module specification

Students will work in teams in the multimedia newsroom to research, write and present multi-platform journalism, specifically in video and audio formats.  The module is key for journalism and fashion marketing and journalism students, providing essential skills for today’s workplaces.

Working to specified job descriptions, students will take on responsibility for the editorial and production processing and use knowledge to spot and prepare stories for forward planning diaries, with due regard to ethical and professional considerations.

Student will work to tight deadlines and adhere to professional codes and standards during editorial cycles, which will periodically be explored in four newsdays and in two newsweeks.  These will develop employability and focus around industry practices, including news conferences, bulletins and multimedia links.

Students will be given the opportunity to work in specific professional genres (news, features, sport etc) or specific media (audio, video, newspaper, online).  They will write, subedit and re-version copy for different platforms and purposes. They will use mobile technology and social media to enhance news values.

Students will be encouraged to develop a contacts book and to publish work in professional publications, as well as on the course website.  Language, writing and presentation styles will be developed to match or improve on contemporary industry practice. 

Through tutor coaching they will improve skills such as video, audio and copy editing, writing and editing copy and scripts, headlines and picture captions and learn how to use words, images, graphics, audio and social media, including tweeting, to construct narratives appropriate to stories and platforms.   News weeks will develop team working and technical proficiency.

Student development will be informed by sessions led by guest speakers from the industry and field trips to working news environments. 
   
Assessment will involve three portfolios of journalism.  Engagement with class will be self-assessed and moderated by tutors.

Teaching sessions will take place in the multimedia newsroom and TV and radio studios where students will be required to produce clear, vigorous and balanced reports in a form that will attract and interest the reader, viewer or listener.  Coaching in class will focus on recognising, substantiating, verifying and telling a good story, and then compiling these stories into an edited media product.  LO1, LO3

Students will be taught how to recognise, obtain and select important, relevant and newsworthy content using appropriate skills and techniques. LO1, LO3, LO5

Students will need to use social media, social media video, reader polls, message boards, forums and reader comments to develop stories and a dialogue with readers, viewers and listeners.  They will write, subedit and re-version copy for different platforms and purposes. LO1, LO3, LO5

Through tutor coaching they will improve technical skills such as videography, video editing. audio-recording and editing, writing and editing copy and scripts, layout, headlines and picture captions.  Social media will form a constant backdrop, resource and outlet.  Live tweeting and streaming will accompany news days. Social skills will be key. LO1, LO2, LO5

Students will learn basic budgetary and costing techniques.

In teams, they will unify words, images, graphics, audio and social media to construct distinctive journalistic products for online, social and broadcast.  LO4 Newsdays and news weeks will consolidate this learning. Products will be streamed on the course website, Holloway Express.  LO5

Tutors will help students produce work that is legally safe and adherent to industry codes of practice and/or guidelines.  It will form part of their e-portfolios, which they can use in seeking employment. LO1, LO4

Students will work on a self-directed basis in the multimedia newsroom and in TV and radio facilities, supervised and coached by professional journalists.   Learning and teaching strategy will be based on an interactive model using a combination of supervised three-hour workshop sessions and self-directed writing and research, with summative newsdays.

Tutors will coach students in formulating and developing story ideas, researching and gathering material and writing and presenting work to colleagues. They will develop technical skills in radio and TV. By examining their own work they will be encouraged to develop reflective practice.

Newsweeks and newsdays will allow a virtual professional environment to foster team-building and employability, whilst working on programmes to tight schedules.

Electronic resources, including the university’s Virtual Learning Environment, will be used by students and staff. Work will be published on Holloway Express.co.uk and live streamed. It will support pdpd/e-portfolio

If students read all the required texts, participate in all the class activities and complete the required assessments and assignments, they should be able to:
1. Research, write and present news items and features to industry standard;
2. Develop basic technical skills in radio and TV;
3. Work in teams producing journalism which fits ethical and market criteria and is substantiated;
4. Appreciate and apply legal, professional and professional guidelines and regulation to their journalistic work;
5. Display competencies in developing, commissioning, editing, writing, producing and publicising multi-platform stories which will make them employable in a professional publishing environment.

Summative assessment will involve three portfolios of journalism, and a reflective commentary in the online journal, in which students will be required to provide evidence of how they have fulfilled designated roles and developed their professional practice. 

Tutorials on portfolios will focus on drafting and formative assessment. Formative feedback will be provided on an ongoing basis through coaching in class and online discussion. 
During newsdays, formative assessment on draft portfolios will be incorporated into practice.

Written feedback will be provided electronically for all summative assessments.  Summative assessments will take place at three intervals during the module, timed to be effective alongside other subject-specific modules.
In each case of summative assessment feedback will normally be given to the student within a two-week period.

Engagement with class will be assessed by an online journal, moderated by tutor feedback. Feedback will be given one-to-one in class and electronically.   Students will be required to reflect on their own performance in the commentary and in self-assessment of their engagement with the class.

All work will be marked individually, including group projects.
All assessments test all learning outcomes, since the module builds the development of skills

No Textbooks

Bull, A., 2016. Multimedia Journalism: A Practical Guide.  Abingdon: Routledge.
Hudson,G., and Rowlands, S., 2012. The Broadcast Journalism Handbook. 2nd Ed. Abingdon: Routledge
Brabazon, T, 2006, The Google Effect available as pdf online for free http://www.academia.edu/303269/The_Google_Effect
   
Hanna, Mark and Dodd, Mike. McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists. (2016). Oxford: OUP [CORE]
Hicks, W., and Holmes, T., 2008.  Subediting for Journalists.   Abingdon: Routledge.
Holmes, T. 2017. Subediting and Production for Journalists: Print, Digital and Social (Revised). Abingdon: Routledge.
Keen, A. 2008, The cult of the amateur: How blogs, MySpace, Youtube and the rest of today’s use-generated media are killing our culture and economy, Nichola Brealey Publishing
Smith, J., 2007. Essential Reporting, the NCTJ Guide for Trainee Journalists. London: Sage.

Useful podcasts:
The Lapse  http://www.thelapse.org
Outlook  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02s5rx7/episodes/downloads
SBS True Stories http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/true-stories
Book Slam http://bookslam.com
The Listening Project (BBC & British Library)  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cqx3b
Serial (US)  https://serialpodcast.org
What happened to Vishal (LBC)  http://www.lbc.co.uk/what-happened-to-vishal-lbcs-new-podcast-109202
Spark London  http://stories.co.uk
Witness  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004t1hd