• Illia Manzan Laura Géraldine

• Illia Manzan Laura Géraldine

• Clausen Anika Kamilla

This course is designed to lead the students into the fascinating world of how companies and institutions relate to the media on a day-to-day basis. In present day the media is ubiquitous. Knowing how to communicate effectively and navigate safely in relation to media is therefore of the utmost importance. Companies and institutions need to invest heavily in the whole process of communication, from the planning of communication strategies to the crafting of messages and the actual communication situation, in press releases, press conferences, interviews, or their own media productions.

The course consists of two parts. The first part, will focus on the strategic management of media relations. During the course, we will combine lectures by the professor, discussions on various topics according to the book " On Deadline, Managing Media Relations", case studies and the preparation of plans and other working documents for efficient Media Relations within an organization such as a Media Relations Annual Plan. The second part, is a more practical, hands-on Media Training. It is designed to give the students an understanding of how to go through the process of crafting a message and presenting it in different situations in front of a camera. For this part of the course, students will refer to the book “The Media Training Bible”. They will be divided in sub-teams and will play different role playing. Students will be asked to get out of their comfort zone and prepare for different media situations such as interviews, press conferences, tv debates, in the DCM tv studio.

PART 1 Media Relations

- To know how to develop a media relations plan

- To become ready to start managing media relations within an organization

- To be able to reflect on and discuss the mechanisms at work in practical media relations

PART 2 Media Training

- To become familiar with the “rules of the game” during an interview  and press conference (how journalists think, what journalists expect from communication professional)

- To  learn how to get key messages across in the most effect, concise, and memorable way

- To understand what it takes to speak and act comfortably and in a relaxed manner in front of a camera

Mandatory readings available on Moodle

• Baron, D. P. (2013). Business and Its Environment. Pearson. – Part I and V.
• Howard C. M. & Mathews, W.K. (2013). On Deadline. Managing Media Relations (5^th ed.). Waveland Press. (For this class, we will be reading excerpts from the 3^rd edition (2000) – chapter 1-6 and 11.)
• Mizrahi, J. (2016). Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals. Business Expert Press. – Chapter 3, 6, 7, and 8.
• Pallas, J., Strannegård, L., & Jonsson, S. (2014). Organizations and the Media: Organizing in a Mediatized World. Taylor & Francis. – Chapter 1 and 3.
• Phillips, B. (2013). The Media Training Bible: 101 Things You Absolutely, Positively Need to Know Before Your Next Interview. SpeakGood Press.
• Schenkler I. & Herrling, T. (2003). Caught on the hook: Responding to media calls. In Guide to Media Relations. Prentice Hall Series in Advanced Business Communication (pp. 56-73). Pearson.
• Swart, J., Peters, C., & Broersma, M. (2017). Navigating Cross-media news use: media repertoires and the value of news in the everyday life. Journalism Studies, 18(11), 1343 – 1362.
• Vioneia, C. L. & van Kranenburg, H. (2017). Media influence and firms behaviour: A stakeholder management perspective. International Business Research, 10(10), 23-38.

Other recommended readings

• Bierck, R. & Krattenmaker, T. (2000). Handling the difficult interview: Some advice from media relations professionals. Newsletter from Harvard Business School, Article reprint C0003E.
• Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2007). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Random House.
• Henderson, D. E. (2009). Making News in the Digital Era. iUniverse.
• Kim, J. N., Ni, L., & Sha, B. L. (2008). Breaking down the stakeholder environment: Explicating approaches to the segmentation of publics for public relations research. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(4), 751-768.
• Walker, T. J. (2008). Media Training A-Z: A Complete Guide to Controlling Your Image, Message, & Sound Bites (5^th ed.). Media Training Worldwide.

Recommended tv-series and films

• The West Wing: Whichever season you watch, this television drama gives a realistic portrait of White House inner life. CJ Cregg (actress Allison Janney) is a very talented press secretary who usually manages to get positive headlines. It is also a very interesting exploration of the relationships between corporate-politics, communication professionals and reporters.
• The Thick of It: This comedy tv-series offers a satirical view of the inner workings of modern British government and its recurrent problems with communication. One of the main characters, Malcolm Tucker (actor Peter Capaldi), the government’s director of communication, is said to be based to a large degree on Tony Blair’s legendary top spin doctor Alastair Campbell. The feature film “In the Loop” is a spin-off of this tv-series.
• Ides of March: In this 2011 political drama, directed by George Clooney, we follow Stephen Meyers (actor Ryan Gosling), an ambitious junior campaign leader for candidate Mike Morris (Clooney) during the final sprint of the Democratic primaries. The film gives an insight into how the different players in the election campaigns relate to and try to use the media to their own benefit.
• And remember to watch a lot of different interviews and press conferences on TV and YouTube…

Students will be subject to an ongoing evaluation, following the scheme below:

• The quality of the group projects presented and developed during class (50%)
• Attendance and performance in the media practices (50%) - TV studio
• Possibility to earn a bonus for participation (up to +1 point to final grade)

No retake exam.