JOU4426 - Practical Journalism 1

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Identify local news sources, and possible news angles and stories, for print, online, tv, radio 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, tv and radio.
Work effectively in a team
Demonstrate a proficiency in accurate and comprehensive note-taking
Assess their level of preparedness for employability and the working world
Demonstrate a basic competence in both radio and television news production, location sound recording and editing

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 semester 3. There will be an ethos of preparing for the real-life world of work.
As part of this module, students will also embark on intensive training in fast note taking using the journalism industry standard shorthand, Teeline, and be required to work towards speeds of 80-100 wpm.

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 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: 80
Intended group size: 25

Shorthand
Contact hours: 112
Intended Group size: 25

News Production
Contact hours: 40
Intended Group size: 10 - 25

Guided independent study
Hours: 308

Further details relating to assessment
Portfolio 1 will typically include four assessed tasks, with briefings given a key points in Semester 1 and Semester 2.

Portfolio 2 will normally include live news production in groups teams, professional skills development, along with critical reflection and action planning.

Directed activities: these consist of weekly tasks that must be completed and submitted for inspection at timetabled sessions each week. The assessment will be assessed on a pass/fail basis with a pass requiring at least 75% of all weekly tasks to be completed successfully. A pass will lead to the full award of 10% towards the final module mark. A fail in directed activities will contribute 0% to the final mark.

Students are required to submit for all forms of assessment to pass this module.
The teaching of Teeline Shorthand is informed by professional expectations in industry that all trainee journalists learn shorthand. Students must show serious engagement with this element of the module. This will be measured by attendance at sessions, the requirement to submit four transcribed practice passages via Moodle during the course of Semester 1 and the need to make a serious attempt at examination at a speed of at least 50wpm. Students do not make a serious attempt at assessment will not pass the module and, therefore, will not progress to the next level.
Students will be assessed via NCTJ shorthand examinations.
Shorthand is one of the core examinations in the NCTJ Diploma and students MUST obtain shorthand at a speed of at least 80wpm in order to be eligible for the NCTJ Diploma.

Other relevant matters
The highest attained level of Shorthand is to be recorded on the student’s transcript and each stage is progressional from the last.

Assessment:

001 Portfolio 1 6000 words equivalent, during semester 1 and 2 40%
002 Directed activities, throughout the year 10%
003 Shorthand - attended but no wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
004 Shorthand speed test - 50wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
005 Shorthand speed test - 60wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
006 Shorthand speed test - 70wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
007 Shorthand speed test - 80wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
008 Shorthand speed test - 90wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
009 Shorthand speed test - 100wpm attained, during/end of semester 2 0%
010 Portfolio 2 6000 word equivalent during/end semester 2 50%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Jan Winter
Level - 4
Credit Value - 60
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4YL

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