Overview

Journalism is changing fast, and this module is all about giving you the practical skills you will need to hit the ground running after graduation day. You should already have a basic grasp of the writing, broadcasting and news gathering skills that every journalist needs. This module will teach you to use the digital tools available to you to gather information, produce a variety of text, video and sound content for digital platforms, and use websites, applications and social media feeds to disseminate your work to a wider audience. Lectures, virtual newsroom exercises and newsgathering assignments will develop the skills you will require in an industry where the journalist is the writer, cameraman, publisher, broadcaster and deliverer of his or her own news content.

The course will begin with an introduction to on-line journalism, the influence of new digital technology on journalism and its implications for traditional forms of media. We will also discuss the ethical and legal issues involved in producing on-line content. You will be taught a range of skills including how gather news on-line, write and produce visual and audio content for digital news platforms and how to ensure that content reaches a wide audience. You will be expected to put these skills into practice and create your own digital news platform, create content from that platform and distribute that content to the widest possible audience.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -DAn understanding of the essentials of law for journalistsAn appreciation of journalistic ethics and responsibilities An understanding of the practicalities of objective reporting -good -(C)CA good understanding of the essentials of law for journalistsA sound appreciation of journalistic ethics and responsibilities A good understanding of the practicalities of objective reporting -excellent -AAn excellent understanding of the essentials of law for journalistsAn excellent appreciation of journalistic ethics and responsibilities An excellent understanding of the practicalities of objective reporting

Learning Outcomes

• Apply professional journalistic to the production of a news portfolio.

• Apply techniques for digital news collection and dissemination

• Create and evaluate original content for multi-media digital platforms, aiming towards producing a range of items for online news

• Evaluate, select and develop appropriate media platforms such as apps, blogs and social media feeds

• Show evidence of the development of on-line research and newsgathering techniques, drawing analytically and critically upon a variety of academic and non-academic sources