JOU5414 - Practical Journalism 2: Sports Writing

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate a critical understanding of sports writing/reporting and the relationship between theory and practice
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the informing and commentating function of sports writing/reporting
Demonstrate the ability to generate, develop and research ideas
Apply written and online practical journalism skills within a sporting context
Demonstrate knowledge of a content management system and skills in the creation of online content according to established guidelines of best professional practice

Content:

Students will examine key areas of Sports Writing including previews, live coverage, aftermaths and specialist reporting through formative and summative practical exercises in class in both semesters. The practical work wil be set within the context of sports reporting issues, including sources in the sports industry and the role of the internet in terms of both research and publication.
Students will be introduced to a content management system in semester 2 and will be required to prepare and display content (for example, text, images, video, audio) as individuals in an industry-standard online format.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module is taught via a series of interactive workshops and assessment workshops which are run as professional newsroom sessions.

Workshops
Contact hours: 80
Intended Group size: Max 50

Guided independent study
Hours: 320

Further details relating to assessment
In-Class Assessments: these consist of weekly tasks that must be completed and submitted for inspection at timetabled sessions most weeks.

Portfolio 1: would normally include 4x400 words of sports content, submitted to deadline on "newsroom days" throughout Semester 1 - these may be previews, live reports, aftermath pieces or sports news, depending on what is breaking/ topical - details will be given ahead of each session. At the end of the semester, students will be expected to submit all stories to Moodle and identify in no more than 100 words which is their best story and why. This story will be awarded the numeric mark.

Portfolio 2: would normally include 4x400 words of specialist sports content*, designed and uploaded to a website to deadline on "newsroom days" throughout Semester 2. At the end of semester, students will be expected to submit all stories to Moodle and identify in no more than 100 words which is their best story and why. This story will be awarded the numeric mark.

*Articles would normally include supplementary stats/factfiles/social media postings, headlines, photos, captions, video, audio, etc.

Students permitted to take a half-module for the award of 20 credits (10 ECTS) will be assessed on the basis of the assessment relevant to the semester of study.

Assessment:

001 Sem 1 in-class assessment; 8x100 word equivalent; throughout semester 1 10%
002 Portfolio 1; 2,000 words; end of semester 1 40%
003 Sem 2 in-class assessment; 8x100 word equivalent; throughout semester 2 10%
004 Portfolio 2; 2,000 words; end of semester 2 40%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Paul Marsden
Level - 5
Credit Value - 40
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5YL

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