This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

APG5096 - The new newsroom

12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Organisational Unit

Coordinator(s)

Offered

First semester 2016 (Day)
First semester 2016 (Online)
Second semester 2016 (Day)
Second semester 2016 (Online)

Synopsis

There is a clear trend to mobile journalism, both for producers and consumers.
There are many skills that the modern journalist must develop, including writing, editing, headline writing, caption writing, social media monitoring and strategies to break news via social media platforms, live writing and tweeting during event coverage via live blogs, search engine optimisation techniques, writing for digital platforms and basic video and photography skills. The new newsroom also aims to produce fresh, lively content which is mostly visually stimulating and can be updated to maximise interest and reader engagement.
The skills are varied, depending on the exact nature of the journalist's role, whether it is a breaking news journalist, a specialist reporter, a digital journalist or a digital producer. There are many reporting and production skills, executed through a systematic process in the news cycle. This unit uses custom built facilities and online publishing outlets to provide students with new newsroom skills.
This unit also features industry engagement and in-house internship opportunities working with highly experienced Monash permanent and sessional staff.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1 Have a deep conceptual overview of the Internet and its functionality.
2 Understand the range of Internet resources available for journalism research.
3. Understand the key usability factors that determine good digital design and presentation.
4. Be able to research and report for digital media and to locate their output within the context of an evolving global medium.
5. Produce a digital report using text, sound and images.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 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.

Chief examiner(s)