Writing for Public Relations

"People working in public relations are journalists in every sense of the word."

People who work in public relations need to know the entire story and every aspect of the story and need to know how to turn the story in any way they can. So, yes, public relations people are journalists in every sense of the word.

Stories Covering Crime and the Courts

In almost any crime story, there are three major sources of information. List those sources, and briefly describe what kind of information you would expect to obtain from each.

Police–basic information on the crime scene, do not expect much information from them
Witness–more detailed information on the crime, but likely to be skewed
Victim–most information on the crime, but, likely, the victim will be unable to talk to the press

Writing for Broadcast

A teach in a local elementary school has found a gun in a student's backpack. List at least six related stories you could write to accompany the primary story.

"Remembering Columbine"
"Does the NRA have a place in our schools?"
"Discussing the Second Amendment"
"Yuma sophomore dies in accidental shooting"
"Country reeling, mourns death of students"
"Vigil held for students killed in shooting"

One of the stories is a real story, but it just happened in my home town, but it is relevant.

Sports Story

I was hesitant about this assignment because I have no interest in sports or business. But, I have a friend, Ean Eschenburg, on the Rocky football team so I decided to interview him.

I ended up really enjoying this assignment because my story became a success story. It was fun for me to turn the story to be inspiring.

Law & Ethics

If I was applying for a job in Public Relations I would give them my resume. I don't know why I am expected to write 300 words, it is fairly case-in-point. I give them my resume, they call me for an interview, I wait, they call again to say one of 3 things: I got the job, I lost the job, they would like another interview. If they would like another interview, repeat steps 2-4 until they need no more interviews.

Profiling

I wrote my profile on Ty Nitsud, a young man who left his home and family to go on an adventure. The story he told me was very interesting and I loved writing it. The profile could be extended into a novel, it was so interesting. Things happened to him that I though only happened in books and movies.

I did, however, have a really hard time finding someone to profile. I have very high anxiety to do not like approaching people. My original plan was to profile Leon Bruner, but every time I came close to asking for an interview, I'd have a panic attack. Lucky, for me, Ty was around and I felt comfortable talking to him.

Gathering Information

Whenever a journalist uses an anonymous source I am hesitant to trust the source. What is the person hiding for them to not allow their name being used?

Usually, when I see a journalist use an anonymous source, it is in a gossip magazine. Once I see that anonymous source, the article immediately loses all credibility for me.