Twitter
Facebook
***image1***If you’ve seen coverage of Ramstein in media outlets: NBC, FOX News, CNN; the 435th Public Affairs Media Relations office was behind the scenes, pulling the strings.
They’ve stood out on the flightline for hours with camera crews, ensuring the cameras weren’t filming anything they shouldn’t, and guaranteeing crews got the shots, interviews and soundbites to produce the news story or show.
It’s not all glamour, despite high profile visits which require escorting, from the President of the United States to Willie Nelson. It’s a job that pulls the four-woman staff out of bed at 2 a.m. even after a 12-hour work day, and it’s the kind of effort that shouldered out the competition and won the media relations office the title of “best in the Air Force” for 2004.
“We’re telling the 435th Air Base Wing and Air Force story … we’re facilitating interviews and visits with media organizations ranging from local affiliates to 24-hour international news networks,” said Erin Zagursky, 435th PA media relations chief.
Ms. Zagursky said telling the story means telling the whole story, as ugly as it may be sometimes.
“Of course, everyone wants the story they tell to be positive. But telling the neutral or even the negative stories is just as, if not more, important to what we do,” she said. “By putting out information that might seem negative, we show that the military isn’t trying to cover anything up. That builds our credibility and helps immensely when we want to put a good story out, because it’s more believable.”
In 2004, the office responded to more than 640 media queries, ranging from requests on information about the base and its aircraft to inquiries about active-duty deaths and court martials.
But the staff isn’t so busy that they aren’t touched by the poignant moments they experience through their job.
“During reunites (of servicemembers and families) we’ve organized for the media, everyone is just so proud – you see it when the family members see (the servicemember) walk in wearing their blues, coming in from serving their country downrange, and they have no idea they’re about to be reunited,” said Senior Airman Melissa Maraj, 435th PA media relations specialist. “Who doesn’t know the feeling of needing to be reconnected? Giving that opportunity is so honorable; I love that about my job.”
Among their 2004 accomplishments reached an international audience of more than 300 million through facilitating media visits, and reached 48,000 Americans locally.
Stephanie Baumgarten-Jackson, media relations translator, combed through local newspapers and translated approximately 367 German articles which mentioned Ramstein.
“We worked hard last year,” said Petra Day, 435th PA media relations specialist. “It’s fitting that a team that worked so hard was number one.”
