CJB103 Journalistic Inquiry

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2021, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit addresses basic skills of newswriting: generating story ideas, researching, conducting interviews, finding news values and news angles and applying them in a practical context. It also advances generic newswriting skills, enhances writing competency and develops the use of social media and mobile technologies in journalism. As such, it develops media professionals who can generate accurate, interesting and insightful stories. It builds your capacity to independently examine issues and events from new angles, rather than uncritically complying with outside agendas, such as PR agencies, government or business. You develop your journalistic inquiry skills focusing on interviewing, data mining and right to information, and learn how they fit into an online environment. You are introduced to everyday journalism, rigorous deadlines, social media and mobile first technologies.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Generate story ideas and news angles through your own initiative.
2. Apply information-gathering skills, including interviewing and the use of social media with journalistic intent through regular practice.
3. Produce news stories to deadlines, to a publishable standard.
4. Write in a succinct and dynamic style.
5. Apply the principles of visual journalism.
6. Understand the journalist's role in society including the need to promote work through social media.

Content

Learning Approaches

The usual mode for learning in this unit is lectures and tutorials (interviewing, researching, writing exercises or workshopping of stories that have been prepared in advance), or individual one-to-one consultations in lieu of tutorials in weeks where assessment is due. It also includes current affairs tests in class. Supported by teaching staff, you should aim to progress towards being an independent learner. You will be encouraged to retrieve, evaluate and use information from interviews, databases, WWW, social media and other resources.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Through the semester you will have the opportunity to receive oral and/or written feedback on drafts of feature articles. You will also receive feedback in some or all of the following ways:

• through a range of individual and collaborative formative exercises completed in class
• consultation with tutors about concepts and problems
• peer-to-peer exchanges during and out of class
• communications to all students via the unit Blackboard website
• individually, on assessment grading forms.

Assessment

Overview

There are two assessments for this unit that will help you develop your skills in generating accurate and interesting newsworthy stories. This includes a portfolio of stories created over the semester, and a series of in-class exercises that develop your communication skills in verbal (spoken and written) and visual formats.

Faculty Assessment Information
To access complete Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information please refer to the Blackboard site for this unit.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Portfolio of Stories

You will be required to write three news stories to strict deadlines from a prescribed set of rounds applying the principles of visual communication and dissemination using social media.

Assessment: In Class Exercises

For this assessment, you will be required to complete a series of in-class assignments, including current affairs tests, an interviewing exercise, and a running story.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.

The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

All students and staff are required to complete the Tier 1 CIF General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities. This must be completed online.

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Course Learning Outcomes

KC40 Bachelor of Communication

1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the complex relationships among history, economics, politics, technology and culture in communication industries, including the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO6, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
2. Demonstrate specialised knowledge of the foundational principles in your study area and the complex relationships of evolving communication platforms.
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
3. Critically analyse complex forms of information to synthesise and produce clear and coherent content for diverse audiences.
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
4. Evaluate the technical requirements that inform planning, problem solving, decision making, and production processes in global and local communication industries.
   Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
5. Communicate and apply specialised knowledge of the policies and practices that shape contemporary societies and cultures in the local and global communications sector.
   Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
6. Demonstrate facility with the diverse technologies of the communications industries.
   Relates to: ULO3, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises
7. Apply the theoretical, conceptual, professional and creative skills of the communication industries knowledges in transdisciplinary and multimodal media contexts.
   Relates to: ULO2, Portfolio of Stories, In Class Exercises