Careers in Communication

Public relations specialist- handle organizational functions, such as media, community, consumer, industry, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; and employee and investor relations. Public relations specialists must understand the attitudes and concerns of community, consumer, employee, and public interest groups to establish and maintain cooperative relationships between them and representatives from print and broadcast journalism. Opportunities should be best for college graduates who combine a degree in journalism, public relations, or another communications-related field with a public relations internship or other related work experience. Applicants who do not have the appropriate educational background or work experience will face the toughest obstacles. Salary ranges between $38,400 and $71,670.

Broadcasting- The broadcasting industry consists of radio and television stations and networks that create content or acquire the right to broadcast prerecorded television and radio programs. Networks transmit their signals from broadcasting studios via satellite signals to local stations or cable distributors. Broadcast signals then travel over cable television lines, satellite distribution systems, or the airwaves from a station's transmission tower to the antennas of televisions and radios. Anyone in the signal area with a radio or television can receive the programming. Cable and other pay television distributors provide television broadcasts to most Americans. Although cable television stations and networks are included in this statement, cable and other pay television distributors are classified in the telecommunications industry.
Professional, management, and sales occupations generally require a college degree; technical occupations often do not. It is easier to obtain employment and gain promotions with a degree, especially in larger, more competitive markets. Advanced schooling usually is required for supervisory positions—including technical occupations—having greater responsibility and higher salaries. Salaries range from $11.89/hour to $46.94/hour


Copy writers- prepare advertising copy for use in publications or for broadcasting and they write other materials to promote the sale of a good or service. They often must work with the client to produce advertising themes or slogans and may be involved in the marketing of the product or service. Training and experience for writer jobs can be obtained by working on high school and college newspapers, community newspapers, and radio and television stations and submissions to literary magazines. Salaries can range from $53,000 to $75,000

Graphic Designers- plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They find the most effective way to get messages across in print and electronic media using color, type, illustration, photography, animation, and various print and layout techniques. Graphic designers develop the overall layout and production design of magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports, and other publications. They also produce promotional displays, packaging, and marketing brochures for products and services, design distinctive logos for products and businesses, and develop signs and signage systems—called environmental graphics—for business and government. An increasing number of graphic designers also develop material for Internet Web pages, interactive media, and multimedia projects. Graphic designers also may produce the credits that appear before and after television programs and movies.

Ways to Communicate Ethically

To ensure ethical communication you should follow these guidelines:

1. Consider others well being
2. Think of yourself as a member of community
3. Obey and do not depend on the law.
4. Think of yourself and your organization as part of society
5. Obey moral guidelines
6. Think objectively to be sure your action is truly ethical
7. Ask questions whether or not someone would do such actions
8. Respect others customers-but not at the expense of your own ethics.
(Roebuck,p. 421)

Here is an example of an ethical communication and a unethical communication:



Ethical issues arising from internal and industry practices - examples

• Treatment of customers - e.g. honouring the spirit as well as the letter of the law in respect to warranties and after sales service
• The number and proportion of women and ethnic minority people in senior positions
• The organisation’s loyalty to employees when it is in difficult economic conditions
• Employment of disabled people
• Working conditions and treatment of workers
• Bribes to secure contracts
• Child labour in the developing world

Business practices of supply firms


Unethical practices in marketing - examples

• Pricing lack of clarity in pricing
• Dumping – selling at a loss to increase market share and destroy competition in order to subsequently raise prices
• Price fixing cartels
• Encouraging people to claim prizes when they phoning premium rate numbers
• “Bait and switch” selling - attracting customers and then subjecting them to high pressure selling techniques to switch to an more expensive alternative
• High pressure selling - especially in relation to groups such as the elderly
• Counterfeit goods and brand piracy
• Copying the style of packaging in an attempt to mislead consumers
• Deceptive advertising
• Irresponsible issue of credit cards and the irresponsible raising of credit limits
• Unethical practices in market research and competitor intelligence
  

Delivering Bad News

Delivering Bad News


As a manager, I would first to collect all the information on this certain employee and make sure that I have all documents that have shown that he has been performing at a substandard level. If all documentation has proven that he has been substandard, I would take action to help prove his standards. I would call him into my office and I would sit him down and tell him why he or she has been called to my office. I am sure he or she would be defensive but I would make sure he or she sees the documents that prove that he or she has performed to a substandard level.

After all of the documents have been discussed with the employee, I would then give the employee a chance to tell his side of the story and I will listen to see if he or she has a legitimate argument against the bad documents that has been processed against him or her. After the employee has stated his concerns, I would send him off to continue his or her work for the day. I would call in all co-workers that have complained about the certain employee and I would get their input on the situation. I would also call all customers that had problems with this certain employee and hear their stories about this employee. After all parties have told their stories, I then would take action.

This is a process and I want to make sure that I have heard all parties before I made a decision on this employee. Firing an employee is a big decision because it affects the person’s life in many ways. If all of the information that I received from all parties were proof that the employee was performing at a bad standard and was hurting the company, I would have to fire him on the spot, but in most cases like this all parties should have different opinions on certain employees. Since I am a nice person and I have a warm heart when it comes to situations like this, I would call the employee back into my office the next day and I would give the employee another chance to prove him or herself to me. I will give him or her 30 days to prove to me that they are a asset to the company. If I receive the same feedback from all parties involved after 30 days then I will have no other choice to let them go at that time.

Forms of Media Technology

Mass media are media, which can be used to communicate and interact with a large number of audiences. Be it the pictorial messages of the early ages, or the high-technology media that are available today, one thing that we all agree upon, is that mass media are an inseparable part of our lives. Entertainment and media always go hand in hand, but in addition to the entertainment, mass media also remain to be an effective medium for communication, dissemination of information, advertising, marketing and in general, for expressing and sharing views, opinions and ideas. Mass media is a double-edged sword which means that there are positive effects of media as well as negative influences of media. Here are some of the different types of mass media:

Print Media: The print media includes newspapers, magazines, brochures, newsletters, books and even leaflets and pamphlets. Visual media like photography can also be mentioned under this sub-head, since photography is an important mass media, which communicates via visual representations. Although, it is said that the electronic or new media have replaced the print media, there exists a majority of audiences who prefer the print media for various communication purposes. Public speaking and event organizing can also be considered as a form of mass media.


New-age Media: With the advent of new technologies like Internet, we are now enjoying the benefits of high technology mass media, which is not only faster than the old-school mass media, but also has a widespread range. Mobile phones, computers and Internet are often referred to as the new-age media. Internet has opened up several new opportunities for mass communication which include email, websites, blogging, Internet tv and many other mass media which are booming today.

Electronic Media: For many people, it is impossible to imagine a life without their television sets, be it the daily news dose or even the soap operas. This mass media includes television and radio. This category also includes electronic media like movies, CDs and DVDs as well as the new hottest electronic gadgets.

Cell phones- People use cell phones to talk to other people and they use it to text messages to people as well. Many of us today have cell phones. Cell phones today are probably the biggest new media that adults use.

Georgia Bulldogs vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

This week we play Vandy at home and how are we going to fare without Caleb King in the game? What is wrong with these players, don't they know they have to show up for court? The defense needs to be tough this week and A.J Green and Murray have to connect for Georgia to have a good day for the Dawgs to come out on top.

Any predictions out there? Love to hear from you Dawg fans.