Credible Content Creation for Communications Professionals
Discover how to source reliable information and improve the validity, authenticity, and quality of your content.
901 enrolled on this course
Duration
4 weeksWeekly study
3 hours100% online
How it works
Credible Content Creation for Communications Professionals
This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. Find out more.
Enhance your research skills for quality content delivery
Creating content that is based on reliable and valid sources is critical to build trust and credibility in the market.
On this four-week course, you’ll develop your information retrieval skills and learn to gather and evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources.
You’ll learn to create high-quality, factually-accurate content, whatever your brief.
Find and evaluate reliable sources
The questionable reliability of online content means that professionals in media and communications need to be able to critically assess sources before assuming the validity of the information they’ve found.
Using a range of credibility criteria, you’ll learn how to spot fake news, and gain practical skills for sourcing reliable content.
With these skills, you’ll be able to ensure your fact-checking and sources are dependable, determine any bias, and add authenticity to your work.
Learn the fundamentals of professional and ethical decision making
Gaining key insights into how to generate accountable, ethical content, you’ll examine the key features of ethical social media and journalism.
Using this knowledge, you’ll be able to approach content generation using ethical and professional decision making techniques that elevate the credibility of your content.
Discover interviewing skills essentials
Interviews are a vital facet of content creation, allowing you to gather direct quotes, generate specific answers, and obtain first-hand accounts.
You’ll hone your interviewing techniques, learning how to master the fundamentals of interview success and conduct them using ethical considerations.
By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills to devise and justify a story angle, as well as the ability to collect credible background information to inform your content creation.
Syllabus
Week 1
Researching credible content
Welcome
Welcome to credible content creation for communications professionals.
What is credible content?
With so much information available, it is important to be able to identify credible content.
Searching for credible content
This topic will explore how to find credible content and evaluate whether it is verified, independent, and accountable.
Learning activities
Solidify your new knowledge in the following learning activities.
Week 2
Using reliable sources
Determining reliable sources
This topic will work you through how to determine whether a source is reliable.
Accessing reliable sources
Some sources are more reliable than others so you need to know who is speaking and why.
Learning activities
Apply your new knowledge to these learning activities and work on your overall learning assessment.
Week 3
Ethical and professional decision making
What is ethical social media and journalism?
Everyone is responsible for the spread of information. So, professional communicators need to have particular accountability in their role as distributors of content, as well as be driven by a strong code of ethics.
Working ethically in social media and journalism
Explore the aspects that make ethical social media and journalism achievable.
Learning activities
Apply your knowledge of ethical and professional content creation to complete the following learning tasks.
Week 4
Interviewing skills
Interviewing essentials
There are many different ways a professional communicator can gather information from sources, and the interview is one of the most important.
Ethical practices
To complete this final topic and further your understanding of ethics in communication, the issues of consent and copyright will now be examined.
Course assignment: post your story proposal
The course assignment requires you to post a story proposal and then conduct a peer review of story proposals from three of your peers.
Who is this accredited by?
The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 and is the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the CPD policies of professional and academic bodies.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Engage in critical evaluation of sources to determine their credibility
- Demonstrate awareness of the importance of sourcing high quality, credible content
- Develop skills in sourcing information from key sources
- Apply an ethical approach to a communication role
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone who works in the communications and media sectors and wants to improve their research techniques for content creation.
It would be particularly beneficial for those who work in journalism or writing, or those who support them in research roles within media and communications.
Who will you learn with?
I'm a journalist and academic - my background is feature writing, subbing and page design. I'm obsessed with journalism and design, and am a champion for quality work and attention to detail.
Who developed the course?
University of Southern Queensland
UniSQ provides career-focused, quality on-campus and online education and has done for over 50 years. UniSQ has scored five stars for employability and internationalisation (QS Stars rankings, 2019) and is Australia’s No. 1 university for the highest graduate starting salary (Good Universities Guide 2018-20).
Established
1967Location
Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich in Queensland, Australia
Ways to learn | Buy this course | Subscribe & save | Limited access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choose the best way to learn for you! | $109/one-off payment | $39.99 For your first month. Automatically renews | Free |
| Fulfill your current learning need | Develop skills to further your career | Sample the course materials | |
| Access to this course | tick | tick | Access expires 3 Jan 2025 |
| Access to 1,000+ courses | cross | tick | cross |
| Learn at your own pace | tick | tick | cross |
| Discuss your learning in comments | tick | tick | tick |
| Certificate when you're eligible | Printed and digital | Digital only | cross |
Cancel for free anytime |
Ways to learn
Choose the best way to learn for you!
Subscribe & save
$39.99
For your first month. Automatically renews
Develop skills to further your career
- Access to this course
- Access to 1,000+ courses
- Learn at your own pace
- Discuss your learning in comments
- Digital certificate when you're eligible
Cancel for free anytime
Buy this course
$109/one-off payment
Fulfill your current learning need
- Access to this course
- Learn at your own pace
- Discuss your learning in comments
- Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible
Limited access
Free
Sample the course materials
- Access expires 3 Jan 2025
Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades) Sale price available until 29 December 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply. | |||
Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)
Sale price available until 29 December 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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