Coming into the program I did not have any PR related experiences, so I was a little nervous. I mean, here I am, a graduate of university with an Honors of Communications degree, but no job. I was a little nervous to say the least. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the program at all. A lot of my worries were put to side after the first week. I was learning content that I could easily apply to jobs, and other activities, something I feel that I just wasn’t able to do after graduating from university. Take my first experience in producing a media release.
A few weeks into the program we learned about media releases; how to create effecting heads and leads, proper structure, and ways to make it newsworthy. I must admit, I have written a few media releases throughout university, but the amount of detail that I received not nearly as good as the detail I got from these classes. With this newly acquired information I decided to write a media release for a place that I frequently attend. I wrote the media release and was able to send it to Tim for some constructive feedback. He provided feedback on the release as well as additional information and tips that I might want to consider. I reworked my media release with Tim’s feedback and still found that I needed some additional help. We did not get to the part in class yet about when to distribute a media release and some of the finer details, but Tim was still willing to help me out. I sent out the media release hoping for the best, but it wasn’t to be. Looking back, I still made some errors in contacting the media and had some areas that I could improve upon. Regardless, it was a great learning experience in writing the media release, getting feedback, contacting the media, analyzing what I did wrong and how to improve upon it. The second time was the charm, so to say.
I received an interview for an internship and remembered Tim saying in class “You’ll usually need to create a media release on the spot, typically within 30-45 minutes.” At the end of the interview I was given some information and was told to provide a media release for them within two days from the time I received it. Now it wasn’t 30-45 minutes, but it was still a deadline, and it was still a media release that I needed to produce in order to attain the internship. I went home and studied all my notes, looked at all of Tim’s lectures and the tips he provided. Using all of the information I was given, I was able to produce a good media release that landed me the internship. It was culmination of the lectures I attended, Tim’s notes, and the extra experience I had in producing a media release.
This practice of gaining experience is something that I can’t stress enough. It’s one thing to learn about something in class, but it’s another to actually take what you learned and apply it, trying to master your craft. Have I mastered the craft of creating media releases, absolutely not, but that only means that I need to continue trying to develop my skills. I am able to do this because of the knowledge that I gained through these PR classes. I will continue to use what I have learned to try and get any additional PR related experiences I can so that when I’m ready to graduate, I’ll have developed my skills, and hopefully add new ones that I will be able to show to a potential employer.
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