GSC4902

Practice and representation in journalism

John Tebbutt

12 points - Second semester - 3 hours per week - Gippsland - Prerequisites: First degree with a major in jourmalism or permission

Objectives Upon the completion of this subject students will be able to analyse how historical conditions and social practices have affected how journalism is produced; negotiate successful outcomes in the production of high-quality journalism and non-fiction literature; and express an understanding of the relationship between contemporary journalism and archival sources. Students will also develop expertise in appropriate methodological, ethical and archival practices and the deployment of technical tools in analysing and presenting real issues, events and people in text, audio, visual or multimedia forms.

Synopsis This subject will develop journalism students' skills by introducing them to relevant methodologies for analysing complex processes in the social and industrial production of non-fiction forms. GSC4902 will place the development of journalism within the context of the formation of the human sciences, such as sociology and anthropology, at the turn of the century to provide a context for the social place of non-fiction forms. Contemporary knowledges in the human sciences have been challenged by theoretical developments in, for example, feminism and post-structualism. The modernist theoretical premise of journalism (objectively, facts, truth, etc) has also been challenged by these theories. This subject seeks a critical and productive engagement with those challenges. It will cover themes such as the history of the observing subject, contemporary methods of establishing objects of analysis and the influence and place of archives in social representation.

Assessment Seminar paper (2000words): 25% A 'treatment' or proposal for a media production (audio, video multimedia or text) as a result of class-based workshopping: 25% Essay (5000 words) or the equivalent in an electronic format (audio 30 minutes, video 20 minutes, multimedia) or article (3000 words) or the equivalent in an electronic format (audio 20 minutes), video (12-15 minutes, multimedia): 50%

Prescribed texts

Frus P The politics and poetics of journalistic narrative: The timely and the timeless Cambridge University Press, 1994

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