Our MA in Public Relations was approved by the University yesterday and we are now welcoming applications for September.

It is a one-year course that will provide media graduates with the skills and knowledge needed to work public relations. We think it is ideal for journalists who have good writing and communications skills but who are looking for an alternative to working on a newspaper, magazine or in broadcasting.

It is easy for journalists to see PR as the polar opposite of what they do, believing that PR’s job is either to churn out puffery to promote dubious products or to stop intrepid reporters from digging out the truth. Ok, there may be some justification for both accusations, but it is far from the whole story. Firstly, there is a lot more to PR than media relations and putting out press releases. Secondly, PR practitioners work for a whole range of organisations, from record companies to environmental groups, from football clubs to charities.

Yes, PR is about reputation and reputation management but it is also about building relationships, based on creating dialogue and understanding. For example, it can often be about explaining difficult concepts in simple language and presenting them in a way that is interesting and relevant to a range of audiences – skills that journalism students have spent three years developing.

How do you persuade young people to eat healthily, or encourage donors to support a charity dealing with drug addiction or homelessness? How do you make people aware of climate change in a practical way, how do you influence political debate when the news is dominated by snouts-in-the-trough expenses scandals?

Well, you could start by using a range of PR skills that will be covered by the Sunderland MA.

Not surprisingly, our programme will focus strongly on the use social media in PR and we think this practical understanding will be a real advantage when our graduates go out looking for jobs. Social networks including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are making huge changes to the way people communicate and the MA will give a firm grounding in both the practical and theoretical implications of the online revolution.

Here’s what we will do:

Stage 1 – Postgraduate Certificate
MACM27 Public Relations: Theory & Practice 1 (30 credits)
MACM28 Media Research (15)
MACM29 PR & Marketing Communications (15)

Stage 2 – Postgraduate Diploma
MACM49 Public Relations: Theory & Practice 2 (30)
MACM69 Social Media & PR (15)
MACM70 PR and Society: Ethics and Critical Contexts (15)

Stage 3 – Masters
MACM88 Dissertation (60)
OR
MACM89 Practical Project (60)

If you want to know more about MA Public Relations please contact Programme Leader Philip Young (philip.young@sunderland.ac.uk).