Swethlana Saraswat’s Post

My dream since middle school has been to become a media industry worker. And in graduate school, I finally realized my dream. Despite the fact that the industry is a lot different from what I had imagined, I still harbor journalistic aspirations. Through this internship experience, I have gained a new understanding of the type of talent needed in the media industry. With the shift from traditional media to the digital media age, what the media industry needs is a composite talent. That is, they can serve as both interviews, information gathering, filming, and Internet editing. While I was out covering events, I noticed that some authoritative media companies changed the configuration of one photographer and one interviewer. Instead, one person performs a range of tasks in information production. This is because the increased demand for information in the digital age has made the media industry required to produce information more efficiently. The traditional media process of writing, editing and distributing is too time-consuming, so the different sectors of the media industry tend to converge.   As for the connection between professional practices and moral and ethical issues in the media, observing ethical and moral boundaries is not as easy as I thought. Especially for political news. Although political news does not directly state the country's position, it tends to disseminate the implicit position through other factors, such as the number of placements and the size of the page for different position pieces. Therefore absolute neutrality cannot be achieved in news. This is contrary to the principle of balance in news values.      

One of the best things that happened to me this year is… …Working in a marketing agency! Let's go back to how it all started… I've always wanted to study law, especially to deal with some people from my fath…side( if you're African, you know na😄) After secondary school, I applied for Law about three times but to no avail. Then I switched to international relations, the same thing. How I found myself in Mass communication, I still don't know. I've never loved mass communication because it's overhyped and almost every art student then wanted to study it. When I got in, I paid little attention to the course as I was still chasing Law. When I saw that “go no go” I decided to give it my all. I discovered the advertising part of it and got interested. I began to like the course not because I wanted to be a journalist, editor or whatever but because I wanted to go into advertising (plus I heard there was money in it😋 and as an Igbo girl I did the needful) Before I graduated, I started applying to a few advertising agencies for internships but didn't get any. Fast forward to June 2024, a marketing agency reached out and the rest is beautiful history… >> One of the things I love is the pressure I get! It keeps me on my toes. >> I'm learning better each day… I unlearned so many things >> Working as a team is beautiful, you get to pick the brains of others >> I get to write for different niches! No limitation. Today I'm writing for a fintech company, tomorrow for a financial App, day after for a franchise business, opening my mind to so many possibilities… Remember I talked about the pressure, especially with deadlines right? It's tasky and stressful but another part of me loves it for me🤭 And I know this is a preparatory ground for something bigger. 📍How I manage to work for the agency and other companies and clients, I don't know but God has been my help! Never stop working on your dreams, stay focused, disciplined and consistent… One day, it will pay off handsomely.

Seeing the Transport for London Stuart Ross Communications Internship open for applications, especially after the attacks it received in the summer, is brilliant. If you're considering a career in public relations, please follow the link and consider applying. The scheme has been broadened to include individuals from all under-represented and under-served groups. It was established as a scientific fact that diverse agencies and public relations teams make better decisions and are better able to represent the public that they serve by Dr Larissa Grunig in the 1980s. The issue took more than 30 years to rise up the industry agenda. It's another example of the lag between theory and practice in public relations. Sarah Waddington CBE CDir ChartPR and I have spent ten years studying industry data related to diversity. Two critical areas require an intervention to shift public relations from an elite to a representative practice. 1) Widening entry requirements and recruiting more widely. This is the intervention addressed by Tfl and similar initiatives 2) Supporting mid-career practitioners from diverse backgrounds in securing management qualifications. This is the intervention addressed by Socially Mobile It will almost certainly take another 30 years to address this issue, but thanks to Matt Brown, Victoria Harrison-Cook MBE and the TfL team for continuing Stuart Ross' legacy and driving this critical intervention.

Do editorial calendars still matter? Alison Bailin Batz explains the importance of editorial calendars since her first PR internship and covers the evolution of this media tool over the years. Find out more on connecting with the media in this new blog post.

I just spoke to a friend's daughter, a rising college senior about to begin a PR agency internship. She asked some great questions, one of which was who do I think are the best PR people and why (their backgrounds). I've been in the industry a fairly long time and have worked with lots of comms people--some great, some good, some average, some not-so-average. The best PR people I've worked with include two former segment producers for local network TV affiliates, a former broadcast business reporter, a former ski instructor and a college soccer player who studied accounting. Why do I think they're the best? It's because they know how to quickly craft concise and compelling stories, and they're incredibly pragmatic. #PR #publicrelations #careers

"For small news organizations, whether new or established, having an intern on hand sounds tempting. But for editors stretched thin covering a community alone or with tiny staffs, is the effort worth it? On balance, the editors and publishers interviewed for this project said yes. Not only can an intern expand coverage, but also, training the next generation of reporters satisfies the mission, whether articulated or unspoken, of many newsroom leaders. Our target audience for this handbook includes editors of both place-based newsrooms and news organizations that cover topics such as criminal justice or climate. This handbook, designed specifically to meet the needs of small-newsroom managers, is the first of its kind. " https://lnkd.in/gARPNBtV

The Power of the Tongue Meets Fate. Growing in the marketing industry, someone close to my heart kept saying they envisioned me in the Public Relations field. Granted, the marketing industry is vast. I acknowledged that and kept working. Fast forward to 2024, I take a leap. What does it require me to do? Pitch to publications…as a result, my first press release is published. It’s funny how things always work out as they should. From starting an internship 8 years ago, seeping into digital marketing and now PR, every step has led me here. The journey may twist and turn, but it’s all part of the process. Trust the path you’re on—God and the universe knows where you’re headed before you do. #PRJourney #MarketingLife #PublicRelations #PressRelease #NewBeginnings #CareerGrowth #DigitalMarketing #MarketingIndustry #Manifestation #ProfessionalGrowth #PitchingToMedia #TrustTheProcess #FollowYourPath

How do we bridge the gap? 🤷♀️ 📣 We need to keep showing up and providing fair opportunities to young creatives. 📣 Making it in this industry can seem like an impossible task when you're from a working-class town. The cost to move to an opportunity-rich city like London can be too great, especially when many internships are unpaid. 👎 This gave me the drive to make my own opportunities through Buttercrumble. 💪 Here are a few more tips for fellow creatives trying to crack the industry – 1️⃣ Network! Attend meet-ups, talk to your tutors, and befriend your neighbours. You never know who might open a door for you. 2️⃣ Know your numbers! Build some financial flexibility through budgeting and saving your earnings where possible. 3️⃣ Be thrifty! I teamed-up and shared my equipment until I could afford my own. Also, social media provides a free global platform so get yourself known. https://lnkd.in/eq3HJe5A #brandpowermanifesto #creativeindustries #britishbusiness ELLE Magazine

There's a word I run into frequently when I edit at Caplin News that I almost always take out: Educate. "Adults who attended the event were educated on how to plant trees." How does this sound to you? To me, it sounds condescending. It implies that there was a superior group and an inferior group; those who do the educating and those who were educated. What if I'm a reader who doesn't know how to plant trees? How would reading this make me feel? I'd feel insulted by the reporter and the outlet. I don't need to be patronized. One of the things I learned in my internship at the Miami Herald is to put the audience first. One of the last things I want to do is insult readers. So, what do I do as an editor? I opt for "teach" and "learn." "Event organizers taught participants how to plant trees" or "people who attended the event learned how to plant trees." Hear the difference? While "educate" might've been factually correct because it was, technically, an educational activity, writers have to be mindful of tone as well. Word choice goes a long way. What do you think? Do you agree? Or am I being picky?

There is nothing more rewarding to me than to get student and professor notes about their reactions to my books. I got this note today - as I am preparing for the end of the semester projects, final client presentations for The Bird's Nest, and the holidays - and it truly made my day. When I started writing textbooks in both social media and PR, my goal was to make an impact on the profession and change the field if I could. Life is too short to just do what is expected or go along with what has been done forever in the field. Why not take the opportunity to lead, mentor, and support change for the better? This has been the mission and purpose in all of my books, but to see this note and know the students in this class are creating excellent work from using DPR is priceless. This means they will be able to use this work to apply for jobs, internships, and other professional opportunities to advance their career and goals in PR. This was just using the first edition of DPR - imagine what the second edition wlll bring as it will come out next year from Sage. #publicrelations #PR #textbook #author