This course is concerned with the skills required to produce and critically analyse the texts typically associated with journalism and the related contexts of public relations and corporate communication. Course participants will develop their understanding of the nature of these texts, their stylistic and generic properties, the processes and institutional contexts by which and in which they are constructed, and the communicative and ultimately cultural purposes they serve. Participants will develop practical skills related to researching and producing both “hard” and “soft” news reports, press/media releases and other forms of corporate communications. Where appropriate, the course will explore stylistic and generic similarities between texts from the two domains, as well as the role played by pr and corporate communications in shaping journalistic outputs. A variety of practical skills will be developed, from research methods, to developing structure and style, to matters of ethical engagement. 'Writing' is understood to encompass both the literal production of written texts, as well as the 'writing' of complex multi-media texts, accounting for their visual and audio capacities as well.