As graduation approaches for countless public relations students across the country, including our esteemed managing editor, many aspiring professionals will be entering into PR internships and entry-level positions, both in agencies and in-house. That being said, I would like to address, and debunk, several myths surrounding one of the primary responsibilities which is frequently off-loaded to entry-level practitioners, regardless of industry or media focus: the editorial calendar.

Even in today’s sophisticated PR programs, many driven by online strategies and new media vehicles, editorial calendar research and follow-up persists as a basic staple of corporate communications programs, particularly in agency environments. This baffles me, especially since editorial calendar (ed cal) monitoring is generally considered to be an outdated, “old school” means of generating media coverage by many of the industry’s luminaries. So why do editorial calendars still live in the PR consciousness? It is difficult to pinpoint all of the reasons, but I can point to the following reasons:

Myth #1: Editorial calendars are static. Once they are set by the publisher for the year, they never change.
Reality: Not even close. Ed cals change all the time. That means opportunities which look promising for a client one week may not be around the next. If you are stuck with the ed cal monitoring task, you will have to conduct twice the amount of follow-up with the reporter or editor in question to determine what the publication is really planning as far as editorial coverage for a given issue.

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Last night, I watched ABC’s movie about avian flu. Other than a few unnecessarily sensationalized scenes of bodies in mass graves, and some B-grade acting, I thought it was a fairly accurate portrayal of an absolute worst-case scenario.

If this is your first real introduction to bird flu, keep in mind that this is sweeps week, and ABC has undoubtedly exaggerated many key elements (as any profitable TV network will) for a little ratings boost. I won’t go into detail here, as I do not claim to be any sort of expert in epidemiology or medicine, but PandemicFlu.gov is a fantastic resource everyone should pay attention to.

I’ve recently been working with both a global company, as well as a small municipality, on their crisis communications plans surrounding a pandemic. In both cases, risk communication has been a major part of our council. Effective risk communication before a crisis hits helps to ensure that your most important stakeholders (in these cases, citizens and employees) don’t have to completely rely on you off-the-bat when a crisis occurs. If you can calmly educate the public on how to handle themselves and their families during the critical 24 hours when emergency plans are being implemented, you will be able to better serve them in the immediate aftermath. Some of the most important things about communication in a public health emergency coincide with some of the most important things about communication during any emergency:

• Pick a few (more than one, but don’t get crazy) trustworthy spokespeople and switch them out to prevent fatigue
• Have planned, clear, consistent messaging
• Find third-parties to validate your messaging
• Be open and honest
• Confirm facts; refute rumors
• Communicate as much information as possible to the media. Often.
• Never tell people “don’t worry” - address their fears head on
• Show complete confidence and expertise
• Stay committed to your goal of calm, accurate information dissemination

This post was originally published at Josh’s blog, Corporate PR Blog.

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