PR PROBE Vol. 6 Issue 2012
IN THIS ISSUE Gold Coast PR heads to London p.1
Scouting industry news for students and new practitioners
Gold Coast PR heads to London 2012 and, having been involved with Gold Coast Olympic fundraising committees since 1992, I was given the job,” said Wayne.
PRIA Event p.1 Cont’d. PRIA event p.2 Vox Pops p.2 Social media p.2 Truth behind the holliwood life p.3 5 Minutes with Jane Johnston p.3 PR & Journalism p.4 Citizen Audience & Public Relations p.2
Wayne Hickson
Prominent Gold Coast Public Relations practitioner Wayne Hickson will leave for London in July to head up a Public Relations team throughout the Olympic Games being held in August. Wayne, who started out in Public Relations in 1980 at the Hobart City Council has been working at different Olympic Games since they were held in Sydney in the year 2000. “In 1999 the Great Britain Olympic Team trained on the Gold Coast and they needed a local media guy to work with Team GB
“I must have done alright because when they came back for the actual games I was re-employed.” Since then Wayne has worked on the Manchester Commonwealth Games, three Olympic Games, a Paralympic Games, three Commonwealth Games and a number of other major international sports events. Wayne, who said practitioners are on deck almost 24/7 whilst the games are being held, said the experience is rewarding and a real adrenalin buzz. “The great thing about it is that the Games are so huge and there is so much energy involved from everyone that it’s not a problem to keep going,” said Wayne.
PRIA take active role to teach students The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) held a student evening at QUT Gardens Point to inform the next generation of practitioners how to impress employers and attain positions with top tier firms. The evening consisted of panel discussions with some of Queensland’s leading public relations practitioners
and consultants from the country’s largest public relations firms. Students from a number of local and regional universities attended the event including students from host university QUT, the University of Queensland, Bond University and the University of the Sunshine Coast. “A lot of what we were told was the
Anyone wanting to get a position in public relations at the Olympics needs to apply as a volunteer first. “I was lucky I fell straight into a paid position back in 1999,” said Wayne “But I was very much the exception to the rule by doing that, I’d say 90% of the people I work with at Games these days started as volunteers”. But getting a volunteer position is not enough to guarantee a job at the next Olympics. “You have to do a good job and put yourself in a good position to apply for a paid job at the next one,” said Wayne. Positions for London games are closed, but volunteer positions are now open for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, www. glasgow2014.com.
very basics, but they’re the things that you sometimes forget about but they’re integral, so it’s nice to be reminded of them,” said Shannon. QUT student and event attendee Shannon Cotterill said the event was informative and helpful.
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PRIA take active role to teach students, continued from page 1 “The fact that they were all leading practitioners and they were soapproachable and helpful gives you a positive feeling towards the industry, graduating doesn’t seem as daunting”. Bond University student Linda Woelk agreed and said that meeting the Students Linda Woelk (left) and Shannon Cotterill (right) with Director of PR company Grand Plans, Anna Streater (middle)
PRIA panel left her in a better state of mind about the industry.
“It was good to hear that the industry is still continuing to expand and it’s the basic practises that will reflect positively or negatively on you and impact your chances of getting a job,” Mary said.PRIA hold regular events for students and working practitioners to meet and network. ... Student memberships are $70 per year and are highly regarded amongst employers.
- VOX POPS -
In this issue, we ask Bond University students from four different faculties “what is public relations”? “Public relations is a small part of the marketing functions” International business student, 19
“Public relations is for people who want a glamorous, party lifestyle” Law student, 17
“Public relations is the propagandists behind the Government” Medical student, 24
How social media is shaping our careers There are few who would argue social But just what makes a person a social media does not play an integral role in how media expert? We all use social media, so we communicate today. what constitutes the title expert over user? For the field of public relations, these platforms create greater opportunities for those entering the industry.
A quick job search will reveal all, you must be all of the following and much more:
“Public relations is managing relationships between stakeholders and businesses” Public relations student, 21
Being Online! Every minute 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. 35 hours of video every minute. 2100 hours of video every hour. 50400 hours of video every day.
1) an excellent written communicator, 2) In its infancy, the position of a social have journalistic instincts, 3) be a good media expert is a role many graduates will researcher, 4) be skilled to provide depth in experience over the course of their careers. interpretation and analysis, 5) demonstrate critical thinking, 6) have the ability to It is safe to predict that this growing role manage a variety of social media platforms will become a part of many organisations 7) know how to engage an online audience, over the next few years. and 8) know how to tell a good story.
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Did you know...
That Michele Clark and Jane Johnston studied at QUT together 30 years ago!
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The truth behind the Hollywood life A man in a Hugo Boss three-piece suite and Armani loafers is yelling down his phone at the network station that isn’t running his feel good story on the Oprah episode for his client. “Do you know who he is? Do you know who I am? Lady, I’ll make sure your network never gets another hit show for as long as it runs!” yells the slick talking, spin doctor willing to do anything to get his movie star client on the infamous Oprah couch.
he is manipulative, pushy, unethical, and will do anything to get his client more fame and fortune in Hollywood. He provides great entertainment on the show but is not agood representative for the public relations industry.
But when you consider the public relations characters depicted in movies and television shows is it any wonder?
But this is not the first character that has presented negative perceptions of public relations. There is an endless list that begins at the birth of the industry with the 1938 film Four’s A Crowd when Robert Kensington Lansford claimed his job was about selling good reputations to his clients. “Most of my clients have more money than reputation. I sell them fine reputations through their donations to charity…so they’ll die with easy consciences with the public hailing them as great benefactors,” he said. It continued in 1954 with the movie A Star Is Born, and who doesn’t know Samantha Jones from Sex and the City?
The quick talking, slick haired, well dressed Ari Gold from the hit television series Entourage is just one of the characters that comes to mind when people think of famous public relations practitioners. Everyone loves Ari, but not because he is an honest well-meaning person. People love him because
But the public relations industry is not about wining and dining celebrities and selling reputations to the highest bidders. Public relations is an integral part of business with communication being one of the most vital tools to a company’s survival. Bond University Professor
Life is hard for public relations practitioners. Or so it seems. For an industry based on reputation management it is hard to understand how public relations has ended up with such a negative perception amongst our corporate peers and the public.
Five minutes with Jane Johnston Our ‘five minutes’ segment delves into the career paths of industry leaders. In this issue, we feature Bond Univeristy’s Associate Professor of Communication and Media, Jane Johnston.
Johnston first worked as a journalist in Australia and the UK for 10 years before being offered the position of Public Relations Manager at Hotel Conrad and
Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast. After four years, Johnston left to have her second child and for a few years following worked part time in a boutique agency on the Gold Coast and Brisbane before teaching journalism at QUT while doing some part-time writing and consultancy.
Jane Johnston said in its most basic form public relations is “the management of communications between an organisation and its publics”. In other words, the vital link between those making the decisions and those who are affected by the decisions. PR practitioners are managers, of image, perception, reputation’s and most importantly, of relationships. They work hard and are an integral part of a business’s success or failure. It’s not all glamorous, but it is rewarding and it is an interesting and diverse career – just don’t expect the Armani loafers straight away.
Johnston considers herself very fortunate to have had three careers in communication and believes the industy is a fantastic growth industry that can take you anywhere.
Johnston’s advice for students entering the industry, “you need to be creative, adaptable, genuinely positive and Johnston’s diverse career has seen her work enthusiastic - that’ll get you a long way!” on a fashion shoot for American Vogue and manage the opening of the High Roller room at Jupiters Casino with celebrity guests.
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Public relations and journalism
. advertisement of your products. Today we are approaching the issue of public relations practitioner vs. journalist from a more collaborative angle in an 2. Don’t only attach the media release to attempt to unify the two professions. your email, include your news and most important information in the body of the Here is our guide to nurturing a relationship email. If your media release doesn’t contain from a Gold Coast Bulletin journalist, new values, don’t send it! Mackenzie Ravn. 3. Always provide an interesting angle for 1. Never ever focus a media release on the the readership of the specific publication. Put simply, do your research!
Did you know...
According to mycareer.com.au, the average person working in the public relations and communications industry earns $92,342 p.a.
4. The most important information for a journalist: the date, the subject line, who sent it, the lead and who can be interviewed.
Mackenzie Ravn
7. Follow the publication that you want to get to cover your story, referring to other stories of the publication might give your story preference.
Mackenzie believes in establishing 5. You don’t always have to write formally, and maintaining good relationships choose your language style according to the between public relations practitioners and organisation you write for. journalists. 6. Call a journalist before or after sending them a media release to alert them of the release.
“It doesn’t take much to work in harmony and co-exist,” Mackenzie said.
The citizen audience in public relations Web 2.0 transitioned to many-to-many communication, creating participatory culture with social networks prevailing.
to damage public image, particularly if responses are not handled well by the organisation.
No longer is the communication platform Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can most important in delivering a message, the prove an issue with citizen public relations. content is. CSR represents the framework that the The citizen audience, or User-Generated users hold and retain accountability for Content (UGC), poses to public relations a the impartial and precise construction of new format to determine how publics are information for the consumer to digest in engaging with messages communicated order to base their decision making from by organisations, it is an effective tool for an unbiased and fair representation of the industry to gauge opinions and brand information. perceptions. Therefore, all media must adhere to a The rise in social networking use has put socially responsible, morally acceptable an even stronger emphasis on customer and ultimately, ethical conduct. service. The industry is self-regulated to uphold Complaints are no longer between a ethical standards yet citizen public relations consumer and the organisation but as uncontrolled communication has the communicated to a wide audience via potential to severely damage perceptions. social media and they have the potential
Letter to the editor I just wanted to thank you for your article ‘How PR is caught in a tangled web’ featured in the last issue. When I have told people I want to work in PR, they say things like so you want to be Samantha from Sex and the City or you have to be really outgoing to work in PR. Your article highlighted the industry not having been promoted well and talked about overcoming the misconceptions. Next time someone makes an uneducated statement about PR, I will be well equiped to respond! Thanks PR Probe!
- Rebecca, 18
Don’t miss our special issue on ethical practice, available June 11
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