| Semester 1, 2020 On-campus Toowoomba | |
| Short Description: | News Reporting |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
| School or Department : | School of Humanities & Communication |
| Student contribution band : | Band 1 |
| ASCED code : | 100703 - Journalism |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: JRN1000 or JRN1020
Other requisites
Students will require access to e-mail and must have Internet access to UConnect for this course.
Rationale
This course builds on the reporting and writing techniques learned in JRN1000/JRN1020 Journalism Practice. It trains students in researching and writing for areas of journalistic specialisation or rounds of news coverage. It is also intended to help them understand the social function of the media and of journalists.
Synopsis
This course teaches you to find, report and write news stories for key reporting rounds including government, crime and the courts and sports. It builds on the news judgment and writing skills learned in JRN1000/1020 Journalism Practice. The emphasis is on learning by doing. You will receive theoretical instruction and considerable practice in interviewing, note taking, reporting and story organisation. The journalist's role in society will be defined and explored through the use of research techniques involving interviews, the Internet and databases.
Objectives
On completion of this course students should be able to:
- examine a range of reporting practices and extend practical skills to report on journalistic rounds;
- identify story ideas and evaluate appropriate sources for various rounds;
- communicate a story to appropriate audiences and justify editorial decisions;
- self-manage their reporting practice by attending newsworthy events, developing relevant connections for conducting interviews, and writing stories to deadline;
- reflect on the ethical dimensions of their profession and apply these standards in their reporting;
- produce stories to publishable standard across various reporting rounds.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | News Story Basics | 5.00 |
| 2. | Writing the Story | 20.00 |
| 3. | Reporting: finding information (research, observation, interviewing) | 25.00 |
| 4. | Style requirements | 10.00 |
| 5. | Principles of rounds coverage (ingredients, areas of specialisation, working a round) | 30.00 |
| 6. | The role of journalists, ethics and the law | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=JRN2000)
Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)
Lamble, S 2016, News as it happens: an introduction to journalism, 3rd edn, Oxford 精东传媒app Press, South Melbourne.
Students must have access to personal storage space (e.g. portable external hard drive, cloud storage), a broadcast-quality digital audio and video recording device (a recent generation smart phone is acceptable), microphone and headphones, along with access to audio and video editing software.
Style guide (provided in the USQ course materials).
The Macquiarie Dictionary available at .
The Oxford English Dictionary available at .
Reference materials
Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Student workload expectations
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Directed 精东传媒app | 37.00 |
| Independent 精东传媒app | 128.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASSIGNMENT 1 | 100 | 10 | 17 Mar 2020 | |
| ASSIGNMENT 2 | 100 | 25 | 31 Mar 2020 | (see note 1) |
| ASSIGNMENT 3 | 100 | 25 | 05 May 2020 | (see note 2) |
| ASSIGNMENT 4 | 100 | 40 | 02 Jun 2020 | (see note 3) |
Notes
- Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero. No student news story submitted for this course can have been written for, or submitted for, publication in any media outlet within six weeks of the assignment due date. Where interviews are required in this course, they must be conducted either in person or by telephone.
- Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero. No student news story submitted for this course can have been written for, or submitted for, publication in any media outlet within six weeks of the assignment due date. Where interviews are required in this course, they must be conducted either in person or by telephone.
- Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero. No student news story submitted for this course can have been written for, or submitted for, publication in any media outlet within six weeks of the assignment due date. Where interviews are required in this course, they must be conducted either in person or by telephone.
Important assessment information
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Attendance requirements:
Students must attend and complete the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety training program for this course where required.
External and Online:
There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
On-campus
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. -
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4) -
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course. -
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. -
Examination information:
There is no examination for this course. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations. -
精东传媒app Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
Other requirements
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To successfully complete this course, you must have access to the Internet.
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Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in the course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect to achieve the same grades as those students who do possess them.
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The journalism course maintains high standards of spelling, grammar, punctuation and style. Faults in any of these could render a project or proposal unacceptable.
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All assignments must be submitted in typed or word processed form. Each assignment must comply with the format specification outlined in the assignment details.