Crisis! Zombie Apocalypse Exercise for MCO Students by Kay L. Colley

Excellence in Journalism Conference 2016

Purpose depends on the course or courses– Journalism students in MCO 2345 Integrated Media Reporting

and MCO 3320 Digital Design and Editing: • To practice real-time journalism; gathering, producing and editing

content• To work with public relations practitioners • To work with a team to direct and edit content creation• To keep a community updated on a live event as it unfolds• To ascertain the difference between fact and rumor

– Public relations students in MCO 4346 PR Campaigns:• To work with a team to implement a crisis plan in real-time• To work with media to disseminate appropriate and timely

information• To practice working with a team to gather information during a crisis• To ascertain the difference between fact and rumor

Overview and purpose

Exercise ExpectationsNews coverage:a website that contains news stories and multimedia elements created by MCO 3320 Digital Design and Editing and MCO 2345 Integrated Media Reporting class members that is updated as the crisis is occurring

Crisis communication:a website from the perspective of the institution created by MCO 4346 Public Relations Campaigns and Programs class members and updated as the crisis is occurring

News Coveragehttps://fauxrambler.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/rambler-staff-injured-by-zombies/

Student journalists attended press conferences throughout the event and covered the event live. Above is a photo of the final press conference where Zombie Task Force Leader Michael Brown explains how the zombies were contained.

Crisis Communicationshttps://crisiscommunicationmco4346.wordpress.com/

• Public relations students hosted press conferences throughout the event and kept the campus community updated through social media as well.

• Above left is the social media feed; above right the website, and far right is one of the press conferences.

Debrief from pros

Photo left: Marjorie Herrera-Lewis, former reporter, Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Photo above: At the lunch debrief with, far right to left, Bill Lawrence of Lawrence and Associates, Marysol Gonzalez, Univision; Rebecca Aguilar, freelance reporter; and Alice Rios, formerly of KRLD radio. Additional comments from DrendaWitt, formerly of JPS Health, rounded out the pro debriefing.

Debrief from students

• Podcasts from MCO 2345 and MCO 4346

• Individual podcasts were limited to 2 minutes Interview style podcasts were limited to 3 minutes or less

• Counted as a daily grade (all or nothing)

• Used to assist in planning for Fall 2016

Grading—2 Grades• All or nothing grade—you did it or you didn’t

• Podcast of their analysis of the event

• Upside: Fun; entertaining for participants and the pros who assisted

• Downside: Lots of preparation to create; something always happens; making sure everyone is adequately prepared prior to event can be challenging (something always happens)

Tips—see Top 10 list @kaycolley• Start early; very time-consuming to plan

• Get your administration on board

• Touch base with everyone frequently

• Plan classes leading up to the event to get students prepared

• Create little “practice” sessions prior to event

Presentation at: Twitter @kaycolley or at slideshare.net/klcolley