For this assignment, you will write a 3-page report based on an interview you conduct with a practicing media professional. Your report will demonstrate what you learned from the interview about how journalists and public relations practitioners interact. The media professional must be working currently in the news media, interact with PR professionals, and make decisions about what they cover.
1.    Assignment 1 – 25% - Reporter Interview – Interview one professional reporter about:
•    working with public relations practitioners – like or dislike?
•    what is the best way to pitch a story
•    what is the best way to follow –up with a reporter
•    what to do if a reporter doesn’t respond to you
•    is establishing a friendship “off limits”
•    what is the most important activity a PR person can do for a reporter
•    her/his work habits
•    what makes a good story
•    what he/she likes/dislikes about the work
•    the role of social media in his/her work
•    other timely or relevant questions

¬    No student, freelance, bloggers or on-line-only reporters.
¬    No producers or editors.
¬    ONLY interview a reporter working in a newsroom for a daily newspaper, weekly newspaper, or weekly magazine, or an on-air reporter for a television news program/station.
Do not wait until the last minute to schedule these interviews. Do not conduct the interviews via e-mail.
If you are unable to book an interview with a reporter, you must let me know before class early on. Only then will I attempt to help you arrange an interview. If you reach out to me after class after the third week of class, I will not be able to help you book a reporter interview. NOTE: if you do need my help to secure an interview (you are unable to secure one on your own), you will receive a five-point deduction on this assignment.

Write in the third-person only. Do not describe the interview situation, nor include yourself in the paper. For example, DO NOT say, “The reporter anxiously tapped the table while thinking about the question.” This adds another “subject” into the paper (you, the observer).

Do not include your personal opinions or observations in response to what the reporter says. You should only include information in your paper the reporter provided to you. If you cannot source your reporter for a sentence, you should not include it.

This should read like an essay, not a Q&A style article.

You should use quotes from your interview to illustrate your points.

Do not include an “introduction” or a “conclusion.” Simply provide a summary sentence about your reporter to open the paper.

Maximum length: two and one-half pages, double-spaced.

I basically have 4 questions for the reporter:
1) Your current or past experience interacting with PR professionals
2) Your view of public relations professionals. Situations when PR workers are helpful; when not.
3) What advice do you have for young PR professionals pitching to journalists?
4) Where do you get your story ideas. What social media do you find most useful?