News Writing and Ethics
CJR200
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Level of study: What does Undergraduate Level 2 mean?
Undergraduate Level 2
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Web Supplemented
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Availability: What is a Study period?
For enrolment (2012): For forward planning* (2013): What is Forward Planning?- SP1
- SP2
- SP3
- SP4
Duration:
13 weeks
Fee: Fees (current and planned)
- Domestic student fee:
- $795.00 (AUD)
- HECS student fee:
- $706.00 (AUD)
- International student fee:
- $1,020.00 (AUD)
Description
Learn about the different ways that information and news is gathered and reproduced. You will learn about the range of print and electronic media professions that exist in today's information society and explore global trends and issues arising from the growth of information media. The unit introduces news style, exploring how to gather information and write on a range of key topics across news genres. You will also examine ethical issues faced by journalists and consider such issues in connection to your own stories using the framework of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) Code of Ethics. These issues will be analysed and discussed in essay form.
Prerequisites
Mandatory prerequisites
You must have successfully completed the following unit(s) before starting this unit:
-
One of the following two units:
If you have completed equivalent study at another university, please contact a Student Advisor for advice.
Not suitable for incarcerated students.
Assessment
- Assignment 2 — News Story (25%)
- Assignment 3 — News Story (25%)
- Essay (40%)
- Participation — Discussion Board Participation (10%)
Learning Outcomes
The unit includes an introduction to the skills of news style, gathering information and writing on a range of key topic areas, for a variety of news genres. The unit introduces you to the ethical issues faced by journalists and requires you to consider stories in an ethical context, against the framework of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) Code of Ethics. You will also have to analyse various theories and implications of journalistic ethics in a fully referenced essay.
At the completion of this unit students should have an awareness of:
- styles and techniques of news writing
- writing for a variety of print media
- personal judgement in information gathering
- the nature of narrative construction
- cross-cultural and gender related aspects of journalistic research and writing
- ethical issues and considerations; vii. the MEAA code of ethics
- the relationships between the mass media and other social institutions
- critical reflection on journalism practice.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Newsgathering and writing |
| 2 | Community news |
| 3 | Reporting Indigenous affairs |
| 4 | Reporting Youth affairs |
| 5 | Journalistic ethics |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Print based materials
- Book of Readings
- Study Guide
- Welcome Letter
Online materials
- Resources and Links
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
There are no required textbooks for this unit.
Recommended textbooks
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit is part of a major, minor, stream or specialisation in the following courses:
This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
If you would like to study this unit and enrol today, add it to your Study Cart. Alternatively if you are still exploring your options, you can save this unit to review later by clicking Save to Wishlist.
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