Trends in digital public relations

Trendi v digitalnih odnosih z javnostmi

Course credits:

6.00 ECTS / 60 (30 hours of lectures, 0 hours of exercises, 10 hours of seminars, 20 hours other forms of work)

Course holder:

prof. dr. Urška Golob Podnar

Type:

Required

Language:

English

Semester:

Second semester

Study degree

2. level

Course execution:

• Postgraduate Programme of Marketing Communication and Public Relations

Prerequisits:

Students are allowed to participate in the course provided that they have completed the enrolment procedure. Suggested is previous knowledge from the undergraduate course Odnosi z javnostmi.

Objectives and competences

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this course is to give students an understanding of the contemporary challenges in the field of public relations, which are closely connected to the developments in the digital media landscape. The course is intended to (1) equip students with the ability to apply public relations conceptual frameworks to interactive environments of emerging digital technologies, (2) encourage students to critically reflect upon different approaches to digital communication and (3) help them to become savvy users of modern digital public relations tools. COMPETENCES: - understanding, analysis and evaluation of the effects of the development of digital communicaton tehnologies for the theory and practice of public relations - the ability of critical evaluation of different appraches to digital public relations - developing computer skills by students' involvement in the hands-on experience with digital communication tools - increased oral written communication skills gained by developing public relations messages using digital communication tools

Content (Syllabus outline)

By taking this course the students get acquainted with the relevant trends in the field of public relations. The course delas with and explains theorethical models, strategies, tactics and key characteristics of digital public relations in a systematic manner. The students are given an opportunity to acquire the understanding of the role of emerging digital technologies in relation to the changes, which are taking place in the field of public relations. The course covers the following concepts/content in detail: interactivity, network society, co-creation of content, media convergence and the fragmentation of the audience in the digital age, mediatisation, digital communication platforms/tools (e.g., social networking sites, blogs, online newsrooms), digital public relations planning and evaluation, and the comparison of traditional approaches with the modern (integrated) approaches to public relations, which started appearing as a by-product of the digital evolution. Theories and approaches to public relations, which are critically evaluated from the perspective of the development of the digital media landscape, serve as a conceptual framework for this course.

Intended learning outcomes:

- The students will gain the understanding of how the trends related to the development of digital technologies are changing the process of public relations management. - They will also learn to critically analyse and reflect upon the effects of this changes. - By gaining the understanding of the effects of specific approaches to digital communication, the students will be able to explain and justify their usage within the public relations. The students will demostrate their reflective thinking abilities through their practical work with modern digital communication tools.

Learning and teaching methods:

Lectures, practical work, e-learning, consultations, individual or group work with professors.

Assessment

50 % Midterm exam(s) 40 % Individual and group weekly practical assignments 10 % Active participation in class discussions

Obligatory literature

Additional literature