Aims / Context

This unit aims to look at a number of specialist areas that underpin the PR discipline. It explores in more detail the concept of working cross culturally and globally. It also looks at the complexity and inter-related areas of change management and employee communications, an area that is of growing importance that incorporates the concept of employee and brand engagement. The nature of public affairs and investor relations will also be investigated in more detail – the twin areas that underpin the corporate communications function that have very specific regulatory and legal requirements on them. In this unit you will pick up on the discussions from your Organisational Strategy and Reputation Management. It will also return to the vexed question of effective media relations.

Assessment requirements

This assignment is element two of two for this unit and is weighted at 50% of the final coursework mark.

An individual 2000 word report that focuses on researching, establishing and delivering a global communications solution that includes a country specific media plan and media release.

The assessment for this unit is weighted. In element-based assessment, you must achieve at least an E grade in each element, and an aggregate grade of at least D- in the overall unit. Failure (F, or F-), or non-submission in any element defaults to Fail for the unit.

Assignment information

This assignment introduces the media relations aspect of public relations practice at both theoretical and practical levels. As well as considering the expectations of media actors have of public relations people, the unit also considers contemporary media issues and the nature of news making, through workshops led by working broadcast, online and print journalists. The unit also encourages practical engagement with media relations through in-class exercises that allow students to experience the role of a public relations spokesperson and develop personal strategies for handling media questions and advising others on media relations issues.

The Crisis Exercise and Report requires students to engage in an in-class news management exercise on a date specified and to produce a 2,000 word individual report that provides guidance to senior managers on managing media relations in a crisis setting their organisation. The name of the organisation and the scenario will be given in class.

The assignment requires students to prepare a report based on their learning from the unit and participation in the in-class crisis media exercises in the radio and TV studios.

Based on this experience, students are asked to individually prepare a 2,000 report in the form of a briefing document for senior managers entitled: “Guidance notes on crisis management: lessons from the media relations exercise” that includes:

A sample press release dealing with one of the issues raised in the in-class exercises

Recommendations on what plans, templates, theories and approaches you recommend the organisation adopts for their global media relations crisis planning, along with suggestions for a syllabus for media training for senior executives.

The individual report must be 2,000 words +/- 10% and should be submitted electronically as a single word-processed, double- line spaced document in .DOC, .DOCX or PDF format.

Related Project Briefs

N/A

Reading list

Bell, E. (2014) ‘Silicon Valley and Journalism: Make up or Break up?’ Reuters Institute. [Online] Available at:

http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Speech%20-

Bell, E. (2016) ‘Facebook is Eating the World.’ Columbia Journalism Review. [Online]. Available at: http://www.cjr.org/analysis/facebook_and_media.php
Currah, A. (2009) What’s happening to our news? Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Available at: http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
Davies, N. (2008) Flat earth news. London: Vintage
Lloyd, J. & Toogood, L. (2015) Journalism and PR: News media and public relations in the digital age. London: I.B. Taurus McCombs, M. (2005) A look at agenda setting: past, present and future. Journalism Studies, 6, 4, 543-557
Shoemaker, P. and Vos, T. (2009) Gatekeeping theory, Routledge, New York.
Waters, R.D., Tindall, N.T.J., & Morton, T.S. (2010) Media catching and the journalist- public relations practitioner relationship: How social media are changing the practice of media relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 22, 3, 241-264
Zoch, L. & Molleda, J. (2006) Building a theoretical model of media relations using framing, information subsidies, and agenda- building in C. Botan & V.
Hazleton (eds) Public Relations Theory II. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Cornelissen, J (2011) Corporate Communication; a guide to theory & practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage
Doorley, J. & Garcia, F. (2011). Reputation Management: The key to successful public relations and corporate communications. Oxford: Routledge
Singleton, A, (2014). The PR masterclass: How to Develop a Public Relations Strategy that Works. London: Wiley

Unit Textbooks

Bland, M., Theaker, A. and Wragg, D. (2005) Effective Media Relations, CIPR/Kogan Page, London.
Singleton, A, (2014) The PR masterclass: How to Develop a Public Relations Strategy that Works, Wiley, London. Tench R. and Yeomans L. (2014) Exploring public relations, Pearson, Harlow.

Details of the University’s online referencing system for practical and written work: http://www.citethemrightonline.com/Home