Each week from Week 2-12 you are required to write short, pithy, and insightful 300-400 word reflections on the weekly readings and lecture.

Each week should cover points from at least one reading AND the lecture AND should include a question arising from a reading or lecture for classmates to consider. It will also include a comment on another student's question or an interesting discussion point raised by a classmate either in their blog or in tutorials.

Your reflections on the reading and lecture and question should be posted to an online blog post by at least 5pm the day before your tutorial and used as the basis for discussions (NB: if your tutorial is on the same day as the live lecture you may post your reflections on lecture the day after your tutorial but you will still need to post reflections on the readings in time; for weeks with pre-recorded lectures you will be expected to listen and reflect on them before your tutorial). This will also give the tutor a chance to read through some of the ideas and pick up on interesting questions and comments to share with the whole class.

Responses to other students can be posted in the same week after your tutorial. 

You should be prepared to share and expand on your insights in an oral form in tutorials in small groups or with the rest of the class. NB: In some weeks, especially in the latter half of the unit, there may limited time for discussion in class due to presentations but you will still be expected to respond online.

By reflection we mean the ability to carefully select and respond to key ideas that resonate with you as opposed to simply reiiterating ideas mentioned in the readings and lectures. This can be done, for instance, by relating points to new examples, tying insights to your own personal experience or potential future career, making links to media and company reports, linking the ideas in the lecture/readings to the specific topics chosen for the assignments you are working on (e.g. media release, essay), questioning the points raised and suggesting alternative ways of looking at things etc. i.e. show how you are extending on ideas of others. 

Comments on other student's posts may be in the form of articulating interest in a particular idea raised by another student that you didn't pick up on and why you thought this was interesting, sharing a similar example/experience, or suggesting alternative ways of looking at the same thing etc.

By half way through the semester the entire cohort will be given some collective feedback indicating what is being done well and where you may improve (they will not be marked at this stage). Your posts will be marked individually and holistically at the end of the semester.

You will be marked on:

*Consistency: Posts are submitted each week for 10 weeks. You will be marked down if you miss an entry, your insights are incomplete (e.g. if some weeks cover a reading, but not the lecture or response to classmate's question), or if your insights on the readings and lecture are posted after your tutorial. This is to ensure you are prepared for in-tutorial discussions each week. 

*Writing/Content: Ability to select rich and pertinent details from the readings and lectures and relate them to other ideas relevant to the unit in a clear, insightful and succint way. Writing is free from spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. (It is fine to use dot points but ensure the writing is presented in a way that makes sense to external readers and is not just a collection of personal notes).

*Referencing: Authors are clearly indicated in your writing through the inclusion of in-text references with page numbers and a reference list (the reference list can be excluded from the word count) and/or reference to the names of particular students you are responding to. 

*Attitude: Appreciation for the value of reflection and this genre of of writing. Reflections are done with thought, consideration and kindness towards the authors to which you are responding, and there is a clear attempt to make the ideas meaningful to you and your learning.

*Preparedness and ability to share your insights with fellow learners in an oral form in tutorials (NB: this aspect may be weighted more towards the first half of the semester before presentations begin). 

Submission:

Submit your weekly insights to an online blog to be set up in ilearn.

For this assessment you are required to write a media release for an existing organisation based on a development or issue that could potentially affect the organization i.e. use a little creative license to make up a crisis or a political, economic or social development that impacts on the organization that could happen in 1-2 months time​. The development should be realistic, but should not have happened already.

Your media release should have a clear and well-considered message that is newsworthy and be presented in a way that aims to enhance the reputation of your organization as a responsible organization in light of this development.

Your release will target a specific journalist and media outlet, which may be an online/print newspaper or magazine, or radio or television program. In some cases social media influencers can also be targeted if that person has a particularly influential blog or website that is relevant to your organisation (it is best to check with your tutor first before taking this option). The media choice should be carefully considered and researched to ensure its audiences match the target public you are trying to reach on behalf of your organization.

The release should also be carefully constructed to ensure it fits with the style, interests and news values of the specific media outlet you are targeting. It should also adhere to the more general requirements of the media release format (e.g. logo, date, headlines, contact details etc.) as discussed in lectures, tutorials and readings. Attention to detail in terms of length, structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling is expected.

The media release should be a maximum of 2 pages, double-spaced (though aim for 1 page).

On a separate cover page include the following information:

• Name of your organization
• Journalist this release will be sent to
• ​Journalist's contact details (e.g. email, telephone, Twitter handle)
• Name of media outlet
• ​Target audience/key public

The criteria for this assessment are:

*Principles/Theories: demonstrates understanding of the purpose of the media release, principles of newsworthiness, and ability to apply PR theories to practice

*Writing: follows prescribed style and length of a media release; articulates the key message in a style appropriate to the target audience/media; free from grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors 

​*Synthesis: creatively integrates a realistic development for a real organisation with a current social/political issue in a newsworthy way; demonstrates effective alignment between the chosen media, key publics, and the organisation’s objectives; evidence of wide reading and background research into the organisation and its publics, the media outlet, and the issue through the selection of pertinent facts and appropriate wording 

Submission:

​Submit your cover page and media release as one document electronically to Turnitin via ilearn.

For this assessment you are required to make a short, persuasive Powerpoint presentation of 5-6 minutes. In the talk and slides you will explain the background research and rationale that went into preparing your media release.

In your presentation introduce your organisation, the development facing the organization, and why the organization needs to address the issue now. Then explain your solution to the communication problem by detailing your organization's key objective for this communication activity, who the target audience will be​, which media outlet and journalist it will be sent to, as well as what its main message will be. Also briefly explain key linguistic and structural features of your media release that will help you achieve your objectives. Where relevant you may explain any changes made as a result of feedback on your media release from your tutor.

Highlight how solid research has underpinned all your choices, including:

-research into how your organization or a similar organization has handled a similar situation in the past to see what has worked or not etc.

-media monitoring to see how the issue has been discussed in the past and how your media release fits into or attempts to shift the current discourse 

-research into the target public of your organization to show that you have framed the issue in a way that is relevant to them

-research into audiences of media outlets to show that you are likely to reach the right audiences by using that media outlet

-research into journalists who report on your issue to show they are the appropriate ones to target (i.e. they have written on this topic before)

You can speak to the class as fellow learners or you can set up a scenario where you imagine you are speaking to your organisation's top management about your intended approach and are speaking with them to explain and convince them of your approach before sending the media release to journalists (this is especially important if the issue is very sensitive e.g. your organisation is facing a crisis).

Your Powerpoint slides should indicate where pertinent references have been used to inform your strategy through in-text references and should include a full reference list at the end. These can be both academic and non-academic references e.g. audience reports, media articles, company reports, websites etc. 

​Your presentation may be followed by clarifying questions and answers from 'the board' (i.e. from classmates and the tutor).

​You are required to stay strictly within the time limit and may be cut short if you go over the time limit. You will make an executive decision on what to focus on that would best draw out the strengths of your specific media release in the limited time available without having to race through material. 

It is strongly recommended that you rehearse your presentation and practice making your presentation as persuasive as possible e.g. through effective use of eye contact, gestures, tone of voice, and audio-visual aids as relevant. You will be marked down for reading a script, though it is OK to occassionally refer to short dot points if necessary or use your PPT slides as prompts. Given the presentation time is short, you may include an extra 1-2 slides in your Powerpoint presentation with a more detailed rationale in point form for the tutor to read when it is submitted online.

After your presentation (by midnight the same day) upload your Powerpoint presentation slides to Turnitin (you are requested to use Powerpoint rather than an online presentation format as online formats cannot be uploaded to Turnitin). You will be provided feedback on your spoken and Powerpoint presentation via Turnitin.

The criteria for this assessment are: 

*Oral Presentation: Ability to engage audience with appropriate and effective use of eye contact, body language, tone of voice; ability to speak without reading; message verbally presented in an easily digestible way and well-tailored to the audience; well-rehearsed; ability to clearly select and highlight key points whilst staying within the time limit.

*PPT slides: Slides look clean and inviting; are free from spelling and grammatic errors; contain relevant images/details that support the spoken rationale in a clear and succinct form (i.e. they are not overloaded with information); if 1-2 extra slides with further points supporting the rationale are included, they are also clear, succinct and well-presented.

*Rationale: Clear and persuasive articulation of the rationale behind the selection of target public, media outlet, journalist, and key message. Demonstration of highly pertinent and strategic communication choices that meet the objectives of your chosen organisation. 

*Theory: References used clearly help to justify your approach and are strategically selected - there are just enough to be convincing and not too many to be overwhelming. Referencing style is consistent and correct. References are embedded into slides in a way that doesn't distract from the key message or presentability of each slide (i.e. use in-text referencing and reference list at the end - font for referencing can be smaller).

Write a 1500-word essay on one of the following questions:

Question 1: Social Media in a Crisis

Choose an organisation or an individual that has experienced a crisis in the past 12 months. Analyse and evaluate the crisis management approach employed by the organization, with a focus on its use of social media. Explain why you think the strategy was successful or not. In the development of your argument, explain the theory behind crisis management in relation to the organization you have chosen.

OR

Question 2: Social Media for Awareness and Action

Choose an organisation that aims to raise public awareness and/or encourage social action on a particular issue of interest (e.g. an environmental issue, poverty, homelessness, human rights, privacy, consumer rights etc.). Critically examine how the organisation employs public relations tools to communicate with and persuade its target publics, focusing on a particular social media campaign. Explain why you think the strategy was successful or not. In the development of your argument, explain the theory behind the formation of public opinion. Also briefly consider whether you think the public relations employed by this organization helped to improve the democratic process by bringing attention to the particular issue or by offering a particular angle on the issue that may be dfferent to the voices of other organisations.

Further details for both questions:

In answering your chosen question, you are expected to conduct independent research by examining and analysing the organisation’s communication strategies with a focus on messages on one or two social media platforms e.g. Facebook, Twitter. In developing your argument, provide relevant quotes from specific posts/tweets as well as details of the types of public engagement generated through these platforms (e.g. number of comments, types of comments, sample comments etc.).

Explain the significance of social media in relation to traditional media and other communicative approaches that may also be used by the organization. If relevant, briefly compare to the media approach of another organization who has a stake in the same issue, but which may have very different messages about it.

Support your argument with reference to theories and concepts covered in at least 2 set readings and draw on at least 2 highly pertinent academic references beyond the set readings. Also refer to public statements, newsletters, websites, media reports, annual reports, other social media platforms, etc. as appropriate.

The criteria for this assessment are: 

*Research: ability to select highly pertinent media and academic references in a way that provides evidence of thorough research 

*Synthesis and analysis: ability to synthesise theoretical concepts and readings with media/social media texts in a way that offers an insightful and critical analysis of an organisation's social media campaign or social media response to a crisis

*Writing: ability to present a logical and coherent argument through a well-structured piece that is free from grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors

*Referencing: accurate and complete in-text referencing and reference list, including at least 4 academic articles (at least 2 from the set readings and 2 beyond) as well as media texts (Harvard or APA style) 

​Submission:

Submit your essay electronically on Turnitin via ilearn.