lesser of the “evils.” Our current book, for example, is one that I felt did the best job of explaining the information, didn’t have multiple unnecessary chapters and was reasonably priced (don’t even get me started on how expensive these books are and I will have to sift through useless chapters to find the few sections of gold). It’s most recent publication is 2007. In the digital communication section it talks about pagers. PAGERS. While, I would have been surprised if had talked about Facebook and Twitter, which businesses were still trying to figure out at the time (though the book didn’t even mention them), to talk about a technology that was no longer relevant to business professionals after 2002 (and that's even a little generous) is just shameful and lazy.
I was told that maybe I should focus on finding the latest and greatest that the Internet has to offer. And that’s where it becomes really clear—we in PR assume that most people understand PR (which we really should not do). So, a lot of what is out in the PR blogosphere is tips and trends. Things that are useful to PR professionals who have mastered the art and are looking to keep their skills sharp or others who are looking to make sense of PR for their business.
There’s also few out there who really see (or at least express) writing as fundamental to success in PR. That most everything in this industry begins with the written word is something we either forget or want to cover up because it’s not as sexy. It’s also really hard to teach people how to write. It’s really easy to give them tips on strategy and what not. So, I’m not surprised that books and the Internet fall short when providing knowledge I can use to show my students how valuable writing is AND how they can do it.
And so, here I am, looking to sort out my ideas for my PR classes online (namely my writing one). Trying to make sure I don’t miss anything. Looking for what is out there that is useful and usable. Hoping that maybe I can also help others along the way.
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