Media Relations in PR — GVSU PRSSA – Grand Valley State University Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America

Media relations is an important aspect of public relations. These are the relationships that public relations specialists create with journalists. Having the ability to create professional relationships with journalists in order to create a successful campaign for your client will set you apart in the world of public relations.

The importance of media relations

Media relations is important because it can be one of the best ways to gain brand awareness for your client. Influencers, social media networking, owned media and PR measurement are a few ways that PR practitioners can gain media coverage and use it to further the success of their campaign. When you create positive relationships with media contacts, it will help you improve your efforts and succeed in your career.

The evolution of media relations

Media relations is constantly evolving, which is why it’s important to keep practicing media relations through your professional career. Social media is always changing and can be difficult to navigate if you do not dedicate yourself to practicing this skill. Keeping up on different social media trends will help you keep up to date with how media relations can be evolving. There are now multiple channels when it comes to reaching your desired target audience. Therefore, it’s important to understand which platform to use in order to be most successful in reaching your target audience.

Successful media relations

Media relations is successful when you’re able to create meaningful relationships with journalists and assist each other in certain aspects of each of your careers. Your contacts may be able to connect you to other writers that may help the success of your future campaigns. According to Ragan’s PR Daily, one way to strengthen your relationships with the media is to meet them face-to-face by grabbing coffee, visiting their newsrooms, giving them a tour of your company and introducing them to your executives.

Moving forward in your career, I encourage you to focus on media relations and think about how you can create and improve your relationships. Hopefully, after reading this, you understand how important these relationships can be for public relations specialists which should motivate you to think about how you can create meaningful and positive relationships with media professionals.

About Brooke:

Brooke Thompson is a senior at Grand Valley State University studying advertising and public relations, with a minor in psychology. She is an active member in GVSU PRSSA and an Account Executive for GrandPR, GVSU’s student-run PR firm. In her free time Brooke enjoys doing hot yoga and spending quality time with her dog.