Course Title: PR Practice and Writing

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: PR Practice and Writing

Credit Points: 12.00

Course Coordinator: Philippa Brear

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 3849

Course Coordinator Email: philippa.brear@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 6:02:02 City campus

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

This course will introduce you to the basics of public relations writing, the context for its use, and the reasons professional writing skills are important in the practice of PR. The course will address the basics of professional-standard writing, including technical issues such as punctuation and editing. You will learn about writing styles and the importance of being able to write to a specified length and to deadline. The ability to write clearly and concisely in the appropriate style is vital in PR. Skills developed in this course will be useful in other PR and communication courses.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

On completing this course you should:
• understand the basic writing tools used in PR practice, and when and how to use them
• understand the process for generating and completing writing as part of the broader PR role
• understand the different styles of writing used in PR
• understand that creativity and adaptability are essential in PR practice and writing
• understand the need for excellent grammar, punctuation and spelling in PR writing
• understand the importance of being able to write to length and deadline

Overview of Learning Activities

A weekly lecture will introduce you to basic writing tools in PR practice and the context for their use.
Tutorials will build on concepts covered in lectures and give you an opportunity to practise writing documents and discuss the situations in which you would use them. Exercises will be based on realistic scenarios you can expect to find in practice.

Overview of Learning Resources

All communication students are expected to be keen consumers of media. You will be expected to read daily and weekly newspapers and watch and listen to a selection of news programs.
The majority of reading for the course is from the prescribed texts. Any additional reading will be made available via the online learning hub or provided in hard copy during lectures/tutorials.

Overview of Assessment

The course is graded using the RMIT University scale.

Please note:
- Guidance on individual assessment tasks will be provided during semester.
- Professional presentation is integral to the assessment of all submitted work.
- Deadlines for submission/presentation of work must be strictly observed.
- Assignments must be submitted with the appropriate cover sheet at the School of Applied Communication office on level 3, building 6, at RMIT’s city campus.