 |
| DIVIDS phot by SN Christopher Bokum (USCG) |
We will also touch on sticking to the facts while you
serve as a military communicator – because, while serving in this career field
in the armed forces, you will never be sharing personal opinions. Your sole job
is to provide the public with facts. You are not on social media to become an
influencer. You are not posting content for the sole purpose of trying to go
viral. You are providing the military community, the general public, and the
news media with information on your branch’s mission or current affairs. That
is it.
So, while you may feel the urge to make content that is
designed to persuade people as a military communicator, that does not mean you
cannot make unique and creative content.
You can be personable
and have public affairs success in the military. This can be seen in creating
fun and exciting content. If you are in the Coast Guard, this could be showcasing
the search and rescue helicopters to the public. If you are in the Air Force,
maybe make a video that shows test flights. If you are in the Navy, maybe film
the Blue Angles. Army folks can show their infantry training. Whatever the case
may be – show the public what we do on a daily basis and remind them that we are
here for them just by doing our jobs.
While you won’t be editorializing as a military communicator,
it will still be useful to think like a journalist for this career field. We
are looking to tell stories and share hard facts to the media. That is the journalistic
mind you should have. And while you may not have enough time while working in
public affairs to write narratives and “chase” stories, your typical day job at
a public affairs detachment will typically involve writing press releases based
off information handed down to you from higher ups (aka officers or high-level
enlisted personal). These data sheets may also include quotes from higher-ups
who are directly involved in the matter.
Now, lets look at six ways
public relations professionals can think like journalists:
1. - Don’t
sell but be a story teller
2. - Find
what is newsworthy
3. - Know
your audience
4. - Research
and verify
5. - Strategically
structure your writing
6. - Mind
the details
As a military communicator in the realm of public
affairs, these six tips are your bread and butter. You must abide by these to be
successful in this career field because they will only keep you focused and
avoid editorializing. Your goal is to provide information to the military community
and the public. That is your audience and they are also your goal. You are working
to keep them up-to-date on what the military is doing or what your specific
unit is up to. That could be as simple as informing the public that a local public
event is taking place on base. Or, it could be more complicated, such as a
search and rescue case or a deployment during war.
This is where social media comes into play for military
members. While I said earlier that social media can be a touchy subject for military
communicators, that does not mean you cannot have fun with it. Create and post
creative and fun content. That is part of your job! Use Instagram Reels to post
fun stories. Use Facebook Stories. Use YouTube Shorts. There are so many fun
ways to use social media today to connect with your target audience.
But there are also plenty of ways in which social media
can hurt your organization. While we are not in the business of making
money as military communicators, we are in the business of sharing facts and (nowadays)
becoming recruiters to help solve the recruitment crisis in this country.
We can hurt the military image and its credibility if
we start to editorialize. We are not in the business of politics. We are not
here to win anyone over. I cannot stress this enough – we stick to the facts.
That is it! You will learn all of this at the Defense Information School in Fort
Meade, MD should you decide to join the military and become a military communicator.
They will also embed this in your brain!
To help prevent editorializing, stick to posting that
revolves around the command messaging for your unit – which is the messaging
that encompasses your local military unit from the highest-ranking officers
there. There are three key command messaging goals you must reach while serving
as a military communicator:
1. - Keeping
the audience informed about what is going on in the organization and the
organization’s goals
2. - Informs
the internal audience of significant developments affecting them and the organization
3. - It
increases the troops and family members; effectiveness as ambassadors of the organization
There are two types of information you will be
handling and will be responsible for. One is called command information, which
is similar to command messaging, and the other is public information. Command
information always targets your internal audience, which consists of military
members and government employees. Public information concerns information for
external audiences, like civilians.
These are the pieces of information and the audience members
you must consider whenever you write a press release or create a piece of content
for social media. Whatever content you create, make sure that it touches back
to the command messaging. Your superiors will always review your work. If you
are not touching on the command messaging, they will return your work back to
you. It has happened to me personally where I have seen co-workers in the Coast
Guard create content that did not abide by command messaging.
It will happen. But, we have our own editors in our
supervisors that know policy for your branch and local unit. They will be
reviewing your work before it ever goes out to the news media. That is a
encouraging thought.
One day, it might e you editing someone’s press
release. One day, it could be you creating a command message that military
communicators create content around.
Comments
Post a Comment