Admission and Unit Information - Bachelor of Communication (Public Relations)

Approaches to Communication offers a wide range overview of major theories and models in communication and embraces a series of selected case studies of the emergence, impact and social shaping of different communication and media technologies through history and into the future.

This unit introduces students to forms and theories of writing as processes of communication. Students will work with processes of writing in creative, stylistic and rhetorical contexts. Students will be introduced to theories and practices of creativity, rhetorical analysis and human communication. Areas studied include writing as a communication technology, fiction writing, rhetorical and analytic approaches to writing, writing as affect and expression.

This unit will provide an introduction to film and media theories, practices and industries in Australia and internationally. It will develop critical skills in assessing a variety of moving images, modes of production and audience responses. It will explore ways in which changing media landscapes are impacting screen media.

In this unit students gain a grounding in the key areas of advertising and the steps in the advertising process, viz. research, strategy, creative (copywriting & art direction), production, account service, media planning and marketing communication. Students are also introduced to the issues surrounding advertising and its role in society.

This unit introduces students to processes of design. It examines how knowledges may be formed through visual design processes and how visual design reveals knowledges. It also introduces students to basic visual literacies, current design applications and production processes.

This unit aims to introduce the underlying rationale of the modern research process in professional communication settings including electronic database searches, critically reviewing research literature, data collection and analysis, writing the research report, and research ethics.

This unit introduces the student to the theory and research that serves as the foundation of the practice of public relations. The unit surveys the history of the discipline, the theories on which the discipline is based, and current models of practice. The unit focuses on understanding how to research and analyse the opinions of organisational publics in order to develop mutually beneficial relationships with those publics. The contemporary practice of public relations requires an understanding of a broad range of social science theory and research and the ability to incorporate that knowledge in the solution of public relations problems.

The unit introduces students to the field of journalism, the concept of news, the role of the journalist and the professional skills of news gathering and news writing. The unit also considers the legal and ethical obstacles and obligations faced by journalists.

This unit gives students a thorough understanding of the legal framework in which the communication industries operate and the ethical context of decision-making in the media professions. It covers the basics of contempt and defamation law; copyright; advertising; promotions and public relations; the legal framework for electronic communication using the internet and email; issues in the regulation and control of print, broadcast and electronic media and the professional codes of ethics that apply in all fields of communication practice.

This unit available from 2012. This unit is intended to provide students with an understanding of the effects of mass media on public opinion as a foundation for designing media material and media campaigns appropriate to the solution of specific public relations problems. Students will undertake the preparation of media material to develop an understanding of the role strategic use of the media can play in a public relations campaign.

Writing for the Professions studies various forms of writing that are used extensively in professional contexts and examines how these texts work from the perspective of the reader and the professional context in which they are used. Students will gain knowledge and skills in elements of professional writing style and text production processes including researching, audience analysis and editing. They will also be introduced to a range of complimentary theories and issues of writing such as rhetoric and persuasion, plain English, text layout and design, readability, influence of culture and the impact of various computer technologies on the processes of writing and reading.

The convergences and diversifications in the communications media industries of the past two decades have completely altered the environment within which they operate for producers and consumers alike. Issues about digitalisation, convergence, globalisation, the network society and communications media governance require a complete reconceptualisation of the media in order to be able to understand the impact of these changes upon professional practices and consumer habits. This unit will introduce students to international perspectives on issues in the new media contexts, and an appreciation of some of the social and cultural implications.

This unit will explore the relationship between organisations (in both the private and public sectors) and public relations strategy. Student learning will address the importance of public relations in designing and implementing a holistic communications strategy as well as demonstrate the importance of public relations to organisations.

This unit covers flow and transmission views and theory and research in organisational communication. The major theorists in the field; internal and external factors affecting organisational communication techniques. It expolres problems in organisational communication; communication skills in organisations and communication audits.

Media images are not transparent windows on the world, or direct forms of communication, but are “framed” presentations that mirror social values and cultural attitudes. Media do not present reality directly but re-present aspects of “the real” in communicating about us and our world/s. This unit will examine how media do not just inform us, but persuade us, how they influence, educate and entertain us. It will develop skills in analysing and critiquing how the media can make us think, feel, react.

The study of events promotion has emerged as a distinctive academic focus in response to the worldwide growth of events as a public relations activity. Events represent a unique service to satisfy diverse publics including consumers, government, community and cultural groups, media, and business sponsors or financiers. Accordingly, the study of events promotion is valuable for students of public relations as events increasingly serve a mainstream public relations role for both public and private sector bodies. Students will learn the strategies necessary to host a viable event and learn how important the events are to the practice of public relations.

Politcal Public Relations examines the convergence of public relations, advertising and political consulting in marking a new chapter in the history of political campaigns. The central topic is the ongoing process of professionalisation and internationalisation of electioneering and campaign practices in media-centred democracies. It examines comparatively the diffusion theory of directional convergence processes and the modernist theory of fragmentation of the public sphere and its associated structural change. The study of professional norms and standards of political consultants - the new power elite - is relatively new, requiring us to adopt a historicist perspective in order to evaluate contemporary political public relations.

This unit explores the principles and practice of issues management to avoid crises, managing a crisis if one arises, and looking for opportunities to learn and benefit from it where possible, using effective public relations. It investigates the development of crisis management plans, also testing and implementing these plans. Dealing with the media and pressure groups is covered, along with also training a crisis communication team and organising response to a crisis situation.

Researching Media Audiences (RMA) interrogates the changing nature of, and altered perspectives on, audiences and publics. Set in the context of emerging technologies of the self, the unit traverses media theory from the Frankfurt School to high-structuralist and postmodern approaches such as the ‘uses and gratification model’ and ‘ethnographic research’. Through an examination of mass audience, community, and markets, the unit also examines categories of public / audience consciousness and media typologies. There is reflection on news values and Australia’s regulatory framework for media is reviewed. As part of a broader consideration of active (rather than reactive) audiences, RMA investigates the formation and behaviour of ‘fandoms’ and the unit also reviews means and mechanisms for audience valuation.

Students will learn about key aspects of the public relations management process. This unit provides the opportunity to link and apply theoretical understanding with writing, planning and presentation skills gained during the public relations sequence, in response to a client brief. The real life situation allows students to demonstrate their capacity for problem analysis and to develop appropriate and timely program solutions. Assignments enable students to demonstrate their capacity to develop a public relations campaign and prepare themselves for a public relations position, either in an in-house or consultancy role.

This unit provides students with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they are developing during their studies to tasks within a workplace (the host organisation). The unit is likely to involve substantial contact with the public through workplace placements and, for this reason, it is deemed a professional placement. The unit is restricted to students in their third year of study (or part time equivalent).