JOUR19024 - Public Relations & the Media

General Information

Unit Synopsis

An understanding of the relationship between media and public relations is vital to the success of raising and maintaining a public profile for an organisation. This unit introduces students to media management theories and concepts, and teaches students skills that form the basis of media liaison. These include writing press releases, preparing talent, targeting effective media, and knowledge of the difference between print and broadcast media practice. By the end of the unit, students will be expected to have enough understanding of media practice to be able to develop strategies for using the media to support public relations activities and an organisation's goals.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

The following units are pre-requisites:
COMM11007 Media Writing

COMM11110 Introduction to Public Relations

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Group Discussion 20%
2. Written Assessment 30%
3. Written Assessment 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2018 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 52.94% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
The real world client was appreciated by students, including the option to complete an assessment for their own choice of clients. Students like the fact that there were real consequences for their assessments, and that clients could potentially adopt their ideas.
Recommendation
It is recommended to continue sourcing a real world client for the teamwork assessment item.
Action Taken
A real world client was again adopted for the final assessment, with students able to negotiate their own topics if they wished.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback
The structure of the unit including Moodle navigation and feedback from the unit coordinator was appreciated.
Recommendation
It is recommended to continue the Moodle navigation in a similar way, and to continue to support students by providing timely and relevant feedback to assessment.
Action Taken
Moodle navigation was clear and timely support was provided to students, as well as constructive and timely feedback to assessments.
Source: Student Have Your Say survey
Feedback
The real world client was appreciated by students, including the option to complete an assessment for their own choice of clients. Students like the fact that there were real consequences for their assessments, and that clients could potentially adopt their ideas.
Recommendation
It is recommended to continue sourcing real world clients for the final assessment. Further, it is recommended to continue to allow students to negotiate their own assessment if it fits the learning outcomes.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Have Your Say survey
Feedback
Assessment feedback was positively received because of the constructive way in which it was provided.
Recommendation
It is recommended to continue to provide timely and relevant feedback to students about their assessment, including feedback about how to improve for the next assessment.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. identify the role and context of media manager or media liaison officer within an organisation;
  2. apply journalistic skills within a public relations context;
  3. determine organisational goals when dealing with the media;
  4. prepare and use key messages;
  5. develop strategies for using the media to support public relations activities and an organisation’s goals.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Group Discussion • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Group Discussion • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •