JOUR/CEP 300 – Writing For The Media and Social Media: Journalism and Public Relations (Community Engagement Practicum)

In this practicum students can choose between different areas of specialization in journalism including news writing and editing, journalism on social media, photo and/or video journalism, graphic and layout. Depending on the area chosen, students will learn the basic theory of news writing and editing, social media reporting, photo-and-video journalism production, and will have the opportunity to convert theory into practice by working with professionals.
Students will be taught the main techniques and strategies used in the main areas of journalism. They will engage in all facets of the writing process – including selecting and sourcing news, writing, critiquing, editing, and revising, with the ultimate goal of becoming more effective writers, viewers and readers of media contents – as well as in all facets of the production process of photo and video journalism, learning ‘on the field’ how to produce multimedia journalism content and how to develop a constructive relationship with both press officers and colleagues in a professional context.

The seminar meets once a week and is based on students’ reports about their work as well as on teaching, readings and discussions of the topics covered in the week. During the seminar, students will be taught the main theories of media production. Students engaged in journalistic writing will be introduced to the main styles used by journalists and PR practitioners – including AP style, inverted pyramid style, focus style and other narrative styles used to write engaging feature stories – to the main techniques used to conduct interviews and write good interview reports. Students engaged in layout production, photojournalism, and video journalism will be given the essential theory and prepared for their weekly assignment.

1. Have a detailed understanding of the main writing styles used by journalists and PR practitioners.
2. Learn how to research and record information, write and edit articles using different styles, and manage social media content.
3. Understand the dynamics of the relationship between journalists and PR officers.