Media Relations

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Effective media and influencer relations are key to relationship building in today's communications landscape. By intimately understanding the news cycle - and the stakeholders within it - a practitioner has the opportunity to educate the public and elevate their client's mission and message. In this course, students will become familiar with multimedia sources and evaluate their impact on public opinion. Further, students will acquire a sophisticated understanding of how information becomes news and break through the clutter to get their clients noticed. Additionally, students will develop techniques that yield success in writing and pitching, including research on beats/segments, headline/subject line writing, newsjacking, social media engagement, and best practices for follow up. Learning Outcomes Across Both Courses: · Analyze the current media landscape for headlines, sentiments, and opportunities to engage. · Demonstrate how to maximize positive coverage or change public opinion. · Apply principles of relationship building to engage with journalists, producers, and influencers. · Develop pitches for multimedia outlets that have the potential to create news. · Create a media relations portfolio of writing samples for resume building and career opportunities.