Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title News Reporting: Principles and Practice
Module Code CM116
School School of Communications
Online Module Resources

Module TeacherPaul McNamara
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 10
Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None
Description
The purpose of this module is to provide students with the necessary know-how and skills to become beginner news reporters. Students will learn how to interview sources in a professional and ethical manner and how to produce a range of common news markings. The module also provides a platform of knowledge which will enable students to carry out work of a more sophisticated nature in areas such as business and political journalism.Students will participate in the learning activities listed below:Lectures in which learners will be briefed on interview techniques and investigative approaches appropriate to a range of common news narratives;Presentations/seminars in which learners will debate in a simulated current affairs-style TV programme the merits, or otherwise, of titles on the reading list;Workshops in which learners will write common news stories and more complex narratives to deadline in a simulated newsroom environment.

Learning Outcomes
1. Categorize main types of news interview.
2. Interview news sources in an effective and professional manner.
3. Paraphrase the written and spoken words of sources in an efficient, accurate and ethical way.
4. Collect appropriate information for a wide range of common news stories.
5. Analyse the consequences of newly uncovered information and assertions made by sources.
6. Assemble interesting complete stories which inform and/or entertain audiences.
7. Contribute to the construction of complex narratives in specialist areas such as sports reporting, investigative journalism, foreign correspondence/international reporting and journalism 3.0.
8. Use coherently a range of keywords and phrases associated with news journalism.
9. Apply key concepts in journalism studies to day-to-day work situations.
10. Distinguish spin from truth, churnalism from journalism and identify salience in the blur of information overload.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture20A structured incremental approach is taken to subject matter.
Seminars20Critical discussions of key topics based on essential reading of books, e-books and interactive e-books.
Lecturer supervised learning50Students receive substantial assistance in writing five news markings to deadline in class and strictly limited assistance in completing a number of no-notice news assignments independently outside of the classroom.
Examination10A number of in-class-tests of news reporting theory, principles and practice.
Independent learning150The reading of essential books, e-books and interactive e-books, preparatory study for in-class-tests and seminars and the production of independent out-of-class assessments.
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Introduction.
• Syllabus; reading list; assessment regime; news hounds and dogfights; war reporters.• Interview technique; spot, informal and formal interviews; looking and listening; note-taking and recording; anonymous sources.• Interview research; rapport; setting up interviews; wording of questions; sequence and timing; observation; hostile sources.• Controlling the interview; off-the-record information; beat friendships; closing the interview; PR counter-strategies.• Three takes on news – localising, follow-ups and round-ups; reporting statistics; story categories; briefs; capturing the spoken word – action and discussion meetings, symposia.• Press conferences: gang interviews, press packs and exclusives; speeches: advance scripts and embargoes; late additions and excisions; attendance and crowd size.• Road accidents, fire and weather stories; covering major disasters; allocating the workload; monitoring copy flow; responsible reporting.• Reporting sport: screaming Syd goes to war; overkill; perspective. Reporting crime: violent v property crime; investigations; arrests.• Covering courts and tribunals: criminal and civil jurisdiction; legal actors; reporting restrictions; what is allowed; what is not; contempt of court; defamation.• Reporting local and national politics: learning the system; pre- and post-election coverage. Obituaries: celebrating the dead; self-censorship and euphemism; critical obits.• Reporting business: straight coverage; analysis; following leads; comment; insider dealing.• Investigative journalism.• Foreign correspondence.• Reporting Next: the media ecology of Journalism 3.0.• Spin, churnalism and blur..

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Group presentationA simulated live TV debate of the merits, or otherwise, of one or more of the titles on the reading list.20%Every Week
Computerised test/examThis sequence of in-class-tests and no-notice markings will examine students' knowledge of the theory which informs news reporting practice.80%Sem 2 End
Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
1 = A resit is available for all components of the module
2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module
3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List
  • Adams, Sally & Hicks, Wynford: 2009, Interviewing for Journalists, Routledge, London,
  • Allan, Stuart & Zelizer, Barbie: 2010, Keywords in News and Journalism Studies, McGraw-Hill, New York,
  • Anderson, Douglas & Itule, Bruce: 2008, News Writing and Reporting for Today's Media, McGraw-Hill, New York,
  • Andrews, Phil: 2005, Sports Journalism, Sage, London,
  • Bender, John R., Davenport, Lucinda D., Drager, Michael W., Fedler, Fred: 2009, Reporting for the Media, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
  • Boyle, Raymond: 2006, Sports Journalism, Sage, London,
  • Briggs, Mark: 2009, Journalism Next, Sage, London,
  • Craig, David A.: 2011, Excellence in Online Journalism, Sage, London,
  • Davies, Nick: 2008, Flat Earth News, Chatto & Windus, London,
  • de Burgh, Hugo: 2008, Investigative Journalism, Routledge, London,
  • Ettema, James S. & Glasser, Theodore L.: 1998, Custodians of Conscience: Investigative Journalism and Public Virtue, Columbia University Press, New York,
  • Franklin, Bob, Hamer, Martin, Hanna, Mark, Kinsey, Marie, Richardson, John E.: 2005, Key Concepts in Journalism Studies, Sage, London,
  • Gisondi, Joe: 2010, Field Guide to Covering Sports, Sage, London,
  • Gross, Peter & Kopper, Gerd G.: 2011, Understanding Foreign Correspondence, Peter Lang, New York,
  • Harrower, Tim: 2010, Inside Reporting, McGraw-Hill, New York,
  • Keeble, Richard & Mair, John: 2011, The Internet and Journalism Today, Arima, UK,
  • Kovach, Bill & Rosenstiel, Tom: 2001, The Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, New York,
  • Kovach, Bill & Rosenstiel, Tom: 2010, Blur: How to Know What is True in the Age of Information Overload?, Bloomsbury, London,
  • Papper, Robert: 2010, Broadcast News & Writing Stylebook, Allyn & Bacon, Boston,
  • Paulos, John Allen: 1997, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, Anchor Books, New York,
  • Price, Lance: 2010, Where Power Lies, Simon & Schuster, London,
  • Randall, David: 2007, The Universal Journalist, Pluto Press, London,
  • Svegfors, Mats & Benko, Cilla: 2011, Journalism 3.0 Media Ecology and the Future, Interactive e-book: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/default.aspx?programid=4042, Sweden,
  • Waters, T.J.: 2011, Prior to the Snap, E-book: www.tjwaters.com/pdf/priortothesnap.pdf, USA,
  • Williams, Kevin: 2011, International Journalism, Sage, London,
Other Resources
None
Array
Programme or List of Programmes
JRBA in Journalism
Timetable this semester: Timetable for CM116
Date of Last Revision02-DEC-02
Archives:
DCU
Address
The Helix
3U
NDP
Government
EU
Disclaimer | Privacy