LT235-5-FY-CO:
Multimedia Journalism
2016/17
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
30
-
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA P500 Multimedia Journalism,
BA P501 Multimedia Journalism (Including Year Abroad),
BA P503 Multimedia Journalism (Including Placement Year)
In this module, you will learn through practical experience how to write and adapt news stories and features for different media platforms. Building on the core reporting skills you have developed in Year 1, you will learn more about the particular demands and characteristics of different media platforms and about how features and news are related.
This module runs alongside, and is complementary to, the Multimedia Production module, which concentrates on the technical as opposed to the editorial aspects of your work.
Much of the classwork will take the form of News Days, of which there will be at least 15 during the course of the year, which will test your knowledge and mastery of craft skills, editorial issues and production expertise. The News Days will involve all members of the class working together, assigning roles and responsibilities to cover all the necessary reporting, features and production roles. These events will enable you to pull together what you have learnt about individual media platforms, and understand how they work alongside each other and interdependently.
Aims
The aim of the module is to help you make the transition from being a good reporter into becoming a fully-fledged, multi-skilled multimedia journalist, able to operate effectively in a number of different news and features platforms, and with a clear understanding of the distinctive nature of each and its implications for the way you work.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, you will:
1. have learnt how to apply your core reporting skills across a range of different media platforms
2. have learnt how to plan, research, write and present features in a variety of formats across a range of media
3. be confidently producing a range of content, by yourself and in teams, across a range of media
4. be producing, in collaboration with your peers, relevant, varied and interesting print/web news and features content which will be publicly available, radio bulletins and programmes which will be broadcast across the campus on a regular basis, and a regular television magazine programme, which will also be available across the campus. The class will have an active presence on social media
5. have developed your skills in interviewing, research, feature-writing, presenting and other techniques
6. be familiar with the wider production processes of news and features, such as planning, newsgathering, features research and creating programme running orders, newpaper/magazine flatplans and online publication schedules and sitemaps
7. have learnt how to write shorthand, and been helped to achieve speed of 100 words per minute
Syllabus
This module will have a strongly practical element. Under supervision, you will find news and features stories, pitch them in editorial meetings, research, write, edit, proofread and determine how best to present and publish them. You will develop your use of social media, and understand more about how social networks are used as a part of mainstream journalism.
You will work on specific aspects of the reporter's and feature journalist's repertoires, and you will learn more about the business of news and features planning, newsgathering and feature research and how to put constantly updated websites, and programmes together. As you begin to produce radio and television programming for streaming across the campus, classes will examine interviewing techniques, face to face or down a telephone line or broadcast link, voice training, and presentational techniques.
You will also learn how to write shorthand, with a view to attaining speeds of 100 words per minute.
No information available.
No information available.
No additional information available.
The classes will begin by working on improving your skills in a single medium, such as online, radio and television, and progress until you are able to run News Days in which two or more of these are combined.
The classes will also cover advanced techniques of story-finding and story development and continue to test your grasp of these issues through interactive exercises.
Shorthand classes will be held weekly and be taught by an external trainer. You will be expected to practice and build up your speed outside the classroom.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Portfolio of print/online |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Television output (3 pieces) |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Radio output (5 radio reports) |
|
25% |
| Written Exam |
Class Test |
|
25% |
Additional coursework information
Most forms of journalism are produced by teams. Assessment is therefore both of individual pieces of work and, for group enterprises - such as the radio and television programming, the website and print publications - the assessment by course tutors of the contribution made by individual students.
The assessment will concentrate on the editorial aspects of the work you produce, and its evidence of your grasp of the principles you have been taught about how to work in different media (the technical content will be judged as part of the Multimedia Production module) as follows:
Five pieces of print/online journalism which you have produced on your own (individual articles) or as part of a team (multi-faceted presentation of a story or series of linked stories): 25%
Five radio reports, both straight news pieces and features, which you have produced on your own: 25%
Three television pieces which you have written and/or presented on your own: 25%
The written test in the summer term will be worth 25% of the module mark, and among other things will require you to show your knowledge of how the same story could be pursued and presented across a range of media.
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Paul Anderson, Dr Fatima el Issawi
LiFTS General Office - email liftstt@essex.ac.uk.
Telephone 01206 872626
No
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 98 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
98 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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