COM380:InternshipinCommunication

SummerSession2014
SoleAuthor

ReflectionofArtifact:PressRelease
LearningOutcome#4:Studentsareexpectedtodemonstratetheabilitytodevelopand
conveyoralandwrittenmessageseffectively.

IproducedthisartifactinCommunication380:InternshipinCommunication.Partof
myresponsibilityastheMarketingandCommunicationinternforLead2Changewaswriting
andsendingoutpressreleasesfortheorganization.Thisparticularpressreleasewaswritten
abouttheYouthAdvisoryCouncil(YAC)atLead2Change.TheYAChostedanissueforumat
TheBody&SoulHealingArtsCenterinMilwaukeebackinMarch,2014.Duringthisforum,
theYACdiscussedthetopfiveissuesaffectingyouthwhichare:stress,collegeandcareer
pressure,bullying,safety,andtransportation,accordingtotheYACs2012surveyof2,700
Milwaukeeareayoungpeople.Sincethesurveywasconducted,theYACfocusedtheirefforts
towardraisingawarenessofthesekeyissues.Theyhavechanneledtheirfundingandcreated
promotionalvideostohelpachievethisgoal.Youth(preferably8thgraderstorecenthigh
schoolgraduates)wereinvitedtothisevent.
ThisartifactdemonstratesthatIhavemetthewrittenportionofthisdepartmentalgoal
becauseIwasabletoeffectivelywriteapressreleaseandsenditouttoaremedia
organizations.Thewritingitselfwasstraightforwardandconcise.Iwassuretoonlyinclude
themostimperativeinformationinthepressrelease.Forinstance,Iincludedbackground
informationabouttheYACandtheevent,thepurposeoftheevent,arelativequotefromthe
PresidentoftheYAC,andinformationregardingwhenandwhereprospectiveparticipantscan
expecttoattendtheevent.Ialsomadesuretoproperlyformatthepressreleasebyincluding
theLead2Changelogo,contactinformation,aheader,andaboilerplatethatarticulatesthe
missionandvisionstatementsofLead2Change.Inaddition,daysaftersendingthispress
releaseouttoareanewsoutlets,IreceivedaresponsefromtheShepherdExpress
Newspaper,explainingtheirinterestinfeaturingLead2ChangeintheirHeroesoftheWeek

sectionoftheirnewspaper.Justundertwoweekslater,anarticlewaswrittenaboutthe
positiveimpactLead2Changehasmadeonthecommunity.
IfIweretodothispressreleaseagain,Iwouldpaycloserattentiontogrammarand
wordchoice.Beforesendingoutthepressrelease,mysupervisorhadtoapproveit.There
wereminorgrammaticalerrorsthatshecaughtthatIdidnt.Inaddition,Ineededhelpwriting
thesecondsentenceofthefirstparagraphinordertoarticulatewhatparticipantscanexpect
todoatthisevent.Iwashavingtroublephrasingthissentenceinanintelligentandengaging
way.Itsimportanttocarefullyeditapressreleasebeforesendingitout,asgrammatical
errorsarelookeddownupon.Apressreleasemustalsoportraytheorganizationandorevent
inapositivewayandputthemostnewsworthyinformationfirst.
IhaveengagedtheseideassinceIdidtheassignmentbyenrollinginapublicrelations
classandwritingotherpressreleasesfortheorganization.Inmypublicrelationsclass,I
learnedhowtoproperlywriteandformatapressrelease.Ialsolearnedhowtodetermine
whatareappropriatesourcestoconsiderwhensendingoutapressreleaseandwhoarethe
appropriatepeopletosenditto.SincethisartifactwasthefirstpressreleaseIcreatedfor
Lead2Change,IwasabletoapplythenewsskillsIlearnedfrommypublicrelationsclassas
wellasthefeedbackIreceivedfromwritingthefirstpressreleaseintowritingotherpress
releases.Mysupervisorsfeedbackhelpedmetopaycloserattentiontogrammarandword
choice.Italsohelpedmetodevelopastyleofwritingthatfocusesonportrayingan
organizationinapositivelightandtheireventsasnewsworthy.Astimeprogressed,my
supervisorprovidedmewithlessandlessfeedback,asIhonedmywritingskills.Mylater
pressreleasesfocusedonvariousaspectsoftheorganizationincluding:anewboard
president,thewinnersoftheJamesA.MarksLegacyAward,andthewinnersoftheirannual
grantprogramcalledDreamBig!

Iwillusetheseideasandskillsinthefuture.Asmentionedbefore,Iaminterestedin
pursuingacareerinjournalismandorpublicrelations.Asapublicrelationsspecialistitis
imperativetoknowhowtowriteaneffectivepressrelease.Pressreleasesarevitaltoolsin
publicrelationsthathelptoraiseawarenessandgainmediaattentiontoanevent,person,
andororganization.Fromthejournalismperspective,itsimportanttodecipherpressreleases
anddetermineiftheyarenewsworthyenoughtobefeaturedinaparticularmediaoutlet.So
theskillsIvelearnedaboutpressreleaseswillnotonlyhelpmewriteeffectivepressreleases,
theywillalsohelpmeeffectivelyevaluatethem.