For this post, I thought I’d go through the different steps
I took to ensure that a journalist would run with this story upon receiving the
media release.
1.
Initial contact;
The first step in putting together this media release was
contacting and conversing with the President of the Dogs’ Refuge. It was
through this discussion that the initial idea for the story came about – a release
about one of the dogs’ currently at the refuge, linking it to the Seniors for
Seniors program they offer for dogs over 7-years.
2.
Contacting the Cindy’s foster-owner;
Until she could be given a permanent home Cindy the ‘lovable
Labrador’ was fostering with a volunteer of the refuge. This foster-owner would
provide a valuable insight into the nature of Cindy and as such was someone I wanted
to interview to quote in the release. Thankfully she was more than happy to
help, as she adores Cindy! Interviewing her about the dog was great, even just
over the phone you could hear the love!
3.
Research;
To relate the story to the Seniors for Seniors program run
by the Shelter, I had to find as much out about the program as possible. This
came both from ‘desktop’ research by perusing the Refuge’s website, as well as a
call to the president who filled me in on the current number of dogs in the
seniors program at the Shelter.
4.
Writing the release;
This is where your writing skills come into play, and as a
double major student of PR and Journalism, this is the part I enjoy the most!
Inverted pyramid style, keeping the focus on Cindy initially before looping in
the Seniors for Seniors program and some general information about the Refuge
that is included in every release they send out.
5.
Approval;
After writing my release I forwarded it to my supervisor who
loved it and said she would send it straight to the Refuge President for
approval. Once approved it would be ready to go out to the papers. To my great
pleasure she loved it too!!
6.
Photos;
A handy tip for getting a story placed is a great photo. I
was asked to organise this with the foster-owner who was more than happy to
take one. I suggested she do it at a Park, and with some bright colours, and
that is precisely what she did. This photo was used in The Senior.
7.
Sending it out;
This was a fairly simple task. All I needed to do was some
phoning to the Western Suburbs Weekly to
get the names and emails of journalists currently working on the paper, and
then put together an email to be sent out. My supervisor was the one who
actually sent the email I drafted however, as she has a Shine Communications
address, which is more professional. My supervisor also already has established
contacts with The Senior so she sent
it straight off to them.
8.
Organising photo opportunities;
The Western Suburbs
Weekly journalist requested that their photo journalists take a photo to
accompany the article, so it was my job to arrange a time convenient for both
the journalist and the ‘talent’ – Cindy and the foster-owner.
9.
SUCCESS!
The Western Suburbs
Weekly article can be found online, just follow the hyperlink – Page 14 in August 28, 2012 issue of Western Suburbs
Weekly. And find below a photo taken of the article in The Senior.
This was an amazing learning opportunity, as I managed and
was in-charge of the whole process, and seeing an article published from my
media release, not once, but twice, was absolutely thrilling. More over
learning that these articles led to Cindy finding a permanent new home was
absolutely breathtaking. Helping a dog get a second chance at life was very
rewarding, and I am so thankful for being given that opportunity!!
That’s all for today.
Elizabeth Gall
Curtin – Bentley
Curtin – Bentley
