Welcome to Public Relations Writing

Current Students – Click Here for Spring 2018 Lesson Schedule

This is an online version of a class in Public Relations Writing that I teach at Columbia College Chicago. I also teach it in the classroom, with lots of interaction among students. We're going to miss that interaction in this compressed five-week version... but we will still cover all the essentials, and produce the same portfolio that we would if we were doing this in 15 weeks.

This course is offered in the School of Media Arts at Columbia College Chicago, one of the leading arts and communications colleges in the English-speaking world. Once students have enrolled in the course they receive a username and password that will open the door to a 15-week program of learning to write ? press releases, public service announcements, video news releases, pitch letters, backgrounders, and all the other tools of a skilled public relations professional.

PR writing – writing to persuade and inform – is at the heart of the marketing communication culture that defines our age. Whether your interests lead you toward the arts, or politics and social causes, or sports, or individual entrepreneurship – every contemporary arena is dominated by the language and culture of marketing communication.

The summer course presents additional challenges, of course – you are expected to complete 15 weeks' worth of work in one-third the time. It is very important that new students read the information about Getting Started and Online Study, before going on to what's New This Week .

Can you learn to write online? Yes, you can. But you won't do it by reading a textbook – whether on paper or online. You'll do it the only way that works – by writing and rewriting, and working with an editor who's listening to your personal voice, and paying attention to your individual strengths and weaknesses.

Can you keep yourself motivated? Are you already bored with this page of instructions and information? If so, you might want to reconsider taking an online course. In the classroom I can supply a lot of the energy with body language, tone of voice, questions and challenges, -- in other words, my charming self. but in an Online course you have to supply most of that yourself! Seriously, it depends upon you taking responsibility for your learning outcomes.

Usernames and passwords for this online course have been emailed to registered students' official Columbia College Loop address, so they can click through to start with the Fall 2015 Lesson Schedule -- then click on Lesson One to begin.

Not yet registered? – Click Here for an Introductory Sampler

Alton Miller

amiller@colum.edu