PR Brief: Society of

Professional
Journalist
TO PRESIDENT: CAITLYN WALZER

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT IS TO GATHER ORGANIZED INFORMATION ABOUT THE
ORGANIZATION THAT WILL AID IN THE EFFORTS OF CREATING PROMONATIAL STRATAGIES THAT WILL
BENEFIT THE CAMPAGIN OBJECTIVES.

FROM: MCOM 471 (GROUP 1) DATE: JANUARY 31ST 2018

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary (p.3)

Client Background (p.4)

Objectives (p.4)

Strategic Focus (p.5)

Challenges (p.5)

Target Audience (p.5)

Role of PR (p.6)

Key Messages and Positioning (p.6)

Web Address (p.6)

Measurement of Success (p.7)

Timeline (p.7)

Budget (p.7)

Recommendations to the Department of Mass Communication (p.8)

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Executive Summary

With nearly 300 chapters nationwide, The Society of Professional Journalist(SPJ) is the

oldest organization for professional journalism. The mission of SPJ is to promote and defend the

First Amendment which guarantees the freedom of speech and of the press while encouraging

high diversity, professionalism, and ethical standards in journalism. SPJ collaborates with

industry professionals to bring programing to local areas. Our chapter here at Winthrop

University, is currently headed by Caitlyn Walzer who serves as the chapter president and Dr.

Guy Reel who serves as the faculty advisor. This semester, the chapter meets the last Tuesday of

every month at common time to conduct business. It is open to all students of every major, both

paid and unpaid members.

The objectives of the campaign are to establish the university chapter of SPJ on a local

and national level. This means bringing in not only more students overall, but also students who

are willing to invest in the organization. In order to approach our objectives, the strategy is to

promote not only the benefits of joining an organization in college but the history and benefits of

specifically joining SPJ. By creating diverse promotion material with key messages and

promoting on a strict timeline the success of this campaign will be measured by the achievement

of our objectives. Beyond the organizations current challenges of a lack of support, SPJ has a lot

of potential to grow on campus and compete against other organizations within the mass

communications department.

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Client Background

Formally known as Sigma Delta Chi, a men’s professional fraternity, The Society of

Professional Journalists(SPJ) is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United

States. It was established at DePauw University on April 17, 1909. The mission of SPJ is to

promote and defend the First Amendment which guarantees the freedom of speech and of the

press. They also encourage high diversity, professionalism, and ethical standards in journalism.

With nearly 300 chapters across the United States, SPJ collaborates with other media

professionals to bring programing to local areas.

At Winthrop University, The Society of Professional Journalist is currently headed by

Caitlyn Walzer who serves as the chapter president and Dr. Guy Reel who serves as the faculty

advisor. In the past they have held events such as ‘World of News in the Age of Fake News.’

This semester, the chapter meets the last Tuesday of every month at common time to conduct

business.

Objectives

1. To use promotional material to successfully establish the Winthrop University chapter of

SPJ as a recognized journalism organization by MCOM students on campus.

2. To create material that will promote the mission and goals of the SPJ chapter.

3. To build relationships with other like organizations either in the MCOM department or in

another part of campus.

4. To generate a group of students willing to invest in the mission and goals of SPJ

5. To produce media coverage on the current success of SPJ and its future potential.

6. To bring in the opportunity of networking for SPJ with local professionals in the Rock

Hill and Charlotte area.

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Strategic Focus

The focus of this campaign is to promote who SPJ currently is on campus and use that

interest to generate students across the communications department. SPJ offers students the

opportunity to explore journalism from a professional viewpoint which allows them to stand out

among other similar organizations on campus. The focus areas for this campaign is

communicating the mission of SPJ and how the benefits of joining will impact a student’s career

post-graduation.

Challenges

Some of the challenges that face the university chapter of SPJ is the fact that it is not

nationally recognized. This is difficult because it keeps the chapter from using the national logo

on promotional material such as flyers and social networking sites. Overall this could make it

difficult for the chapter to be recognized by interested students that happen to be looking out for

a recognizable symbol of the organization. Another challenge that the chapter faces is the

amount of students willing to invest in a membership to the organization. Currently the chapter

only has three financial members and in order for the chapter to be nationally recognized, there

needs to be over ten. This is a problem because there are no benefits which differentiate the non-

financial members from the financial members or, there is a lack of promotion of the benefits in

which financial members would receive for having a paid membership.

Target Audience

The target audience for this campaign is specifically students at Winthrop University in

the communications department with an interest in journalism. In addition, we hope to reach out

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to the freshmen and sophomores who will continue to run the chapter when seniors have

graduated. While the target audience is students in the MCOM department, students from other

fields are welcomed as well.

Role of PR

The role of PR in this campaign is to create diverse promotional material for SPJ to

utilize in reaching the campaign objectives. The promotional material will promote the chapter’s

mission a purpose on campus along with providing helpful information to prospective students

about how to join the organization.

Key Messages & Positioning

1. Looks good on a resume.

2. Improves networking and connections

3. Join today!

The position that we would like to place SPJ in is one that demonstrates to students that

the organization is beneficial for post-graduation endeavors and allows the students to really

establish connections with industry professionals compared to other organizations. Along

with that the goal is to promote the importance of joining quickly in order for the students to

begin receiving the benefits of the organization.

Web Address

National Website: https://www.spj.org

Winthrop Chapter Email: winthropspj@gmail.com

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 Instagram: @winthrop_spj

Facebook: Society of Professional Journalist Winthrop

Measurement of Success

The measurement of success will be based on the the quantitative number of students that

join the organization due to promotion efforts. This can specifically be measured by a survey of

new students that join SPJ and how they received information about the organization. By gaining

an understanding of how they learned about the organization, we can measure the success of

each of the promotion materials.

We will know the campaign was successful when:

1. Each promotion material was completed and promoted on time.

2. Students find an interest and join SPJ.

3. Students are willing to invest in a membership for SPJ.

4. Retention is strong and students continue going to SPJ meetings.

Timeline

Bulletin Board: January 28th - February 23rd

Social Media Event: February 19th – 23rd

Radio Advertisement: Radio ad will run 3 times a day Monday – Friday (10:00am,

3:00pm and 7:00pm)

Budget

There is no defined budget for this campaign. Resources will be allocated by the Winthrop

University department of Mass Communication.

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Recommendations to the Department of Mass Communication

Research

Article I.

Title: Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of

First-Year and Senior College Students.

Source: NASPA Journal, vol. 43, no. 1

Date: October, 2006

Author: John D. Foubert and Laurn U. Grainge

Summary: A study done in 2006 by John D. Foubert and Laurn U. Grainge shows that

students who join clubs and organizations developed interdependence and clarified their purpose,

while uninvolved students had lower developmental scores. The study also specified that

students to held a leadership position showed more development than students who only attended

a meeting.

Article II.

Title: Relationship between Undergraduate Student Activity and Academic Performance.

Source: Purdue University e-Pubs

Date: April, 2010

Author: Amy L. Hawkins

Summary: A more recent study conducted by Amy Hawkins in 2010, shows that there is a

significant correlation between the GPA of those who are involved in organizations on campus

against those who are uninvolved. Also there is correlation between the GPA of students who

hold officer positons verses those who are just a regular member in the organization. However,

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there was a weak negative correlation between the number of organizations a student is involved

in verses the GPA the student earns for the term.

It is our recommendation to the department of mass communication that students will

find it more important to join clubs and organizations when they understand how their

involvement will benefit them in the future. Students who have an adequate understanding of the

benefits of joining an organization will be more willing to get involved especially due to the

immediate gratification as well as the long-term benefits. Not only will joining an organization

like SPJ give mass communication students the opportunities they need to succeed in the

industry but they will also gain leadership skills and interpersonal dependency that will

contribute to their overall success in college. It would be best that the department utilize this

information and pass it to the students. Also, possibly increase the margin of benefits by creating

an award for students involved in organizations outside of academics.

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 Works Cited

Foubert, John D., and Lauren U. Grainger. “Effects of Involvement in Clubs and Organizations

on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College Students.” NASPA

Journal, vol. 43, no. 1, Oct. 2006, doi:10.2202/0027-6014.1578.

Hawkins, Amy L. Relationship between Undergraduate Student Activity and Academic

Performance.

docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1

&article=1013&context=techdirproj.

“Society of Professional Journalists - Improving and Protecting Journalism since 1909.” Society

of Professional Journalists - Improving and Protecting Journalism since 1909,

www.spj.org/.

University, Winthrop. “Mass Communication.” Department of Mass Communication -

Professional Associations, www.winthrop.edu/cas/masscomm/default.aspx?id=19670.

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