public relations

CMCI Now: Culture Shift

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 21:00:37 +0000

CMCI Now: Culture Shift Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/12/2024 - 15:00

Strategic communication students participating in the Bateman Competition this year brought a unique perspective to a challenging assignment.

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Public relations students place second in national competition

Anonymous — Mon, 08 May 2023 19:54:46 +0000

Public relations students place second in national competition Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/08/2023 - 13:54

Approximately half of Americans distrust national news to the point that they believe news organizations are intentionally seeking to misinform their audiences, according to a survey conducted by Gallup and the Knight Foundation.

This year, two teams of public relations students from the College of Media, Communication and Information helped combat this concerning trend as part of the annual Bateman Case Study Competition—which is organized by the Public Relations Student Society of America.

False Creative team members ran under the slogan “Think Before You Share.” The Daily He(a)rd team members encouraged their peers to “Stop the Rumor Ripple,” and their campaign earned them a second place finish out of 49 teams nationwide.

“It was a joy to see our PR students earn this second place award,” said Dawn Doty, a teaching associate professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design. “It is a testament to their smart, creative work and faculty our college employs to prepare them for this moment.”

The campaigns were for the News Literacy Project, which seeks to promote critical evaluation of the media and dissuade misinformation from spreading.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete in the PRSSA National Bateman competition representing ��Ƶ Boulder and CMCI,” said The Daily He(a)rd team member Jack Forman. “I am so proud of all the work we put in and everything we accomplished with our campaign.”

Before executing their plans, False Creative and The Daily He(a)rd conducted research to understand what the perceived problems are with misinformation, the best ways to reach their target audiences and more.

After surveying approximately 300 people and conducting three focus groups, The Daily He(a)rd found that while many people recognize misinformation as a problem, they don’t seem to know how to combat it. Similarly, False Creative found that news literacy education is often lacking. Somewhat surprisingly, they also found that most of their survey respondents said they trusted Twitter and Instagram the most for news.

The teams were given a $300 budget–with the option of raising in-kind donations to help supplement their funds–for marketing tactics like giveaways and events for their campaigns, which ran from Feb. 6 through March 6.

Both groups primarily used social media to connect with their peers, and False Creative garnered media attention from a number of Colorado news publications, including the Daily Camera, The Durango Herald, Aspen Times and others.

“Our most successful marketing tactic so far has been our op-ed. I recently wrote an article on the ‘Importance of News Literacy’ directed toward rural communities,” said Cassidy Davis of False Creative. “We pitched it to over 70 newspapers across Colorado and have been/will be published by around 20.”

In addition to media-related outreach, the groups also used in-person components like tabling in the University Memorial Center, informational events and giveaways to encourage student engagement. Notably, The Daily He(a)rd organized a trivia night and a screening of an award-winning media documentary called Trust Me.

“Our most successful marketing tactics have been giveaways,” explained Bailey Ghashghai from The Daily He(a)rd. “We are trying to make things digestible and approachable for our audience and encourage participation. Doing this through incentives has definitely helped to attract more people.”

After the campaigns ended in early March, Bateman teams evaluated their experience into a summary report—considering research, objectives, tactics, etc.—which was sent to Bateman Competition judges. Teams who placed first through third, including The Daily He(a)rd, were invited to give a presentation and received a monetary award.

Doty noted that the competition is an invaluable experience for students because the communication and public relations industry they will enter after graduation is competitive.

“It is always exciting to see students create campaigns and have a real-world opportunity to test out how they actually work,” Doty said. “I think CMCI should be proud that we give students this opportunity in their senior capstone.”

In mid-April PRSSA announced the top three finalists: University of Colorado Boulder - The Daily He(a)rd, University of Florida (first place) and Louisiana State University (third place). Notably, ��Ƶ's team is the first to represent not only the school, but also the state of Colorado. These three teams then presented their pitches to the Bateman judges Thursday, May 4, and the winners were announced in the early afternoon.

“The Daily He(a)rd is thrilled with our achievements throughout the Bateman competition,” said team member Erin Bauman. “Being the first team from the state of Colorado to make it to the finals was an honor in itself. Placing second in the nation was the cherry on top. With help from our advisors, we created a successful campaign and encouraged so many people to Stop The Rumor Ripple.”

The Daily He(a)rd has become the first CMCI student team to win the Bateman Case Study Competition. The team's win is not just a first for CMCI, but for Colorado. The team tackled the issue of misinformation for the News Literacy Project.

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Buffs bring civility through Bateman Competition

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 17:14:18 +0000

Buffs bring civility through Bateman Competition Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/05/2021 - 10:14

Lauren Irwin

In the public relations world, the Bateman Case Study Competition is legendary.

Renowned since its inception in the 70s, the year-long project tests students’ abilities to plan, produce and execute a full-scale public relations campaign.

This academic year marks ��Ƶ Boulder’s first foray into the competition––an accomplishment that happens to coincide with the program being named an A-list school by PR News. ��Ƶ’s contenders are competing against 370 PRSSA affiliated chapters, all respected public relations departments across the country.

“Yes, we want to win,” says Dawn Doty, faculty advisor for ��Ƶ Boulder’s chapter of PRSSA. “But frankly, competing in it is equally as important. It shows that our PR curriculum and faculty are now robust enough to even consider entering the competition.”

Last year, students had the opportunity to apply for a two-semester course, which focuses on preparation for and participation in the competition. After primarily focusing on research during the fall semester, students are now embarking on their campaigns. The top three contenders will give virtual presentations to a panel of professional PR practitioners in May.

In response to a noticeable decline in American civility over recent years, this year’s judges prompted students to focus on preserving civility in American life and fostering inclusive discourse.

Fourteen ��Ƶ Boulder participants formed three groups, each with separate concepts for improving civility. They are currently in the implementation section of the competition––a unique challenge for Bateman contestants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first group, Buffs For Civility, is using the slogan, “Hear Someone Out” to call upon people to engage in civil conversations and listen with empathy. The next group, Civilly ��Ƶ, is centered on the concept, “Learn one. Do one. Teach one.” Their campaign goal is to create a trustworthy environment to facilitate education, action and direction involving civil public discourse. The third group, The Bateman Buffs, created the campaign “Break the Spiral”––inspired by the theory of The Spiral of Silence, which holds that people’s unconscious perceptions can lead to an unwillingness to share opinions.

“I feel honored, honestly. I think it's really cool that we have this opportunity to show the nation that we can make good campaigns,” says Lauren Garrow, a member of the Civilly ��Ƶ team. “We’re definitely looking to get a lot of people to sign our pledge and think critically about their own self discourse.”

The three groups are carrying out their campaigns through a range of tactics, which include developing websites, engaging through social media platforms, recruiting pledges and building informational tool kits. They also have access to a budget of $300 from the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design. They can raise up to $1,000 in additional funding from outside donors. Garrow’s group, however, will take a unique approach.

“We’re trying to make this a completely budget-free campaign,” she says, “Although we are so grateful that we have been able to have the support, we wanted to challenge ourselves and say we weren’t going to use a budget at all.”

The team hopes to demonstrate that, ultimately, it's priceless to engage in civil discourse, she says.

Helena Regan, a member of the Buffs For Civility group says communication, organization and work ethic are an integral part of competing in this national competition.

“Thanks to this competition, we also have developed skills such as networking and knowing the ins and outs of how a campaign is produced and managed,” said Skyler Boterenbrood, a member of The Bateman Buffs team.

For their final step, each team creates a final report––a culmination of the research and work they have completed over the past year.

“As we strive at ��Ƶ to shape tomorrow’s leaders, I hope we all see the civility movement that our students are igniting as worthy of our time and engagement,” Doty said.

In the public relations world, the Bateman Case Study Competition is legendary. Renowned since its inception in the 70s, the year-long project tests students’ abilities to plan, produce and execute a full-scale public relations campaign. This academic year marks ��Ƶ Boulder’s first foray into the competition––an accomplishment that happens to coincide with the program being named an A-list school by PR News. ��Ƶ’s contenders are competing against 370 PRSSA affiliated chapters, all respected public relations departments across the country.

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PRSSA students urge peers to #FlattenTheCurve

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 21:58:00 +0000

PRSSA students urge peers to #FlattenTheCurve Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/20/2020 - 15:58

Gregory K. Ramirez

As Americans brace for the full effects of the coronavirus, one group seems to be missing the message: college-aged students.

Though many people are heeding health officials' guidance to practice social distancing, footage of young adults at beachside parties and packed concert venues across the country have flooded social media.

“If I get corona, I get corona,” says one student in a news story on spring breakers in Florida. “I’m not going to let that stop me from partying.”

Locally, recent stories have circulated about large groups of ��Ƶ students attending St. Patrick's Day parties in Boulder’s “The Hill” neighborhood.

In response, students in ��Ƶ Boulder’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) are taking action with the launch of an Instagram campaign on their account, @boulderprssa.

Through pictures and personal stories, students are highlighting loved ones who may be most at risk should they contract the virus. They hope the posts will convince fellow students to help #FlattenTheCurve.

“We all know someone that is vulnerable to getting COVID-19, and uniting as students to spread this message will make our collective voice so much greater,” says Anna Ritz, president of ��Ƶ’s PRSSA chapter. “We all have a part to play in combating the spread of this disease."

As the group discussed ways to encourage their peers to practice social distancing, they realized they had to find a way to make the issue personal, says Dawn Doty, ��Ƶ’s PRSSA advisor and an instructor in CMCI’s Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design.

“Once the students started thinking about the people that they cared about in their lives––and needing to protect them––they sort of just really rallied around this idea, like, ‘Yeah, let's start a student-led campaign to flatten the curve,’” Doty says. “So this is just a way to make it resonate with them.”

The hashtag #FlattenTheCurve began circulating in conjunction with a graph, originally attributed to the Center for Disease Control, which demonstrates how social distancing can slow the spread of the virus to avoid a spike in cases that would overwhelm hospital resources.

In one of the first posts from the campaign, Ritz shared a picture of herself with her elderly grandfather.

“I may not show symptoms or get sick,” she wrote, “but that doesn't mean he won't get sick.”

In another post, the chapter’s vice president, MacKenzie Murphy, highlighted her friend’s younger sister, Lily––an 18-year-old ��Ƶ Boulder student who is immunocompromised.

“[The virus] also affects those with underlying health conditions that could be even younger than ourselves,” Murphy wrote.

Saving vulnerable populations is the campaign's focus, though new evidence suggests younger age groups aren’t immune from a serious outcome.

A recent report issued by the CDC indicates that nearly 40% of the individuals known to be hospitalized by the virus in the U.S. are between the ages of 20 and 54––and almost half of the 121 individuals known to be admitted into the I��Ƶ are under the age of 64.

Doty says the chapter is in preliminary talks with the national organization to expand the campaign. Already, several instructors at ��Ƶ Boulder and within CMCI have committed to giving their students extra credit if they participate, she says.

“Students are active Instagram users,” she says. “So it just makes sense for this kind of campaign to live there because that's where they're going to see that content the fastest.”

Anna Ritz, president of ��Ƶ’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter, shared a picture of herself with her elderly grandfather. “I may not show symptoms or get sick,” she wrote, “but that doesn't mean he won't get sick.”

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