SJ4057 - Reporting: News and Features (2024/25)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2024/25 | ||||||||||||||||
| Module title | Reporting: News and Features | ||||||||||||||||
| Module level | Certificate (04) | ||||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| School | School of Computing and Digital Media | ||||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2024/25(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module introduces students to the practical and analytical skills (including looking at ethical problems) involved in professional news writing, newsgathering, collaborating in teams to produce stories, evaluating sources and revising writing.
Students will be required to produce news copy in professional formats, which will include online posts using images, video and audio and the use of mobile technology.
You will research and write a series of news articles and publish them to the class. You will learn newsgathering skills: analysis of reports, press releases and user-generated content; deducing news content from press conferences and announcements (diary items); following up human interest via face-to-face and phone interviews, including vox pops and the death knock; organising a team response to a major event; follow-up stories and case studies; analysing facts and figures to use in sidebar boxes; cultivating contacts and FoI.
You will study contemporary news coverage to develop an understanding of how news stories are reported and created. You will discuss ethical, legal and commercial constraints on journalists and how different genres serve different markets.
Accuracy, subediting, headlines and search engine optimisation will be important, as will developing stories through new media, images, audio, and video. This to include links to Youtube, SoundCloud etc, with multimedia elements.
The module will be assessed by two portfolios, using mixed media, and a timed class exercise. These will test students’ developing news sense, news gathering and news writing.
Contribution in class will be measured by a journal recording the student’s activity, updated weekly, and moderated by tutors at the end of the teaching period
Syllabus
Students examine and explore the reporter’s job through writing and reporting workshops.
They discuss news values, finding out where to look for and develop stories. They examine the ethical dilemmas which beset story construction. [1,4]
They explore the importance of developing news contacts, going on to develop varied techniques of interviewing face-to-face, by telephone and via email, from vox pops to death knock and extended interview. [3]
Writing for newspapers and broadcast media, they explore how to craft an intro, the use of the 5 Ws and the news pyramid, and offering opportunities for headlines and pull quotes.
They write news leads, stories and nibs. They look at translating these values into online formats, via class blog .[2]
They learn how to select appropriate quotations from sources – press release, official report, news conference and personal contact -- and how to use them. They learn which details to include, the use of acknowledgements and cautions about plagiarism, thus how to be accurate and consistent. [1]
They deconstruct the principles of logical story construction and how to tailor stories for an audience, recognising and evaluating news. [1,2]
Writing for online platforms, they learn basics of search engine optimisation, good headlines and standfirsts and links. [2]
Covering events, speakers and meetings, they learn how to produce original copy as well as how to rewrite handouts. They analyse government/ministerial briefings; ‘off-the-record’ interviews and news agency copy from the “wire” to develop stories. They discuss and explore the parameters of research, from official and hidden statistics and databases to social media and printed archives. [1]
They edit each other's work and learn how to give constructive criticism [4]
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
The module will be taught by a programme of weekly sessions, comprising a three-hour block for each of the 12 weeks in which it runs.
Learning and teaching strategy will be based on an interactive, coaching model. Sessions will mix tutor instruction with blended learning, in-class writing workshops, discussions and debate, with students required to do weekly reporting and writing exercises out of class as well as during sessions, where coaching will supplement group work.
Electronic resources, including the university’s virtual environment, will be used by students and staff. Working in small teams will develop social as well as professional and academic skills. The module will be supported by a VLE site containing notes, readings and extended bibliographies, and weblinks.
Independent, reflective study, including reading, individual reporting exercises and writing, will be embedded within each session.
Learning outcomes
Students who read all the required texts, participate in all the class activities and complete the required assessments and assignments, should be able to:
1. Display the basic techniques and processes of news gathering and writing, in portfolios;
2. Write basic news stories to length, to time and to audience;
3. Display effective interviewing and reporting techniques, in written and media pieces for portfolios;
4. Work in teams to find and develop stories, mindful of ethical constraints.