Baruch College
School of Marketing and International Business
MKT 4171 Public Relations
Spring 2014
Course Outline
Instructor: Giovanni Villamar
Office Phone: 917-577-3925
Email: gio.villamar78@gmail.com
Course Information:
• Term: Spring 2014
• Course and Section: MKT 4171
• Course Title: Public Relations
• Meeting Times: Tuesday, Thursday 7:50 – 9:05am.
• Building and room number:
Vertical Campus – Room 10126
• 3 hours; 3 Credits
Course Description
This course is a survey course examining the essentials of public relations practice,
including an analysis of the many publics with which an organization must concern itself,
and the communications tools available to fulfill public relations objectives. The course
stresses communication theory, the principles and processes of public opinion
formulation, and case analysis of practical public relations problems.
Prerequisites
MKT 3000 and 3520
Required Text
• The Practice of Public Relations, Eleventh Edition, Fraser P. Seitel
 Case Studies: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/21029717
o Nike Inc. Developing an effective Public Relations Strategy. $3.95
o Case Analysis Coach. $3.95
Course Goals, Objectives and Direction
• Describe the field of public relations including its functions and its practice
• Recognize, explain and understand public relations and its tools PR practitioners use to
communicate with various “publics”
• Analyze daily media coverage and understand how it relates to public relations
• Understand the skills and tools needed to be a successful public relations professional
• Apply your knowledge of public relations and understand how it relates to your chosen
career
• This course is a straightforward approach to understanding public relations through
lectures and assignments and real-world public relations experiences.
• The textbook will be part of the class discussion as well as examples handed out in
order to better understand the public relations initiatives.
Grading formula:
• 3 Tests = 60%
• Case Study = 20%
• Class participation and attendance = 20% (90%+ = A; 80%+ = B; 70%+ = C; 60%+ = D)
The tentative schedule of topics and assignments
Topics and class discussions can change at the discretion of the instructor.
Week of 1/27
 Chapter 1: What is Public Relations, Anyway?
o How would you define the practice of public relations?
o Spin
o R-A-C-E
Week of 2/3
• Chapter 1 Continued
o Penn State PR Strategy
• Chapter 3: Communication
o Goals of Communications
Week of 2/10
 Chapter 15: Public Relations Writing
o Fundamentals of writing
o The news release
o The news release value
o News release content, style, essentials, editing

Chapter 16: Writing for Eye and Ear
o The media kit and its documents
o Written materials utilized by PR professionals
Week of 2/17
 Chapter 4: Public Opinion
o What are attitudes and how are they influenced?
o Winning and losing reputations
Week of 2/24
 Chapter 5: Management
o Reporting to top management
o The public relations plan
o Evaluating the campaign
o Budgeting
o The PR

Test 1
Week of 3/3

Chapter 17: Integrated Marketing Communications
o Public relations vs. marketing vs. advertising
o Product publicity, third-party endorsements
o Public relations advertising
o Traditional integrated marketing

Chapter 11: Community Relations
o Community social responsibility
o Community relations objectives
o Nonprofit public relations
o Media relations
Week of 3/10
 Chapter 9: Media Relations/Print & Broadcast
o Print number one medium
o Electronic media
o Dealing with the media
o Attracting publicity, value of publicity
o Pitching publicity, online publicity, handling media interviews

Chapter 18: Public Relations and Social Media
o Websites, email, email newsletters, instant messaging, texting, blogs, CEO
blogs, social networking sites, twitter, photo/video sharing,
o The Darker Side of Online Communications
Week of 3/17
 Chapter 12: Government Relations
o Don’t call it public relations
o Public relations in government
o Two prominent departments, The State Department, The Defense Department
o Other government agencies, The President
o The President’s Press Secretary
o Lobbying

Chapter 6: Ethics
o Are we doing the right thing?
o Ethics in Business
- Corporate Codes of Conduct
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Ethics in Journalism and Public Relations
Week of 3/24
 Chapter 19: Crisis Management
o Issues management, managing in a crisis
o The Lessons of Valdez
o Planning in a crisis

Test 2
Week of 3/31

Chapter 13: Consumer Relations
o Consumer generated media
o Consumer relations discussion
Week of 4/24
 Tiger Words: An evaluation of his “Apology” Press Conference
o http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/weekinreview/21vitello.html
o http://www.popeater.com/2010/02/19/tiger-woods-apology-bodylanguage/
o http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100219
o http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4927694
o http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/golf/headlines/20100219-Analysisreaction-discussion-as-4584.ece
Week of 4/28
 Twitter Gone Wild: The Case of Anthony Weiner
o http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/07/public-relations-advice-for-repanthony-weiner-its-sex-addition-rehab/
o http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/weinergate-
the-best-pr-strategy-is-free/2011/04/01/AG8QCJHH_blog.html
o http://prontherun.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/anthony-weiner-and-crisiscommunications/
o http://www.usnews.com/news/washingtonwhispers/articles/2011/06/01/pr-pros-say-weiner-is-bungling-the-twittersex-scandal
o http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527023042593045763739837611
25112.html
Week of 5/5
 Begin Case Study
 Jerry Sandusky: Bob Costas Interview
o http://tracking.si.com/2011/11/19/analysis-indicates-jerry-sandusky-waslying-to-bob-costas/
o http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/nbcs-bob-costasdestroys-penn-states-jerry-sandusky-in-interview
o http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/15/bob-costas-jerry-sanduskystrange_n_1094800.html

Facebook IPO PR Blunder
o http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/24/13460329-facebookmishandling-its-crisis-experts-say
o http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/wire/2012/05/24/facebook-ipo-falloutincludes-pr-fail.html?page=all
o http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/What_PR_pros_and_marketers_need_t
o_know_about_the_11627.aspx
o http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/facebook-ipo-fiasco-smallinvestors-got-rolled-over-114216627.html
o http://www.prleads.com/12-reasons-the-facebook-ipo-failed/
o http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/robert-greifeld-nasdaqce_n_1575693.html
Week of 5/12
 Managing your own PR – Manage your online reputation
o http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1228138
o http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-tools-to-monitor-and-
o
o
o
o
o

manage-your-online-reputation/1432
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-roth/4-steps-to-managing-your_b_1532639.html
http://outspokenmedia.com/guides/orm-guide/
http://mashable.com/2011/06/27/manage-online-reputation-seo/
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-1124/news/30437487_1_online-reputation-social-media-social-networkingprofiles
http://socialmedia.biz/2012/08/02/how-to-take-control-of-your-onlinereputation/
FINAL and CASE STUDIES DUE
If time class permits.
 Lebron James “The Decision”
- http://spinsucks.com/communication/pr-communication/lebron-james-apr-nightmare/
- http://www.admavericks.com/2011/06/20/what-lebron-james-can-teachus-about-pr/
- http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13756701/lebron-adds-anotherchapter-in-his-offseason-pr-nightmare
- http://www.opposingviews.com/i/now-hated-lebron-james-makes-worstpr-move-in-sports-history
- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/417291-lebron-james-public-relationsmake-tonights-decision-a-loselose
- http://marketing.about.com/od/publicrelation1/a/Case-Study-TheLebron-James-Pr-Disaster.htm

Twitter as PR Tool
- http://mashable.com/2011/04/14/pr-pro-twitter-guide/
- http://prcircuit.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/twitter-as-a-public-relations-tool/
- http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4034/How-to-Use-Twitter-forMarketing-PR.aspx
- http://smedio.com/2010/06/28/how-twitter-is-changing-public-relations/
- http://www.microbusinesshub.co.uk/twitter-as-a-pr-tool/
-
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124925830240300343.html
Resources for Further Learning
• PRSA.org
• Odwyerpr.com
• Prweek.com
• Holmesreport.com
• Bacon’s Media Directories/Cision
Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery,
plagiarism and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college’s educational mission
and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear
individual responsibility for their work and to uphold the ideal of academic integrity. Any
student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.
For definitions of academic dishonesty and its consequences, see
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honest.html