Integrated Strategic Communication: COMM 306
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Write a strategic communication story for the Knight School of Communication website carousel, or one of the other web carousels on the greater Queens website. Previously in this class, we have authored press releases. This is another type of strategic writing – a story release. Story releases are becoming more popular as strategic communicators are publishing their own stories on web-based platforms. If you’ve taken a news writing class or read about them in our book, you may also have heard this discussed as a feature story.

Your story release should be targeted for the Knight School of Communication. It should include all the major elements of the story (a headline, byline, lede, perfect grammar,nourishing quotes, no puffery or jargon, newsworthiness, etc.) You should also include a photo or image for the banner. The photo or image must have been created or designed by you. The dimensions for the image are 6 inches (horizontal) by 3 inches (vertical).

All stories will be submitted to the university web designer for web publication. Stories will be assessed as lab 10; however, stories that are selected for publication by the school will receive full credit for this assignment.

Keep in mind that, for a story to be published, the story must be interesting and well-written, the story must capture all the pertinent facts, the story must be newsworthy, and the media ideas have to be complete and camera-ready.

Here are some examples of successful stories published on the university website:

My Digital Life
To Tweet or Not to Tweet
Putting New Skills to Work
Persuasion and Donation
Diana, Queen of the Inanimate Twitterverse

Submitting the Lab

Upload your story and photo/media element to your website in a post titled “Lab 10: Strategic Story Design.” Be sure your piece includes the story, a media element, and a 2-line author bio.