When I first saw Platform’s media
contacts list I became quite excited as I remembered speaking about the role of
media contacts in our earlier PR units and the importance they play in our
field of work. My supervisor at Platform also reiterated this by explaining the
importance of confidentiality in relation to our contacts advising me that it
was often the ‘bread and butter’ of our communication work.
I was briefed by a Senior Counsel
and given the task of compiling a media contacts list that would be relevant to
the scope of work involved with one of Platform’s clients. During my briefing I
was given a time allocation of approximately 4 hours. My first step was to
obtain access to Margaret Gee’s Guide and look at the lists we already had in
place.
This task then evolved to include
another intern as well as myself and take four full days of work between us.
There were many missing Australia wide contacts for media outlets that would be
relevant to the client’s upcoming event and many contacts that were outdated in
the master list.
One of the major challenges I
faced was balancing giving enough information to media outlets in regards to
what the story would be about and maintaining discretion of the client’s
upcoming event.
Over the course of four days we
managed to compile many media lists that had been used in the past as well as
add hundreds of new contacts ranging from small community radio stations to
national publications. When the task was finally finished all of the senior
staff at Platform were thankful and acknowledged how much this would benefit
the consultancy. It was a very long and tedious however, I was able to
understand the importance of this task and how it would greatly benefit every
one. I was very happy to see the final product and know that there was now a
streamlined, current and efficient media list to use for upcoming projects.
I have also gained the
understanding that maintaining this list and ensuring the contacts are
continually updated as journalists come and go is a huge task in a consultancy
and something that needs to be continually monitored.
Until next time,
Rebecca
