The Signal School · mass media, journalism & screen
PR & Strategic Communication
How organizations speak in public: planning the message, earning the coverage, telling the truth under pressure.
The field's working toolkit — publics, messages, channels, and the plan that connects them.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~20 hours
Unit I — What PR Is and Is Not
Earned, owned, and paid: the channel map · Publics and stakeholders, named precisely · PR, propaganda, and the ethical line
Unit II — The Campaign Plan
Research: what people currently believe · Objectives you can measure honestly · Key messages and proof points · Tactics, timeline, and budget
Unit III — Measurement
Outputs versus outcomes · Media analysis beyond counting clips · Reporting results without inflation
When the worst is public — holding statements, spokespeople, and why the cover-up outlives the crime.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~14 hours
Unit I — Before: The Plan on the Shelf
Risk audit: what could plausibly go wrong · The crisis team and the decision chain · Dark pages and pre-drafted statements
Unit II — During: The First Hours
The holding statement: fast, true, incomplete · One spokesperson, one message · Correcting rumors without amplifying them
Unit III — After: Repair
Apology that admits, explains, and commits · Rebuilding trust with actions, then words · The post-mortem nobody wants to write
Working with reporters as a source — the pitch that gets opened, the interview that goes well, the embargo that holds.
Syllabus · 2 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — Understanding the Newsroom
What reporters need and when they need it · News value from the editor's chair · Building a beat-reporter relationship
Unit II — The Working Tools
The pitch: subject line to close · Press releases that contain actual news · Embargoes, exclusives, and background briefings · Preparing an executive for a hard interview
Writing to be spoken by someone else — argument, cadence, and the discipline of the sayable sentence.
Syllabus · 2 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — The Speaker and the Room
Interviewing your principal: voice capture · Occasion, audience, and the one takeaway · The thesis a listener can repeat at dinner
Unit II — Craft
Structure for the ear: tell them three times · Rhythm, repetition, and the rule of three · Marking the script and rehearsing the delivery