Media students get pointers on writing effective media releases

Miri – 14 August 2012 – Some 50 media students of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) were recently given pointers on producing interesting news stories and media releases that would attract the attention of news editors and newspaper readers during a media workshop conducted by the university’s corporate communications staff.

The staff members were Corporate Communications Manager Nicholas Leong and corporate communications officers Marcella Gider and Ling Yii Yang.

The two-hour workshop entitled ‘Producing News That Gets Published’ was a collaborative effort between the Department of Media, Culture & Communication at Curtin Sarawak’s School of Business and the university’s Corporate Communications Department.

Topics covered included the importance of media releases as a press tool, what constitutes a good news story, targetting the right media, using online media tools, and capitalising on news trends.

The students also learned about the basic elements of media releases and how these elements, along with credible facts and quotes, can make media releases more effective.

In addition, they learned how media releases can be used as general news stories, or as the basis for press conferences, media events and face-to-face interviews.

The importance of good photography, including what equipment to use, the captioning of photographs, planning and composing shots, and image cropping, was also emphasised through a segment on news photography.

In another segment, the speakers shared their experiences dealing with the various media, as well as some of the Corporate Communications Department’s best practices.

The workshop ended with a pop quiz, which saw the students wholeheartedly competing with each other to answer all the questions and having a enjoyable time in the process.

One of the students, Abel Wong, said he benefitted greatly from the workshop, particularly learning about the do’s and don’t’s of dealing with the media. He added that it was not only informative but also a lot of fun for the participants.

Due to the practical and applied nature of its courses, Curtin Sarawak regularly organises workshops, guest lectures and talks by industry speakers, and a range of other extracurricular activities to supplement classroom learning. The students thus not only get a good balance of theoretical background and practical experience, but are also able to keep up-to-date on the latest industry trends and practices.

Corporate Communications Manager Nicholas Leong giving his presentation.

Group photo of the workshop participants and speakers.