Topics of the Week :: COMM 4333 PR Writing Spring 2012

Image Credit: "Scania R500 Wrecker" by RiceCracker

In our PR Writing class, we’ll all blog about the same topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs of 300 words or longer should be posted by Sunday at midnight at the end of each week, unless otherwise notified in class. (Posts that appear past the deadline may not earn any credit, so be sure to stay on top of your blogging deadlines.)

Be sure to check to see if you receive any comments on your posts, and respond to your commenters as appropriate.

If you are unsure how to get started writing these TOWs, many times you can use this three-pronged approach:

  1. What did you learn?
  2. What surprised you?
  3. What do you want to know more about?

WEEK ONE

  • Which types of social media do you currently participate in (such as blogging, podcasting, social networking, etc.), which platforms you use, and why/what for? [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week One, you will go back and add this post in.]

WEEK TWO

  • Why are comments such an integral part of blogs? What advice would you offer on writing effective blog comments? Be sure to link to at least three sources.

WEEK THREE

  • Visit Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl’s website. Either read three of her blog posts or listen to three of her podcasts on areas of grammar that are troublesome to you. Write about what you learned (using the three-pronged approach above.) Remember to link back to Grammar Girl’s site.

WEEK FOUR

  • What is Associated Press Style and why is it so important for public relations writers? Also, what are some of the trickier parts of using AP Style for you?

WEEK FIVE

  • Imagine you are working in public relations for an organization, and you discover that someone has scraped/copied content from your organization’s blog. What approach would you take to remedy this situation?

WEEK SIX

  • In our class, we use News University courses from Poynter quite frequently. But NewsU is not all that the Poynter Institute has to offer public relations practitioners and journalists. How can Poynter’s resources aid you as you begin your career? Describe and link to at least three beneficial areas in the Poynter website.

WEEK SEVEN

WEEK EIGHT

  • Using the three-pronged approach described above, describe your reactions to one of the News University courses you have completed. Remember to include a  hyperlink to the course, too.

WEEK NINE

  • This week’s topic was inspired by Adam Vincenzini’s Be My Guest month: post something by a guest blogger. Connect with another blogger (it can, but doesn’t have to, be someone in your class) and exchange blog posts for the week. (You don’t have to write something new for the other blogger . . . share your favorite post you’ve written this semester.) In your own blog, make it really clear that the post is written by another person, and link to your guest’s blog.

WEEK TEN

  • Peter Shankman started a service called HARO: Help A Reporter Out. Briefly describe (and link) to this service. As a PR practitioner, how can you and your client(s) benefit from HARO?

WEEK ELEVEN

  • Address several of the following questions about infographics. What are they? How could one be useful in a story for your client? How do you go about creating one? Create one if you can, and embed it in your blog post this week.

WEEK 12

WEEK 13

  • When individuals are asked to be guest speakers, they often must provide their own introductions, written so that someone else can introduce them to the audience. So how do you write an engaging introduction? (TIP: Lisa B. Marshall, The Public Speaker, may have some advice for you on her website.)

WEEK 14

  • What advice would you offer PR students who are new to blogging? Come up with your own Top 10 list.

Creating a Blog Editorial Calendar

Image Credit: "Fondo de escritorio. Calendario del mes de abril" by Trinamita

Just like with most publications, blogs should have Editorial Calendars. Why? Editorial calendars will do the following:

  • Fulfill a requirement for the Blog assignment in my classes 🙂
  • Help you realize the scope of your work on the Blog
  • Keep you on track for deadlines
  • (And once this class is over), Editorial Calendars help ensure that your readers are receiving fresh and relevant content on a regular basis.

To create your calendar, use the template provided: Blog Editorial Calendar Spring 2012. Be sure to see the second tab of the calendar for an example of a few weeks of what your calendar might look like. The more detail you include in your calendar, the better. Submit the calendar using BlackBoard.

Some tips:

  1. Be as specific as you possibly can in your descriptions for the posts. For example, rather than just saying TOW #1, type in the actual topic after you type TOW #1. With PR Connections, you can be general for now by indicating when you need to post them, but update the calendar for yourself when you choose the specific topics.
  2. For your Blog Comments, put in reminders to yourself to include a certain number of comments by specific dates.
  3. Though your blog has specific due dates for most posts, you can post them before they are due. Take a look at your OWN calendar, and schedule your blog writing so that it fits around other assignments and commitments.
  4. Include the due date for your entire blog.
  5. If it helps you, feel free to color-code this editorial calendar. Put TOWs in one color, PR Connections in another, etc.
  6. See 5 Benefits of an Editorial Calendar for additional tips.