PR 2510 - Public Relations Writing (4)

Oakland University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Communication and Journalism

Syllabus

Course Information:
CRN: 15225
Campus: Main Campus
Schedule Type: Lecture

Tuesday, Thursday

08:00 AM - 09:47 AM

Main Campus Campus | Vandenberg Hall | Room 106

A writing course focusing on various types of public relations styles and formats. Examines the research, planning and delivery process for communication directed at targeted publics. Provides practice in both informative and persuasive writing, including news releases, pitch letters, backgrounders, PSAs, newsletters, brochures, and speeches.

Effective writing is at the core of all public relations endeavors. This course provides an in-depth study of how public relations professionals develop written documents, followed by practice in creating a number of different documents. In addition, students will learn how to determine the purpose and delivery method for communication to targeted publics. It is important to understand the difference between information-based v. persuasion-based writing and then apply that knowledge to various formats, so the course will analyze these two approaches, in conjunction with key PR formats - both traditional and digital. Students will examine the difference between controlled and uncontrolled information. To gain a clear understanding of uncontrolled formats like news releases and backgrounders, students will analyze the effects this type of communication has on an organization’s image. They will also examine the importance of news values when pitching a message to the media. With the rapid growth of the Internet, the dominance of social media and Websites has changed how PR sends messages, so students will also analyze key controlled formats used by PR professionals. Students will get practice in researching, designing and then writing both traditional and digital documents for a specific organization to help them become proficient in creating a range of PR writing formats.

Professor Information:
Instructor: Holly Gilbert

shreve@oakland.edu

Learning Outcomes:
Develop proficiency in public relations writing for both traditional and digital formats, develop critical thinking skills to enable solid research and planning for the creation of effective communication for target publics, and produce clear, concise and accurate writing needed to be a successful PR professional.

Textbooks and Materials:
Public Relations Writing: the Essentials of Style and Format, 8th edition, by Thomas Bivins. All readings noted in the weekly assignments are from this book. You will also need any recent edition of the AP Style Book to use for the writing assignments. In addition, you will need to either subscribe to the Detroit Free Press or follow the news on freep.com, as there will be weekly current events quizzes based on PR focused stories that appear in the Free Press.

Assignments and Grading:
Reading: The readings from the Bivins textbook chapters are listed each Monday the week before the quiz that covers the reading content for the weekly quizzes. This will allow you ample time to prepare for both the weekly quizzes and the assignments that need to be finished during the week that are based on the reading material.

Grades: There are a total of 1000 points for this course. The breakdown is as follows:

Quizzes: (200 points) There will be 10 quizzes given, each worth 20 points. Your quiz points will double the number of points you receive for your 5 best quizzes.

Uncontrolled Writing Assignments: (300 points) Various PR writing will be done, with each assignment worth 75 points. Specifics on these assignments will be posted the week the assignments are due and will include a product release, pitch letter, backgrounder, and PSA.

Controlled Writing Assignments: (500 points) These will involve one group project (newsletter) and two individual projects (brochure and speech)

Newsletter: (200 points) Students will work in groups to create a department newsletter. This will involve research about the department programs, faculty, events, alumni, and so forth. Interviews will be held with the chair and program directors to gain insight into what objectives the department has regarding the development of a newsletter. Groups will then gather story content, develop newsletter features, design the layout, and create a digital version which may be circulated by the department.

Brochure: (150 points) Students will design and write the text for a digital brochure for a local non-profit organization of their choice. They

will work with the organization to decide what the brochure objectives are and then determine the content of the brochure through meetings with the organization’s staff.

Speech: (150 points) Students will write a 10 minute speech for an organization director/administrator, including visual materials. The speech content will deal with an issue/trend affecting this organization.

EXTRA CREDIT POINTS: (50 Maximum) various activities not listed above.

All assignments will be submitted online in Moodle. Late assignments, without a proper excuse, will have 5 points deducted for each day they are late. Please alert me ahead of time, if you know that you will have trouble completing assignments because you will be out of town for work, etc., so that I can make arrangements for you to have the assignment early. Should an unexpected problem arise, please contact me ASAP, to Jet me know what the problem is, so that we can set up an alternative due date, if necessary.

Attendance Policy:
Required at all but two classes. You choose which two or attend all. If you are late twice, this will equal one absence. YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL MATERIALS COVERED IN CLASS, WHETHER YOU ARE PRESENT OR NOT!!!

Classroom and University Policies