Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

Power Performance: Multimedia Storytelling for Journalism and Public Relations by Tony Silvia just hit the bookshelves this year. The book offers insightful tips about the multimedia world. The main audiences targeted by this book are journalists and other professionals in the multimedia field. However, the chapters written in a story-telling format and the ones that incorporate profiles of famous journalists and public relations practitioners, are extremely interesting and draw in other industries, besides journalists, to read this book.

Tony Silvia’s background is actually what brought me to find this book and I discovered it was a great read! He is very well known in the multimedia world and has received recognition for his accomplishments within the field. He is currently a Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of South Florida. His roles as consumer reporter and news anchor have helped him gain a wide range of experience. The Broadcast Education Association praised his work in CNN’s science-technology features unit. He has also won three Emmy Awards and an Associated Press Award for best documentary.

The book is very easy to read and is structured in such a way that it can be useful even for people just starting work in media. His book starts by explaining to the readers what the expected role of the storyteller is. Then it goes on to talk about reporting, writing, and video storytelling for different sources. It is difficult for people to understand how stories should be presented in different ways depending on the source it's being presented from, and the author does a great job of clarifying that. Of course, no media job is complete without public relations, and he helps PR people understand what their job is in the media industry. I also really like that he did not just focus on what your job is and how to get it done, but has also focused on the ethics and responsibilities media jobs carry.