In the last week of my internship, apart
from searching, collecting, reading and collating all the media releases in the
newspapers and websites, I did some analysis. I have discovered that from
February to April, our Corporate Communications Department had posted 18 media
releases in Curtin’s official website. There were seven in the February, six in
March, and five in April.
The topics covered the full range
of the most of important events and activities in Curtin Sarawak. In terms of external
media coverage, all these events and activities had been published in nine
local newspapers over 120 times and in three different languages.
As an in-house PR, one of the most
important assignments for us is media release. When it comes to media releases,
one word which always comes to mind and should stand out is “News Angle”. Overall, my assignment in Curtin’s
Corporate Communications Department to gather, read through and compile the many
media release clippings and involvement in writing three media releases during
the internship has given me the confidence to come up with media releases on my
own.
The media releases that I was involved
in writing were:
- Find out about Curtin Sarawak at upcoming fairs in Kuching and West Malaysia http://www.curtin.edu.my/campusnews/mediarelease/2014/PR_14-021.htm
- Curtin Young Associates organises fourth annual camp http://www.curtin.edu.my/campusnews/mediarelease/2014/PR_14-027.htm
- Curtin Sarawak organising Inter-school English Debate and Oratory Competition http://www.curtin.edu.my/campusnews/mediarelease/2014/PR_14-028.htm
Photo: Different news angles of the same event above
in the newspapers
Although, I have already been taught
PR techniques 220 for media release writing I have found that my first attempt
at a media release fraught with many mistakes. But my supervisor was very
kindly and guided me with much patience. Some of the important details I
have acquired during my media release writing are as follow:
- The acronyms must always be in capital letters;
- The headlines need to be in single spacing;
- Symbol such as “&” must be fully written out as “and”; “/” written as “or”;
- Numbers under 10 must be spelt out;
- Never use “we” but the organization’s name.
My supervisor pointed out to me that the media release writing style and format is not only to follow the general journalism style but that we need to strictly adhere to the “Curtin University Journalism Style Guide”. The style guide contains all the necessary details on excellent creative writing such as using the active voice and the use of acronyms. In the Curtin style on the latter, one should first write out the subject matter in full before using acronyms for it later. Brackets are not necessary; and instructions are given on the format in the use of dates and time, numbers, quotation marks and a variety of styles are described.
Aside from writing the media
releases, the PR specialist would need to prepare the background material, write
the feature article as well as enclose photographs (Include group photos and
close up shots captured from different angles) in a press kit package to be
sent to the target media. In Curtin Sarawak, we would usually send the press
kit to the local newspapers by fax and then email them to confirm their
receiving the information.
It is gratifying to note that the
English and Malay newspapers would usually use the information we have provided
with little or no modification. As for the Chinese newspapers, their translation
would normally result in their coming up with their own news angles so that the
focus and the writing may be quite different from Curtin’s work. They tend to
elaborate on the feature stories for their readers to enhance their understanding.
The above experience in preparing
media releases as part of my very rewarding internship assignment has given me
a deeper appreciation of the fact that each organization have its own writing
format and style and that it is very important to read and understand them
before one can start writing. There are very well thought out rules and formats
that will make the difference between a uniform and professional work and a
casual and careless one.
Zou Dan Ting
14963841
Miri
