Course Title: Specialist PR Practice and Writing

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Specialist PR Practice and Writing

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
COMM2144	City Campus	Undergraduate	335H Applied Communication	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2007
COMM2380	RMIT University Vietnam	Undergraduate	335H Applied Communication	Face-to-Face	Viet2 2009, Viet3 2009
COMM2380	RMIT University Vietnam	Undergraduate	345H Media and Communication	Face-to-Face	Viet1 2010, Viet2 2010, Viet3 2010, Viet1 2011, Viet2 2011, Viet3 2011, Viet1 2012, Viet2 2012, Viet3 2012, Viet1 2013, Viet2 2013, Viet3 2013, Viet1 2014, Viet2 2014, Viet3 2014, Viet1 2015, Viet2 2015, Viet3 2015

Course Coordinator: Ms Olivia Guntarik

Course Coordinator Phone: 9925 1911

Course Coordinator Email: olivia.guntarik@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 6:02:03

Course Coordinator Availability: Tuesdays 12 noon - 3pm. All other times by appointment.

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

COMM 2284  PR Practice and Writing

COMM1161 Introduction to Public Relations

Course Description

This course will build on the concepts introduced and skills developed in PR Practice and Writing while also introducing more specialised written communication tools available to PR practitioners. Particular emphasis will be given to explaining these communication methods in an industry context.
You will be reminded of the most important rules necessary for PR practitioners to communicate effectively in plain English; develop a deeper understanding of why and how to target designated publics/audiences; how to convey key messages to these target audiences using the appropriate tools and media; and gain a greater understanding of some of the specialised areas of public relations practice.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Students will develop writing skills vital for professional public relations practice within an industry context. Student’s will also develop a deeper understanding of the importance of being able to identify key publics and how to write for them.  

On completing this course you will:
- understand the importance of accurately identifying specific target publics/audiences for written communication to be effective.
- understand the different tools and writing styles used to communicate with these various audiences.
- be able to apply the basic writing tools introduced in PR Practice and Writing and those introduced in this course to different specialised areas of PR practice.
- have a greater appreciation of a number of important specialist areas of public relations

Overview of Learning Activities

A weekly lecture will give you a greater understanding of concepts introduced in PR Practice and Writing within an industry context while introducing more specialised methods of written communication with designated audiences.
Weekly tutorials will build on concepts covered in lectures and you will be given an opportunity to practise writing documents. Exercises will be based on "real world" scenarios which you can expect to find in industry.

Overview of Learning Resources

Public Relations students are expected to be keen consumers of news media. You will be expected to read daily and weekly newspapers and on-line news websites and watch and listen to a selection of news programs.
Required readings for the course will be from the prescribed texts. (You will already have the three texts set for this course as they were prescribed texts in previous compulsory courses: Newsom and Haynes and Style (PR Practice and Writing); Snook’s & Co (Style Manual).

Overview of Assessment

Assessment for this course will consist of tutorial participation and exercises and a major assignment. These tasks will assess your ability to creatively apply the skills and competencies covered in the lecture and tutorial program in a recognised public relations framework and structure.