Journalism
LPW501
Overview
To enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into a course from the provider.
Read before you start
Level of study: What does Postgraduate mean?
Postgraduate
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
No
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
Domestic student fee:
$1,750.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$1,975.00 (AUD)
Description
Develop an understanding of the audience by considering a variety of journalism modes and models. In this unit, you gain insights into how journalists define news and construct news stories; develop an understanding of how news stories are structured; compare and contrast news practices of newspapers, radio and television; explore the various genres of journalistic writing through practical exercises and reflection on the work of industry professionals.
Please note: Assessment values are indicative only; details will be advised at the start of the unit.
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
- Graduate Certificate of Arts in Writing
- Graduate Diploma of Arts in Writing
- Master of Arts (Writing)
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- demonstrate skills in writing news stories
- articulate and apply the skills involved in understanding and practising the conventions of journalistic reporting
- apply knowledge of how feature articles are constructed
- demonstrate the practical skills of understanding and applying journalistic constraints and ethics
- understand and apply skills of writing for radio
- develop insights into how stories are constructed and presented in the media
- identify media styles
- shape work for a particular media outlet
- apply critical insights into media writing
- apply critical insights into one's own journalistic writing.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Critical and cultural perspectives on the function of the news media |
| 2 | News values and conventions of news stories |
| 3 | Writing style and the news story |
| 4 | Content and the news story |
| 5 | Structure and the news story |
| 6 | The characteristics of feature articles |
| 7 | Interviewing and the ethics of journalism |
| 8 | Radio news |
| 9 | Television news |
| 10 | Reporting on war |
| 11 | Alternative forms of journalism |
| 12 | Opportunities for publication |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Print based materials
- Welcome Letter
Online materials
- Printable format materials
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
- Graduate Certificate of Arts in Writing, Swinburne University of Tnlgy
- Graduate Diploma of Arts in Writing, Swinburne University of Tnlgy
- Master of Arts (Writing), Swinburne University of Tnlgy
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.
