SUBJECT OUTLINE

58214 Media Writing and Production

Course area Delivery Requisite(s) UTS: Arts and Social Sciences Autumn 2012; City 58117 Principles of Public Relations OR 58128 Strategic Public Relations These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. There are also course requisites for this subject. See access conditions. Grade, no marks

Credit points 8cp

Result type

Subject coordinator
Jannet Pendleton Phone: 9514 2753 Room: CB02.07.043 Email: Jannet.Pendleton@uts.edu.au

Teaching staff
Jannet Pendleton Phone: 9514 2753 Room: CB02.07.043 Email: Jannet.Pendleton@uts.edu.au Karyn Lemon Email: Karyn.Lemon@uts.edu.au Jacqueline Moran Email: Jacqueline.Moran@uts.edu.au

Subject description
Students develop knowledge and practice in writing and producing materials such as media releases, feature articles, newsletters, brochures, speeches, profiles, websites and print, and online production. The requirements of different genre and styles of public communication writing are explored together with issues rhetoric and persuasion in public relations. Students enhance their skills in writing, design production and the application of these skills to the internet. Student work integrates theories and principles of effective public communication with technical skills in their fields of focus.

Subject objectives
At the completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to: a. b. c. d. e. write effectively in a given context Identify writing styles suited to different communication products and publics explain the qualities required to produce written communication products that are of a professional standard research background material for writing edit a publication self reflectively and critically

Contribution to course aims and graduate attributes

This subject makes a major contribution to students capacity to apply their knowledge and skills in writing for a variety of media to communicate effectively and think analytically. It also makes a minor contribution to the student capacity to work collaboratively and evaluate their own work.

Teaching and learning strategies

Teaching and learning in this subject will be a blend of face to face classes and production workshops. Assignments will be individual however there is provision for group editing tasks where students evaluate and give feedback on each others work. Face to face classes will incorporate a range of teaching and learning strategies including short presentations, discussion and reflection. Workshops will assist students to develop technical skills in writing and
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presentations, discussion and reflection. Workshops will assist students to develop technical skills in writing and production. Student work produced during the subject will be published in an online publication accessible to students in the public communication major.

Content
Principles of writing for specific purposes and publics, and for spoken and written language Using research to write for specific purposes and publics purposes Writing products for public communication feature articles, speeches, reports, web content, Writing for communication within an organisation Introduction to editing Rhetoric and persuasion in public relations Ethics and public relations writing

Program
Week/Session 1 Dates 28 Feb Description Introduction: role of PR writing, ethical and legal responsibilities of pr writing. Ch. 1 &3 Smith 2012; Treadwell Ch 3 Notes: Tutorial will be held in class rooms

6 Mar

Principles of effective writing: grammar, spelling and style Ch.2 Smith 2012 Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

13 Mar

The writing process: analysis of public, planning researching the topic Ch 4 Smith 2012 Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

20 Mar

Writing speeches Ch 18 Smith 2012 Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

27 Mar

Newsletter and magazine stories Ch 11 Smith 2012; Ch 5 Tanner, Kasinger & Richardson 2009 Assignment 2 first short writing product due Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

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3 Apr

Persuasion and communication Ch3 Smith 2012 First draft Assignment 1 due Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

10 Apr

Individual interviews and group writing workshop Notes: Tutorial will be held in classrooms

17 Apr

Study Break Non-Teaching Week

1 May

Editing essentials. Design influences on PR writing Ch 13 Smith 2012; Treadwell Ch 7 Assignment 1 due Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

10

8 May

Writing for the web: differences between web and other mediums. Ch 14 Smith 2012; Ch 7 Mahoney 2008 Assignment 2 second short writing product due Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

11

15 May

Organisational writing: Writing newsletters, brochures and annual reports Ch 13, 15 Smith 2012 Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

12

22 May

Working with the media Ch 9, 10 Smith 2012 Notes: Tutorial will be held in computer lab.

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13

29 May

Individual interviews and group writing workshop Notes: Tutorial will be held in classrooms

14

5 June

Informal presentations of publications. Review. Assignment 3: Editing for an online publication due Notes: Tutorial will be held in classrooms

Assessment
Assessment item 1: Writing Products
Objective(s): a, b, c, d Weighting: Due: 45% (40% writing, 5% editing) First draft Week 6 Final Week 9 For this assignment students will be required to write a 1000 word speech or a 1000 word article. The article should be suitable for publication in either the Weekend Australian Magazine or the Sydney Morning Herald Goodweekend. These writing products will be accompanied by a minimum 1000 word rationale justifying the style and structure in relation to the publics.

Task:

Further Students will be placed in an editing group for this component of the assignment. They will edit the information: partners speech or article for punctuation and grammar, spelling, style, structure and layout. Criteria: Suitability of style and structure for identified publics. Suitability of material for the communication medium Creativity of approach Depth of research Strength of rationale Accuracy of referencing Relevance of sources used Clarity of expression

Assessment item 2: Short writing products

Objective(s): a, b, c Weighting: Due: Task: 35% Week 5 and Week 10 Students will write two pieces of 500-750 words each suitable for publication in an online

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Task:

Students will write two pieces of 500-750 words each suitable for publication in an online newsletter. Each piece needs to represent a different type of article. Articles may be in the form of a profile, review, opinion piece or general interest article. The articles should be accompanied by a brief explanation (one or two paragraphs) of the type of article, intended publication and likely audience.

Further Students will select one of these articles to be submitted to editorial groups for publication in information: Assignment 3. Criteria: Suitability of style and structure for identified publics. Suitability of material for the communication medium Evidence of research Creativity of writing style Clarity of expression

Assessment item 3: Editing for an online publication

Objective(s): c, e, f Weighting: Due: Task: 20% Week 14 Students will work in teams to select articles from the bank of student work created during the semester for presentation in an online publication. Editing includes item selection, sourcing images, deciding the appropriate layout, headline captions. Specification for the target online publications will be supplied in tutorials. Aptness of item selection Aptness of style for the medium Accuracy of copy editing Suitability of selection for target public Creativity in presentation

Criteria:

Minimum requirements
Attendance is important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas with other students and the tutor. An attendance roll will be taken at each class. Where possible, students should advise the tutor in a timely manner if they are unable to attend. Students who fail to attend 85% of classes may be refused to have their final assessment item assessed (see Rule 3.8).

Required texts
Smith, R. D. 2012, Becoming a public relations writer: a writing workbook for emerging and established media, 4th Ed., Routledge, NY.

References
Brett, R. 2007, Law and ethics for professional communicators, LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney. Carroll, B., 2009, Writing for Digital Media, Routledge; NP. Garrand, T. P. 2006, Writing for multimedia and the Web : a practical guide to content development for interactive media , Elsevier Focal Press; Boston. Mahoney, J. 2008, Public Relations writing in Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Pfau, M. & Wan, H-H 2006, Persuasion: an intrinsic function of public relations, in C Botan & V Hazleton (eds).
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Public Relations Theory II, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah. Skerlep, A. 2001, Re-evaluating the role of rhetoric in public relations theory and in strategies of corporate discourse, Journal of Communication Management, 6(2): 176-87. Smith, R. D., 2008, Becoming a public relations writer: a writing process workbook for the profession, Routledge, New York. Smith,R. D. 2003, Becoming a public relations writer: a writing process workbook for the profession, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, Mahawah, N.J. Surma, A. 2005, Public and professional writing: ethics, imagination and rhetoric, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Tanner, S. Kasinger, M., Richardson, N. 2009, Feature writing: telling the story, Oxford University press, Melbourne. Treadwell, D. & Treadwell, J.B. 2005, Public Relations Writing: principles in practice, Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CAL. Van Waes, L., Leijten, M., Neuwirth, C. M., 2006, Writing and digital media, Elsevier; Amsterdam Whitaker, W. R., Ramsey, J. E., Smith, R. D., 2000, Mediawriting: print, broadcast, and public relations, Longman, New York. Wilber, R. Miller, R. 2003, Modern media writing, Thomson/Wadsworth; Belmont, CA Wilcox, D. L. 2009, Public relations writing and media techniques, Allyn & Bacon/Pearson Education; Boston Wilcox, D.L. 2009, Public relations: strategies and tactics, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Yopp, J. J. 2002, Reaching audiences : a guide to media writing, Allyn and Bacon; Boston.

Disclaimer
This outline was generated on the date indicated in the footer. Minor changes may have been made subsequent to this date.

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