A PR manager must be knowledgeable about his job. This explains the need to maintain archives of important information, which are called press dossiers or media dossiers.
PR manager archive
A press dossier is collected for all important news stories, persons and events that directly or indirectly affect the reputation of the organization.
It is optimal to keep separate filing cabinets according to:
- regular and one-time events: exhibitions, seminars, round tables, meetings and business dinners;
- key persons, opinion leaders, allies of the organization's position and its opponents;
- topics regularly covered by the PR-service. It is important to collect not only the organization's own materials, but also public reaction, editorial materials, expert comments, etc.
- industry media and journalists.
A press dossier, like any archive, should be a dynamic information base in which information is regularly updated and fresh information is painstakingly collected.
Collection technique
On the technical side, the press dossier can be printed or electronic. Most often, to minimize the work on the press dossier, it is permissible to have both complementary versions of the archive.
The press dossier includes publications in the media, PR-service's own materials. For persons, biographies, photos, personal data (with the person's permission), personal contact details and phones of assistants are used. It is important to compile the press dossier for the events from the programs of the event, resolutions, handouts of participants and contacts of the organizers.
A special place in the press dossier is occupied by information about the media and journalists. A PR-specialist must draw up a detailed description of each specialized media outlet, regardless of whether the organization is currently interacting with the editorial office or not. The raw data should include information about circulation (if it is a print publication), attendance (for Internet resources), information about the founders, the CEO, the editor, and industry journalists.
The dates of birth of all media partners, regardless of what position they occupy in the editorial hierarchy, will never be superfluous. An ordinary employee and the head of a media corporation will be equally pleased if the PR-service of a friendly organization congratulates them with a small postcard or a lush bouquet of flowers. It is better to reduce information about journalists to the sphere of information competence of the organization. If the PR service has prepared and handed over to the correspondent an analyst on the organization for the preparation of the material, you should leave a mark about this in the press dossier. This will make it easier to know the starting point of awareness among colleagues with repeated contact.
The filling of the press dossier is directly related to the extent to which the PR-service carefully analyzes the media. As soon as a new article appears on a topic close to the activities of the PR-manager's organization, it must be included in the press dossier. You should also do with video stories, author's columns, records of authoritative bloggers, and other information.
Access to press dossier
If a press dossier is formed over a long period of time, then quite often, in addition to information from open sources, a so-called insider appears in it. Insider information is usually called information received from unofficial sources that have not yet been publicly confirmed. Official representatives of organizations can keep such information in the “no comment” status for a long time, therefore, once in the press dossier, the PR manager must remember the need to restrict access to the archive for third parties.
Another incentive to restrict access to press dossiers is personal data, which is often supplemented with information about persons. It is important to remember this when contacting other employees of the organization, PR specialists of other organizations and other interested parties. The press dossier is developed primarily for the internal use of the organization.
This also explains the need to install additional security systems to prevent information leakage. It is important to collect paper materials in folders, access to which should be strictly limited. Electronic databases should be available to employees of the PR department, upon request - to the management of the organization, but closed to a wide range of corporate information.
