Professional Documents
Culture Documents
English 3134-R50
The purpose of this paper is to identify the person in an organization who is responsible
responsible for planning, implementation and coordination of communication for their respective
employer. I had to familiarize myself about the communications manager’s past experience,
both academically and professionally, and other qualifications that qualified her for this position
in addition to the duties, functions and responsibilities of her job. Lastly, it was important to
learn from the communication manager the communication approaches that she has tried and
chose for this assignment has been my employer for the last
currently has 650 employees and according to the 2004 census has
County and for the last ten years has been one of the fastest growing counties in not only the
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For years, the city employed a community relations director whose primary job was
coordinating special events between the city and various civic organizations. In November 2007,
Mayor John Schroer was sworn into office and drastic changes were made within the City
Administrator’s office including the resignation of City Administrator Jay Johnson and Deputy
In August 2008, the city hired Milissa Reierson as the first Communications Manager
our interview, but had seen her on the scenes of several large
incidents representing the city and fire department while dealing with the media.
Milissa graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Communication. Her
initial career plans were to work behind the scenes in television journalism, but she soon found
herself accepting a job with a small television station in San Angelo, Texas as a reporter in their
news department. She quickly moved up to larger television markets as a reporter and anchor in
Augusta, Georgia and Knoxville, Tennessee where she met her future husband.
When Milissa and her husband decided to start a family, she felt the odd hours that were
required of a weekend anchor and reporter would affect their home life.
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She then accepted a job as Communications Director with the Tennessee Department of Labor
under Commissioner Mike McGill and Governor Don Sundquist. When Governor Phil Bredesen
took office, she was able to retain her job under new Commissioner James Neely. In June 2008,
the city began their search for the newly created position of Communications Manager and
Milissa, a Franklin resident, applied and was hired in August of that same year.
The city of Franklin’s Communications Office chief goal is to bring awareness of the city’s
resources to the citizens, businesses and stakeholders in Franklin, Tennessee and to brand the
city as a city government that consistently strives for excellence, innovation, teamwork, integrity
and to be action oriented. One of the major challenges for this newly created office is to develop
a new communications plan for the city because the city has never had a well-defined plan for
communicating the city’s stories and services effectively from the city administrator (city
employees.
In addition to supervising the Community Relations Officer, Milissa also supervises the
employees of the cable television department, who are responsible for broadcasting public
meetings within the city. Milissa also manages and monitors the city’s website and appearance
concerning public information. Milissa serves as the city’s spokesperson for media contacts,
conducts television, radio and newspaper interviews, writes and issues press releases, responds to
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media requests for information and coordinates the handling of high profile or sensitive projects.
the public while preserving a positive image for the city. Milissa says media interactions can be
one of the strongest tools available to the city for communicating our work to the public. The
media policy also features steps an employee should take if contacted by the media, frequently
asked questions that a reporter may ask, media interview tips, press release requests by a
department and fire/police media protocol/policy since both departments have their own
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One of the approaches in communications that Milissa has found successful is the need for an
organization to have one voice that speaks for the entire organization. She has found this to be a
necessity at both the state level and since coming onboard with the city of Franklin.
which may cast doubt on all parties involved. She said it is imperative for an organization or
company to utilize a communications specialist for media contacts that will continue to cast a
positive image of the organization to the stakeholders. Milissa said that with her previous
employment has a television reporter that it gives her an advantage in that she knows what
reporters are looking for and that helps once again to present the city in a positive light to
businesses and city. The most important objective of organizational communication and public
relations is to portray the organization as one that consistently strives for excellence, innovation,
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The target audiences for the city of Franklin’s communication department are the
citizens of Franklin, businesses who utilize the city’s services, city of Franklin employees, media
and opinion leaders such as council members, legislators and community organizations. While
interviewing Milissa she was constantly being emailed by the local media seeking information
on the sudden death of a city employee. She said although her work schedule is Monday through
Friday, sometimes it could be seven days a week, around the clock, due to different situations
that may occur such as public safety, a water main issue or an event at night or on the weekend.
Another important fact I learned about organizational communication is the need for a
person such as Milissa to provide one voice for the entire organization so the information will be
accurate and factual. As a city employee, I find it very important that our communication has
improved significantly since Milissa accepted the job as communication manager and has
established a weekly news brief by the city administrator along with a monthly employee
newsletter. I feel that the creation of the communications manager position has been positive for
the city from not only a citizen standpoint, but an employee as well.
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Works Cited
City of Franklin. City of Franklin Media Policy and Guidelines. 2009. Print.
City of Franklin. City of Franklin Communications Strategy. Reierson. 2009. Print.