This week I was asked to write two media advisories and two media pitches. I had worked with these briefly in Gaylord’s Writing for the Mass Media course, so I had a vague idea of what the final result was meant to look like. It would have been helpful to have an example of the media pitch like there was for the advisory, but the description was helpful in trying to distinguish the characteristics that each should have. Now I can pick up on how to lead with what reporters want, which is the who, what, where, when and why of the story. Being able to use these elements in the lead of a story is important when trying to bring the attention to your subject. I would like to know how effective this is when reporters are trying to use information from advisories and pitches. I imagine it to be a challenging task not to copy the words written in the advisory/pitch and create your own story with the correct facts. This matches with my perceptions of PR professionals because most people must follow these methods in order to get their story out. In a way, it is comforting to know that PR professionals must work to the same degree and standard to contribute to their subject. I see this skillset helping me in the future if I need to send out something about an event on behalf of the company I work for. I can see myself using these two skills often as companies and organizations are constantly trying to raise awareness and attention to what they are doing.
