3 Reasons Why Interviewing Journalists for an Assignment was a Fantastic Idea

One of the in-class assignments in this program was to interview a journalist. I was fortunate enough to interview around 4 journalists and get their opinions on their own careers as well as their perceptions of public relations professionals. Here are 3 reasons why interviewing those journalists were a fantastic idea:

Practice Makes Perfect

I have learned in class that public relations professions spend a lot of time calling journalists and trying to build relationships with them. Therefore this assignment was an excellent way to start practising for what will be a regular task when I am working in the industry.

This follows a pattern in the course, all of the assignments I have done so far in the course are things I will be expected to do in the industry, which is a big plus for this program. It gives me a feeling of confidence that I will know what I am doing when I start working in the industry.

You Start Making Connections

As discussed above I am aware that making connections with journalists is part of a public relation’s professionals job. Therefore it is helpful to reach out and interview journalists now because I am starting the process of getting to know a journalist. This is a way to restart the conversation later and forge a stronger professional relationship. This is just another way in which I feel the program is better preparing me for the industry.

You Learn What Journalists Think About Public Relations

This last one is more interesting than educational, but it was good to learn what exactly journalists see as a bad public relations professional. I asked the journalists I interviewed specifically about the best and worst experiences they have had with public relations professionals and it has helped me a lot. This will hopefully allow me to learn from the experiences of others and not make the same mistakes or upset journalists.

These are the 3 reasons why I believe the assignment to interview journalists was a good choice and not only benefited me in that it was interesting but hopefully this experience will benefit me later. Since I already have some practice and I am aware of how journalists respond and what they think makes a good public relations professional compared to a bad one. This also gives me confidence that I have chosen a good, high-quality program here at Mohawk College.