Archive for category: Blog

By Michele Papakie, D.Sc., APR

APR Month Brings “MAYbe I’ll Consider Doing That!”

If you have at least five years of professional PR experience under your belt, you should consider earning your accreditation in public relations. 

What’s involved? 

First you apply. Next, you prepare and make a presentation to a panel of APRs. Finally, you take a proctored exam. 

“Wait, did you say I have to take a test?!”

Let’s take some of the mystery out of the accreditation examination.

Start by taking 20-question Prometric online sample test. There are 132 questions on the actual APR exam that will test your knowledge in six areas. You only need to get 82 correct to score a 62% and pass. Did I mention there is NO MATH on the test? It’s way more fun than any SAT or GRE you have taken.

“OK, so that was a sample of the test. That wasn’t so bad. What else is on there?”

Check out the 161-page study guide you will use to prepare for the test. Before I applied to begin my APR journey, I read the study guide and thought, “Hey! I know a lot of this stuff, and I do it every day. I’m going to go for it.”

The rest is history.

If I can do this, you can do this. 

If you choose to go for it, know you’re not alone. I am here to help. Reach out to me anytime for more information, michelepapakie@gmail.com.

Michele is the Accreditation Chair for PRSA Pittsburgh. She is an associate professor of strategic communication and media at Slippery Rock University. She earned her APR during the pandemic in August 2020.

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Participate in a Fun, Four-Part Webinar Series from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays this Month

Join PRSA Learning for this exciting new webinar series! You’ll be the ultimate judge to determine who’s got the greatest communication campaign! Across four riveting Wednesdays in April, join in to judge the best strategic framework in communication from three award-winning contestants with substantial expertise in entertainment, nonprofit, retail and technology, and learn strategic skills along the way.

“Top Talents Compete: Who’s Got the Greatest Communication Campaign?” will kick off April 6 and run on consecutive Wednesdays through April 27. Get registered today!

Structured as an online professional development “game show” that requires your participation, Tara L. Smith, M.S., APR, will host three contestants applying the four-step process of research, planning, implementation and evaluation (RPIE). You decide who wins each week’s category as the contestants compete for your highest star ratings to successfully be the “Top Talent,” winner of the Greatest Communication Campaign in this webinar series.

Here is a sneak peek at how this weekly competition breaks down:

Week One: Our three contestants will present the problem they were given the opportunity to solve, set the stage for their approach and dive into the details about how they conducted research for each of their respective campaigns. At the end of the webinar, you submit your rating for which contestant conducted the greatest campaign research.

Week Two: Contestants present their campaign plan. Who’s got this? You decide the champ.

Week Three: Contestants walk you through implementation, and once again you determine their effectiveness.

Week Four: The grand finale showcases how each contestant evaluated their campaign, and you determine once and for all who’s got the greatest communication campaign of this webinar series.

April is PRSA’s APR Month. This webinar is a great opportunity to learn from some practitioners who have earned their professional accreditation. Tune in to see them in action and to vote on their campaigns. Maybe you’ll be inspired to earn your accreditation!

by Charlene Payne
Diversity and Inclusion Chair

“When you picture Black people – what images initially come to mind? If you don’t see patriots, fathers, graduates, and business owners, perhaps you should check what’s in your frame”

— Trabian Shorters

It was an honor to attend the 2022 MLK Keynote Address given by journalist Soledad O’Brien at Carnegie Mellon University. I welcomed the opportunity to see and listen to a woman of color who has excelled in her industry and was open to share her insights and experiences in front of and behind the camera. 

There was a point in her presentation where she defined a practice that has deliberately berated people of color, more specifically Black people. The practice is called framing the narrative or media framing and it has the ability to be a great disservice to the black and brown communities when used incorrectly. The International Center for Policy Advocacy says: 

“Frames are the stories we use to make sense of the complex world and through
socialization in our communities, they become part of our identity and ultimately
our “common sense”. This core attachment to these stories means that they can
be easily triggered by a single picture, a work or phrase, a metaphor or story
which lead us to our full story on the nature of the problem, who’s to blame
and the possible solutions.”

For example, you have two high school athletes that win college scholarships. One athlete is Black and the other is white. As media characterizes each scholarship recipient, the Black athlete is described as living in a neighborhood full of drug activity, having a single-parent home, on welfare BUT won the award. The white child is described as having a doctor and a lawyer as their parents, performs community service and is a hard worker AND won the award. 

We must ask ourselves, was the Black student’s parent a lawyer or doctor? Was it necessary to share how household bills were paid? Do we know whether or not the white student performed community service once and never went back to help communities? Were the white parents on their fourth or fifth marriage? All of these questions point to unnecessary information that stem from framing the narrative poorly.

Media framing is not suggesting the reporting of inaccurate information. It refers to bringing both parties into a positive or negative light. In our case, both athletes deserved a positive narrative frame – they won scholarships! Unbalanced narratives breed stereotypes that have the power to shape the minds of millions incorrectly.

Thank you, Soledad O’Brien, for shedding light on the importance of media framing. Being Black in America isn’t easy. We have to courageously fight for our truth. Yet we are thankful for additional champions like Ida B. Wells, Mary Ann Shadd, Carl Rowan, Lerone Bennett, Jr., Gwen Ifill, Ed Bradley, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, April Ryan, Clarence Page, Lester Holt, Deborah Roberts, Jonathan Capeheart, Tony Brown, Tamron Hall, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Gail King, Joy Reid, and Oprah Winfrey who fought and still fight for all of our stories.

Stay Tuned

PRSA Pittsburgh D&I Committee will be continuing the conversation with Fatou Barry of PR Girl Manifesto. She’s carrying the torch to make sure her community of over 40,000 PR professionals can use their ability to transform the industry and change the narrative, creating equitable and inclusive opportunities.

D&I Toolkit

PRSA Pittsburgh created a D&I Toolkit to assist local PR and communications professionals in developing relationships with diverse communities and committing to creating a future of equitable and inclusive opportunities for all in the region.

By Deanna Tomaselli and Catherine Clements
Young Professionals Co-Chairs

2021 continued to throw us twists as the pandemic continued, but that didn’t stop our Young Professionals Committee from providing valuable online content! Our “At Home With” series, hosted in our Young Professionals Facebook Group (of 300 members and growing!), took us on a journey all year, with interviews from some of the top communications professionals in the Pittsburgh region (and beyond). 

From how the American Red Cross grew their TikTok to nearly 800,000 followers – to how a young PR pro started her own agency – to how Sidney Crosby’s media relations representative handled his COVID-19 diagnosis – the interviews covered it all. Each discussion also provided insightful advice for those in the industry.

If you aren’t a member of our group already, join us and catch the replays at the links below.

• Drew Benvie, CEO & Founder of global agency Battenhall
• Chris Lovingood, Former anchor at WTAE-TV
• Jennifer Ridgley, Vice President, Media Relations at Pittsburgh Penguins
• Abby Pittinarro, Community Giving and Digital Marketing Manager, The Children’s Institute
• Nicole Bruno, Founder and Director of PR & Social Media for boutique agency, Bruno PR & Social
• Melissa Kelly, Strategic Media and Communications Planner at media and marketing agency, Hoffman Murtaugh
• Jessica Buckholtz, Senior Creative Specialist, Social Engagement at American Red Cross
• Josh Taylor, Sports Anchor and Reporter at KDKA-TV, Weekend Morning Sports Talk Radio Host at KDKA-FM, 93.7 “The Fan,” Play-by-Play Announcer and Color Analyst for Duquesne Men’s and Women’s Basketball on ESPN+ and for high school football on “The Pickle” 92.1 FM. 

by Kaidia Pickels
D&I Committee Member

As a native of Pittsburgh, the city of bridges, Sabrina Saunders-Mosby has spent the better part of her career helping others cross them.

She is the president and CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh, a nonprofit membership organization with the goal of attracting, retaining, and elevating a diversity of talent to boost the economic vitality of the Pittsburgh region. Saunders-Mosby’s’ personal goal is to make Pittsburgh a destination of choice for people of all backgrounds, and especially people of color.

“The champions in my life didn’t always look like me, and for the most part didn’t,” she observed. “Vibrant Pittsburgh is the third organization that I’ve led, and regardless of the champions and mentors I’ve had in my life, I’ve often been the only black woman in leadership teams.”

Part of Saunders-Mosby’s role is to act as an inclusion partner for Vibrant Pittsburgh’s member corporations and to showcase the talents and opinions of people from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented communities. In her role, she encourages member corporations to celebrate the seen and unseen achievements of diverse employees and works to recommend them for job opportunities, promotions, and board positions.

Vibrant Pittsburgh offers an extensive range of products, services, and resources for member corporations that aid them in enhancing their diversity of talent, including:

• Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Forum: A convening of D&I advocates and senior leaders from a range of industries around the region that offers a sense of place and space for the sharing of best practices, collaboration, and support in D&I work.
• Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) Council: A collective of employee business resource group leaders from a range of industries that supports organizations with affinity groups in all stages of their diversity journey
• Allegheny Allies: Launching soon, this group will function as Vibrant Pittsburgh’s own EBRG and also serves as a regional EBRG for small- and medium-sized companies that may not have the workforce size to dive deep into D&I work on their own.
• Next Generation Council: A space for young leaders and up-and-coming organizations to talk about how to attract and retain diverse talent in the region.
• Mentorship program: Vibrant Pittsburgh works to connect members with students from several local colleges who would benefit from mentorship in a wide range of industries or general professional development.
• Social activities: Vibrant Pittsburgh’s Newcomer events and Dine-Arounds bring together new and established executives from across the region for fun events and networking opportunities.

Noting that Pittsburgh in particular is one of the least diverse metropolitan areas in the US, Saunders-Mosby spoke on how our communities can help amplify diversity efforts. One way is to invest in a regional D&I strategy such as the Vibrant Index Report, which reviews current D&I efforts, identifies opportunities for greater impact, and shares what is already working with a larger audience.

“We measure what matters, and what matters gets done,” said Saunders-Mosby.

Already in its second year, the Vibrant Index Report this year called for a continued and renewed commitment to data gathering efforts. Its diagnostic tool is available to any regional business that wants to participate and is free, confidential, and results in a report that is provided back to the organization. This year’s report had nearly double the questions, and organizational participation increased by 56% from last year.

Saunders-Mosby also took questions from PRSA members that related to support diversity in the workplace. Here are some key takeaways:

• Companies can show allyship in a number of ways. While representation does matter, short-term and surface-level actions can come off as performative. Where things need to start is having genuine, authentic reflection on your company’s commitment to diverse talent — and ask plenty of questions.
• Companies looking to better support diverse employees, especially those with different faith traditions, should ask themselves if they are offering flexible time to their workers to allow them to observe holidays that are important to them, and also make efforts to educate other employees on how everyone can be more inclusive.
• More junior-level professionals may find it challenging to hold their seniors accountable to D&I practices. However, it’s powerful to ask questions and inquire whenever you can (in interviews, strategy conversations, and even performance evaluations) to check in on how your company’s commitments are going.

Lastly, Saunders-Mosby offered some tips specific to PR professionals for better engaging with diversity and inclusion:

• Relationships matter. Make genuine connections and continue to nurture them in order to build a bigger, more diverse network for yourself and those around you.
• Diversify your own network. Look around and ask yourself, “How diverse is it?”
• Educate yourself through discussions, research, and webinars (perhaps even like this one!)
• Ask yourself, “Is there a significant area of sameness that I gravitate to?” Then, challenge this.
• Surround yourself with different professionals from whom you can learn and who you can support and uplight in their professional journeys.

Interested in learning more? Visit http://vibrantpittsburgh.org/ to learn how you or your organization can get involved.