My internship with NC State media relations

The lecture by Dr. Waters on media relations caused me to reflect back on my time as a media relations intern with NC State athletics my senior year. As part of the Communication program, all students had to partake in an internship project their last semester. I was fortunate to land an opportunity with an organization that I deeply supported and loved working with. Media relations personnel are stretched so thin due to the incredible responsibilities placed on this function. From covering all sporting events to relay stories to fans, to representing the university with the local and national media, and producing essentially all publications of the sports teams. I was lucky to work hands on and interact with the media and basketball team all season long; including writing articles for the official website, gopack.com As an observer now, I can defend many of the criticisms levied against the NC State media relations department. However, there does appear to exist a serious problem with correcting misinformation and proactively diffusing media stories before they achieve the intended negative impact. The media can report situations in which their perceptions may eventually become reality especially when the target remains quiet based on the stance that they will not justify such nonsense with an answer. Three areas the media relations department fail at are: getting ahead of the story, diffusing opposition arguments, and advancing their agenda. The good deeds done by the athletic teams and student athletes rarely is headline news or even reported news, but the negative stories are front page with large photos. In this area the media relations efforts must improve in order to present the university in the best light possible!