Reflection, Unit 3.3

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This week in public relations writing, we learned about fact sheets and backgrounders. This comes after we looked at media pitches and media advisories last week. 

We are learning about all the different tools we will be expected to use in our future careers. In my opinion, the fact sheet was one of the easiest assignments we've had so far because all you have to do for those is list facts. Using a two-column format, you put headers in the left column and the facts on the right. each fact should be between two and three sentences in length, sticking with the one idea per heading. 

The backgrounder was the more difficult piece of writing because of the research involved. Backgrounders are great because you can pack it full of useful information about your organization or a specific topic or issue. When writing my backgrounder, I made a special effort to cite everything so that it would be credible to whoever reads it and so that readers can go and find those things out for themselves. 

These assignments were great because I felt like I really got inside the head of a public relations professional. Now, I have a better understanding of what to include in a fact sheet and a backgrounder.

As public relations professionals, we will be expected to put together media kits. You can't have a good, overarching media kit without at least one of these tools. Backgrounders and fact sheets make journalists' lives easier, which helps our relationship with them. 

In the future, using these two tools will be imperative. They help to bolster news releases and they make our work more credible and whole. Now, we have another way of creating a two-way, mutually beneficial relationship with our publics.