Although up until this point I have completed many varied tasks including risk management plans and social media plans, the one I have not yet attempted is writing a media release. Although I have written countless releases for university assignments, the thought of producing a piece for a real-life company and event was very daunting for me. Today was the day that I completed this task and after some hesitation, it ended up giving me the confidence boost that I very much needed.
My supervisor asked me to write a release that would promote an exhibition on the Scottish culture. After creating a rough draft I presented this to my supervisor who seemed quite impressed, I then went on to fine tune this and conquer one of my fears.
This situation was one that really tested whether or not my knowledge from university could be applied to ‘real life’, such as the following points I have learned regarding media release writing:
-Unique: Highlight a unique aspect in your release which could increase interest for readers
-Relevant: Pitching your release to relevant outlets is important in achieving success (i.e local or national, newspaper or radio, etc.)
-Timely: Relating your release to a specific point in time may make it more newsworthy (i.e christmas stories in late November or December)
These were great points to begin with, but I also learned more when putting it into practice. For example, the format you use in university isn’t always the same as what is used in business. You have to be able to adapt your knowledge to suit your company’s procedures and preferences.
If you would like some more tips on writing media releases, here are a few links that have helped me:
Did anyone else conquer a task that they found daunting? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Kodee
1 comment:
To contrast your experiences, I didn't write a single media release throughout my internship and here's why.
The WA State government has a very specific policy when it comes to writing media releases. It goes into as much detail as photo and font sizes, structure and number/length of quotes.
A team member talked me through the process and I did not envy her. It is quite a challenge to take your idea and merge it with a government policy/standard. Government media releases are very restricting in what you can say and quash the voice that can come through when there is more flexibility.
I wish there was a way to redefine the government media release but it'll be a while until I am in a position to do that!
All the best,
Thomas Russell
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