What Exactly is a Pr Personality

Brianna Myers

Last week in my first blog post for my PR Communications class I talked about how I was pretty sure that public relations was the right field for me. The classes challenged but excited me, people seemed to agree and writing has only become easier but then I started to think. What kind of personality does the typical PR professional have?

An article published in Your Coffee Break, a UK lifestyle magazine that’s focused on material geared towards the professional business woman, listed out traits of a successful public relations professional. In 10 traits of Talented Public Relations Pros the author listed out the most important qualities and why they were so important to this specific field of work:
1. “Be a strong communicator and relationship builder”
2. “Be a good writer”
3. “Be informed”
4. “Be detail oriented”
5. “Be comfortable with public speaking”
6. “Be good at multitasking”
7. “Be flexible”
8. “Have thick skin”
9. “Be patient”
10. “Don’t be a know-it-all”

All of these traits make complete sense and in my opinion, one should be way higher on the list. Not being a “know-it-all” should come right after being informed. In PR, working in teams is a big deal. It’s important to be able to communicate one’s ideas but also to be able to actually listen to somebody else’s. By being able to do that, it’s like constant growth and knowledge being absorbed every single day on the job which is honestly the best part about the job.

It wasn’t until around high school that I began to realize that being able to work with other people without over powering them but also being able to speak your own ideas was a quality trait that not everybody possessed. It should be common sense that communication is not a one-way street and that it takes active listening and talking for the end product to reach full potential.

Photo cred to theabbiagency.com

A Dash of Crow

Brianna Myers for Race, Gender, and The Media

In class on January 27 we talked about the controversy of the potential boycott of the Oscar's and the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
It's impossible to bring up this subject without also bringing up Stacey Dash.

Dash, in an interview with Fox News, said something along the lines of if Black people want to be nominated for Oscar's, they have to get rid of channels like BET and awards shows like the BET awards and the NAACP awards. Basically she's saying that black people would be offended if there were channels and shows that only honored one people. First, has she watched TV lately and second, many white people have been honored on BET.

I can't even put into words all the reasons why Stacey Dash is wrong for what she is saying, but luckily Roland Martin from TV One NewsOne Now did. In one of Martin's segments, he corrected he on the false statements she spoke in her interview. He mentioned America Ferrera, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as recipients of Image Awards(Award show hosted by the NAACP) and noticeably, they aren't black.

Dash's comments on FOX placed the blame on African Americans for the segregation and racial tensions in American. The act of contributing to organizations and companies that push for the recognition of colored people somehow justifies major award shows like the Oscars snubbing black actors and films that were actually major hits in the box offices this year.

Martin then pointed out the many magazine covers that Dash herself has been featured on; Magazines that are geared towards African Americans. After rattling off title after title, Martin finished his segment of demolishing her claims by saying, “The next time you embarrass yourself and you lie, please pull your phone out, pull your iPad and say, ‘Let me at least call a brother like Roland who might tell me before I go on, don’t make an ass out of yourself,’ looking like a damn fool.”

Martin’s video circulated the Black Twitter like fire. The overwhelming response was gratitude towards Martin and his willingness to call out Stacey Dash on her comments and exactly why she had no right to voice them.

So eat that Stacey Dash.

What in the World?

Brianna Myers

At the beginning of any semester, there's a little apprehension about the new classes on my schedule. This semester was no different. The funny thing is the classes in the Mayborn School of Journalism offer a little bit of comfort because I know the classmates I'm going to be interacting with throughout the semester, but the instant I walked into JOUR 4460, the vibe was different.

I'm very confident in my choice to study public relations. Every single class that I have taken in this field up to now just confirms that this was the right decision for me. It's very satisfying knowing that my college experience has not been wasted up until now. Excitement is a frequent emotion that I get while turning in assignments.

I came across this article on Buzzfeed and it’s actually funny how relatable it was. I even took a Career Aptitude test and public relations specialist was one of the careers I received along with sales and sports agent and others. My love for working in teams and problem solving helps me find joy in this major.

The first class meeting of Public Relations Communication was eventful to say the least. The other juniors and I were unsure of how to answer our professor’s question as to why there were so many juniors in the class. When Professor Samra Bufkins looked confused and explained that this class was designed to be taken after all other journalism courses at UNT, I don’t think any of knew how to respond. I’m not really sure how all of us got advised to take this course at this particular time in our collegiate career but we’re here now and we’re just going to have to power through.

It is comforting knowing that there are others in this class going through the same situation as me. Throughout our first meeting, I could sense that my professor was hopeful of our potential to succeed but also nervous for us to see how we are going to handle the workload. On the other hand, I felt as though the seniors in the class were not AS welcoming. Certain comments on social media were not exactly encouraging. Not that it’s my classmates’ job to be encouraging and maybe it’s just me but if anything there was no need to have a comment. We are fully aware of the challenge that we are taking on this semester.

I am relying on my love for my major and my passion to succeed. It may be difficult at times but I’m not known as a quitter and I’ll be in office hours every week if that’s what it takes. I’m ready.


Photo from memegenerator.net