COMM 310: Advanced Writing, Public Relations
Catalog blurbs

While this is often a function of ad copywriters, public relations people sometimes find they need to promote a special event, service, or even product by writing a short blurb with a catchy title. Pretend you are working for a textbook publisher who has three new titles to promote for their next catalog. Write an enticing paragraph describing each title, keeping in mind that your audience made up primarily of college professors, teachers, and academic types.

First book title: Public Relations Writing: Form and Style. 6th edition
Authors: Doug Newsom and Bob Carrell
Designed for PR writing students. Selected chapter titles:

Public relations and the writer.
Persuasion.
Research for the PR writer.
News releases.
Features for print and broadcasting.
Media design concepts.
Campaign writing and media kits.

Newsom is a professor at Texas Christian University. Carrell is a professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Second book title: The Media of Mass Communication. 3rd edition.
Author: John Vivian.
General introduction to MC, designed for introductory university-level students. Selected chapter titles:

Essentials about the mass media.
Books: first of the mass media.
Magazines: an innovative mass medium.
Newspapers: a medium for news.
Records: spinning the music.
Movies: a glamour medium.
Radio: a medium of instant communication.
Television: electronic moving pictures.

The author is a professor at Winona State University in Minnesota.

Third book: Weird Ways of News: Understanding your local journalists.
Author: Ross Collins
Designed for high school journalism students and others interested in the operation of local news media. Selected chapter titles:

News is a manufactured product.
A view of reality.
Negotiating the news.
Playing catch with news hounds.
Manufacturing your own news: snag ‘em and drag ‘em.

The author is an associate professor at North Dakota State University.