JOU4923 - Practical Journalism 1: News Writing

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Identify and local news sources and possible news angles and stories for print, online and digital media;
Demonstrate an ability to identify relevant sources and interview effectively, also identifying relevant information and direct quotes;
Write basic news stories in an appropriate style for print, online and other platforms;
Work effectively in a team;
Assess their level of preparedness for employability and the working world.

Content:

Students will learn how to find, research and write news stories in an appropriate style for different platforms. They will learn and practise interviewing skills. The sessions will be partly classroom-based in workshops but will include a lot of live reporting, and students will build a portfolio covering key skills. This module culminates in a challenging news production project in the second half of semester 2. There will be an ethos of preparing for the real-life world of work.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module will be taught in workshop sessions, where students have the chance to use their growing skills in practical scenarios and in real-life situations. There will be opportunities for them to cover real-life events and to get out and about to hone their developing skills.
We will use some formal taught material, discussion, real-life scenarios in class, practising writing from prepared and real-life material, using social media and online platforms to publish, going to live events and reporting from them.
Formative feedback will be a high priority throughout semesters 1 and 2.

News workshops / supervision
Contact hours: 100
Intended Group size: 25

Guided independent study
Contact hours: 200

Further details relating to assessment
Portfolio 1 will typically cover 6 key competencies and will be compiled during semesters 1 and 2.
Portfolio 2 will normally include some group working as news production teams, and some individual work, including evidence of generating and writing news stories for print, broadcast, online and social media, plus an employability task, such as applying for and being interviewed for a mock job relevant to the student’s area of interest within journalism.

Assessment:

001 Portfolio 1 1x1,500-word equivalent Pass/fail During/end sem 2 0%
002 Reflective report 500 words During/end sem 2 10%
003 Portfolio 2 1 x3,500-word equivalent During/end sem 2 90%


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