Fundamentals of Reporting

JOUR1030

Title	Fundamentals of Reporting
Code	JOUR1030
School	RACL
Module Level	1
Module Code	JOUR1030
Webster Code	JOUR1030/70
Rockford Code	COMM256
Class	GE\|EL\|MA\|MI\|
Availability	DE\|SA\|
Available Summer	N
Semester	1
Credits	3
Course Length (wks)	14
Learning Outcomes	Students will be introduced to the techniques of journalistic writing including news, news features, interviews and features. They will learn how to gather, verify, organise and present news. They will develop awareness of the variety of approaches to news and the conflicting agendas of the sources that feed it. They will put all the classroom theory into practice by writing news and feature stories, first in the classroom and then outside in the community.
Presentation	A mixture of lecture, discussion and reading on the theory of reporting and how newspapers work, with hands-on practice at doing what reporters do. There will be a weekly diet of written exercises, covering different aspects of reporting, such as finding sources and writing strong leads. Gradually, each aspect of a story will be analysed until the student is ready to report and write up a story of their choosing. A guest speaker who is a working journalist will talk about their job as a journalist.
Pre-Requisites	None.
Course Conduct	Attendance & Punctuality Required for ALL scheduled meetings of the course. PENALTIES APPLY – See Academic Handbook Absence through illness must be reported directly to the lecturer for the course Assignments Required on the due date. PENALTIES APPLY – See Academic Handbook Plagiarism & Cheating Serious offences which carry heavy penalties including failing a course and possible expulsion – See Academic Handbook Mobile Telephones Mobile phones must be switched off for the duration of the class. Penalties apply – see Academic Handbook – Student Conduct
Weekly Schedule