J352: Strategic Writing and Relations

The Assignment: “Use research and your understanding of news values and strategic
messaging to develop a mini media kit for your client. The idea behind this media kit
is to have a packet of information that gives reporters all the information they might
need to write a story. The goal of the media kit is to successfully attract a reporter to
cover the story.” This project included an informative news release and a persuasive pitch email.

The Rundown: For this assignment, I chose St. Vincent de Paul as my client. St. Vincent is known for its thrift stores, but is also nonprofit organization that contributes various social work for communities. I wanted to focus on one of St. Vincent’s seasonal service, the Egan Warming Center. This provides warmth, shelter and supplies for those who are houseless. The news release provides a call to action regarding the need of more volunteers and donors. The pitch email required extensive research via MuckRack. The theoretical email is to a real journalist, and I explain why Mr. Duvernay is the perfect candidate to cover this topic.

The News Release:

Pitch Email: