This paper introduces students to the practices of public relations (PR). It provides an overview of PR’s areas of expertise and professional activities in business, government, and non-profit organisations. Discussions will focus on the social responsibilities of PR professionals who communicate on behalf of organisations and emphasise ethical conduct in different challenging situations.

In the current market environment organisations depend on professional communicators who are able to adapt and function by using a proliferation of channels and activities. The communication industry is growing and specialising in areas such as consumer relations, investor relations, employee relations, fundraising, lobbying, community relations, events management, crisis management, media (including social media) relations and content management. This paper will clarify to students the diverse practices and expectations in each PR area of expertise and prepare them for PR courses in second and third year.

Each lecture will introduce a different PR area of expertise and discuss its major challenges, tactics, principles, and typical ethical issues. The lecture notes will be provided to students during the week preceding the lecture and students will be expected to read lecture notes as well as the weekly prescribed resources before the Monday lecture. The one hour lecture will be devoted to discussions around the lecture’s topic. Students should use the lecture time for questions regarding the content of the lecture notes.

Students will bring to the tutorials that follow the Monday lecture examples that demonstrate the specific area of expertise discussed in the lecture. Examples might be actual industry stories drawn from the media or other sources. Students will present, share and discuss the (marked) examples (see assignment 2). In tutorials we will use case studies and role playing simulations to clarify issues involved in the practice of public relations.

In the last two tutorials students will present their analysis of a specific organisation from a public relations perspective (assignment 3).

Students will be asked to evaluate relevant materials (visual or texts) that would be provided before the lecture or in tutorials.

Resources and documents explaining assignments will be posted online in Moodle.

The students are required to participate in 1 hour lecture and 2 hours tutorial every week. They need to read the course resources or watch videos before the lecture to be able to participate in discussions in class.

For Tutorial examples and participation assignment students should prepare examples for the tutorial marked activities and write few sentences about their example to argue for its relevance to the lecture's content (in 6 tutorials specified in the outline schedule). Detailed instructions will be explained in lectures 1 and 2 and be posted in a document in the online course files.

To prepare for the in-class test students should overview the content of the first 8 lectures and read again the required resources.

For assignment 3 organisation profile students should conduct research, write 500 words report and prepare an effective presentation.

For the final group assignment PR careers students should spend time in group meetings to discuss the topic and share tasks, conduct research, and contribute to the writing of the final report.