CapRadio’s Post

As political parties gear up for the next general election with promises of social mobility, the question arises: Is PR truly an inclusive profession? Because according to experts, the industry might be missing out on some real talent. The recent Chartered Institute of Public Relations 75th anniversary issue of Influence featured interviews with PR pioneers who shaped the industry without attending university. Yet, today’s statistics paint a different picture: the Levelling Up Public Relations report found that nearly 86% of respondents had attended university, with their social background impacting career progression for over a quarter. But for PR professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds, ‘imposter syndrome’ and lack of familiarity with office culture can hinder progress. From accent discrimination to unpaid internships, barriers persist. And that’s damaging for PR: diversity is crucial for reflecting society accurately and delivering effective campaigns. It’s time to shatter the class ceiling and build a truly inclusive PR community.  #SocialMobility #DiversityandInclusion #PRComms https://lnkd.in/ezpH6c4x

I'm excited to share that I've accepted a Journalist Intern position at 16 Blocks Magazine! I can't wait to collaborate with the Editor-in-Chief and our community's creative contributors. Stay tuned for updates on my journey with 16 Blocks Magazine! #NewBeginnings #Journalism #LocalPolitics #CommunityStorytelling #IndependentMedia"

"...the traditional apprenticeship model — where a young reporter learns from veteran reporters — is really somewhat broken now. Certainly some of it exists, and we’re learning how to do it virtually, as well. We’re ramping up on that, but it’s just a real basic challenge for a younger reporter to have consistent coaching and training in the newsroom." Hybrid work can pose a challenge to learning for young people in every profession - not just young reporters. For those of my vintage, we "grew up" in newsrooms where 10-15 TV monitors (tuned to different news channels around the world) would be playing simultaneously in the background; there was a persistent buzz of discussions peppered by questions thrown across the newsroom by editors who needed quick verifications; rookies listened in to veteran reporters persuading newsmakers to comment on issues. We learnt by listening and watching how the senior reporters got their stories in the bag. Now, newsrooms have to adapt: one way might be to tap the Reporters' Toolkit developed by Poynter Institute. What other ways do you help your younger staff accelerate their learning in a hybrid workplace? #journalism #digitaljournalism #hybridworkplace #mentoring

So Vice is effectively gone. This year marks a decade since I started at Vice News as a staffer (my first, & only, staff job to this point). I’m endlessly grateful for the opportunity Vice gave so many young journalists, writers, filmmakers, & everyone else who supported those roles, while also recognising the many (many, many) problems with how we were treated. When I say I worked for Vice, people always bring up articles about vagina muffins, etc., but Vice News did incredible, extensive & vital reporting on so many (other) important issues, & it’s terrible to see that go. I’m thinking of former colleagues, friends, & especially everyone who stuck it out until the end. So many outlets are going under now - international & local too. Thousands of journalism jobs are being lost every year. A recent study found the US loses an average of 2.5 newspapers each week. Please, everyone, support journalism however you can. This world really needs it. (The pic below is from this Guardian article, when Vice News was still young & exciting. That's me, a very beginner journalist, on the far right.) https://lnkd.in/dqeZWEqm)

About 12,157,876 minutes ago the career we celebrate today came into focus. While my classes at NYU sought to prepare me for marketing and international business, my internship drew me to PR's more nuanced approach to engaging and persuading audiences, with the artful dance between PR and news media taking center stage. So many years later, I find myself lamenting the current state of that vital dance partner. ❌ Newsroom staff numbers have shrunk by 26% since 2008. ❌ Digital outlets, once heralded as the new face of media, have been gutted. ❌ Worst of all, far too many of the stellar reporters I once pitched have been laid off. Sure, PR firms are eager to hire journalists to help beef up team skills and credibility, but this is a short-term solution to a long-term challenge that MUST be addressed. For PR to be a healthy and sustainable career choice, journalism and media must thrive, as well. Let's face it .. strong and vibrant news media are even more important for the well-being of democracy. So if there were candles to blow out in celebration of World PR Day, my rather self-serving wish would be to see a revitalization of the kind of journalism that informs, educates, and inspires. #WorldPRDay #Journalism #PRCareer #NewsMedia #BringBackJournalism

Inspired by a post by Omótólá Adérìnsólá Adébánjo I came up with some suggestions on how to be a "joyful journalist" including: *Knowing the implications of not being joyful. *Being intentional about liking your work. * Finding what aspect of your work gives you joy. And five more to consider. https://lnkd.in/gWzrrVTt

🦋 **𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.** I said it once, I’ll “say” it again! https://lnkd.in/e2-izkqp "A few things need to happen to start fixing this: Journalism programs at colleges and universities need to improve and modernize, and stations need to make the jobs more appealing, while also offering better onboarding and training for those with little or no experience." "The biggest challenge may come from WHO IS TEACHING THESE STUDENTS..." Sounds a little...familiar...a teensy. It's between the lines, this could be an escalating advantage of disadvantage; it could go both ways, those coming in as adjunct or with different degrees outside of journalism. https://lnkd.in/eu9DVCZy Carrying on... "...Often the ones with industry experience have seen decades pass since they last worked in a newsroom. A lot has changed since then, and many programs aren’t keeping pace. What worked 20 or even 10 years ago doesn’t really apply today. Staying current for these educators is critical." 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰... #news #investigativejournalism #journalism #ucf #nscm

In terms of how the storytelling product is for those who are entering their first news market, I think a lot of us who've been out of college before COVID didn't realize how journalism students learned how to write, shoot and edit during the pandemic. At least those who were experienced in the journalism field, had a strong or a way better background on how to write, shoot and edit unlike those college students who were navigating how to do journalism during an actual pandemic, just like the rest of the news industry. Also, you don't write, shoot or edit every semester you're in college. I volunteered through my mass communication school to do events so I can get hands on with a camera my first semester of college. Most mass comm students at my alumni didn't touch a camera until second semester of your sophomore year. So I imagine that those who went to school during the pandemic will get better overtime but it's going to be tough for them and those who are in college now, will be just fine as things are still getting back to a sense of normalcy in mass comm schools. The big cause of people not being interested in journalism is MONEY. As a first generation college student who before I went to college, was sleeping on deflated air mattresses with holes using it as a layer between me and the floor 12 years ago, I was used to not having any money. My first two gigs in the Richmond, VA market I was making $10 an hour as a part-time editor and either $32-35k at my first full-time job as a photog. Too broke to really go far outside of Richmond unless I planned a year in advance and made too much to get food stamps or any government assistance. If I didn't start my news career ten minutes driving from my mother's trailer, who knows if I would still be in news today. I had to Doordash before I worked a 2:30pm-11:30pm shift before the pandemic started. Richmond is a market that hovers in the mid-50's and when I got my first Baltimore TV job, I was making 45k. Baltimore is a market that usually hovers in the mid-lower 20's. To me at that time as someone who wasn't used to making a lot of money, it was a big jump in the pay I was getting. Of course, when you move to a bigger city, the more expensive everything gets. It wasn't until I got to my second Baltimore station, my fourth station, where I'm finally making a livable wage and that came after earning a raise being at a union station. I'm worried about the current talent pool of future journalist because we're always in need of great journalist, but the salaries at most TV stations doesn't balance out with the need for every day living essentials we have to have. I knew that starting out, you're not going to make that much money in journalism. Many professors said that while I was in college. But you can't expect people to take jobs in news when they're trying to combat the effects of inflation, especially on student loans and trying to have every day living essentials.

You get a call from a reporter. Step one: don't panic. Throughout my has-it-been-that-long career, media training has been my favorite service to provide. I've been doing it awhile. To wit, I used a clip of Dan Quayle in an example of what not to do (I promise I'm not being political...just seasoned). The literal hundreds of people who have gone through my large seminar or one-on-one sessions have heard me say that time and again (the favorite service part; I have more recent examples...LOTS). Why? Because to a person, every trainee takes useful tools from the training forward to help them be confident, effective and successful in their interviews. And that is so gratifying to me, because as someone who once was in the press corps, I believe the media interview process is important and should be respected. We call our service at Lucas Public Affairs LPA MEDIA TRAINS, where participants 1) hear what reporters need to do their jobs and 2) learn through practice the art of a successful media interview. With a background in journalism and years of experience as a messaging strategist and spokesperson, I can help get you ready for the "hot seat," whatever form it takes in today's media landscape. Like I said, it's my favorite, and as you can see, it's not scary. I'm even smiling. #LPAMediaTrains #MediaTraining #StrategicCommunications #California 🎥 💻 📰 📶

Some GOOD NEWS for journalists who looking to leave the crazy news industry.... There are some fantastic jobs out there right now! And you don't have to just search "Public Relations" because that's what everyone does. Puuhlease. That's so 2020. Think outside the box! There are so many careers that NEED your skillset, and they are hiring right now! How do I know?? THREE of our Breaking Out of Breaking News Academy members just landed jobs that they are stoked about! Natalie, Ashleigh and Caroline are in ❤️ with their new career choices. All 3 jobs are different - just like all 3 journalists are different! No need to be envious - that can be you, too! So make a plan this week..... because the jobs are out there! #journalism #broadcastmedia #localnews #newsmedia