CORE065 Insight into Media Newsrooms: News and PR

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jaroslav Čuřík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jaroslav Čuřík, Ph.D.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Boris Rafailov, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 14:00–15:40 U42
Prerequisites
!TYP_STUDIA(ND) && !PROGRAM(B-MSZU) && ! ZURb1102 Media and communic. studies
The course is taught only in the Czech language and therefore assumes a good knowledge of this language at least at B2 level.

The course will focus on journalism and especially on the form and practical emergence of news in  contemporary mass and online media. A related area is public relations and mutual influence of public relations and news.

The aim of the course is to acquaint non-professional students with the basic principles of the origin and functioning of news in  practice, to explain to them the rules and professional principles of editorial offices and professional journalists on the ground plan of the ongoing loosening of journalism, when almost anyone can in some cases pretend to be journalists, and to put everything in the context of  public relations.

The course will make the basics of journalism and journalistic professional rules accessible to non-journalists and, from a broader perspective, will increase the media literacy of students. It will also allow students to realize the connection between news and public relations, which they can then use in their primary studied program even after graduation, for example, to  promote their field and the results of their work.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 23/30, only registered: 1/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
Course objectives
Acquisition of skills and competencies for life. The course will focus on selected topics from the field of practical news and public relations. The aim of the new project is to carefully select and prepare such circuits that:

1) They will represent contemporary news mainly in the  Czech and Slovak context.

2) They will critically reflect on the transformations, connections and interconnections of news and public relations.

3) Comprehensibly enables non-disciplinary students to orientate themselves in  the practical functioning of news and public relations.

The extradisciplinary contribution of the proposed subject is emphasized by the important position of news and public relations produced and consumed in  various forms and quality in   the life of contemporary modern society. Understanding the principles of news and public relations can be understood as part of media literacy, as part of academic, civic and cultural competences.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion, students know contemporary news, the characteristics of basic news genres, and have an overview of the use of these genres in contemporary media.

Students in  course will also acquire and acquire the knowledge and practical skills necessary for the creation of basic journalistic materials.

Graduates of the course are able to use the acquired knowledge and skills in independent work.
Syllabus
  • Since   the course is intended for non-subject students, the presentation will be based on illustrative examples and k practice aimed at simplification (not distortion). Discussion based on students' practical experience with news and public relations will be welcome.
  • The course will deal with the following topics, which will be further refined or modified:
  • 1) Can journalists really do what they want? Does news reporting have any rules?
  • 2) What is public relations? And is it any different from news reporting?
  • 3) Limits of news: law and ethics.
  • 4) Where do news topics come from, who chooses them and why.
  • 5) How to recognize a trustworthy message? How do news journalists work with sources?
  • 6) How do I write a report? And how do you write a public relations message?
  • 7) News requirements, genre report.
  • 8) How is technology influencing news?
  • 9) How do investigative journalists work and why do they do it?
  • As part of the basic topics, about two to four guests from  practice, experienced journalists or v public relations staff will be invited to the course as guests in  each semester. For example, it can be an experienced journalist dedicated to news, an editor who gives the final form of the resulting materials, a chief editor who manages journalists but is also responsible to the management of the publishing house and the owners of the media company for the economic side, a spokesperson, an expert from   a public relations agency, etc.
  • Guests will present their work in an accessible form in  guided discussion, which can illustrate specific problems of news and public relations.
  • Feedback beyond the subject survey will be obtained in   the course of the semester, for example, through several anonymous online evaluation quizzes. Their aim will be to confront the expectations of students with the actual course of the subject and to obtain an evaluation of the comprehensibility, accessibility and usefulness of the lectures. Preliminary methods of student assessment.
Literature
    required literature
  • ČUŘÍK, Jaroslav. Zpravodajské žánry v tištěných a online médiích. 1. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Fakulta sociálních studií, 2014, 156 stran. ISBN 9788021075894. URL info
  • KASARDA, Martin. Praktická príručka písania pre profesionálov. 1. vyd. Bratislava: Eurokódex, 2012, 208 s. ISBN 9788089447688. info
  • TOMANDL, Jan. Jak účinně oslovit média : media relations v podnikání, správě, kultuře i neziskovém sektoru. Vyd. 1. Brno: Computer Press, 2011, 296 s. ISBN 9788025134573. info
    recommended literature
  • TOMANDL, Jan, Jaroslav ČUŘÍK, Kristýna MARŠOVSKÁ and Tereza FOJTOVÁ. Krizová komunikace : principy - zkušenosti - postupy. 1. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2020, 221 stran. ISBN 9788021096363. URL info
  • ČUŘÍK, Jaroslav, Rudolf BURGR and Martin ŠKOP. Nové trendy v médiích. Vyd. 1. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2012, 239 s. ISBN 9788021058392. URL info
Teaching methods
Bookwork. Lectures. Practical journalistic tasks. Simulated teaching under the guidance of mentors from practice. Creating a media product.
Assessment methods
Assigned tasks are continuously evaluated, quizzes are used.

The evaluation of all theses will then take place at the end of the semester in the form of a colloquium.

The condition for successful completion of the course will be:

1) Writing a journalistic news text according to a specified assignment.

2) Writing a text that meets the parameters of public relations.

3) Critical reflection of the two previous texts and the differences in the necessary procedures leading to their elaboration. The evaluation of all theses will then take place at the end of the semester in the form of a colloquium.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
During the course period, all important additional information and materials related to the course (its beginning, course and end) will be published in the study materials in the IS.

During the course, all the important additional information and documents associated with the course (its beginning, organisation and completion) are to be published in the study materials folder in the Information System (IS).

Fraudulent fulfillment of study obligations: Teaching at FSS MU assumes that students know the study regulations and that they do not commit fraudulent fulfillment of study obligations, especially copying exams and plagiarism, i.e. passing off other people's ideas as their own and taking over the ideas of other authors without stating authorship. Plagiarism is one of the most serious ethical violations in the academic environment, it denies the mission of the university and the purpose of study. From a legal point of view, plagiarism is the theft of someone else's intellectual property. Fraudulent fulfillment of study obligations cannot be tolerated at FSS under any circumstances. Any case of fraudulent behavior will be punished by the strictest sanction, namely unconditional expulsion from studies. We recommend that students become as thoroughly acquainted as possible with the problem of plagiarism and ways to avoid it.

The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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