Public Relations - Syllabus PDF

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MCC-UE 1750: Public Relations—Theory and Process Mon., 4-7 p.m. & Wed., 4-7:30 p.m. Summer Session 2021/Credits: 4.0 Remote Instruction James Devitt (914) 522-3774—cell (212) 998-5635—department [email protected] www.linkedin.com/in/james-devitt-61620b5/ Office Hours: By appointment This course considers the role of public relations in persuasion from practitioner, historical, and theoretical standpoints. By the end of the session, students should have a substantive understanding of the public relations field and its role in the terrain on which it functions. Class Structure The course will include lectures and discussions, with an emphasis on classroom interaction based on the reading material. PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and videos for that day’s lecture will be posted on Brightspace (under the “Content” tab) shortly before the lecture begins. Academic Life on Zoom Zoom classes, meetings, and trainings are not unlike dog years—they take much more time, or at least seem to, than actually passes in real life. There are multiple ways the course will seek to combat this— frequent break-out room exercises, robust interaction during the presentation of the material, and classwide discussions. The “prompts” for these engagements will be, needless to say, thoughtful, pioneering, and designed to enhance your understanding of the field. However, they will, in many cases, be linked to the reading assignments for that day. This means that in order for these exchanges to have value—and, pointedly, for class sessions to not seem as if they take hours longer than they actually do—reading the material for that day prior to class is vital. Doing so will make you better prepared to participate in these discussions—and to, as you might imagine, take the examinations and to complete the assignments (see “Readings for each week are to be completed before class” below). Requirements Your grade will be based on the following requirements: 1. Group assignment/Class presentation: Your group will develop a public relations campaign addressing a specific goal or problem for a real-world organization. A rough description (one or two sentences) for each group’s plan will be due on July 21 and the presentations will be given on August 9. 2. Analytical paper: One 3-4 page paper will be assigned during the first half of the semester. The assignment will require an analytical application of concepts discussed in class (due date: July 14). 3. Press release analysis and distribution plan: One 3-4 page paper will be assigned during the second half of the semester. The assignment will require a practical application of concepts and examples discussed in class: analyzing a press release and creating a distribution plan (due date: August 2). 4. Final examination: The format will be the same as the one for the mid-term examination. This will be cumulative, but the focus will be on the latter half of the semester. The final exam will be on the last day of class, August 11.

5. Class participation: The quality of your in-class comments and analyses that demonstrate you’ve completed that week’s reading material will determine your class participation grade. In addition, due to the pandemic, I recognize that many of you are taking this class while living in non-U.S. time zones and may not attend class in person, making participation difficult. To address this, all students in the course have the opportunity to do up to four class-participation assignments. Completing these non-graded assignments will enhance your class-participation grade. They will be posted on Brightspace under “Assignments” after the following lectures: July 12, July 21, July 28, and Aug. 2. You may do as many or as few as you’d like—or none at all. 6. Weekly “In the News” Minutes: Each week different students will brief the class with separate three-minute summaries of one item in the news, highlighting the PR aspects/influence of the story. You’ll each present one news item in the course of the semester. You will receive a “plus,” “check,” or “minus” for your presentation, which will be factored into your class participation grade. These items will be calculated in the following manner to determine your grade: Analytical Paper: 25 percent ● Assignment: 25 percent ● Group Presentation: 10 percent ● Final exam: 30 percent ● Class participation 10 percent ● There are no “extra credit” opportunities for this course. Calculation of Grades Letter grades are translated into points out of 100 in the following manner: A+=100/100; A=95/100; A=92/100; B+=88/100; B=85/100; B-=82/100; C+=78/100; C=75/100; C-=72/100. The final grade scale for Steinhardt School courses is as follows: A = 94-100; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83; C+ = 77-79; C = 74-76; C- = 70-73; D+ = 65-69; D = 60-64; F = 0-59 Class Policies 1. If you miss class, you’re responsible for the material presented. 2. Cheating or plagiarizing the work of another will trigger disciplinary procedures for violation of the university’s academic integrity policy. Under such a circumstance, I will advocate assigning an F in the course. 3. Written assignments and exams must be submitted as MS Word or Pages documents. Written assignments and exams submitted in another format (e.g., PDF) must be re-submitted in one of the required formats and will be subject to a five-point penalty. Class participation assignments submitted in a format other than MS Word and Pages will receive no credit. 4. Lectures, which are recorded, deadlines, and exams are all in the Eastern Time Zone (EDT). Late submissions due to confusion over the time zone will still be subject to penalties. Required Text • Introduction to Public Relations: Strategic, Digital, and Socially Responsible Communication, Second Edition (Sage), Janis Teruggi Page and Lawrence Parnell • Additional reading material on Brightspace will supplement the textbook—to access this material, please click the “More Tools” tab, then scroll down to and click the “Course Reserves” tab Please note that this course is participating in the Follett Access program. This is an NYU Bookstore initiative that delivers required course materials digitally at the lowest possible price. The book for this course, Introduction to Public Relations by Page and Parnell, will be delivered to you digitally via emailed link. The cost of the book is $52.50, which will be added as a “book charge” to your bursar bill, this is a savings of $47.50 over the new hardcopy price. Should you choose to remove yourself from the 2

program and find your course materials elsewhere, you must login here to the student portal and opt out of having the course materials provided to you by July 11th. Readings are to be completed before class. Note: In recent years, I’ve been asked variations of the following question—typically right before an exam: “Do I need to do the reading?” The answer, of course, is “No—I can’t force you to do so.” But if you wish to do well in this course, I strongly recommend doing the readings—not surprisingly, such exposure enhances one’s understanding of the material. Daily Schedule July 7: Understanding Public Relations; History; PR Models • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapters 1 & 2 • Mastering Public Relations (Saylor), Chapter 3, Sect. 3.1 (“Models and Approaches to Public Relations” [“Historical Development of Modern Public Relations”]) • Greenberg, David, “How Teddy Roosevelt Invented Spin,” the Atlantic, Jan. 24, 2016 • Holzer, Harold, Lincoln and the Power of the Press, introduction (pp. XIII-XXIX) • Robbins, Michael, "World War I unleashed total war, and the power of mass communication," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 2018 Wu, Tim, The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads, pp. 318-344 • July 12: Communication Theories and Persuasion; Public Opinion; Role of the News Media • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapter 4 (“The Big Ideas Behind Public Relations Strategies,” pp. 84-98) • Kahneman, Daniel, Thinking Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011), pp. 1-13; 89-105 • Cunningham, Brent, “Re-thinking Objectivity,” Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2003 • Cohen, Patricia, and Ron Lieber, “Teenagers Missing Out on Summer Jobs,” New York Times, July 4, 2015 • Netburn, Deborah, “Scientists Prove that the Public Pays Attention to Journalism,” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 9, 2017 Lowery, Wesley, “A Reckoning Over Objectivity, Led by Black Journalists,” New York Times, • June 23, 2020 July 14 (Analytical Paper Due): Law and Ethics • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapter 3 • Davey, Monica, “Ex-Governor, Suing Over Book, Is Back in Minnesota’s Spotlight,” New York Times, July 8, 2014 & “Jesse Ventura Wins Defamation Case,” New York Times, July 29, 2014 • Jaschik, Scott, “Food Fight,” Inside Higher Ed, July 18, 2016 • Patterson, Dan, “What is Section 230, and Why Do So Many Lawmakers Want to Repeal It?” CBS News’ “Marketwatch,” Dec. 16, 2020 [please also watch embedded video] July 19: Planning, Execution, and Evaluation • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapters 4 (pp. 74-84 [up to “The Big Ideas Behind Public Relations Strategies”]), 5, and 7 (“Measuring News Coverage,” pp. 160-164 [up to “Global Media Trends and Tactics”) • Irwin, Neil, “How Did Walmart Get Cleaner Stores and Higher Sales? It Paid Its People More,” New York Times, Oct. 15, 2016 • Keeter, Scott, “Poll Power,” Wilson Quarterly, Autumn 2008, pp. 56-62 • “Understanding how 2020 election polls performed and what it might mean for other kinds of survey work,” Pew Research Center, Nov. 13, 2020 • Cox, Daniel, “Could Social Alienation Among Some Trump Supporters Help Explain Why Polls Underestimated Trump Again?” FiveThirtyEight.com, Nov. 24, 2020

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July 21 (Group Presentation Topic Due): Tactics—The Written Word and Media Outreach • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapters 6 & 7 (pp. 148-160 [up to “Measuring News Coverage”]) • “How to Write an Op/Ed Article,” Office of News and Communications, Duke University • Wynne, Robert, “How to Write a Press Release,” Forbes, June 13, 2016 GUEST SPEAKER: Sydney Pereira, reporter, Gothamist July 26: Crisis Communications and Conflict Management • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapter 2, pp. 46-47 (“Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol Crisis”), Chapter 12 • “In Case of Emergency: What Not to Do,” Peter Goodman, New York Times, Aug. 21, 2010 • Dezenhall, Eric, Glass Jaw: A Manifesto for Defending Fragile Reputations in an Age of Instant Scandal, pp. 111-132; pp. 173-198 • Viner, Katherine, “How Technology Disrupted the Truth,” the Guardian, July 12, 2016 July 28: Tactics—The Spoken Word; Branding and Image (Press Release Assignment Due) • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapter 11 (pp. 258-262: “Corporate Branding and Reputation,” Special Events and Sponsorships,” and “Insights: Corporate Branding”) Shesol, Jeff, “Mario Cuomo’s Finest Moment,” the New Yorker, Jan. 15, 2015 • • Condon, George, “Why Obama’s Normandy Visit is—and Isn’t—Like Reagan’s,” the Atlantic, June 5, 2014 Garcia, Helio Fred, “Content: Word Choice, Framing, and Meaning,” in The Power of • Communication, pp. 185-205 • Lakoff, George, “Anna Nicole on the Brain,” in The Political Mind: Why You Can’t Understand 21st-Century Politics with an 18th-Century Brain (Viking, 2008), pp. 21-42 • Bilton, Nick, “The Secret Culprit in the Theranos Mess,” Vanity Fair, May 6, 2016 • Millman, Debbie, Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits, pp. 226-253 GUEST SPEAKER: Hayley Berlent, founder, the Additive Agency August 2: Tactics—New Technologies and Social Media Note: Supplemental reading for this lecture may be provided leading up to this date. • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapter 8 • Gladwell, Malcolm, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted,” the New Yorker, Oct. 4, 2010 • Garcia Lawlor, Opheli, “Is It Futile to Keep Marching?” Mic, Jan. 20, 2020 • Blake, Meredith and Scott Collins “ ‘Sharknado’ is Twitter Bait,”, Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2013 • “How Luther Went Viral,” the Economist, Dec. 17, 2011 • “News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2020,” Pew Research Center, January 12, 2021 • Rusbridger, Alan, Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now (Canongate, 2018), pp. 134-149) GUEST SPEAKER: Michael Kaye, OK Cupid August 4: Tactics—Visuals; Media Training; International Public Relations, Diverse Audiences, and Corporate Responsibility • Introduction to Public Relations: Chapters 9 and 16 • “The Press as a Storyteller,” in Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman, The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World (Oxford, 2003), pp. 1-23 • Gavilan, Diana, Fernández-Lores, Susana, and Martinez-Navarro, Gema, “Vividness of News Push Notifications and Users’ Response,” Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2020) • “How Europe’s Newspapers Reported the Migration Crisis,” a study by the European Journalism Observatory, Nov. 9, 2015 • “Faces on Product Labels Appeal to Lonely People,” Futurity, Aug. 17, 2017 4

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Carr, Austin, “The Inside Story of Starbucks’s Race Together Campaign, No Foam,” Fast Company, June 15, 2015

August 9: Group Project Presentations **Note: Class period may include presentation of material from the Aug. 9 lecture. August 11: Final Examination Student Resources The Moses Center Students with physical or learning disabilities are required to register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities, 726 Broadway, 2nd Floor, (212.998.4980) and are required to present a letter from the Center to the instructor at the start of the semester in order to be considered for appropriate accommodation. Writing Center (Washington Square) 411 Lafayette, 4th Floor. Schedule an appointment online at https://nyu.mywconline.com or just walk-in.

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