To: Lehua Ledbetter

From: Erika Berglund

Date: 26 November 2014
Re: Social Media Strategy
erikaberglund.wordpress.com

Overview:
Within the field of Media Relations many progressions and uprisings are present. Media Relations deals with
moderating communications between the organization and various media outlets such as newspapers, radio
broadcasts and television stations. They are also responsible for informing the media when something new
happens within the organization or if something negative occurs. Specifically, my desired field would be
Director of Media Relations, which involves monitoring and progressing the duties specified preciously. Since
technology is ever advancing, ways to release that media is constantly changing as a result. Due to the everprogressing social web, issues such as staying up to date with the latest progressions, making sure the
audience is properly addressed, and incorporating new ways to release information to the public is necessary.
After doing rigorous research, I have come to find that these few issues are reoccurring in many different
aspects of this field and are what is currently being assessed to further the success. Staying up to date with
latest progressions in media are so imperative to this field since that is primarily how information is presented
to their target audience. Media is relevant to most everybody so if companies dealing with media relations are
not aware of how to work social media or is not up to date with latest technology, they face the dangers of
hindering their practice and limiting the valuable information they have to share to be distributed. While
keeping the progressing media in mind, issues may arise as to whom the media is addressing. Since audiences
differ as well as generation gaps, the way media is released needs to differ to cohere to the individual needs.
Many issues are present dealing with media being distributed to sources who are uninterested or who dont
pertain to that information. These present issues are resolved by using various social media and social web to
enhance and stream their new ideas to the public, making it readily available to access and simplified for this
generation and the future ones to come.
Observations:
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is the worlds largest and foremost organization of public
relations professionals. It sets the standards for all public relations professions by providing professional
development, upholding ethical issues, and setting the overall standards for Public Relations. The PRSA helps
with networking, professional recognition, learning more about PR, as well as offering many updates on how
to stay on top of industry news and emerging trends. In addition, the PRSA withholds a set of Code of Ethics,
which is based on core values. According to PRSA the code is built on Fundamental values like advocacy,
honesty, loyalty, professional development and objectivity structure ethical practice and interaction with
clients and the public. There are many ways to become involved in this organization, however, depending on
a few factors such as your years of experience, education level, or if you are retired there are different
applications to complete. Within my profession the language used varies. Since communication skills are vital
for professionals in public relations, a wide range of language is used to convey particular messages to their
specific audience. People within my field brand themselves through media and social media. Specifically, social
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media such as Twitter and Linked-In are often used for branding. Hash tags and slogans are great ways to get a
certain aspect of the organization trending and circulating globally. The primary way for people in Media
Relations to develop professional ethos are like mentioned before, joining the PRSA or through their own
media and social media progressions. Linked-In provides credible information about a person or their firm as
well by providing a numerous of skills, experience, and knowledge a person possesses.

Branding and Distribution:

The best digital media object to help participate in the conversation would be a blog. By making a blog, I
believe it is easy to distribute helpful tips, new information, and ways to progress in the Media Relations field.
Blogs are malleable towards the audience since each post can be directed towards a different age group or
obtain a different purpose, depending on its content. This is helpful since this field requires addressing a wide
range of audiences depending on what is being distributed. Therefore, a blog is a simple, direct way to receive
information pertaining to a specific question or point within your field. If you are looking for quick advice,
information, or changes relevant to media relations, looking at blogs discussing those issues can provide you
with the answers in a basic and easily understood format. This can lead to an increase in ethos since there will
be many different locations that discussions pertaining to my topic will arise from. Also, since blogs rely
heavily on feedback and discussion, the credibility of the information being exposed will be enhanced due to
its successful commentary rate. If the information is relevant to the audiences daily lives, then it will be
credible to them and actually retained instead of ignored due to being misinformed. I plan to distribute my
blog on either twitter or Linked-In because those are two widely used social media tools. An increase of
credibility will also be present upon distributing my digital media through the amount of users looking on my
Linked-In or Twitter page as well as retweets, favorites, and feedback received from both outlets. My social
media strategy will help me become visible in the web of relations within Media Relations because other
organizations and companies dealing with PR may come across my blog and read the entries or feedback from
them. Also, they might even add information themselves along with correcting any mistakes I may have,
therefore enhancing the credibility of the blog and overall spreading the word of my feedback amongst their
peers.

Works Cited

"About PRSA." Organization for PR & Communication Professionals:. The Public Relations
Society of America, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/#.VHOk50uRNuY>.
Roth, Carol. "The PR Problem With Public Relations Firms." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-roth/the-pr-problem-with-public-relationsfirms_b_4855872.html>.