Last nights PRSSA event was the PRSSA/SPJ Crisis Challenge.  Members from both organizations showed up to flex their muscle and put the skills they have learned from their classes thus far on display.

The PRSSA members were split into three teams and given separate crises.  Each team had 25 minutes to create a public statement, organize a team of executives and develop a communications plan. 

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Team #1 was presented with an embezzlement case.  Their company’s CFO had siphoned $2 million in the last two years.  The media found out and leaked the story.
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Team #2 was a toy-making company whose product had killed two toddlers in the last week.  Small pieces of their popular racetrack had been discovered to be a choking hazard.
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Team #3 was a banking institution that had an attempted robbery.  During the course of apprehending the criminal there were four shots fired.  One hit a security guard, one hit a teller and one hit a customer.  The fourth shot was fired by a second security guard, which killed the robber.
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After their preparation, each team had two minutes to present their statement.  The SPJ students then had eight minutes to question the company executives in a mock press conference.  SPJ students asked probing questions that made the PRSSA students have to think on the fly and try and represent their companies in the best possible light.
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Judges analyzed the performances and decided that Team #3 was the winner of the competition.  SPJ students then had a few minutes to create anchor leads for each story.  They were also judged and awarded prizes.
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Great job to everyone who participated, both PRSSA and SPJ alike!  This was a fun and successful event.  A big thanks to PRSSA chapter president Lauren Lytle and SPJ president Spencer Flanagan for organizing the event. 

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Two broadcast journalists visited the BYU PRSSA meeting on Oct. 7, 2009 bringing with them their experiences and advice for PR practitioners on how to work effectively and develop relationships with broadcast journalists.

Caroline Christiansen was a news anchor with KSCG in St. George, Utah and is now a graduate student at BYU. She has been nominated for several regional Emmys and started a cable news show while a student at BYU getting her bachelor’s degree. Caroline shared her top eight suggestions for PR people to have good relationships with broadcasters.

1.      Be credible
2.      Be presentable – have good grooming habits, take a few seconds to look in a mirror before going in front of the camera, less is more, simple is better
3.      Be conversational – tell the audience a story, you only have one chance to get your message across, look at your interviewer
4.      Be concise – many times you won’t have more than 15 seconds
5.      Have confidence – do your research and know the answers
6.      Show emotion – demonstrate passion for what you do, be engaging and exciting
7.      Post-game analysis – ask for feedback and criticism to always get better
8.      Have fun, be nice and be good to work with – broadcasters want to help you if you are nice and easy to work with

Jen Stagg is a news reporter for KSL in Salt Lake City. She came from reporting a story to share her advice with BYU PRSSA. Jen gave her top ten tips for public information/affairs officers when working with broadcast journalists.

1.      Be accessible – answer your phone, return reporters’ calls, be willing to meet with reporters anywhere and understand their deadlines
2.      “You help us, we’ll help you” – when you cooperate with broadcasters they are more apt to help you
3.      “Anything you give me is better than nothing” – reporters hate “no comment,” find out what you can say to give them something because it is better than nothing
4.      Press releases are not the same as a sound bite
5.      Don’t use language that is foreign, obscure or hard to understand for news watchers, don’t use legalese
6.      “We know you have an agenda, we do too.” – give the reporter the news, don’t make the news secondary to your organization, make your organization part of the story
7.      Don’t worry if you mess up – it can be edited, most good reporters will not take advantage or your mistakes, ask if you can do it again
8.      Write press releases like a story – find the story
9.      Don’t make things harder than they need to be.
10.   Understand the beast – know how broadcast news works, understand the deadline and sound bite

Final thought: Build good relationships with media, embrace reporters, they have a job to do too.

PRSSA members also had a chance to practice their skills in front of a camera while being asked questions and be critiqued. Thank you to Jen, Caroline, Trent and special thanks to Lauren for organizing the event.

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