07.08.06
Posted in General at 12:25 am by Paloma Cruz
I’ve seen the posting on all the job boards: public affairs for the army (or the navy, or whatever). I never really gave it much thought. My brother just came back from training, and that’s the only reason the posting even registered on my radar. And then I came across this:
PR Boot Camp — Learning Government PR with U.S. Army Public Affairs
The post covers one PR pro’s journey to becoming part of the Army’s public affairs staff.
The program is run in three phases, each of which is designed to help young PR professionals learn the art and science of public affairs.
For the first part, you spend a year training at an Army post somewhere in the U.S. This part requires a bit of flexibility, because the Army will assign where you train for the year. I did my training at Fort Lewis, outside Seattle. It was a culture shock to say the least, especially since I had no prior background or understanding of the military. I could barely tell the difference between a sergeant and a general. But during this training, you not only learn about military culture and what it means to serve in the Army, but the on-the-ground tactics of military PR. I got to write for the post’s award winning newspaper, the Northwest Guardian, run a comprehensive community relations program, and respond to media queries on high-profile and challenging situations, including the death of former NFL star Pat Tillman.
Part two is a three-month course at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md., or what I affectionately call PR boot camp. You are still a federal employee, so you get paid to go to school. For three months, you learn the theory of public communication, the rules and regulations that govern public communication for the government, and get the chance to test your skills during a four-day war-time simulation.
The last part of training is a three-month rotation at the Pentagon, in my current office. There, you get to work for ARNEWS, the Army’s news wire; the Army Outreach Division, which focuses on event planning, community engagement and pitching Soldier stories in non-traditional media venues; and in the Media Relations Division, where Pentagon correspondents routinely come and go, pressing for answers on the hot Army issue of the day.
After the 18-months of training, you get a promotion and a permanent job in civil service. The reputation of the training program in the public affairs community is so high that many interns are promoted again shortly after that.
I did mention that my brother just came back from training. Being the couch potato (social butterfly) that I am… I can’t imagine signing up for this. Even if I was a beginner, once again.
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07.06.06
Posted in General at 5:12 am by Paloma Cruz
The Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations weblog and podcast
has some tips on ways to create a useful press release. Among the online conversations about the imminent death of the press release, this is a post that goes in the opposite direction, stating that there are ways to make it an efficient method of communications.
I suggest you, as a media relations professional, take the following steps to get the editorial coverage your company or your clients deserve: A news release is always part of a well designed campaign, so make sure that your news release is newsworthy, newsworthy, newsworthy.
Write your news release as a news story with basic information in the lead, as professional journalists do. Do not forget to explain “what” is all about, “when” it will take place or took place, “where” it occurred or will occur, and “who” is involved in your news story. News features published by dailies, weeklies and magazines present a different writing style, but you need TV producers, editors and reporters to understand your message immediately. They do not have time to read a “fairy tale.”
Never send out a Spanish-language news release, original or translated, if you are not sure your release contains a high-quality Spanish. Grammatical errors, poor vocabulary, translations replacing an English-language sentence with Spanish words resulting in a disastrous syntax, will be taken as a lack of respect.
Avoid adjectives and self-compliments media professionals hate. Do not say yours or that of your client is the leading company in its industry unless it really is. Never say, for example, “our talented and brilliant CEO…” or “the best product consumers have ever seen.” Those phrases may take your news release to the trash can.
Related posts:
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07.05.06
Posted in General at 10:38 pm by Paloma Cruz
A few times a year I revisit the idea of creating an editorial calendar for some of my content-rich projects. And by that I mean that I actually go through the process of creating an editorial calendar. However, a month or so after it’s been created, the calendar becomes obsolete.
Why do I keep on trying? I may be one of the many many victims of the Myths About Editorial Calendars, as presented by Forward Blog and excerpted below.
- Myth #1: Editorial calendars are static. Once they are set by the publisher for the year, they never change.
Reality: Not even close.
- Myths #2: Ed cals are primarily used to frame editorial coverage for the coming year.
Reality: Somewhat true.
- Myth #3: Editorial calendar research and follow-up are easy ways to generate media coverage.
Reality: This is absolutely not true.
- Myth #4: All publications release editorial calendars.
Reality: Also not true.
You really need to read the post, the expanded “reality” paragraphs are very real.
The part that I always forget, until I’ve already wasted my time:
However, the key messages are that editorial calendar research and follow-up is a passe tactic which adds little value to well-designed PR programs, and represents an ineffective use of time for most professionals. In essence, the ROI is extremely low when you compare the amount of time required to do this efficiently, versus the number and quality of placements generated.
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