MST31BEJ: BROADCAST AND ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM
UNIT GUIDE FOR 2008
Last updated: Friday, 23 May, 2008
STOP PRESS
Next Monday's final BEJ lecture will include an analysis of the Hack special on Climate Change Skeptics (a brief version of which can be accessed from this link), some final tips for Assignment 3, and a briefing about a new online publication called Laneway that is looking for contributors from La Trobe. A reminder that the assignment is due on Friday May 30.
For a sample of A-grade work submitted for this assignment last year, go here.
A useful compendium of Hack archive items can be found here.
STUDENT CONSULTATIONS UPDATE
I fully appreciate that many of you want to run ideas by me ahead of submitting Assignment 3. Please be aware that next week's tutorials will provide your best opportunity for a one-on-one consultations with me, and that I will also be available by appointment between 2 and 4 next Wednesday afternoon for 10-minute appointments.
Please be aware that I am not available to read drafts submitted by email in the interem.
.....................
THE LIFE OF A FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT
On Tuesday at 1pm please join me and Tony Jarvis from the Politics Department as we speak with renowned New Yorker foreign correspondent Jon Lee Anderson. The event will be held at the Western Lecture Theatre 2. Full details here.
DILEMMAS IN JOURNALISM
The new unit Dilemmas in Journalism: Legal and Ethical Issues, which will be offered for the first time next semester, now has its own timetable slot. The weekly lecture/seminar will be held on Thursdays from 2 - 5pm. If you are interested in finding out more about this elective, please contact me and/or speak to Kylie Gunn about a variation of enrolment.
This site works best with Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Jump to week:---1--- 2---3---4---5---6---7---8---9---10---11---12---13
Jump to lecture and tutorial details ........Jump to Lawrie Zion bio .......Jump to assessment details
BEJ Objectives (What follows is an update on the previously published Broadcast and Electronic Journalism handbook entry.)
In BEJ you will explore the reporter's role in factual production across broadcast and electronic media. Topics covered will include research for audio visual media, writing for radio, television and the internet, interviewing techniques, script editing, and principles of presenting for radio and television. As part of the process, students will be expected to undertake story design and conception, research, script editing, review and analysis. The role of this unit is to give students an appreciation of the multi-skilling required by convergence of television, radio, press and internet in the current media environment. Attendance at and participation in 80% of tutorials is required for students to pass this subject. Students will be given writing exercises in tutorials and will be required to submit three assignments.
Co-ordinator: Lawrie Zion, Phone: (03) 9479 2961, E-mail l.zion@latrobe.edu.au , HU2, Room 215
Student Consultation Hours: I will be available in my office to see students between 2 and 4 each Wednesday afternoon. If you need to see outside of these hours, please make arrangements by e-mailing me or calling me on 9479 2961. Please note that you must use your student email to contact me for university business.
Lecture and Tutorial Details
LECTURES will be held on MONDAYS from 9-10 in PW219
Tutorials will be held on Tuesday 11-1, Tuesday 2-4, Wednesday 11-1, and Wednesday, 5-7.
You will need to sign up for one of these tutorials by logging onto Oasis after the first lecture.
All tutorials will be held in EDUC 210
LAWRIE ZION BIO
Lawrie Zion graduated in History from the University of Melbourne in 1981 and went on to write a PhD at Monash University examining the pop music scene in Australian during the 1960s. For most of the last two decades he has worked in the media, including a nine-year stint at ABC radio, where he was based at Triple J. He also has also made several radio documentaries, including a two-part feature on Barry Humphries, and a profile of Crowded House while the band was touring the USA in 1994. He worked as a writer, researcher and interviewer for ABC TV series Long Way To The Top and Love Is In The Air.
More recently he was the film writer for The Australian, prior to which he wrote for a range of publications including The Age, the US-based trade paper The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone Australia and HQ . He was also a regular guest on the Ten Network's The Panel. During 2001-2 he lectured at The University of Melbourne's Media and Communications program.
During 2006 and 2007 he wrote,.researched and co-produced the documentary The Sounds of Aus with Princess Pictures for ABC TV. The documentary, which was first broadcastlast November, is currently available on DVD. A study guide for the documentary can be downloaded here.
Lawrie Zion joined La Trobe's Media Studies program in June, 2006. In 2008 he is also teaching Advanced Journalism Practice, Audiences and Communication, and the new second-semester third-year subject, Dilemmas in Journalism, which is available to Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Media and Graduate Diploma students.
A selection of Lawrie Zion's publications can be accessed through the La Trobe library here.
Academic publications include:
"My Hot 100 Summer". Meanjin, 65, 3, 2006, pp.147-54.
"Disposable Icons: Pop Music in Australia , 1955-63". Meanjin, 47, 2, 1988, pp. 285-97. This article has also been published by Popular Music (Cambridge University Press), 8, 2, 1989.
"The Sound of 'Australian Music'", in Burgmann, Verity, & Lee, Jenny (eds). Constructing a Culture: A People's History of Australia Since 1788 , Melbourne: McPhee Gribble/Penguin, 1988, pp. 209-22.
"The Impact of the Beatles on pop music in Australia : 1963-66". Popular Music (Cambridge University Press), 6, 3, 1987, pp. 297-311.
"Pop Music and Australian Culture: Some Considerations". Melbourne Historical Journal , 14, 1982, pp. 18-33.
REQUIRED TEXTS FOR BEJ
All students are required to purchase a copy of the Broadcast and Electronic Journalism course reader from the university bookstore. Please note that any readings preceded by a ** in the list below are included in the course reader.
Students are also required to purchase the following two books:
Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journanlism: Second Edition. (South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 2006).
Thompson, Rick. Writing for Broadcast Journalists. (Oxford: Routledge, 2005)
GENERAL WEEK TO WEEK MEDIA
In addition to the set weekly materials (see below), students should read, watch and listen to a diverse range of media. A balanced diet could include:
At least one daily newspaper
The Australian's "Media" section (large components of which can be viewed here).
At least one TV news bulletin a day
At least one radio news current affairs program a day, such as AM, PM, The World Today, or Hack.
A selection of current affairs TV programs (such as The 7:30 Report, The Insiders, Dateline, Four Corners, or Meet the Press.
A core component of this course is concerned with developing skills for writing and interviewing for radio, and students are advised to tune into to a range of radio talk programs including the Sunday Show with Helen Razer, Sunday Profile, and just about anything on Radio National.
Additionally, students should watch or listen to as many programs about the media as possible. The best of these are Radio National's The Media Report. ABC TV's Media Watch, the UK's MediaGuardian site, which offers a link to a weekly podcast.
For those partial to tip sheets on journalism, try this link from Poynter's TV and radio musings.
One of the best broadcast style guides available online is the BBC Radio News Style Guide.
For a comprehensive introduction to what is happening in the American media, see The Project for Excellence in Journalism's The State of the News Media 2007 report.
ASSESSMENT
There will be three assignments, each designed to develop key skills in broadcast and electronic media writing and production. Some assessment in this unit varies slightly from the description published in the university handbook.
ASSIGNMENT 1 - PREPARATION OF SCRIPT FOR TV AND ONLINE NEWS STORY
Due Friday 4 April, 2008
This assignment is worth 30% the subject's assessment.
Here you'll script a story for ABC TV news that includes a mix of voice script, visual images and links between the reporter and the news presenter. A version of the story must also be prepared for the ABC web site. Full details of the assignment are available here. For a sample of the suggested news script format, go here.
ASSIGNMENT 2 - PREPARATION OF PROFILE INTERVIEWS FOR RADIO
Due Friday 2 May, 2008
In this double-headed mission, you'll prepare the introductions and questions for two very different interviews to be broadcast on ABC Radio's local station, ABC Melbourne, which can be found on 774 on the AM dial. The programs you'll be working to are the Sunday Show with Helen Razer (broadcast between 10 and 12 on Sundays - library samples here) and the interview program Sunday Profile, which is hosted by Monica Attard. Full details here.
This assignment is worth 30% the subject's assessment.
ASSIGNMENT 3 - PREPARATION OF STORY PACKAGE FOR TRIPLE J'S CURRENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM, HACK
Due Friday, 30 May, 2008
This assignment is worth 40% of the subject's assessment.
Students will be required to plan a topical current affairs segment for Triple J's weekday current affairs show, Hack. This exercise will involve identifying key talent, writing intros and questions, and providing scripted material to stimulate talkback.
Assessment additional notes:
All assignments must be submitted, and 80 % of tutorials attended, to pass this subject. Hand assignments into the assignment slot at the Media Studies office. It must have the appropriate front sheet with the name of your tutor on it.
Late Work policy
Work must be submitted on the due date. Late work submitted without an extension will be penalised at the rate of 2% per working day, and no assignments will be accepted more than two weeks after the due date, without a written extension or special consideration.
Work submitted after the due date will not receive any comments, aside from the mark itself.
If you wish to receive comments for your final assignment, you must hand the piece in on time, and with a self-addressed envelope.
Students are advised to consult the common errors in assignments document before embarking on their first assignment. Full details of all assignments will be posted below in due course.
Supply assignments as straightforward copy - do not lay them out in columns or add pictures. Students must keep copies of all work.
No assignments will be accepted via email - students must submit their work as hard copy, but are also required to keep their own back-up copies.
Basic marking criteria:
A (80%-plus) - ready for publication or broadcast in a professional outlet such as a metro newspaper or professional radio station, with very minor alteration;
B (70%-plus) - ready for publication once minor style, spelling or content issues have been addressed;
C (60%-plus) - adequate content and structure, but style, punctuation and consistency lacking;
D (50%-plus) - content is adequate while structure and language need substantial subediting;
N (fail) - content poor, language seriously flawed, little attention to house style.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, or the unattributed and inappropriate use of another's work, is considered a very serious offence - one that is actively checked for throughout this subject. Students should make themselves familiar with La Trobe University policies by reading this document prepared for Media and Journalism students, and by visiting the La Trobe "Avoiding Plagiarism" web page and reading its associated links.
Language and Academic Skills Support for Media Students.
Students who feel they could use assistance with their English language skills should make use of these resources.
Contacts: Jennie Lynch, Julianne East, Shen Macdonald or Suzanne Fegan at Ph: 9479 2788
Humanities 3, 4th Floor, Room 417,
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/lasesl/
If English is your first language, language and academic skills help is available for you in the Humanities Academic Skills Unit.
Contact Kate Chanock - Ph: 9479 2535
Humanities 3, 4th Floor, Room 422, c.chanock@latrobe.edu.au
Week 1
LECTURE 1 - 25 February 2008
INTRODUCTION TO BROADCAST AND ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM
What is broadcast journalism and where is it heading?
Overview of assignments. Computer lab passes. Requirement to activate email accounts.To download the introductory lecture handout, go here.
TUTORIAL
There are no tutorials this week, but you must sign on for one to begin next week using Oasis. Full details of the sign in details will be announced in the first lecture. If you are reading this after February 27 and you haven't signed on for a tutorial, please e-mail me.SOURCES
Items marked with a * are from set text books.
Items marked with a ** are in the course reader.
There is no required reading for week one, but the following general references are recommended.*Phillips, Gail and Mia Lindgren. Australian Broadcast Journalism. Second Edition. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006) Part 1, pp. 3-28.
**Conley, David, and Lamble, Stephen. The Daily Miracle: An Introduction to Journalism. Third Edition (South Melbourne , OUP, 2006), Chapter 12, 'Broadcast journalism: the world's town crier', pp. 261-295.
**Edwards, Bob. Edward R. Murrow and the birth of broadcast journalism. (New Jersey: Wiley, 2004.) pp.105-123.
**Griffen-Foley, Bridget, "Radio", in Cunningham, Stuart and Turner, Graeme (eds), The Media and Communications in Australia : 2nd Edition, (Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 2006), pp. 133-152.
Recommended films about broadcasting
Good Night and Good Luck, George Clooney's gripping account of the clash between Murrow and McCarthy
Control Room - a fascinating 2004 documentary about the Arab language Al Jazeera network, and my interview with the director in The Australian
Broadcast News - James L. Brooks's 1987 comedy about two rival TV reporters
The Insider - Russell Crowe plays a former tobacco company executive who agrees to blow the whistle on his former employers for 60 Minutes.
Week 2 LECTURE 2 - 3 March 2008
GUEST LECTURER 1: DANIEL HOARE - BROADCAST NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
This lecture will focus on what factors count most when designing stories for broadcast media.
What are the key similarities and differences between media formats? How important is undertstanding the demographics of audiences, and how do we do it?
How is the print distinction between news and features relevant to broadcast media? We look at this question in the context of the difference between "news" and "current affairs".
To this end, guest lecturer Daniel Hoare talks about filing for the ABC's big three radio current affairs programs, AM, PM, The World Today, as well as working for ABC radio and TV news. Formerly a journalist with The Australian, Daniel has also written for The Monthly and a range of other publications.
In April, Daniel wil move to Kuala Lumpur to take up a new position with Al Jazeera's English-language network. To find out more about Al Jazeera go here
You may also want to check out an excellent 2004 documentary made about Al Jazeera called Control Room and/or read my interview with the director which was published in The Australian.
Daniel will discuss how he develops stories from conception to broadcast, focussing particularly on interviewing as well as the editing process, where interviews have to be cut and packaged on a deadline.
SOURCES
Essential
**Alysen, Barbara. The Electronic Reporter: Broadcast Journalism in Australia , (Deakin: Geelong , 2000), Chapter 3 "News Gathering and Packaging", pp. 33-50.
**Kolodzy, Janet. Convergence Journalism: Writing and Reporting Across the News Media, (Rowan & Littlefield, 2006), Chapter 5: "Broadcast Basics: Write Simply, Think Visually", pp. 131-156.
*Thompson, Rick., Writing for Broadcasting Journalists, (Oxford: Routledge, 2005), Chapter 5, "Different techniques for radio, television, and online news", pp. 118-153.
*Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journalism, Second Edition, (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006). Chapter 11, "Broadcast News", pp. 157-180.
Zion, Lawrie. "A Matter of Perspective", The Australian, 23 June, 2004, p. 12
Daniel Hoare audio and transcripts, including the following:
"Coalition agrees to an apology." AM, 7 February, 2008.
"Nelson tested as Coaltion gathers." AM, 6 February, 2008.
"Teen's parents might pay for out of control party." PM, 14 January, 2008.
"Claims Thompson should have known of Mokbel's past." PM, 9 March, 2007.
"Victorian politicians disagree over Premiers rejection of recycled waste water," The World Today, 30 January, 2007.
"Glenn Milne apologises for Walkleys outburst," The World Today, 1 December, 2006.
"Melbourne Cup bound for Japan " , PM, 7 November, 2006.
Recommended
Scanlan, Chip. "Writing from the top down: pros and cons of the inverted pyramid", in Poynter Online
Media watch , ABC TV. Mondays 9.20pm, repeated Wednesdays 11.50pm. Available streaming online
The Australian Press Council website
TUTORIAL
Introduction, discussion of Assignment 1.
To sign into a tutorial, please go to Oasis.
Week 3
LECTURE 3 - 10 March 2008
PLEASE NOTE THAT TODAY IS NOT A UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY SO THERE WILL BE LECTURES AS USUAL.
DISSECTING TV NEWS
What are the key skills required to deliver spoken-word script with images? How much do radio and television differ from each other? This lecture explores the basics of writing for TV news. See lecture notes (password protected).
As well maintaining an awareness of the visual language of television, it is important to remain conversational and avoid the traps of hyperbole and cliché that plague so much of our broadcast news.
Assignment 1 will also be discussed. To help you structure your piece, see the script transcript of the Dredging Debate story shown in the lecture, another version of the same transcript showing where the scripts correspondends to different shots in the first half of the story, and a suggested template for your first assignment based on the same story.
SOURCES
Required*Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journalism. Second Edition. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006, Chapter 13 , pp. 200-233 (on electronic reserve)
Boyd, Andrew. Broadcast Journalism: techniques of radio and television news . Oxford : Focal Press, 2001. Chapter 6, "Newswriting" (on electronic reserve)
**Tuggle, C. A. "Characteristics of Broadcast News Writing", in Tuggle and others, Broadcast News Handbook: Writing, Reporting & Producing in a Converging Media World. Third Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2007, pp. 1-14..
Westin, David. "The Truth About TV News", Columbia Journalism Review, March/April, 2005.
Johnson, Peter. "Anchors may not be only change at TV news ". USA Today, 26 April, 2005.
ABC TV news bulletins can also be accessed at this site.
TUTORIAL
Tutorial exercise designed to help you prepare for Assignment 1.
Week 4 LECTURE 4 - 17 March 2008
GUEST LECTURER 2 - PAUL KENNEDY - MAKING TV NEWS STORIES
Finding a news story is one challenge; making it work on camera involves being able to execute a whole range of skills, usually on a daily basis. Guest lecturer Paul Kennedy talks us through the challenges and triumphs of filing TV news stories. Paul began his career as a copyboy for Herald and Weekly Times as a teenager in 1994. He then became a cadet at Leader Newspapers before moving to Network Ten, as a TV news journalist, in Brisbane and Melbourne. Paul presented the news at Ten News during the Athens Olympics and covered the HMAS Tampa crisis from Port Moresby. He has since worked for ABC News and Current Affairs and moved to the Nine Network, as senior journalist, in 2007.
See notes from Paul's lecture.
SOURCES
A number of Paul Kennedy's news stories can be accessed via the ninemsn news site. These include:
Testy times for Bob Jane, 18 February, 2008
Teachers agree to strike, 14 February, 2008
Victorians watch apology, 13 February, 2008
Ashby determined to clear name ,7 February, 2008
Repurposed web versions of Paul Kennedy's National Nine News are also available on the ninemsn website. These include:
Disgraced cop to fight for reputation , 13 February 2008
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
Nicole Brady, 'Fickle viewers vary news results'. The Age website, 13 March, 2008.
Dan Ziffer, ' Who (k)News? Is the ABC really topping Seven? The Age Entertainmnet Blog, 13 March, 2008
Students should prepare for this week's class by watching a range of TV news bulletins. What are the similarities and differences in style and substance between the ABC, commercial networks and SBS?
TUTORIAL
Students who did not complete the tutorial exercise for week 3 should bring their completed versions of this to class. The exercise is very similar to your assignment, so writing it should be helpful to this end.
.
Week 5 LECTURE 5 - 31 March 2008
PREPARING A TV NEWS SCRIPT AND REPURPOSING FOR THE WEBThis example-based lecture where we identify the components of TV news stories and how they are written for the TV medium, and then repurporsed as a web story. Those tackling the web reversioning might find it helpful to revisit the Dregding Debate story, which we watched in tutorials.I've added a link to the TV version of the piece, a suggestion of how this story might be written for TV using our suggested script template, and of how the same story might be repurposed for the web.
TUTORIAL
Discussion of your attempts to complete the exercise we began in previous tutorials on the principles of designing news stories for TV, and an exercise on repurposing TV stories for the web. Time will also be set aside for one on one discussions about assignment 1.
News sites: mostly repurposed. Cyberjournalist.net
**"New ABC editorial policies", The Media Report, Radio National, 19 October, 2006.
**Niles, Robert. Teaching Online Newswriting. USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review, 23 January 2008.
Niles, Robert. How, and where, to link within a news story. SC Annenberg Online Journalism Review, 15 February, 2008.
**Starkey, Guy. Balance and Bias in Journalism . (Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), Chapter 2 - ‘Balance in Broadcasting: Representation and Regulation', pp. 21-45.
**Marr, David. "The truth about the fiction of ABC bias", Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January, 2006.
**Day, Mark. "Field day for flat-earthers under ABC's bias police", The Australian, 19 October, 2006.
**Ackerman, Piers. "Battling ABC bias: Is the left right out?" Daily Telegraph,16 October, 2006
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
ABC Editorial Policies - March 2007
Chadwick, Paul. Legitimacy Requires Accountability. First published in the Walkely magazine.
Week 6
LECTURE 6 - 7 April, 2008
ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? PROFILE INTERVIEWS
Profiles are a staple of all media formats, but are especially popular with broadcast media. What are the ingredients of profile interviews? What makes them work? How does the practice of preparing profile interviews for broadcast differ from print?
This example-based lecture will highlight some of the dos and don'ts for writing intros for radio interviews, and delve further into strategies that broadcasters employ when dealing with that unpredictable live interview. We will also preview Assignment 2.
SOURCES
Required**Adams, Sally, with Hicks, Wynford. Interviewing for Journalists, (London , Routledge, 2001), pp. 32-57 (The rest of the book is also highly recommended).
**Roiphe, Katie. "Profiles Encouraged", Brill's Content, December/January, 2000, pp. 57-60.
Enough Rope – Interview with Richard E. Grant – the transcript from the program that went to air on 19 June 2006 can be accessed here. A full audio version of this outstanding interview can be found here, and video highlights can be found here.
All students interested in exploring the dynamics of the profile interview are advised to sample a range of the other offerings posted at the Enough Rope site including the recent Wayne Carey interview.
Other ABC TV programs that regularly profile individuals include Australian Story and Talking Heads.
On radio, one of the key profile programs is the nationally-broadcast Sunday Profile, where Monica Attard interviews everyone from Magda Szubanski to Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali
This is one of the programs for which you will need to prepare an interview for Assignment 2. Podcasts of the program can be downloaded from this link.
The other is Sunday With Helen Razer - Helen will be next week's guest lecturer.
An excellent audio/print resource is The Art of the Interview episode of the ABC/Griffith university co-production Cultures of Journalism.
Recommended
Aylsen, Barbara. Electronic Reporter: Broadcast Journalism in Australia, (Deakin Uni Press: Geelong , 2000), Chapter 5 – " Writing and Narrating", pp. 73-99.
Barber, Lynn."The Art of the Interview", in Glover (ed), The Penguin Book Of Journalism , (London: Penguin, 1999,) pp. 196-205.
Rocca, Fiametta. "Stockholm Syndrome: Journalists Taken Hostage", in Glover (ed) The Penguin Book of Journalism, (London: Penguin, 1999), pp. 48-59.
Turner, Graeme. "Celebrity", in Cunningham and Turner (eds), The Media & Communications in Australia 2nd Edition ( Sydney : Allen & Unwin, 2006), pp. 357-67.
Week 7
LECTURE 7 - 14 April, 2008
GUEST LECTURER 3 - HELEN RAZER
DESIGNING THE ART OF CONVERSATION
Not everyone imagines them as journalists in the old school hard-boiled sense of the term. But anyone anchoring regular shifts on talk radio will fall to pieces if they don't have well developed journalistic skills.
Broadcaster, feature writer, columnist and author, Helen Razer has established a highly successful career on several fronts. Formerly an announcer at Triple J, where she presented breakfast, drive and the heavy metal show, Three Hours of Power, she now combines writing and radio, and can be heard every Sunday morning between 10 and 12 on ABC Melbourne on 774 AM .
Helen will talk about her work across radio and print, and will focus specifically on the art of the interview.
SOURCES
RequiredIn addition to completing the reading and listening from last week, students are required to listen to The Sunday Show program on ABC radio in Victoria (see the Sunday program guide link here) which will be one of the two the model programs for the second assignment on writing for radio. Audio files from several of Helen's programs in 2006 and 2007 can be accessed here.
Also please read:
**Geller, Valerie. Creating Powerful Radio: Getting, keeping & growing audiences. Maryland: Focal Press, 2007. Chapter 9, "Interviewing", pp. 87-94.
*Walters, Roger L. Broadcast Writing: Principles and Practice, (New York: Random House, 1988), Chapter 2 "Aural Style" (this chapter will be on electronic reserve)
*Triple J morning show intros (on electronic reserve)
Transcripts and audio files from ABC Radio's Sunday Profile. The program goes to air after the 9pm news on Sunday evenings on 774 AM in Melbourne.
When Interviewees Attack from Enough Rope, 28 May, 2007.
TUTORIAL
Class exercise on the principles of designing intros and questions for radio profile interviews. One of these will involve designing an interview for a guest who will appear on Helen's program this Sunday.
Week 8
LECTURE 8 - 21 April 2008
INTERVIEWING POLITICIANS FOR BROADCASTWhat are the differences and similarities between interviewing "celebrities" and politicians? What is the difference between a political interview and a profile interview with a politician? Sunday Profile, which is broadcast nationally on ABC local radio, is hosted by former Media Watch presenter Monica Attard, and her guests include everyone from Lleyton Hewitt to Julia Gillard
What does these encounters reveal, and how would someone who isn't familiar with the subject of the profile respond to the interview?
SOURCES
RequiredPlease listen to at least one of Monica's interviews with politicians,(as well as the aformentioed Gillard, these might include Queensland premier, Anna Bligh or East Timor's President, Jose Ramos Horta), as well as Lleyton Hewitt, and at least one other celebrity, such as Rove McManus. A full list of recent interview links can be found here.
TUTORIAL
Exercise relating to designing a profile interivew for Sunday Profile.
Week 9
LECTURE 9 - 28 April 2008
ASSIGNMENT 1 DEBRIEF AND ASSIGNMENT 2 CHECKLIST
What worked and what needs work - some thoughts on your first assignment, and some pointers for your the one you're all working on.
SOURCES
This week it is important that are actively researching the backgrounds of your two profile subjects.
TUTORIAL
This week, please bring drafts of assignment two into class. I am happy to go through any questions you have about them on a one-on-one basis.
Week 10 LECTURE 10 - 5 May, 2007
What's around the corrner?
2007 Bachelor of Journalism Graduate Luke Fenney will move up to the rostrum this week to share his experiences of building his media career, which has already included stints at The Australian (where he completed his internship), ongoing work in community radio, and a day job at www.realestate.com.au.
What should you be positioning yourselves as you head into your final semester at university? What sorts of skills are employers really looking for? And what are the best ways to get "foot in the door" experience"?
SOURCES
RequiredFor a selection of Luke's pieces in The Australian and more, have a look at his website.
This is also the week to begin work on assignment three, details of which will appear here soon.
Students should by now be regularly listening to Hack, which is broadcast weekdays on Triple J at 5:30 pm and available as a podcast.
For a general overview of the breadth of topics featured on Hack, go to their archives page, which provides links to hundreds of stories broadcast over the last year.
Another essential reference is:
*Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journalism, Second Edition.. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006). Chapter 8 - The Radio Story, pp. 87-108.
Week 11
LECTURE 11 - 12 May 2008
TRIPLE J, HACK - AND AN INTRODUCTION TO ASSIGNMENT 3
The lecture will focus on journalism on our national youth network, focussing on the daily current affairs program, Hack.
Reference will be made to the programs that went to air on Friday May 2 (Parental Leave - PDF of rundowns here), and Wednesday May 7 (Breaking Up - see PDFs of the program rundown and main story package links).
SOURCES
As well as the above PDFs, please find radio transcripts (in your reader). Other key sources include:
*Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journalism, Second Edition.. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006). Chapter 8 - The Radio Story, pp. 87-108.
*Zion, Lawrie. "The Triple J Curve", The Australian Magazine, 14-15 January, 1995, pp. 17-23.
*Koc, Erdem. "The Delights of Turkish Talkback", The Age Green Guide, 14 December 2006, p. 22.
Murfett, Andrew, and Ziffer, Daniel. "'Youth' network hits the radio rocks". The Age, July 7, 2007.
Talkback radio celebrates 40 years , PM, ABC Radio, 30 July, 2007
You should also be listening to Hack, which is broadcast weekdays on Triple J at 5:30 pm and available as a podcast.
For a general overview of the breadth of topics featured on Hack, go to their archives page, which provides links to hundreds of stories broadcast over the last year.
For general information about Triple J, check out this link on the station webpage, and this ABC fact sheet .
To find our more about Triple J's history, go to the station's 30th Anniversary web page and the Hottest 100 history.
TUTORIAL
All students should be prepared to discuss their own Assignment 3 story ideas, and how the elements of a specific Hack story handle intros, talkback set ups, interviews and audio materials.
One resource that many of you might find useful is the Australian Bureau of Statistics site and its mailing list.
.
Week 12 LECTURE 12 - 19 May 2008
This week's lecture was shortened to our discussion about Journalism subjects. In the tutorial, we'll complete our Assignment 2 debrief by looking at one of the best efforts from this year's BEJ class (see the Denton and Roxon interview plans), then before moving on to look at your own ideas for Assignment 3,
Week 13 LECTURE 13 - 26 May 2008
In this final BEJ lecture, will examine the Hack special on Climate Change Skeptics that was broadcast on 3 May 2007 (which links to a short version of the story). Please have a listen as well as reading the links below ahead of Monday's lecture.
An appreciation of how this package was constructed is essential background for Assignment 3 .
Also on Monday, we'll hear from a former La Trobe student who is about to launch a new magazine about Melbourne's culture called Laneway To see how the publication is shaping up, you can use the username "guest" and the password "laneway" - please note that the site is still under construction.
Climate Change Skeptics rundown - the road map of the program
Climate Change Skeptics intro (read by presenter)
Climate Change Skeptics debate (prepared by reporter Ronan Sharkey)
Climate Change Skeptics psychology intro (Michael Burge interview)
Climate Change Skeptics economist intro (Bjorn Lomborg interview)
Climate Change Skeptics calls for talkback (three of these were used for this program, which illustrates the importance of planning when it comes to stimulating listeners to participate).
*Additional Hack transcripts (in your reader)
*Phillips, Gail and Lindgren, Mia. Australian Broadcast Journalism, Second Edition.. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2006). Chapter 8 - The Radio Story, pp. 87-108.
Students should by now be regularly listening to Hack, which is broadcast weekdays on Triple J at 5:30 pm and available as a podcast.
For a general overview of the breadth of topics featured on Hack, go to their archives page, which provides links to hundreds of stories broadcast over the last year, or check out this other archive respository.
One resource that many of you might find useful is the Australian Bureau of Statistics site and its mailing list.
And if you want to find out more about movies that deal with your story topic, check out The Internet Movie Database.
TUTORIAL
There will be no formal tutorial, but students are encouraged to attend classes at the usual times, where I'll be available to answer questions about your final assignment.