NM3219 Review

Writing for Strategic Communications

Taken in: AY18/19 Sem 2
Expected Grade: A-
Actual Grade: B+

Just want to say right at the start that this has probably been the most exhausting module I have ever taken in my uni life. Nevertheless, this is a fulfilling mod to take because it is so exhausting. But like what I heard from people in CNM, this module is truly a combination of NM2219 and NM2220 with there being a good balance on both. There are no pre-requisites for mod so I guess you should just take this up to avoid wasting time. If you are very interested in journalism, you should still take NM2220.

Being a strategic communications module, the lectures focused on the different types of PR (again, similar to NM2219) and some tactics and stuff that the industry uses. Lectures were very fast paced and I really appreciated the lecturer for sharing as much as he could about everything. The best part is really that you don’t have to take down notes (?) during lectures because slides will be given and there are no mid-terms and finals so we are not tested for content for this mod. This really helped to make this mod less hectic I suppose. Another good thing for this mod was that the lecturer brought in a lot guest lecturers to share about their experience in the industry. That to me was better than just content lectures because I always felt very inspired after the guest lecturers spoke. We even went down to the Facebook HQ (very very fun) and listened to their sharing for us.

Tutorials were two hours every week and like NM2220, there was a writing exercise every week. All writing exercises were all press releases though and the occasional social media captioning. This is very alike NM2220 just that 2220 also focused on news reporting in the first half of the sem. For the writing exercise, you would have to write it then submit and he will go through everybody’s work so you can learn everyone’s mistakes. Honestly, every tutorial is stressful for me but I think it helps to keep you on your toes and have a little experience of PR life I guess.

Assessment-wise, there were two big projects across the semester that weighed 30% each. One was to manage a social media account for a real business (our group did the Japanese food stall at Deck) and the other was to come up with a Public Relations plan for an organisation (this is make believe, but we did ours on GoJek). So these two projects were what really contributed to this module being very tiring because there were a lot of group meets and discussions back and forth to make sure that we were keeping to timelines and everything. Other than that, there were two individual assignments at 10% each and class participation (which probably killed me again). To do well for this module, you really have to have good group mates working with you (I loved my group because they were great) and you have to do well enough (average or above) for your individual assignments. Even though it was tiring, the projects were the most fun bit of the module! The tutor was also really nice to offer advice and help whenever we needed it.

Overall, the rigors of this module really makes it a challenge but if you like being challenged you can take it on. If you enjoyed doing 2219, you can take this as well because this module a step higher than 2219. The only thing I was upset with from this module is that what we did for the mod did not correspond with what was stated on the CORS website (I expected to learn how to write more than just press releases). Other than that, it was a fun module to take!

Note: I don’t think it will be the same lecturer taking this module next sem so there is high chance that there will be some changes to the mod!