Tuesdays and Fridays, , N7-C23

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1 1 Journalism vs. Public Relations Fall 2015 Copenhagen 3 Credits Major Disciplines: Communication, Journalism, Public Relations Faculty Member: Anders Bernhoft, andersbernhoft@gmail.com Program Director: Helle Rytkønen, Vestergade 7.38, hry@dis.dk Assistant Program Director: Dorte Mari Aggergaard, Vestergade 7.37, dma@dis.dk Program Assistant: Kelsey Keegan, Vestergade 7.37, kke@dis.dk Tuesdays and Fridays, , N7-C23 Description of Course: Ever wonder how some companies seem to float on a cloud of positive publicity while others struggle to get noticed by the local paper? Some even seem to attract negative headlines on a daily basis. Threading the media needle with commercial messages is a challenging but crucial tactic to all major businesses. This course examines the interaction and interdependence of journalism and public relations. How does one work the other? What are the goes and no-goes when two professions collide in a field with unstated rules? Most communication classes are either on PR or journalism, but this class will give you a very handson understanding of what happens when the two meet. Look into the mechanics of how corporate spin is done and undone by commercial interests and media. Who is using who and why? Get a handle on buzzwords like lobbyism, agenda setting, crisis management and more. Learning objectives of the course: Understand the relationship between the fields of PR and journalism Experience practical PR-work and understand the basic mechanics of journalism as seen from a media perspective as well as from a PR perspective Understand the basic skills required for communicating with journalists, including how to write a press release that a journalist will actually read and report on Course Faculty: Anders Bernhoft (AB): M.A. (journalism and French, Roskilde University), Master of Professional Communication (MPC/MPK), former Head of Press at DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture. With DIS since Guest lecturer: Astrid Helene Washington Required Texts: Burns, Lynette. Understanding Journalism, Henderson, Davis. Making News, 2006.

2 2 Course Structure: Regular classes will be a mixture of lectures and class discussions. During the course you will participate in a field study visiting a large news outlet and have visits from guest lecturers working in the field of journalism and PR. Grades will be calculated according to class participation, attendance, practical PR and journalistic assignments. Absences will be excused only in the event of illness or emergency, and it is your responsibility to inform the instructors of any foreseen absences before the start of class via . DIS Policies: Attendance: You are expected to attend all DIS classes when scheduled. If you miss multiple classes the Director of Teaching and Learning, and the Director of Student Affairs will be notified and they will followup with you to make sure that all is well. Absences will jeopardize your grade and your standing at DIS. Allowances will be made in cases of illness, but in the case of multiple absences you will need to provide a doctor s note. According to DIS policy, two consecutive unexcused absences will result in a report to the Academic Registrar. Three or more absences will have a negative effect your academic standing at DIS; your home university will be notified. Academic Honesty: DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others. Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of F and can result in dismissal. The students home universities will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software. See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions. Laptop Policy: You may use your laptop for note-taking, fact-checking or assignments in the classroom, but be respectful: keep off and social media websites that are unrelated to course discussion. Disability and Resource statement: Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Academic Registrar Sean Green (sgr@dis.dk). Students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes to receive accommodation. Grading Elements: Attendance 25 % Participation 25% Press Release 25% News Story 25 % To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work, participate and arrive on time. Being late will count as absence. **Late papers or assignments** will not be graded Field Studies, Workshops & Assignments: During the course we have two scheduled assignments.

3 3 1. Friday, August 21 st Introduction to the course 2. Tuesday, August 25 th Media relations: PR-people vs. Journalists Objectives: Dos and don ts in the daily media contact. Readings: Making News, David Henderson. (p ) + UN report 3. Friday, August 28 th What is news? Objectives: We look at the news criteria Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) 4. Tuesday, September 1st News Cycles Objectives: Learn about how stories travel through the world of media. Why do some stories repeat themselves endlessly, while others don t even make it to the local paper? Readings: Making News, David Henderson. (p ) 5. Friday, September 4th Page one documentary Objectives: What happens when a PR effort actually winds up in the news section? Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) CORE COURSE WEEK September 7th September 12th 6. Tuesday, September 15th The perfect press release and the media list to go with it part 1 Objectives: Learn how to write a press release and make your own media list. Readings: Making News, David Henderson (p ) Assignment: Write a press release. Draft to be handed in Tuesday 22 nd at midnight via anderserbernhoft@gmail.com 7. Friday, September 18th The face of the media Objectives: Who to pitch? How do newspapers, radio, TV, and news websites differ? Why are some newspapers different than others? We will explore how news organizations decide upon what to cover and how to do it. Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) 8. Tuesday, September 22 nd No class (Anders is travelling)

4 4 9. Friday, September 25 th Plan for success Objectives: A winning PR strategy is at the core of every modern success story, whether we are talking about business or politics. Learn how to transform your ideas into realistic plans. Readings: Making News, David Henderson. (p ) LONG STUDY TOUR/TRAVEL BREAK: September 26 th - October 4th 10. Tuesday, October 6 th Cut the crap Objectives: Creating proper news stories based on PR material. Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) Assignment: Press release draft returned. Final version of press release due Tuesday 13 th at 8.30AM. Send it to my andersbernhoft@gmail.com 11. Friday, October 9 th News Room Simulation Objectives: Make your own priorities. What is important news? Where would you publish them in your newspaper. Readings: No readings for this class Assignment: The news story write a news story. Draft version to be handed in via October 20 th at 8.30AM. 12. Tuesday, October 13 th A crisis is a terrible thing to waste Also: How to do your news story assignment. Objectives: Why will journalists relentlessly pursue a crisis story and what will make them stop? Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) + watch: A Day in the Life of the Newsroom Friday, October 16 th Handling a PR crisis Objectives: Learn how to respond in a PR crisis. What is important when your reputation is on the line and every hour counts? Readings: Making News, David Henderson. (p ) Deadline: Don t forget to hand in your news story today at 8.30AM LONG STUDY TOUR/TRAVEL BREAK: October 17th October 25th

5 5 14. Tuesday, October 27th TV news (AW) Objectives: We will take a closer look at TV news, the strengths and weaknesses of TV, and why different TV stations coverage of the same story may differ. Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns, 2002 (p ) 15. Friday, October 30th Getting your message across part 1! (AB) Objectives: The journalist is holding up the microphone control the interview and make sure your message gets across Readings: Making News, David Henderson (p ) 16. Tuesday, November 3rd Getting your news story draft back. Working on your news story in class. Bring your computer. We ll make the class into a workshop. Readings: None 17. Friday, November 6th Getting your message across part 2! Objectives: The journalist is holding the microphone control the interview and make sure your message gets across Readings: Making News, David Henderson. (p ) Deadline: Final version of the news story to be handed in at 8.30AM via . LONG STUDY TOUR/TRAVEL BREAK: November 7 th November 15th 18. Tuesday, November 17 th Preventing you from getting your message across! Objectives: The journalist is holding the microphone and HE/SHE decides what it is used for! Readings: Understanding Journalism, Lynette Burns (p ) 19. Wednesday, November 18 th Role Playing Game (meet in classroom). No readings. Replaces classes 22, 23, and 24. With Anders Bernhoft and guest lecturer Astrid Washington 20. Friday, November 20 th How to do PR in the third world (AW) Guest lecturer Astrid Helene Washington Readings: None

6 6 21. Tuesday, November 24 th Wrap-up (AB) 22. Friday, November 27 th No class substituted by role playing game 23. Tuesday, December 1 st No class substituted by role playing game 24. Friday, December 4 th No class substituted by role playing game