Undergraduate - UnitATS4366 - Reporting cops, courts and councils

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Synopsis

This unit enables students to apply principles and methods of reporting in regional and local contexts, with emphasis on the reporting of legal cases, crime, and local government activity. Students will visit courtrooms, police and municipal councils to complete assignments, thus applying journalism skills learned in earlier units. The unit also addresses social and industrial aspects relevant to local media. Students engage with the growing body of theory on local and community journalism by tracing the history of the provincial media, contemporary trends, and the role of local audiences in the wider framework of the fourth estate.

Outcomes

1. Understanding of newsroom cultures outside the metropolis;
2. Skills in evaluating theories of regional, local, and community journalism;
3. Evaluate, explain, and identify historical and contemporary trends;
4. Engage merit in a specialist field of journalism and display a high level of practical skills;
5. Ability to utilize sensitive primary sources to investigate contemporary issues.

Assessment

Essay (4500 words): 25%
Folio of five news reports (2500 words): 40%
Fieldwork - extended news or feature story (2000 words): 35%

Contact hours

One 2-hour seminar per week

Off-campus attendance requirements

No attendance requirement for off-campus students

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Journalism

Prerequisites

Completion of an undergraduate major in journalism or cognate discipline.