Public Relations . Media Relations . Freelance Writing

It was an honor to hear my name called out as first place winner in magazine writing, serious feature category at the 2009 Idaho Press Club Awards. One reason I was so pleased was because I received the award for my story, “Memories of Minidoka – Revisiting Idaho’s Japanese Interment Camp,” which I had written for Sun Valley Magazine (you can read it online at www.sunvalleymag.com/Sun-Valley-Magazine/Winter-2010/Memories-of-Minidoka/). For me, writing that story was an amazing experience. I spent a whole weekend with many of the Japanese-Americans who had been interned at the Minidoka Camp during WWI. Many of them were in their 70s and 80s. Together we went on a pilgrimage back to the historical site of the former camp, where they recalled memories of living behind barbed wire and guards with machine guns, how they were forced to live in near squalor, how their families lost everything they owned, and how they had long ago forgiven those who had wrongly imprisoned them. The pilgrimage is organized every summer by the Friends of Minidoka (www.minidoka.org). It was a moving, emotional and important experience and for anyone interested in this part of history, I would encourage you to be a part of this summer’s pilgrimage, June  25-27.

This was the seventh Idaho Press Club Award I have won over the past few years. All of them mean a lot, as they acknowledge the quality of my work. But for me, seeing the story of Minidoka recognized was very special.

April 21st, 2010
Tags: Idaho Press Club, Japanese internment camp, Minidoka, Patti Murphy, Sun Valley Magazine
Posted in Agency news, News
Posted by Patti

Murphy Media Services owner Patti Murphy received two Excellence Awards from the Idaho Press Club on May 2 in recognition of her freelance writing and her media campaign and public relations work on behalf of her client.

Murphy received an award for the Media Campaign she developed for the National Diving Dog Tour sponsored by Oust and Purina. Murphy partnered with FusionSet, Inc., another Boise, Idaho marketing agency, on the program which was designed to gain media and community awareness of a nationwide traveling Diving Dog competition during the Summer of 2008.

Murphy also received an award in the category Magazine Writing-Light Feature, for her article, “The Elegant Barn,” which she wrote for Sun Valley Home Magazine. The judge, commenting on Murphy’s article, wrote, “The opening of this story set up the rest of it beautifully, not an easy feat to accomplish when writing about anonymous owners.”

Previously, Murphy won the 2005 First Place award for Crime and Courts Reporting for Weekly Newspapers for her reporting on a double murder trial. In 2004 she won a Second Place award for Media Campaigns; a Second Place award for Script Writing; and Third Place for News Release Writing. To see a complete list of 2008 award winners, visit the Idaho Press Club.

May 2nd, 2009
Tags: Idaho Press Club, Murphy Media Services, Patti Murphy, writing awards
Posted in Agency news, News
Posted by Patti

When I got my first job in public relations in 1981, it was industry standard to get in a car, drive all over town and hand-deliver news releases to the reporters on our media list (guess who got to do it?). Time consuming, yes. But it was important to have that personal, face-to-face interaction between us PR “flacks” and the media “hacks.” We also mailed our releases, and after giving the U.S. Postal Service a few days to deliver them, we’d follow up with a phone call to maintain that personal connection with reporters and chat about our story ideas. In the late 80s and early 90s the fax machine became the new, fast way to deliver our media information. With a touch of a button, swoosh! a fax could be blasted to everyone on our list in a matter of minutes. No more stuffing envelopes or driving around looking for a parking space. Then came e-mail and sending out a news release was instantaneous, although in those early days, many news organizations had somewhat unreliable e-mail programs and our our releases often got sucked into their spam mail. But, this wasn’t so bad because it gave PR folks a good reason to continue making follow up calls (“Hi, I was just calling to see if you received the news release we e-mailed you”) to maintain a personal connection. Even if it wasn’t face-to-face, it was still voice-to-voice.

My point? No matter how technology has changed, it has always been important for PR professionals to figure out the most efficient way to connect with their counterparts in the media and get information into their hands. Today, with newsrooms growing leaner, media migrating online, and news being delivered and received by way of blogs, social networking sites, text messages, and yes, news releases, finding the right connection becomes an art, if not a science.

“Hacks and Flacks in Transition,” is an event being hosted by the Southwest Chapter of the Idaho Press Club to discuss how PR professionals can work better with journalists in this new era of news.  As newsrooms shrink and the dynamics of the news industry change, the working relationship between journalists and PR practitioners has a potential for being impacted, either positively or negatively.

The event is open to the public and even people who don’t work in PR or journalism might find it interesting.

Panelists: John Miller, Associated Press; Brad Talbutt, reporter, Idaho Statesman; Rachael Daigle, editor, Boise Weekly; Lisa Chavez, managing editor, KTVB News Group; George Prentice, morning show host, NPR.

Moderator: Marc Johnson, president, Gallatin Public Affairs

When: 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008

Where: Water Cooler, 1401 W. Idaho

Cost: $8.00 Press Club members and students, $12.00 non-members

RSVP to the Idaho Press Club, (208) 389-2879 or idpc [at] mindspring [dot] com

November 30th, 2008
Tags: Idaho Press Club, media, Murphy Media Services, public relations
Posted in Industry news, News
Posted by Patti