AEJMC’s annual News Engagement Day is an opportunity for the Public Relations Division to reflect upon the intersection of public relations and news in a democratic society. This year on Oct. 4, the Professional Freedom and Responsibility committee led a Twitter chat on the division’s social media handle to spur a discussion among students and professors about the importance of journalism and news.
Using the hashtag #NewsEngagementDay_PRD, the chat featured four panelists from the division. LaShonda Eaddy (@lashondaeaddy), Jeremy Lipschultz (@JeremyHL), Luke Capizzo (@CapizzoL), and Stephanie Madden (@drsmadden) shared insights from their classrooms on how public relations students engage with news. From crisis management to environmental scanning, panelists and attendees gave numerous reasons why PR professionals should stay engaged with news. Memories of news events included everything from President Kennedy’s assassination to the Boston Marathon bombings to the ongoing war in Ukraine. These examples showed attendees the power and importance of journalism’s role in providing timely and accurate information to the public.
Additionally, panelists and attendees discussed the importance of maintaining strong relationships with journalists. Public relations and journalism work best together in a relationship that aids in the free flow of information and truth in a democratic society. Panelists agreed that this is even more paramount in the age of misinformation and disinformation.
According to Brand Mentions, the chat hashtag was mentioned 136 times and garnered 401 likes and 462 interactions with a reach of 286,100 people. Students from universities across the U.S. joined in, including Penn State, Michigan State, and Clemson.
The PF&R committee would like to thank our esteemed panelists and all attendees for their thoughtful, active discussion during the chat! Kudos as well to the Social Media Committee for their assistance with the event.
#NewsEngagementDay#PRD