Unit Outline

Risk and crisis are defining features of contemporary life, and organisations and communities are increasingly planning for climate crises, including strategies for communicating risk and change. Crisis communications and management are relevant to all media content creators. You will learn how to decode time-sensitive information and distil complex information to respond to dynamic scenarios. You will apply strategies and tools commonly used in crisis communication such as stakeholder management, emergency communications and political messaging, drawing on a range of contemporary case studies.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Identify the construction, dissemination and interpretation of crisis communication strategies in different organisational contexts
2	Explain the barriers and contingencies that hinder or support emergency responses and other forms of crisis communication
3	Develop best practice crisis communication plans for various hypothetical scenarios
4	Critique the ethical implications of crisis communication decisions and strategies.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	50 credit points level-100 units of study in Media and Communication

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Communicating risk, preparing for crisis	See the MyLO site for the due date	30 %	LO1, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Australian Crisis case study	See the MyLO site for the due date	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Crisis communication	See the MyLO site for the due date	40 %	LO1, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Communicating risk, preparing for crisis

Task Description:

Working in a team, respond to a communication challenge set by the instructor by identifying the potential crisis communication challenges in the scenario and designing a communication strategy to meet the brief. The task includes presenting a draft of your communication strategy for workshopping and providing feedback to at least one other team during the workshopping process and presenting your proposal using multimedia.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify the communication challenges, including potential risks, presented by a complex scenario.	LO1
2	Design a crisis communication strategy informed by theories of change and an understanding of developing media practices.	LO3
3	Respond to instructor and peer feedback in drafting plan	LO3
4	Provide constructive criticism during peer review process	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Australian Crisis case study

Task Description:

Crisis communication engages with stakeholders and actors in fields including science, politics, industry, media and social change movements. Select a recent Australian case study of a crisis linked to a) identify the role of media in linking the crisis to wider global fractors and b) identify how media was used to attribute blame and responsibility to various stakeholders.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify the historical and social contexts informing the communication of a crisis	LO1
2	Explain the role of news and other media in making sense of an unfolding crisis related to global events	LO2
3	Evaluate how news and other media can hinder or support emergency services during a crisis linked to climate change	LO2
4	Examine the ethical implications of news media coverage about a specific crisis	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Crisis communication

Task Description:

Working in teams, students will design a multimodal campaign to communicate a response to a hypothetical crisis linked to a crisis in Australia, such as an extreme weather event. Your campaign must include a) messaging to key stakeholders; b) a news media strategy that includes a framing strategy with related talking points and c) social media strategy with visual components. This project includes in-class workshopping and peer review

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify the communication challenges in relation to a complex hypothetical scenario	LO1
2	Design a multimodal strategy that ethically and effectively communicates risk and crisis	LO3
3	Use media to effectively communicate to different stakeholders	LO3
4	Critically evaluate the implications of your crisis communication strategy for all stakeholders.	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.