MBA Written Communication Assessment

Name:

Written Communication Grading Rubric

Written Communication Assessment Instructions:

You are the Media Relations Coordinator for a community-based hospital, which supports several rural health clinics dispersed around the county in which you operate. The population served by the hospital and clinic system is generally referred to specialists in larger, urban areas that are in excess of 75 miles away from your location. Because of the small rural area of operation, the hospital and clinics are limited to basic pediatric and family medicine offices, laboratory services and an emergency room function. Thus, it is quite common for physicians to refer patients to larger areas, where specialized services can be offered based on patients’ needs. Since many patients already travel out of the locale for healthcare needs, the pediatric and family practice services are under-utilized within the hospital and the associated rural health clinics.

The hospital administrator and Board of Advisors has asked you to create and plan a promotional event, which will increase public awareness of services available at the local hospital, a well as the surrounding supporting clinic system. Through increased public awareness, the administration hopes to increase utilization of the pediatric and family practice services in the area.

Plan an event, and compose an associated news release that can be used to promote the event. To help you compose an effective news release, a sample format with general instructions is provided on the following page. The news release should include, at a minimum, the following components:

(a) An appropriate opening statement that conveys purpose (Purpose/Opening statement)

(b) A focus on the audience (audience consideration)

(c) Appropriate logic and organization (organizational plan)

(d) Appropriate and quality content (information and concepts)

(e) Clear writing that is free of grammatical and mechanical errors (Standard English/vocabulary)

(f) An appropriate organizational information statement (Closing statement)

COMPANY LETTERHEAD (WHEN APPROPRIATE)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (OR OTHER DATE AS NECESSARY)
CONTACT:
Name
Position
Company Name
Telephone Number
Email Address
Company URL
News Release Headline

(City, State) – Begin with the summary, which is just a couple of sentences highlighting what the press release will cover. The summary may be shown as a snippet that is linked to the full article, so it needs to be especially enticing in order to get the reader to continue.

This first paragraph should be focused on general information, drawing the reader in with a taste of what the rest of the press release contains. Keep sentences short and do not make outrageous claims.
As you move into the body of the press release, you can start going into more detail, describing your opening in more detail. Be sure to remain objective in your writing.

Again, use short sentences and short paragraphs, rather than elaborate sections of text. There needs to be enough content to provide a good overview and sufficient detail. Keep elaboration and general content to a minimum – the focus should be on information rather than a subjective account of what has occurred.
It is also wise to have a “human” element to the press release, such as a quoted statement from your company’s CEO or even from yourself. If it is necessary to interject your (or the organization’s) viewpoint on the topic, do so with a quote. Never write the press release in first person perspective. Avoid “I”, “we”, “me”, “our” or other first person pronouns. The press release should be entirely in third person perspective.

The next to final paragraph should contain how readers can obtain additional information or briefly mention a special offer, without over-hyping it. It is critical to write this in third person perspective.
The final paragraph, called an organizational information statement, is a brief summary of the business and should contain no more than two or three sentences. Typical items to include here are when the company was established, where it is located and the focus/mission of the organization.