ADPR-691AE Media Relations

Syllabus/Spring 2019

Instructor: Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon; ablaisdell-bannon@suffolk.edu; 617-

573-8750 (office); 617-688-1580 (cell); office is 1031 73 Tremont
Monday 6 to 8:40 p.m. in 908 Sawyer
3 credit hours/No prerequisite
For further information on credit hour definitions, go to:
www.suffolk.edu/syllabus

Required Texts: “Master Media Relations,” by Donna Giancontieri; ISBN

978-1-4401-0903-4; available in bookstore.

“The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2018,” by

the Associated Press; ISBN 978541672383; available in bookstore. (You
may also subscribe to the stylebook online. See me if you have an
edition of the stylebook earlier than 2017.)

Catalog Description: Examines the relationship between your

organization/company/campaign and the media by looking at it from
the media and the PR practitioner’s points of view and what each
needs from the other. Discusses developing strategies to get PR
messages out to various platforms, from traditional mainstream to
social media, including how to develop relationships with members of
the media. Demonstrates how to produce media relations products,
including story pitches, news releases, blogs, feature stories and
Facebook posts.

Course Goal and Learning Objectives:

* Goal 1: Upon completing this course, students will be able to

identify how to establish working relationships beneficial to their
organization/company and to the media.

Objectives:

- Students will learn what goes into media decisions about what is
news/what is a story and how members of the media decide which
stories to cover.
- Students will learn about the daily workings of media outlets.
 - Students will learn how to create products (online newsrooms,
media lists) that make establishing and maintaining media
relationships easier.

Assessment: Exams, writing assignments, research assignments.

* Goal 2: Upon completing this course, students will be able

produce a variety of written and visual products to promote their
organization/company’s image with targeted publics, including (but
not exclusively) the media.

Objectives:
- Students will look at samples of opinion columns, blogs, social
media posts and news releases and analyze their effectiveness.
- Students will create some of those same products.
- Students will create and maintain a weekly blog.

Assessment: Exams, writing assignments; in-class group and individual

writing assignments, including weekly blog.

* Goal 3: Upon completing this course, students will be more proficient

in the skills required of a professional media relations specialist,
writing in the style preferred by most media outlets.

Objectives:
- Students will learn the basics of Associated Press style.
- Students will learn to write accurately and professionally.

Assessment: Quizzes, exams, written assignments given as homework

and classwork.

Grades:
Attendance/participation: 25 percent
Two Tests: 25 percent
Homework, AP quizzes and in-class work: 25 percent
Feature story, final paper and class presentation: 12.5 percent
Blog: 12.5 percent

Information on the university’s academic grievances policy:

www.suffolk.edu/syllabus
Attendance and Assignment Deadlines: Class attendance is required and
will be part of your grade. Participation, informed by your reading, is
crucial and will be reflected in your grade. For information on the
university’s policies on absences and attendance, see:
www.suffolk.edu/syllabus. Classwork must be turned in the day it is
due unless you have made other arrangements with me. If you are
absent, it is your responsibility to find out what assignments you
missed and turn them in. I’ll toss out your lowest homework grade
when calculating your final grade. Homework must be typed. Ailing
printers are not acceptable reasons for late work. Email work is only
accepted in emergency situations -- not because you forgot to print it
out. If you e-mail work, it is your responsibility to ensure it was
received. I do not give extra-credit assignments for missing work or allow
you to make up late assignments even for partial credit.

Test Policies: Your tests are open-notes, which means you may use YOUR
class notes, my online lecture notes and any handouts or material on
Blackboard. When you turn in your test, you will also turn in your notes
(the first two test notes will be returned to you with your tests; final
test notes will be returned to you upon request). During the tests, you
will not be allowed to go on a computer, and cell
phones/laptops/tablets must be stored away. Tests will be collected the
day they are handed back to you (I’ll give you time to go over them in
class).

Class Cancellation: If the university cancels classes because of bad

weather or an emergency, I will send out an email that day and post
class notes on Blackboard. If I cancel a class because I am unable to
get there because of weather/illness, I will email you the night before
or early in the morning and will post class notes on Blackboard.

Computers and Phones: When we’re not using them for class purposes,
shut ‘em off. If you are on your phone (or computer) during lectures or
group exercises, for purposes other than taking notes, that will be
reflected in your grade.

Office Hours: I am in my office 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Mondays and

Wednesdays. And I am happy to see you before class or by
appointment.
If You Need Help: For stress and other issues, please do not hesitate to
use the university’s Counseling Center at 73 Tremont: 617-573-8226.
For more information, see: www.suffolk.edu/syllabus. You don’t have to
be drowning to ask for help. If you need additional resources due to a
disability, we will make those arrangements. Please see the
university’s disability statement at: www.suffolk.edu/syllabus. The
university also has an early-alert program to help those students who
are having difficulty before it is too late: www.suffolk.edu/syllabus.

Cheating and Plagiarism: Both are serious academic offenses and will
result in an automatic F on the assignment or exam and possibly other
serious consequences. The university’s Academic Misconduct Policy:
www.suffolk.edu/syllabus.

Class Schedule:

Note: Readings in “Master Media Relations” are indicated as MMR. Additional

readings are indicated by quote marks and are all in a file called “Additional
Readings” in Blackboard. Other homework assignments/exercises are in
Blackboard.

Monday, Jan. 14: Intro/Defining Media Relations/Media Directories/AP Style

HW due next class: Media Analysis Assignment; “14 Things Journalists
Think About PR Professionals”; MMR, pages 1-80 and 124-127

Monday, Jan. 21: HOLIDAY. NO CLASS.

Monday, Jan. 28: Thinking Like a Journalist/Defining news/Defining story

HW due next class: Study for AP Quiz; “Harvard’s Online Newsroom”;
“Four Reasons Facebook Live is an Effective Way to Build Media
Relations”; “Four Media Relations Faux Pas to Avoid on Twitter”

Monday, Feb. 4: Social Media/Blogs//Writing for Your Website/AP Quiz 1 A-E

HW due next class: Facebook Assignment; send blog topic and link to
me by Feb. 11; MMR, Pages 95-112

Monday, Feb. 11: The Journalist’s Environment/Pitching Stories

HW due next class: Pitch Email Assignment; “How to Attract Attention
with a Feature Article”

Monday, Feb. 18: HOLIDAY. NO CLASS.

Monday, Feb. 25: Writing Stories
HW due next class: Study for test; send your feature story topic to me
by March 4

Monday, March 4: Test 1 (open notes)

HW due March 18: Study for AP Quiz; “Toyota Takes on Feature
Releases”; MMR, Pages 113-123

Monday, March 11: SPRING BREAK WEEK

Monday, March 18: News releases/AP Quiz 2 F-O

HW due next class: News Release Assignment; “Sample Letters to the
Editor”; “Newton’s Law: When Communicating Bad News, Don’t Let
Your Response Become the Story”; MMR, Pages 81-87

Monday, March 25: Ethics/Corrections/Crisis Media Relations

HW due next class: Letter to the Editor Assignment; MMR, Pages 88-94;
Final Paper

Monday, April 1: News conferences/Interviews/Grad Student Presentations

HW due next class: Spokesperson Exercise

Monday, April 8: Undergrad Student Presentations

Tuesday, April 16: Backgrounders, Position Papers, FAQs, Bios. This is a

Suffolk Monday class, making up for April 15 Monday holiday. The class will
be online. I will post notes.
HW due next class: Blog Report; Study for AP Quiz;

Monday, April 22: Undergrad Student Presentations/AP Quiz 3 P-Z

HW due next class: Study for test; Feature Story (Grad Students)

April 29: Test 2

Syllabus may change due to extenuating circumstances or to ensure better

student learning.

Blogging Assignment

By Feb. 11, you will create a blog using Wordpress (or a platform of
your choice) and send the link to your blog and the topic of the blog to
me. Starting the week of Feb. 18 through the week of April 8, you will
post twice a week on that blog (including weeks where Monday is a
holiday but NOT spring break week). At least half of your blog posts
should contain a photo/graphic/video/map/quiz/poll -- something IN
ADDITION to your words.

Your posts should be thoughtful and in-depth: At least two paragraphs,

and sometimes considerably more. Not two sentences.

You should also, once a week, starting the week of Feb. 18, comment
on a classmate’s blog. Please try to spread your comments around and
not just focus on one or two.

Your blog should be about a specific area of interest and must show
more than your own personal involvement in that area. It should show
some work in addition to your personal opinion. Some examples:
fashion, sports, the environment, entertainment, life in the city,
politics, things to do, life as an international student, tips for living on
a budget, cooking. You may make the blog as narrow as you wish (the
Celtics, night life) but make sure it is not so narrow you will have
difficulty finding things to post.

So, for example, if you want to do a fashion blog, it can be about

trends, about great places to shop, about what students are wearing --
it should have your voice and your opinions but not JUST be about
what you like and don’t like. If you are doing a night life blog, it should
have more to it than where you went last Saturday.

Remember that blogs are used by journalists, so you want to produce the
kind of blog a journalist might turn to for a story idea or a source (you, or
someone you mention). If it’s just fluff or your ramblings about
something you saw this morning, the media will lose interest (and so
will I).

Feature Story Assignment

You will produce a four-page, double-spaced, feature story on a Suffolk

University student, professor, organization/club, team or activity.
You will be writing the story to (theoretically, not really) send to the
education editors at local media (newspapers, websites, TV stations,
bloggers) to encourage them to focus on something positive Suffolk is
doing.

You must talk to at least three sources. Your story must be

accompanied by at least three photos or a short video.

Examples of typical feature stories are in a file called Feature Examples

on Blackboard.

You must email me (or tell me) your topic by March 4. Please do not start
working on your story until I have OK’d your topic.

Deadline: April 29

Final Paper Assignment

Graduate students in this class will be required to write a 10-page

paper discussing media relations in a country other than the United
States. The paper should include a discussion of the media landscape
in that country, how independent it is/isn’t, who controls it (private or
government), how people in that country receive news, etc. You should
discuss, from a communications/public relations point of view, the
challenges of dealing with the media in that country. Mainstream and
social media should be included. The paper should be well-sourced and
include a bibliography. You will give a 5- to 7-minute presentation of
your topic in class April 1, when the paper is due to me.