Undergraduate - UnitAZA2787 - Journalism: An online perspective

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	South Africa School of Social Sciences
Offered	South Africa First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Mr Tinus de Jager

Synopsis

The unit provides a detailed exploration of the production practices, resources, technologies and genres of Online Journalism, including video, audio, graphic and interactive formats. It explores the research capacities and information sources available through the internet. It critically considers the implications for South African and African journalists of different modes of audience engagement and editorial positioning, including social networking media, blogs and wikis. It explores topical debates on the implications of the new medium and the possibilites it offeres to citizens. It covers both news and longer form feature and documentary genres. Please be aware that access to certain technology/equipment will be required for the unit. Contact the unit coordinator for details.

Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit students should be able to:

Demonstrate an ability to identify and research a news story, conduct interviews and gather appropriate evidence
Demonstrate an ability to report in a clear, concise, factual way using news conventions in at least two media
Identify, observe key ethical and legal obligations associated with news reporting, and reflect critically on their own and others' performance in this regard
Work independently and collaboratively in learning and production processes, including online forums, to produce news reports
Demonstrate an ability to set and meet deadlines, and report under pressure
Demonstrate an awareness of local, national and international people and events relevant to current issues and media issues
Demonstrate a critical awareness of the capacities, limitations and socio-professional implications of online journalistic practices in the Afircan context.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.