The write stuff

A lot can happen in a week. I went away for just over five days, and it showed when I opened my inbox on my return. Some 1 277 mails later, I began to realise just how much of one`s time is chewed up by having to perform manually the tasks that our mail server software (a Microsoft product which shall remain anonymous) is meant to perform in its regular operation parameters.

Is it insensitive of me to wish that PRs would spend a little more time in being slightly more imaginative in their work?

Basheera Khan, journalist, ITWeb

In retrospect, I should have kept a close tally of what was what. After all, it would have been interesting to know how many copies of the W95.hybris.worm and SirCam viruses I received, and how many spam mails managed to slip through in the guise of relevant mail items. At the time, however, it was far more cathartic to perform a mass purge of the offensive items.

Once I`d managed to clear those out, it became time to tackle the various news alerts and press releases I`d received - and boy, did the fun begin.

PR has a vital role to play in the great media circle of life. Without good public relations, a lot of companies manage to do virtually miraculous things without a hint of appreciation or recognition from those outside their immediate customer bases.

There are a number of other vital gaps to be filled by PR organisations, not the least of which is managing their clients` media profiles, and ensuring that the right information reaches the relevant recipients, thereby furthering the ultimate goal of keeping one`s client`s brand top of mind, and managing to focus those aspects which call to the attention of rabid news journalists just what makes the company interesting enough to pay close attention to, all of the time.

Every so often, a PR company will get it right. More often than not, one ends up with this sterling example of the source of many a press release ending up in File 13.

The introductory paragraph reads: "The company recommends that South African businesses take a pragmatic approach to their IT spending in 2001. While companies are reviewing budgets and setting out IT plans for FY2001, we predict that the Internet will continue to grow as a communication medium but the strongest growth area will be increased demand for services as complexity of IT becomes an issue for business."

My gripe with that statement is this - substitute the date, and you have something which could have been published in any vaguely technology-related article at any point between 1998 and present day.

The release goes on to discuss various aspects of IT spending, and how market changes will influence the way in which companies are likely to approach it. On the whole, it makes sense, and is of value to the reader. But with an intro like that, this release could well end up with the rest of the purged items.

Is it insensitive of me to wish that PRs would spend a little more time in being slightly more imaginative in their work? I don`t think so. While journalism and PR are two very separate fields, good writing is good writing... and it never hurts to aim for the best.