Course Code: PBRL 2502
Academic Year: 2025-2026
This course builds on the news writing style, content and format fundamentals taught in previous writing labs. Students are required to produce to tight deadlines and precise word counts a wide variety of writing projects with a marketing focus such as sponsored content (paid publicity) that includes matte stories and appointment notices; to critically analyze their work; and to develop independent approaches to projects. Writing according to The Canadian Press (CP) style and adhering to proper reference and citation rules, in addition to being current with news events, are integral to public relations writing and are assessed continually in this course. The projects require an increasingly challenging level of research based on audience and organizational evaluation. At the same time, through this course, students acquire the specialized knowledge and skills necessary to write for public relations initiatives across web-based platforms, including organizational websites, online media rooms and blogs. In line with the news orientation in Writing Lab 3, students in this course enhance their ability to evaluate the effectiveness of online and digital media, and to integrate e-tactics as part of a public relations strategy. Writing samples from this course form the basis of a preliminary portfolio in preparation for Writing Lab 6 in the sixth semester of the program .