Bachelor of Journalism

In this subject you’ll be developing and enhancing your understanding of the media – its role, culture, power and effect as well as the ethical dilemmas faced daily by journalists. The subject encourages the analysis of current media, recognising the diverse treatment and presentation of news in Australia and abroad. The subject helps you broaden your knowledge of current affairs and newsworthy events in Australia and internationally and you’ll be reviewing and discussing the coverage of news stories as they happen. The issue of journalistic ethics underpins all tutorials and discussions and you’ll be considering these issues in conjunction with writing-based exercises to help you develop your news writing skills.

This subject is designed to help you learn the basic elements of news gathering, reporting and writing in a news style. The primary goals of the subject are to develop the foundation skills of a reporter - news values, how to recognise and assess the merits of stories, how to write a newsworthy introduction, how to structure a story and get the facts in the right order and how to cover events in real time at press conferences and court cases.

In this subject you’ll be introduced to traditional and digitally driven news research. You’ll be learning about and discussing the best way to develop and research story ideas and the tools needed to find what’s true and accurate, particularly in the current ‘post truth’ and ‘fake news’ era. The subject also demonstrates that the best story ideas are borne out of critical and original thinking.

Data journalism is a journalistic process based on analysing and filtering large data sets to find news stories. Sourcing and importing data, scraping for data and creating your own data sets have become core skills in digital newsrooms around the world. You’ll be learning how to perform these tasks as well as how to visualise data so that it’s easily comprehensible to an audience. Whilst data driven journalism deals with open data that is freely available online and analysed with open source tools, this subject introduces you to the ethical and legal limits of the craft.

In this subject you’ll be developing a fundamental understanding of media law and its role in protecting the rights of the journalist, the public and the publisher. You’ll learn about the legal risks associated with newsgathering and with published content. The subject helps you develop the skills necessary to recognise questionable information and potential breaches. You’ll be examining the law as it relates to different platforms and different jurisdictions. You’ll also experience a court in action and be shown how media laws shape coverage of current events.

In this subject, you will learn the skills needed to be a video or TV journalist in the digital age. You’ll be learning about how to perform in front of the camera, how to shoot a story, editing, script writing, and packaging using editing systems like Final Cut Pro and Premiere.

In this subject you’ll be introduced to different styles of feature writing and pitching ideas to magazines and newspapers. You’ll be learning about the differences between hard news stories and features, the different structures used by feature writers to engage with their audience and the differences between writing long form stories for hard copy newspapers and digital publications. The subject also teaches the craft of writing the perfect sentence, the perfect paragraph and, therefore, the perfect feature. Student projects in this subject are often published on the Macleay student journalism website.

Mojo is the name given to the way journalists conceive, research, shoot and edit their stories on mobile devices and it’s fast becoming a core and required skills in all newsrooms. In this subject you’ll learn about the various workflows available and the technical fundamentals associated with digital media production with a strong emphasis on mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Mobile PC). The subject teaches you how to troubleshoot and work with the ever increasing number of app libraries and how to apply this knowledge to produce broadcast quality radio and video packages.

This subject explains the roles of central and local government and examines the relationship between journalists and these institutions. It also explores the public role of other important institutions such as religious organisations and NGOs.

You’ll be covering local councils and national politics in practical exercises and will be learning how to assess the comparative news value of government decisions. You’ll be learning how and where to obtain information from council agendas and central government records and how to distinguish between news and government spin. And you’ll also be looking at the intersection between the public role of the journalist and the public interest in effective government.

In this subject you’ll developing the skills you need to produce audio content including scriptwriting, packaging using phone apps and podcasting. You’ll be learning these skills in the context of digital, multimedia productions. The subject includes helping you to develop a radio voice as well as your reporting skills. You’ll be learning how to work in a radio newsroom, broadcast live and produce podcasts and will be producing audio packages for the Macleay Newsroom website.

In this subject you’ll be learning the techniques of news and features photography and the art of photojournalism, a skill that can take you around the world. You’ll be learning how to shoot a photo essay and complete a magazine assignment through ‘in-field’ exercises.

In this subject you’ll be developing a good understanding of the unique industry you’re hoping to enter – the way it operates and the opportunities it can provide you. The subject covers the information and skills you need to help you establish a complete set of proactive job-seeking skills and tools. You’ll be learning about the skills required for job applications and interviews as well as the value and importance of networking. You’ll be using your writing, production and web skills to produce a CV and how to develop a social media profile as an engaged and aware journalist.

Media is in a state of flux. But flux isn’t all bad news. It can be great news if you have ideas, energy and ingenuity. In this course, you’ll be learning how to use your creativity and business acumen to create new media ideas. Using your entrepreneurial skills you’ll be working on a project to come up with new ideas to keep journalism relevant and vital whilst keeping journalists employed.

As well as attending timetabled classes in this subject, you’ll also be practicing what you’re learning in our Newsroom at the campus. There’s also an expectation that when you’re not in a Newsroom 1 class or any other class, you’ll be producing your own news items. You’ll be able to choose to cover daily stories or you might prefer to choose to work on longer form, investigative stories. Work that meets the College’s editorial standards will be uploaded to the student website.

In this subject you’ll engaging with the issues of reporting in a world without borders - where all stories can be local. You’ll be learning how to deal with issues of culture and language and will also be examining the ethics of parachute journalism and how to responsibly report in countries you may be just visiting. The subject includes discussions around the modern implications of the Mark Twain rule - how a lie can go around the world before the truth gets its boots on. This subject also uses case histories to study the do’s and don’ts of being a foreign correspondent.

The subject allows you to practise advanced disciplines of digital journalism. Working in the on-campus Newsroom on campus, you’ll be part of a team running an online operation showcasing student work, including daily stories they may wish to produce or be directed to produce. The Newsroom runs as a daily operation three days a week but you’ll be expected to carry out news gathering assignments on other days and to keep a weekly log of your published stories.

Journalists today are able to reach distant audiences faster and more directly than ever before. In such a globally connected news environment, what role does the “fourth estate” play in shaping the news? From Google operating in China, to Al-Jazeera offices in Manhattan, to a young woman blogging about an attack on her school in Afghanistan – how is journalism adapting to a more globalised media?

This subject explores globalisation in theory and practice. It looks at media models from around the world and is designed to help you develop your understanding of the global news environment. You’ll be assigned a country to follow through news events reported by their local media and by Australia’s and will be asked to critically assess the difference.

This subject is a trimester long project which gives you the chance to explore, in depth, an area of interest to you using your journalistic writing and storytelling skills. You’ll be tackling a subject that’s different from your written project and will be producing a long form visual essay. The essay could be in the form of a documentary or short film or a gallery of photojournalism.

This subject allows you to practice the disciplines of digital journalism at an advanced level in an internship. The subject encourages you to identify and discuss the ethical and legal dimensions of fast-paced 24/7 digital journalism in a Newsroom setting. You’ll also be encouraged to think critically about the challenges the industry faces in response to the continually changing world of journalism.

Working in the on-campus Newsroom on campus, you’ll be part of a team running an online operation showcasing student work, including daily stories they may wish to produce or be directed to produce. The Newsroom runs as a daily operation three days a week but you’ll be expected to carry out news gathering assignments on other days and to keep a weekly log of your published stories.

In the world of digital media and news production, being able to understand and speak the language of coders is invaluable and increasingly essential. In this subject you’ll be learning these skills and in the process, how to create your own website which you can use to post your journalism.

This subject introduces you to the global phenomenon of
social media and analyses its impact on journalism. Social
media platforms are integrated into every aspect of story
production - from content gathering and verification, to
editing, distribution and story production. The subject
examines how social media impacts news coverage and
you will learn how to create, gather, receive and distribute content on social media platforms.

In this subject you’ll be learning about the challenges of covering events, both live and in retrospect, that may have been seen by millions of people who all think they know what happened. You’ll be looking at the challenges of covering sports stars and sporting institutions and the commercial and emotional pressures of covering the 'home team'. Most importantly you’ll be learning how important it is to place sport in a wider cultural space that allows you to evaluate and critically analyse its impact on Australia.

In this subject you’ll be learning the theoretical and practical fundamentals needed to be able to produce great photo essays. You’ll be exposed to the potential of photojournalism through the exploration of current reportage and documentary photography in print and digital mediums.

Learn the skills of fashion reporting, from catwalks to factories, from hard news to consumer reviews. This subject looks at the various ways journalism engages with the industry – reporter, critic, reviewer – and practices each. The subject also teaches you about the critical importance fashion writing plays in a wider socio-cultural environment in Australia.

Music is a part of our daily lives and is a huge international industry. This subject studies the history of reporting music, the different genres of music reporting, the emotions involved and how to reflect these in writing. It also covers the ins and outs of accessing information about a specialist area and how to profile music and musicians.

Food and lifestyle writing has seen a revival in the last five years and has become a specialist genre of media production. In this subject you’ll be learning about the different styles of media production in food, lifestyle and travel, including blogging and magazine restaurant reviewing.

In this subject you’ll be studying the history of international reporting, the development of foreign correspondents and their role in informing world opinion. You’ll also be looking at how these roles have changed in the age of the Internet. You’ll be examining the tensions between the theory and practice of reporting from countries outside a journalist’s home country and you’ll be developing the knowledge and skills needed to make critical judgements on the ethical issues involved.

Covering business and the economy is one of the growth areas of journalism. In this subject you’ll be learning how business functions and why news about the economy is so important.

In this subject you’ll be learning how to use Teeline Shorthand. The subject focuses on helping you develop your practical skills and knowledge and skills with theoretical concepts presented and explored in class. You’ll be learning the correct Teeline techniques and how to produce transcripts in Teeline.