Public Relations Writing, Lesson 9
It's Spring Break! Enjoy yourself. Lesson Nine will be waiting for you when you come back next week. But for those who prefer for any reason to do the work now and take next week off, here's the next lesson:
By now you have taken your Midterm Exam. In a few days you will receive your graded midterm, with comments.
Most students are used to a grading system that locks
them in to past performance. But in this
class, your grade is only a progress marker. As you do each
assignment, you get better and better at PR writing.
Then, when you rewrite your assignments, you improve your grade for each one.
At the end of the term you will receive only one grade for "From
the Heart," one grade for "Evita," one grade for "Product," one
grade for "Jessica Haddaway" etc. – and if you have improved your work, your "replacement" grade will get better with each rewrite. 
Only your most recent grade for each assignment will be averaged into your final -- along with adjustments for missed deadlines, failure to be "present" when taking "attendance," or otherwise neglecting to participate in the Student Conference Area, and for extra credit work.
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In this lesson we are moving on to VNRs – the video news releases that you see practically every time you watch TV news.
Video News Releases are increasingly popular – and effective – and controversial. Though broadcast news professionals aren't always comfortable discussing the fact, much of what you see when you watch the "news" is actually corporate or government footage provided to the station.
It works much like a press release. When you send a release to the newspapers, the idea is to impress them with the news value of your message, and then dazzle them with the clarity of your ideas, so that they can use those ideas to produce their own news coverage – and, if you've been effective, they will (without really thinking about it) convey the same message you packed into those paragraphs.
VNRs do the same for television news. TV program directors will be so impressed with the news value of your message – and the visual appeal of the story -- that they will use some of your footage, plus additional footage they'll shoot on their own, to repackage your ideas in their own TV coverage – and, if you're effective, they will (again, without really thinking about it) convey the same message you packed into those frames.
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Go to Lesson Nine You can always return to past lessons, if you need to. Click on Lessons at left, and then on the lesson you want. |
Keep up the good work, 
Alton Miller |