As an amateur to the industry, I had to ensure that my commentary on the industry through my blogposts on change management, crisis management, and public relations carried weight. They had to relate to newcomers (such as myself), but not to the extent of being entry-level, and dissuade initiated readers (such as Craig). It was a tough hurdle to overcome, but no one said anything about having to jump over it! This was an excellent opportunity for me to be learned about the industry and wrestle with the unfamiliarity, as well as to develop a platform to express my viewpoints.
Fortunately, there was plenty of help to be found online! I needed to have an understanding on what the industry represented, and hence I tagged (kudos if you get the reference) any articles which I found were interesting, and I could develop in my own language. The ideas from their literature were blitzed with my thoughts of the article, as well as those from other reading materials – the (near) perfect tag team for a blogpost on the subject matter.
Of course, when referencing ideas from a thought leader, there must be surgical precision in making sure that their insight is not taken out of context. If they used a red apple as part of an example, I can’t go ahead and deduce that it’s a Bible reference, and suggest the Devil and sin as the underlying themes in his/her message! Instead, read up on other pieces of work by the same author, or discussions on the topic by other authors. Integrate your own ideas, but don’t lose track of the primary content.
Credit your sources. Not much to be said here. Plagiarism comes from ‘plagiarius’, which means kidnapper in Latin. Yes, by not giving due credit to thought leaders whom you got your inspiration from, you are stealing their ideas and attempting to pass them off as being your own. There might be times where only minor bits and parts of my blogpost are referencing an article written by someone else – the key point is not how much of the article contains content of an author, but whether or not those ideas were inspired by another. Always give due credit. Always.
Content delivery from a position of minimal knowledge was a challenge, but it is a sense of the unknown which I have managed to overcome. It was, and still is, a great opportunity for me to learn more about the industry. Through reading on the works of others, I have the chance to create my own commentary, either in highlighting the relevancy of specific topics or in reframing perspectives to target a more general audience. I’m also getting paid for it, which is a nice bonus.
Image Source:
(1) reddit.com
(2) bizarrocomics.com
(3) commons.wikimedia.org
(4) quoteaddicts.com
Benjamin is a student of International Relations at the University of Nottingham, currently exploring unchartered realms of the Public Relations field for a voluntary internship. Writing is clearly his interest – a decisive contributor to his foray into the public relations industry. To date, he boasts the proud record of having tamed one of the office cats, and drinking expired tea from the pantry.
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