| Semester 1, 2020 Online | |
| Short Description: | Feature Writing |
| 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 have Internet access to UConnect for this course.
Rationale
Journalism is more than news reporting. Longer form journalistic works such as feature stories offer audiences the opportunity to find context and more in-depth information about what is happening in local, national and global domains. This course is designed to assist students in developing their skills in long-form journalism, using techniques such as inquiry, description analysis.
Synopsis
This course will concentrate on preparation of larger journalistic articles for newspapers and magazines. Students will research and write different kinds of features, learning advanced interviewing, research and writing techniques.
Objectives
On completion of this course students should be able to:
- plan, research and write feature stories for targeted publication;
- apply written communication skills to comply with different professional formats;
- ethically conduct background research using adacemic and professional literacy skills;
- manage, plan and organise the completion of editorial tasks related to longform journalism;
- apply feedback from formative and summative assessment to improve their skills in jouurnalism.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The role of longform journalism | 10.00 |
| 2. | Story structures | 10.00 |
| 3. | Finding and planning stories | 10.00 |
| 4. | Advanced interviewing and research | 30.00 |
| 5. | Specialisations | 30.00 |
| 6. | Freelancing | 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=JRN3003)
Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)
Granato, L 2001, Newspaper feature writing, 精东传媒app of NSW Press, Sydney.
(Rev. edn.)
(Rev. edn.)
Ricketson, M 2004, Writing feature stories: how to research and write newspaper and magazine articles, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
2001, The Concise Oxford dictionary, Oxford 精东传媒app Press, Oxford.
(for international students if Macquarie not available.) (The Oxford English Dictionary is available online via USQ Library).
(for international students if Macquarie not available.) (The Oxford English Dictionary is available online via USQ Library).
2002, The Macquarie dictionary, (or any edition), Macquarie Library, North Ryde, NSW.
(Australian students). (available online via USQ Library).
(Australian students). (available online via USQ Library).
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 late generation smart phone is acceptable), microphone and headphones.
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.
Friedlander, EJ & Lee, J 2011, Feature writing: the pursuit of excellence, 7th edn, Allyn and Bacon, United States.
Harcup, T 2015, Journalism: principles and practice, 3rd edn, Sage, London.
Sedorkin, G 2011, Interviewing: a guide for journalists and writers, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.
(Interviewing in journalism - technique - mass media - television.)
(Interviewing in journalism - technique - mass media - television.)
Tanner, S, Kasinger, M & Richardson, N 2017, Feature writing: telling the story, 3rd edn, Oxford UP, Sydney, NSW.
Weaver, B 2003, Catch the wave: how to find good information on the internet - fast, RMIT Press, Melbourne.
(Available online: .)
(Available online: .)
Student workload expectations
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Directed 精东传媒app | 67.00 |
| Independent 精东传媒app | 98.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROPOSALS | 100 | 20 | 09 Mar 2020 | |
| FEATURE STORY 1 | 100 | 35 | 14 Apr 2020 | |
| FEATURE STORY 2 | 100 | 45 | 01 Jun 2020 |
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鈥� 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鈥� 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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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, syntax and style. Faults in any of these areas could render a project or proposal unacceptable.