Semester 1, 2022 Toowoomba On-campus | |
Units : | 1 |
Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
School or Department : | School of Humanities & Communication |
Grading basis : | Graded |
Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Overview
The ability to write for a range of document styles is one of the most sought after skills by public relations employers around the world, from news releases through to brochures, annual reports and advertising copy. Social media writing has emerged as top of the list of writing skills for many employers. All of these writing skills are covered in this course.
Students will be introduced to the basics of public relations writing including the concepts of good writing, techniques for persuasive writing and finding and generating newsworthy information. They will study how to write media releases for the print and electronic media, feature articles, backgrounders, brochures, newsletters and speeches. The major emphasis of the course is on developing practical public relations skills.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- examine the range of areas in which public relations writing skills may be employed;
- demonstrate academic and professional literacy through a thorough understanding of the written word as a tool of effective, symmetrical communication;
- expertise in the standard methods of writing for specific audiences using various mediums and channels including the news and social media;
- demonstrate advanced written communication skills by planning and developing a major writing project for a particular purpose and for particular audiences/publics;
- consider and apply ethical considerations as part of the planning and writing process.
Topics
Description | Weighting(%) | |
---|---|---|
1. | Why is writing so important in public relations? | 8.00 |
2. | Writing technique | 8.00 |
3. | Organising yourself and measuring your success | 8.00 |
4. | Writing for mainstream media and media liaison | 26.00 |
5. | Writing for Web 2.0 | 26.00 |
6. | Writing for controlled media newsletters, speeches, advertising, marketing | 16.00 |
7. | Advocacy and response writing | 8.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
Description | Weighting (%) |
---|---|
QUIZ | 15 |
MEDIA MATERIAL | 35 |
ONLINE 2.0 MATERIAL | 15 |
CONTROLLED MEDIA MATERIAL | 35 |