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How writing on your blog makes you a better writer as a PR

              by Margot van Wyk

 – To some this might come as an obvious conclusion.

When thinking about writing for your own or a company’s blog one obviously assumes that the more you write and practice your writing the better writer you would become, inevitably. As in most cases practice makes perfect. With blog writing it is no different. The best thing about writing on blogs is that you have instantaneous access to feedback because as soon as you post it it’s out there in cyber space and open to criticism and interpretation.

Most blogs also allow for comments after each post, which allows you to see if your blog’s post was well received and gives you the opportunity to monitor all the statistics surrounding how many people see it, how much and where it is shared to by followers and visitors to your blog site. The best part about instantaneous access to feedback is the exposure you might gain to new ideas and inputs from readers on any recommended amendments to existing or topics for future blog posts.

Thanks to the versatility and flexibility of blogs you can allow your creative side to run wild when blogging on your own blog. Unfortunately, and depending on the company environment, you may have to keep to the constraints of the company when blogging for a client or an employer. Still even with constraints in place, companies mainly do or ought to allow for creative initiative from those who are writing and designing content for their blogs. One thing to always keep in mind is that consumers and readers are normally overwhelmed by the amount of content from online sources each day. This has the unfortunate effect of the reader/audience switching off to most of the information that are sent their way. Becoming more creative in writing for blogs may just succeed in breaking through the everyday overload of information and media sent to consumers and help your blog or the company’s blog to reach your target audience and provoke interest when they see something different and innovative. Continuous evaluation of your previous articles, designs and blog work should give you a pretty good idea of what works, what doesn’t and will in effect show you the road forward to improving and exploring more creative paths. This in other words will further your abilities as a compelling writer of articles that have the power to engage your audience and keep them coming back for more.

Not all writers, and especially PR pros who write, are naturally gifted editors and publishers. It takes some writers years of experience to become effective editors and publishers. This simply means the ability to come up with interesting, engaging topics, to research and sift through information and deliver articles that will inform your audience sufficiently, without boring them to death, will and should take you a considerable time to master. Linking back to a point made in the beginning of this article, it’s worth repeating that practice makes perfect, or close to perfect anyway.

For blog writing to be successful in improving your skills as a writer you shouldn’t simply stick to routine. Even winning recipes have room for improvement and it’s your responsibility to continuously evaluate your ideas, your writing, feedback and criticism, and experiments or new creative ways of writing if you want to become an excellent PR writer with a reputation to match.

Industrial Relations Group Assignment

Choose to be part of the Change

- Introduction“It is strange that people train themselves so carefully to go to waste so prematurely” 

When Robert Aickman stated to go to waste so prematurely he was not referring to the youth of the 21st century. But perhaps it is that the youth of every generation in this world faces a set of challenges unique to them and sometimes other challenges that have been inherited from a previous generation.

What many people don’t realise is that underage drinking actually starts at home, it has been proven that 1 out of every 2 teenagers in the average SA home, is a user of alcohol. Teenagers do not see drinking as socially risky behaviour and most adults don’t see it as being irresponsible. In fact, it is usually adults who buy alcohol for underage teenagers. Nomusa Mbatha (not real name),16, from Soweto started drinking when she was 14 and says she can easily pay someone outside the bottle store to buy alcohol for her and her friends. Not only has it become easier to persuade adults to buy underage teenagers alcohol, but bottle stores and clubs have also become far too lenient on asking people for ID, because all they care about is getting money across their counters.

Young girls start drinking at a young age because they want to be accepted by the “male” population, and of course by their friends, but what they don’t realise is that once they have been drinking, they are not fully aware of what is going on around them and they let their guard down. Young girls are not mature enough to understand the consequences of underage drinking and they seem to live by the saying, “it will never happen to me.” All of us think that this will not happen to us or someone close to us. However, it shouldn’t have to take a traumatising situation to make us realise the mistakes me are making . The physical and psychological effects drinking has on young people are devastating. Teenagers are seeking help at crisis centres, clinics and police with symptoms of sexual violence, physical abuse, STD's and pregnancy, and these all occurred in situations where they have been drinking. Not only can underage drinking result in those incidents, but it has also been stated that you are more likely to develop an alcohol addiction in adulthood, if you start drinking before the age of 15.

This Campaign hopes to encourage the next generation of adults to not go to waste so prematurely, to guard their youth and innocence and to change their ways so that their children may one day be protected from the devastating reality of underage drinking.

“CHOOSE TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE” - Aim of the Campaign

The Aim of our campaign is to educate young girls in the community about the real dangers of underage drinking. Dangers include date rape, muggings and other violent crimes and girls are more likely to encounter these dangers at nightclubs and at places at the early hours of the morning when they should be home with their family in a safe environment.

Furthermore, young girls are even more at risk when they are intoxicated and perhaps passed out and not able to be alert of a potentially dangerous encounter. Another important aim is to persuade our young audience by illustrating realistic scenarios of underage drinking. The video illustrates this by showing out-of-control teenage girls. It needs to be stressed that the world out there is dangerous enough as it is already.

Teenage girls should not voluntarily put themselves at risk of being raped or taken advantage of when they act irresponsibly under the influence of large quantities of alcohol.

Another aim is to promote the video to create awareness among teenage girls and their parents. We need to put the time we spent researching and designing this campaign into a movement. Options of going to schools and church groups as well as promoting and circulating the video on social media on the Internet are available. Getting the message and the campaign to go viral is the key to its success.

Once the word has been spread it is easier to change the attitudes and behaviour of young girls, simply because the peer pressure which was once negative will now transform to peers becoming aware of the dangers associated with underage drinking and positive encouragement will follow to hopefully lower the statistics of teens binge drinking.

Teenage girls love posting their late night club hopping expeditions on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter disillusioned by the idea that they will establish a cooler image for themselves among their peer groups.

This, however, has exactly the opposite effect when they reach early adulthood and enter into the work industry. What these young girls forget is that whatever is posted onto the Internet can never truly be erased. It stays there forever. And the past can be devastating for their careers once it starts haunting them. The list of social implications is endless. Reputations that have taken years to build are crushed in a few hours of drunken behaviour. By informing teenage girls of these social implications and the dangers of underage drinking we hope to produce informed and responsible young ladies for the future.

The campaign aims to supply audience with statistics of the effects of underage drinking. These statistics are freely available on the Internet. But very few people and especially parents are aware of how serious this problem is because they are not brought into contact with these statistics.

The aim is to also inform parents of young girls because they are in a better position, to some extent, to control where their children go. By informing them of the reality of underage drinking we are allowing them the opportunity to be more vigilant and careful about where and with whom they let their daughters associate with.

Finally our overall aim is to decrease underage drinking statistics and violent crimes against young girls.

“CHOOSE TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE”- Statistics

Substantiating our campaign are some horrifying figures.

Before reaching high school 49% of teenagers have consumed alcohol, with 50 % of Gr. 12 students and 20% of Gr. 8 students having consumed alcohol in the past month.

37 % Of Gr. 8 females who drank heavily reported attempting suicide, compared with 11 % who did not drink.

55% of all date rape victims had been drinking or were drunk when raped. 80% of rapists had been drinking before they raped.

The probability of sexual intercourse is increased by drinking amounts of alcohol sufficient to impair judgement, but decreased by drinking heavier amounts that result in feelings of nausea, passing out, or mental confusion

People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence at some time in their lives compared with those who have their first drink at age 20 or older.

3.1 percent of the past months heavy drinkers ages 18 to 25 had an STD in the previous year, compared with 1.4 percent of young adults who did not drink in the past month.

The rate of reported STDs among female heavy drinkers reached 7.3 percent, compared with 1.3 percent of male heavy drinkers.

“CHOOSE TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE” - Group Dynamics

The group involved in producing the campaign at hand consists of four women in their early twenties. Owing to their age, gender and personal experiences, the message being shared in the campaign is of high importance to the members. This played a large role in group dynamics, as conflict was avoided owing to the involvement, excitement and dedication of the members. Certain rules, regulations, structures and open communication channels also contributed to the group dynamics functioning so efficiently.

Upon receiving the outline for the assignment, it was decided that weekly meetings would be held for the duration of the academic calendar. Every Wednesday a 30 minute long meeting occurred in which the agenda was addressed and minutes were drawn up in order to make constant progression and keep permanent records. E-mails formed another communication channel amongst group members.

A verbal contract was established upon the group forming to promote positive evolution. It was decided that members were permitted to miss fifteen percent of meetings, as long as a valid excuse was delivered before the meeting was held, in order to maintain their status as a group member. Strict deadlines were set, which if unmet resulted in first a warning, followed by expulsion from the group.

Following the origin of the contract, roles were delegated to the members. Brainstorming and the gathering of information was a collective role, belonging to the entire group. Margot Van Wyk is the elected team leader, Wilma Maritz the secretary, with Kelly Rose Minne and Kirsty Kriek co-creative directors and quality controllers. The content of the campaign was also dissected with and assigned to the members. The introduction, explanation and reasons for doing the campaign were allotted to Kirsty Kriek, Kelly Minné held responsibility for the target audience as well as relevant statistics, and Margot Van Wyk investigated the aim of the campaign and discussed the prepared video, with Wilma Maritz ending the campaign with a conclusion.

Other unallocated roles became present over the course of the campaign’s development. Advisers who gathered and reported information, innovators who created ideas, promoters who explored opportunities and organisers who established and implemented routine developed rapidly. The large variety of skills and personalities decreased the possibility of conflict, as each member’s needs where met, mutual respect was shared and constant progress was made to motivate members.

The production of the underage drinking awareness campaign led to a journey between members as individuals used group dynamics to become an efficient, forward thinking, united team. Members used their differences to form a highly skilled, constructive force despite the challenges at hand.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead

“CHOOSE TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE”- ConclusionHaving the time of your life SHOULDN'T cost you your life

As you can see, underage drinking has a great influence on teenagers and goes hand-in-hand with various other harsh scenarios. Illegal substances, teen pregnancies, abortions, STD’s, rape, car accidents, death.... These are only a few things that usually go along with alcohol. It is thus important to educate minors of the negative effect it can have on them. This education should be the responsibility of their guardians and since media has such a big influence on how teenagers behave, they can definitely help make a change.

What we hope campaign results/effects will be

We are doing this campaign to inform teenagers of the risks of underage drinking, how it will affect them now and later on. We want teenagers to forget the phrase “it will never happen to me”, as this could happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Teenagers should realise that the statistics are reality and that each of them can be part of the change.

How we want statistics to change

We want this campaign to change current statistics. We want an significant decrease in these statistics that it is up to 50% less. Unsupervised parties which may lead to underage drinking is at a whopping 70%, thus we want to encourage parents to be more involved in their children’s lives. The percentage of Grade 8 females who drank and reported attempting suicide is at 37%. This is where the question comes in “why do they drink?” - Peer pressure, bad role models, abusing households... with the right attitude minors can be role models for each other and with the help of adults they wouldn’t have to drink away their problems but simply speak their hearts out and ask for help.

The number of rape victims is increasing every day. Alcohol is usually involved by the victim as well as the rapist. By decreasing the alcohol usage in minors, we can actually decrease the number of rape cases. This is only a few statistics and consequences of underage drinking we want to change and prevent. So don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution - choose to be part of the change!

NMMU Year end PR Function

The best group of classmates anyone could ask for! <3

Sad that my fiance couldn't make it to the event...

"Working it" - thats what's up! Kirsty, Me, Kelly and Wilma (front)

Ms Kelly Rose and I

AAH so much prettiness in one booth... ;)

Sheep in the BIG City

This article I wrote, is not about a funny cartoon though…

An old observation made by French philosopher, Bertrand de Jouvenel was that a society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. What de Jouvenel was getting at by making this statement can be seen in any society of any country around the world. That being said, let’s clarify that it needs to be a society of sheep -- a society that follows and obeys, a society that never questions and just follows the crowd. This article is not about anarchy or rebellion; it is simply meant to enlighten you of how being informed makes you less sheepish. It is to inform you of the importance of being clued-up, eating information for breakfast, and not just any information but educated, well searched out nutritious information. 

Consuming information every day is as important as starting off your day with a good breakfast. Information fuels our perspective of reality; it provides insight and most importantly allows us to make informed decisions. Without it we are like sheep awaiting a pack of wolves to come along and devour us. It has to be said, though, that as beneficial as it is to possess good, unbiased information, so too can it be equally detrimental to possess misleading biased information. As much as it sounds like a conspiracy theory, the truth is that there will always be parties out there planting information that is meant to cover up the truth -- wolves that provide genetically modified grass to fatten us up so that they may feast on fat little sheep who do not question why the grass tastes different to the unmodified grass. Wolves may be defined as the government, big corporations, powerful individuals, biased media and just about anyone who wants to distribute seemingly true information to the masses for the purpose of personal gain. 

Let’s face it, information is power. However, the question remains: does the power automatically go to those who consume the information or does it actually remain with the source of the information? Quite simply put, the power lies with those who empower themselves with the right information and if misleading information reaches uninformed ears then the result is that the source gains more power. If misleading information falls into informed hands, the outcome is quite different though. Informed people can make informed choices and may choose to accept or reject information given to them. They may even choose to set the record straight by searching for the right information and openly discrediting misleading sources. 

That raises this next point: why is it important that people are aware of issues and things outside of their own lives or even fields of study? Why should a micro-biology student be bothered by politics? The answer is quite simple: you live here too don’t you? Are you or aren’t you a citizen of the Republic of South Africa? Do you live on planet earth or don’t you? Does the war in Iraq not influence what you pay for transportation, for food and your total cost of living? Being informed does give you power but it’s what you do with that power that counts. As Spiderman’s uncle said: “With great power comes great responsibility” and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. For democracy to work, a country needs not only an informed citizenry but an engaged one as well. 

The creators of the Massachusetts Constitution wrote: “Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of people, are necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties.” Most of those who go to university go to learn and further themselves to become part of an educated society. However, what’s the use of knowing how to write a press release, how to extract a chromosome, or how to draw up a legal contract if at the end of the day that is all you know. It’s all very good and well to further one’s education but to be truly educated and informed, a person would have to actively pursue knowledge and be open to it. Being at a tertiary institution does not exempt you from having to look for information; on the contrary, it means that you need to utilise the infrastructure that’s available to you. 

Simply feeding off of the mainstream media will also not supply you with the bigger picture as the media has long begun to show a worrisome tendency to downplay its role as even-handed, in-depth public educator and rather focuses on entertainment or once-over reporting. Readers and listeners need to view information critically and decide for themselves on the credibility of all the news they are exposed to. With social media and literally millions of online sources there’s no excuse in today’s world for a person to be uninformed.  As a community at university we need to come together and discuss information to verify its credibility and to form solid opinions and gain well-rounded perspectives. Democracy depends on it. Let us not forget that we are in fact human beings and not just sheep in the big city.□

A Personal Letter

In philosophy we were taught that reality is a reflection of our world view and that our frame of reference ultimately dictates how we perceive reality. If this is true then a reasonable amount of influence on society’s frame of reference is conclusively at the mercy of mass media and the people controlling it. In the very beginning of my first year I was introduced to ethics and values of public relations. This to me now, appears to have been the suitable mandatory foundation on which I was to base further studies of public relations management. I will one day be in a position where I will contribute to the media and finally society’s frame of reference, and it is crucial that that contribution will be based on sound and just ethics, core values as well as an accurate understanding of inter-cultural communication and the sensitivity of society. Therefore, I strongly believe that if I am to make a significant difference in this world I need to comprehend what the world is all about and how the gears of society all fit together neatly.

One of my core values is to raise awareness and aid in social issues and humanitarian activities. These include the upliftment of women in South Africa and Africa as a whole, better quality in the development of skills and education as these form the foundation of upliftment and our country’s growth, the protection of women and children and also the conservation of the environment. Being raised by a single mother, I learnt very quickly by observing, that women are strong and independent, and that this strength and independence is governed by compassion and a nurturing nature. It is because of this characteristic that I gained the confidence to go after my own dreams and aspirations. Along the way I realised that many are not as fortunate as I am, and they also need to be shown how powerful and dynamic they can be if they are given guidance and opportunities to reach their full potential. For this reason, I started volunteering my time and skills to worthy causes since 2008. I found that giving back to the community and to those less fortunate fulfils the basic human need of being a compassionate, strong and nurturing individual. 

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