Thursday, January 28, 2010

PR insights for Glenbrook Dist. 225

PR insights for Glenbrook Dist. 225
YouTube Script:

Hello, my name is Ann Piasecki. I am a seasoned public relations and communications professional serving nonprofits and school-affiliated programs. My success is informed with an expertise honed during my years as a journalist (reporter and editor) at metropolitan dailies like the Chicago Tribune along with community, niche publications, magazines and online platforms. I am also a teacher with a Type 09 certificate; I currently instruct an online course in basic writing at Governors State University.

I am here today to address the public relations/communications needs of the Glenbrook High School District. Allow me to expound on the insights and perspectives I have employed in the role of Public Relations Director, and how these strategies work to shape effective outcomes. First and foremost is achieving an understanding of the culture that drives the school district—its commitment to education, the community it serves and its economic realities. These aspects are realized through collaboration with the administration, board of trustees, faculty and staff, students and parents, governmental bodies and businesses.

Our successes, whether they are top test scores, innovative curriculum or extra-curricular achievements, are the features most likely to gain respect within the broader community. Tragedy, calamity and the negative impact of social ills will stir the emotional pot, and that demands a human-centered--compassionate, consistent response; one that responsibly responds to critical questions.

The question then becomes how to convey the school district’s position. Certainly the website, the superintendent’s blog, newsletters, speeches and presentations are under our control. However, it takes a thorough knowledge of the media to gain the advantage of conveyances that are not produced in-house. And that’s where rhetoric and targeted appeals come into play.

That begins with recognition that various forms of media cater to different functions. A beat reporter at a community newspaper will zero in on known personalities and attitudes. A network television affiliate will seek out a common thread to the situation at hand, offering brief exposure to significant positions. Coverage by NPR, metropolitan dailies or national publications (online, broadcast and print) is focused on societal implications.

It takes a savvy PR professional to satisfy and nurture positive and proactive coverage. It takes targeted, careful cultivation of sources to reflect the district’s best interest.

For instance, I make sure to research the reporter’s stories, which can be driven by a heavy-handed editor with a desire to exploit a conflict. It’s a tough road for a reporter in that situation, and it’s more likely to occur at the level of a community newspaper struggling to stand out.

On the other hand, major media doesn’t have time to linger over attitudinal details. Therefore, I make sure to respect his or her time by highlighting a single event—enough to give them the color and news their looking for in one fell swoop.

Finally, the personal touch—a supportive comment or gesture—is worth a million stories.

As a public relations director, I lead with a genuine and intuitive spirit. I look forward to sharing my communications expertise and passion for education with Glenbrook High School Dist. 225.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hickory Creek Watershed Preservation

Public Awareness Campaign Proposal
Re: Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group/Communications Subcommittee
By Ann C. Piasecki

I’ve given a tremendous amount of thought per the Communications/Public Awareness Campaign on behalf of the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group. Below are some proposals for consideration that I would be honored to oversee or support.

1. I think we can gather public awareness and community investment in several ways.
2. Remember that Earth Day is coming up, so we can take advantage of it, if we move quickly to establish partnerships with area school districts.
3. Instead of the traditional poster contest within the schools, I think a YouTube contest aimed at junior high school students would gain more interest and inspiration (the kids could create a commercial promoting preservation of the creek—this kind of thing is fun for them). I’d be willing to approach the Web Page design teachers to discuss the project—maybe these teachers will have some other suggestions (I know that each spring the NL Elementary Dist. Offers free Web Page designs for interested businesses…I’m sure other districts have similar projects)
4. Maybe we could create a cardboard tabletop coaster for distribution—I don’t know the costs associated with that, but perhaps we could find some money (grant to support it). Let the Middle School kids design the front of the coaster (add the HCW website at the bottom); the back side would feature a few essential points per protection (How To preserve the stream)
5. The high school horticulture classes can create rain garden designs
6. The high school art class can decorate rain barrels for auction
7. The college students can be lured with the opportunity to conduct research for classes (botany, water management, environmental education and more)
8. I know how to tap into the media relations folks at the schools to get them to boast about the efforts of their students (thus free and easy access to community newspapers). I’ll write the press release about specific efforts at various schools, and then send it on to the District’s Public Relations spokesperson. That individual will take it from there and write his or her own release—it doesn’t matter who puts the info. out, as long as it gets picked up by the press
9. Also, school newspapers could pick up on the idea—it’s an easy story for them
10. As per the HCW web page itself, are we utilizing the potential for meta tag and tagging opportunities per Search Engine Optimization?
11. I’ll be happy to post the copy of the brochure on my own blog, but I think it would a good idea to invite supporters/advocates (students, parents, etc.) to comment on a HCW blog. (We can delay publication of blog comments until they’ve been reviewed for appropriateness—basically, that’s babysitting, but I think it’s a good idea.)
12. If we have a blog, we need a Facebook, Twitter and Flicker (photos) accounts—all are free and easy to manage
13. Since many faith groups have policies pertaining to stewardship of the earth, we can initiate support and advocacy from individual church organizations within parishes, churches, mosques and temples. This is aspect is a bit time consuming, but I’ve done some of it from the Catholic Church perspective within the Diocese of Joliet (specifically speaking, I’ve helped coordinate efforts to discuss basic recycling and to halt mountaintop removal)
14. I’d be happy to send PR to the professional media (online and traditional, while making sure to link the info. to Digg and other RSS feed opportunities.)

I believe the above components would stir public responses at village board meetings, the ones that are scheduled to coincide with HCWPG-related presentations. Please consider these suggestions, and don’t hesitate to call to discuss them further.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

First Amendment charge lost in economic crunch

Jan. 23, 2010
Voice of the People

Dear Editor;

While I appreciate the Chicago Tribune’s efforts to report credible and objective journalism, I’m wondering if staff reductions are to blame for failure to pursue the back story on the recent arrest of 63-year-old Myeong Hi Lim, who was charged with prostitution at a Buffalo Grove spa. The story was published on Jan. 20, 2010.

I don’t know this woman or the details of the arrest. However, it appears to me that the circumstance that allegedly caused a woman of that age to engage in prostitution is worthy of consideration. Perhaps addictions are the root cause of her motives to gain money; perhaps economic vulnerability due to job loss, health care costs or family difficulties has forced her into this situation.

Whatever the situation may be, it’s a sorry day when journalists fail to realize the travesty of the case; when they choose instead to print the simple police report. Lim’s story screams for societal perspective, for the whole truth. If it were up to me, I’d start by contacting the Public Defender’s Office—what are the odds against her having money to pay for a private attorney.

I’ve spent the bulk of my journalism career in pursuit of social justice, seeking out the individual story by identifying the hard facts and the mitigating factors that force people to disregard “decent” behavior for the sake of survival. The economic downturn is responsible for the shuttering of the Catholic Explorer and the later elimination of my job as executive editor of Mother Earth Sister Peace magazine and the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation blog.

In the face of economic cutbacks, I wonder if it’s possible to rejuvenate the First Amendment charge to tell the whole story. Check out my “Journalism in the 21 Century” YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWD8pb41xu8 .

Respectfully yours,
Ann C. Piasecki

Monday, January 4, 2010

Script for YouTube:

Script for YouTube: Lewis University. Can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/apiasecki2000#p/a/u/2/uWD8pb41xu8

Hello! I’m Ann Piasecki. I’ve been a journalist (editor, Web editor, reporter, and photographer) for more than 20 years. And I love it! I could not have imagined a job more suited for someone like me: I love the adrenaline rush of the spot news story, the on-site interview, the constant buzz of the newsroom and the actual act of writing the story. I’ve won more than 20 awards in numerous categories at the state, national and international level.

In no other career can you call the governor’s office, dial into the White House Press Room, interview world leaders, glean the perspectives of a sculptor or community organizer, feel the pain of a community in the aftermath of a tornado, uncover the unethical business practices or step into the life of a schizophrenic homeless woman supporting three children.

Journalists have the privilege of sharing other people’s lives and the responsibility to convey it truthfully.

Having been a journalist at major metropolitan dailies, community newspapers, niche publications, online editions and magazines, I believe my colleagues could testify to my enthusiasm for critical reporting and well-crafted writing.

I’ll tell you something about myself, when I smell a solid story, I can literally feel a tingling sensation in my fingertips. I can’t wait to sit down at the computer. Unless I’m on deadline, the story rarely just rolls out. I immerse myself in someone else’s world because I want it to reflect that person or topic. As for the editing process, if any of my professional cohorts were asked about my habits, they’d tell you that my stories receive the toughest personal edit. I admit that it’s hard for me to let go of a story.

We’ll talk about the blood, sweat and tears it takes to be an honest journalist. Together we’ll analyze case studies where journalists, as a whole, fell miserably short of checking the facts or ruined someone’s reputation by taking information out of context by failing to put the information into perspective.

Nothing is black and white. As Aristotle noted, it’s the mitigating circumstances that reveal the truth. The who, what, when, where, why and how of a story is merely the skeleton.

Beyond that, today’s Internet capabilities—its speed and immediacy raises the bar for professional journalists. But don’t be afraid, as a member of a team, while one is working the on-site interview, another is conducting the research, and other is pursuing the citizen tip and checking for accuracy. The editor is guiding the whole project and the photographers and graphics folks are enhancing the image. Meanwhile, the Web site, Podcasts, Twitter announcements and blogs are being covered by other team members whose focus is on computer-assisted, multimedia production. Together, we collaborate to create a news package for online and print materials.

There’s no doubt about it, journalism is hard work. But it’s also fun. I welcome you to the collaborative newsroom. -30-

Lewis Podcast

zSHARE - iTunes Library 2010-01-04.itl

The Future of Journalism

Lewis University Podcast

By Ann Piasecki

The future of journalism

Considering the recent shuttering of newspapers and the overflow of information available on the Internet, I have to agree with the sentiments revealed by Josh Cohen, senior business product manager at Google News, in a Dec. 21 online posting of MediaMavens. The future of the news industry is “part trepidation, part excitement, part hangover.” What that means is that fear has cast a dark shadow over the traditional way in which news is disseminated. What it doesn’t mean is that credible journalism has been replaced by superfluous, unverified, unprofessional blogs, amateur YouTubes and abbreviated Twitter tweets.

I believe we’ve landed on the new frontier of news dissemination. Allow me to dissect the situation at hand. First, the old way of uninterrupted news dissemination (meaning the reader is merely part of a passive audience whose only avenue for comment is a letter to the editor) is shrinking. Second, what have lured people to online communications are the interactive capabilities offered the audience. For civics teachers, elected officials and the myriad of like-minded subgroups, this technological evolution is like manna from heaven—the masses are finally investing themselves in the issues of the day.

What the news industry will be exploring is the process of tapping into the plethora of innovative possibilities: How do we utilize citizen reporting? How do we verify the information? What are the critical and analytical components that need to be infused for the sake of accuracy and objectivity? Where is the authoritative source in the story? How does the news industry generate revenue?

Traditional media has indeed embraced the notion of digital media. It is part and parcel of news dissemination in the 21st century. Therefore, social media and Web applications are as much a part of the journalism curriculum as copy editing, feature writing, news reporting and investigative coverage. The core curriculum for journalism majors should include the basics of Search Engine Optimization, metadata, tagging, page views, concise writing for the Web and Twitter-size headlines.

We have an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. And the reality of such a move will most definitely be conducted through collaboration with the likes of Google, MSN and Yahoo. The significance of collective news gathering is bound to test the boundaries of traditional modes of competition (breaking the story). That is a matter for the publishers. For the individual journalist, quality still matters. Grammar, syntax, flow, style, research and face-to-face interviews remain the key elements of a worthwhile story. We are the eyes and ears of the larger audience.

In no other field but journalism do you have an opportunity to talk directly to local, national and world leaders or to interview real people about life and death situations. Being a journalist is a privilege. Personally speaking, the stories I have loved the most are the ones that made me cry. Because when I write a story, it’s not about me or my style; it’s about the topic at hand, the situation or the individual. I open my heart and allow myself to feel what he or she feels. I want more than to merely paint a picture; I want my story to breathe. A newspaper story, after all, is living literature.