Writing Tools: 50 essential strategies for every writer

Roy Peter Clark from Poynter Online has podcast his tips on writing. They're freely available free:
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/poynter.org.1578858944.01578858948

NB: you need iTunes installed on your computer to access this link. Don't have iTunes? Download it from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Essay research

Researching your essay and don't know where to begin? A short-cut to take is to use the readings listed below. Have a look at the extra readings and look at the bibliography that these authors have used.

Another place to start is, of course, the library. To find relevant databases and journals, go to: http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/?t=c

Alternatively, do keyword searches on your topic via the library catalogue: http://library.latrobe.edu.au/search/

Another great place to start is Google Scholar. If you are searching on La Trobe computer, you may be able to access many of the articles online: http://scholar.google.com.au/schhp?hl=en&tab=ws

Press and Society on iTunesU

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=307222870

You will need iTunes to access these files. Go to http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/download/ to download free for Mac or PC.

Enroll in tutorials

You can enroll in tutorials now via Oasis: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/oasis/campus.asp

*Please note: if you are unable to get into the tutorial of your choice, please see if you can shuffle your enrollment of other courses to give yourself greater flexibility. If this is still impossible, please attend the tutorial you are able to attend and we will try and sort something out by asking other students who have more flexibility with their timetable to enroll in another tutorial.

Overview

Newspapers and magazines play an important role in economic, political, social and personal life. Focusing primarily on the press in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, Press and Society will examine the history of the press, the principles that underlie and inform the press, and ongoing debates about quality and 'tabloidisation' and the opportunities and challenges of new technologies. The course will examine the press from the perspectives of individuals, communities, journalists, editors, owners and policy makers, and regulatory authorities.

A core theme running through the course will be the 'broken business model' of the press. The business model that underpinned traditional media outlets — particularly newspapers, but also television — is under threat from new media technologies. While these new media technologies use and re-distribute content from traditional media sources, they often do not produce their own content and, in many instances, don't have the resources or the inclination to do so. Throughout this course, we will examine what effect this is having on traditional notions of the press and its broader social implications.

Objectives

Students will:

• Gain an understanding of the social, economic and political forces that shape news production.

• Gain a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between audiences and the news they consume.

• Develop an up-to-date knowledge of the major institutions, both public and private, that regulate and influence Australia's media industries.

• Gain an understanding of key areas of conflict between media practitioners and their critics.

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Course requirements

One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week.
You will be required to attend all sessions, read the items set for each session, and take an active part in tutorial discussions. Details of how to sign-up for tutorials will be provided at the lecture in Week 1.

Attendance at, and participation in 80 per cent of tutorials is required for students to pass this subject.

Students must also complete two 2000–word assignments and five quizzes based on lectures and the set readings in the Reader. All quizzes will be conducted during tutorials. Your top 5 marks out of 6 will be counted towards your final mark. More detail about the assessment for this course can be found in the Assessment section below.

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Course Outline

Reading is important if you want to work as a journalist or in public relations or communications. The following guide lists readings that are relevant to both the lectures and the tutorials. The core readings (under the heading 'Reading' below) are in a course reader available from the bookshop.

There is no single set text for this subject. All of the set readings are in the Reader available for purchase at the Media Studies office. Most of the other readings are on e-reserve through the La Trobe Library. You can download them for free. Go to the library home page, click on Unit Materials and Exams. From there, you need to type in mst2pas or mst3pas and the readings will appear.

Please don’t be intimidated by the required readings. Some are theoretical, some are practical, and others are journalism that might inspire you. If you come across articles or essays that you’ve found useful, please let me know and I can add them to the list.

If an article or book chapter is not available online, the most likely reason for this is copyright restrictions. You can still find the relevant text in the Library, many of which are on reserve.

Please familiarise yourself with downloading PDF files if you have not done it before. For PC users, use a right-mouse-click on the web link to the desired PDF – this will usually give you menu containing the command 'Download link to disk' or 'Download Target' or 'Save link to disk' or 'Save target as' etc. Mac users can use a similar method, though instead of a right-mouse-click, simply hold down your 'Control' key and click on the link to see the download menu.

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Week One 2–8 March
Syllabus Overview and Introduction: A Broken Business Model

The first part of this lecture will cover the course aims and objectives, and the expectations with regard to assessment, readings, and tutorial participation. You should also be aware of my consultation hours which are the bottom of this page.

The second part of the lecture will give you an overview of some of the basic ideas that will be explored in the course, including what is meant by the 'the press', 'news', notions of the 'public sphere', and the current state of the press in Australia and the world. In laying the ground work for this course, we will examine how the press is being transformed by changes in the business model on which media businesses have based their activities.

There is no tutorial in Week One. Please familiarise yourself with the online subject guide watch the following.

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Week Two 9–15 March
A (Very) Brief History of the Press

This lecture examines the rise of the press within the larger context of the development of the public sphere, civil society and the transition from monarchical rule to parliament. We also look at the development of the press in Australia, with early examples of Australian newspapers.

Reading

Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. 'Political Functions of the Public Sphere' in The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, trans. Thomas Burger with Frederick Lawrence, London: Polity, pp. 57–88.

Williams, Raymond. 1965. The Long Revolution, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 195–236.

Click

Australian Newspapers (beta): Historic Australian Newspapers 1803–1954: http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au

(A database of 73,000 out of copyright newspaper pages (approx 730,000 individual articles) from 1803 onwards. Beta version, which means it is still being compiled.).

Hirschorn, Michael. 2009. 'End Times', The Atlantic, January/February. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/new-york-times

Listen

Duguid, Paul. 2006. '18th Century Public Sphere: Early Newspaper, Coffee Houses, Political Discourse', Information, Berkeley, University of California. (NB: Large file size, approx. 20MB)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/stream.php?type=download&webcastid=16484

Duguid, Paul. 2006. '19th Century Public Sphere: Mass Communication', Information, Berkeley, University of California. (NB: Large file size, approx. 20MB)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/stream.php?type=download&webcastid=16489

Duguid, Paul. 2006. '19th Century Public Sphere: Mass Communication (con't)', Information, Berkeley, University of California. (NB: Large file size, approx. 20MB)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/stream.php?type=download&webcastid=16490

Duguid, Paul. 2006. '20th Century Public Sphere', Information, Berkeley, University of California. (NB: Large file size, approx. 20MB)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/stream.php?type=download&webcastid=16503

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Week Three 16–22 March
The Fourth Estate: The Roles of the Press and Journalists
Quiz Week

The press is often referred to as the 'Fourth Estate'. This week we explore the origins of the term and what it means for the press and for journalists. We ask whether the press now deserves this title, and whether it ever has. We also examine what the notion of the Fourth Estate means for the professional role and ethics of journalists.

Readings

Boyce, George. 1978. 'The Fourth Estate: The Reappraisal of a Concept', Newspaper History from the 17th Century to the Present Day, London: Constable pp. 19–40.

Deuze, Mark. 2005. 'What is journalism?: Professional identity and ideology of journalists reconsidered'. Journalism, Vol. 6, Iss. 4, pp. 442–464.

Click + Listen

'The media in boom and doom', Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, 22 February, 2009.
Transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2009/2494318.htm#transcript
MP3:
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/02/bbg_20090222.mp3

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Week Four 23–29 March
News Values: Truth, Objectivity and Freedom

Following on from last week's lecture on the Fourth Estate, this week we focus on the values that inform and underpin the news media. Chief among these are truth, objectivity and freedom. All of these values are controversial. For example, it hasbecome commonplace to say that objectivity is impossible and that truth depends on one's perspective. Meanwhile, 'freedom' is used as a catch-all justification for everything from exposing the misdeeds of government and business to divulging the most intimate details of celebrities' personal lives. Do the much talked-about press values of truth, objectivity and freedom have any meaning, or are they convenient myths that the press tell themselves — and us — to legitimate whatever they happen to be doing this week?

Readings

Eagleton, Terry. 2003. After Theory, London: Penguin, Chapter 5, 'Truth, Virtue and Objectivity', pp. 103–139.

Goldstein, Tom. 2007. Journalism and Truth: Strange Bedfellows, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, Chapter Four, 'Truth in the Balance', pp. 63–76.

Mill, James. 1967 [1825]. Essays on Government, Jurisprudence, Liberty of the Press and Law of Nations, London: J. Innes, Printer, 'Liberty of the Press', pp. 19–34.

Click

Salerno, Steve. 2008. 'Journalist-Bites-Reality!', Skeptic.com, 13 February, 2008. http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/08-02-13.html Accessed: 19 March 2009.

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Week Five 30 March–5 April
The Press and Community
Quiz Week

The press exists to serve a community. Successful media outlets respond to, and meet the needs of readers, right? Partly. The reality is more complex. This week, we look at how the press helps to constitute communities, whether they be national communities, communities defined by interests or some other characteristic. We also look at how changes in the media may be altering the experience of community.

Readings

Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities, London: Verso, Chapter 2, (with particular attention to pp. 22–36).

Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy. 2002. 'Newspapers in Singapore: A Mass Ceremony in the Imagining of the Nation', Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 24, pp. 559–569.

Week Six 6–12 April
Ownership and Control
PowerPoint

What is the pattern of newspaper ownership in Australia? Does it matter who owns the press or how many people own it — particularly given the rise of new technologies which, in theory at least, enable everyone to be their own little media mogul? Is it better to have a media outlet owned by a proprietor who has defined political interests, is passionate about and understands the medium — Rupert Murdoch in newspapers or, the now-deceased Kerry Packer in TV, for example — than media outlets run by anonymous merchant bankers who are willing to abandon public discussion and debate in favour of pure entertainment?

Readings

Simons, Margaret, 2007. The Content Makers: Understanding the Media in Australia, Camberwell: Penguin, 143–170.

Winseck, Dwayne. 2008. 'The State of Media Ownership and Media Markets: Competition or Concentration and Why Should We Care?', Sociology Compass, Vol. 2 Iss. 1, pp. 34–47.

Mid-Semester Break

Week Seven 20–26 April
Propaganda, Rise of Public Relations and 'Churnalism'
Quiz Week

Propaganda is now a dirty word; a by-word for systematic lying and the opposite of truth. At least one advocate of propaganda in the early 20th Century, however, regarded propaganda as a means to bring about the good society. Edward L Bernays, the father of public relations, (and, incidentally, a nephew of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud) argued that propaganda was a powerful tool for social improvement and was consistent with the truth. Modern public relations practitioners make similar claims. How valid are such claims? What are the consequences for the public sphere with the rise of PR? Is it wrong for organisations to use the services of PR professionals? Is the traditional disdain that journalists often have for PR justified?

Readings

Bernays, Edward. 2005 [1920]. Propaganda, New York: Ig Publishing. pp. 47–57.

Davies, Nick. 2008. Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media, London: Chatto and Windus, pp. 157–204.

Listen

Public Relations Institute of Australia, 'Debate: That PR and Journalism are Different Sides of the Same Coin', The Laugh Garage, Sydney, 6 May 2009. http://www.pria.com.au/documents/item/1602

Nick Davies, Peter Wilby, and Adrian Monck. 2008. 'The State of the Fourth Estate', Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. (NB: iTunes required.)
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/uc.princeton.edu.1520301582.01917929465.1569871962?i=1704020103

Click

PR Watch, http://www.prwatch.org/

Public Relations Institute of Australia, http://www.pria.com.au/

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Week Eight 27 April–3 May
The Propaganda Model and its Critics

Is the press free? Not everyone thinks so. Edward Hermann and Noam Chomsky argue that much of the news — even the most highly respected news outlets — subtly (and not-so subtly) promote certain views and ideas while ignoring (or actively demonising) others. In their book Manufacturing Consent, they outline what they call a 'propaganda model' for understanding and analysing the news. Not surprisingly, not everyone agrees with Hermann and Chomsky's views. Many media theorists and journalists often criticise the propaganda model as being simplistic and one-dimensional.

Readings

Herman, Edward S. and Noam Chomsky. 1988. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon Books, Chapter One, 'A Propaganda Model', pp. 1–35.

Lang, Kurt and Gladys Engel Lang. 2004. 'Noam Chomsky and the Manufacture of Consent for American Foreign Policy', Political Communication, Volume 21, Issue 1 January 2004, pp. 93–101.

Week Nine 4–10 May
The 'Quality' Press versus Tabloidisation
Quiz Week

Broadsheet good, Tabloid bad. That's 0ne way of characterising the distinction between so-called 'quality' media and the tabloids. Another view has it that broadsheets and so-called quality news outlets are elitist and out of touch with people's everyday concerns. On this view, tabloids are an expression of diversity and democracy. This week's lecture looks at the differences and similarities between tabloids and the 'quality' press, the different news values of each and whether the distinction between quality journalism and tabloid journalism makes sense.

Readings

Lumby, Catharine. 1999. Gotcha! Life in a Tabloid World, St Leonards: Allen and Unwin, pp. 27–67.

Salter, David. 2007. The Media We Deserve: Underachievement in the Fourth Estate, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, Chapter 9, 'Dirt Cheap', pp. 143–157.

Week Ten 11–17 May
The Back Pages and the Supplements: Real Journalism or Just a Bit of Colour?

Sports, IT and the book reviews/culture/lifestyle/entertainment newspaper supplements and TV segments are often thought of as the soft-end of journalism. Yet, at the same time, they make up an enormous part of the news media. In Australia, particularly, sports journalism is incredibly important. Yet how well served are we by sports journalism? Are retired sports men and women, as opposed to trained and experienced journalists, really the best candidates for sports journalism jobs — especially given the money and business interests invested in sports? And what of the experiences of women reporters in the testosterone-filled world of sports journalism?

Moving beyond sports, what about the IT pages and the books and review sections? IT and gadgets get a good run on TV and in the papers, but are they anything more than press releases masquerading as journalism? What about the lifestyles sections? And what of the future of book reviews and cultural sections which are losing pages and airtime?

Readings

Brown, Doug. 2004. 'Haute cuisine: Food journalism, once a throwaway compendium of recipes and "what's hot" articles, has gone upscale', American Journalism Review, Vol. 26 No. 1 February–March, pp. 50–56.

Rowe, David. 2007. 'Sports Journalism: Still the "Toy Department" of the news media?', Journalism, August Vol. 8: pp. 385–405.

Wasserman, Steve. 2007. 'Goodbye to All That: The Decline of the Coverage of Books isn’t New, Benign, or Necessary', Columbia Journalism Review, September/October.
http://library.latrobe.edu.au/record=b2107666~S11

Week Eleven 18–24 May
Technology: The Converged Newsroom and the Blogosphere
Quiz Week
PowerPoint

The way in which people use technology has always affected journalism. The use of the telegraph is often cited as encouraging the development of the inverted pyramid form of writing. In a similar way, the use of the internet and other communications technologies are altering the nature of journalism. Some now talk of the 'converged newsroom' in which the traditional boundaries between print, radio and television have become irrelevant. Increasingly, journalists working in the print media are being asked to learn camera skills and think about how their stories might be re-purposed as multimedia offerings for the net. Broadcast journalists are also being asked to do more than just report, but also edit their stories using desktop software. These changes and challenges are all occurring within the context of a mediascape in which bloggers are challenging the traditional role of journalists.

Readings

Loewenstein, Antony. 2008. The Blogging Revolution, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 'China: Punching through the Great Firewall', pp. 173–208.

Quinn, Stephen. 2004. 'An Intersection of Ideals: Journalism, Profits, Technology and Convergence', Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Vol. 10, No. 4, 109–123.

Click

'Online Collaboration', The Media Report, ABC Radio National, 22 May 2008.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2248917.htm

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Week Twelve 25–31 May
Globalisation and the Press

Globalisation has been one of the buzzwords in the social sciences for almost a decade now, but what does the concept actually mean and what relevance does it have to our understanding of the press and journalism? This lecture looks at globalisation as a cultural, economic and politiucal process and shows how it is altering the media landscape.

Reading

Seib, Philip. 2008. The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media are Reshaping World Politics, Washington DC: Potomac, Chapter 2, 'Channels and More Channels', pp. 19–45.

Josephi, Beate. 2005. 'Journalism in the Global Age: Between Normative and Empirical', International Communication Gazette, Vol. 67, No. 6, pp. 575–590.

Week Thirteen 1–7 June
The Future of the Press
Quiz Week

Newspaper circulations in mature markets like Australia and the US are in free-fall. Media companies are shedding staff and cutting pages and revising formats. While blogs are springing up like mushrooms, few bloggers make a living as full-time bloggers and many blogs don't break stories but instead confine themselves to commenting on what the mainstream media has already reported.

Are we witnessing the end of the press, or are we in a transition phase between one era that's fast coming to an end and another that's barely begun? In this, our final lecture, we peer into the crystal ball and try to work out what, on present trends, the press might look like in the coming decade.

Readings

Powers, William. 2007. Hamlet’s Blackberry: Why Paper is Eternal, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/papers/discussion_papers/d39_powers.pdf

"Yesterday's papers; The future of journalism." The Economist 23 April, 2005. eReserve: http://library.latrobe.edu.au/record=b2299718~S5

Watch

Robin Sloan, EPIC 2014, Museum of Media History: http://www.idorosen.com/mirrors/robinsloan.com/epic/

Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson, EPIC 2015: http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/new-master1.html

What's the future of print?

Source: MediaShift: An After-Life for Newspapers: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/04/an-after-life-for-newspapers099.html

Business models

Source: MediaShift: An After-Life for Newspapers: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/04/an-after-life-for-newspapers099.html

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Assessment, assignments and tutorials

Attendance at lectures and preparation for tutorials is a formal requirement for this subject. Failure to attend 80 per cent of tutorials may result in a fail grade.

Each assignment must be completed in order to achieve a pass grade. All work submitted must be typed and double spaced.

Note: The two 2000 word pieces of assessment work can be submitted as either an academic essay or a feature article. Students who opt to submit a feature article will be expected to find sources to interview about the topic, in addition to carrying out archival research. If required, you can modify the question in consultation with your lecturer. Students enrolled in the Bachelor or Journalism are particularly encouraged to take this opportunity to write a feature article.

1. Five Tutorial Quizzes (worth 20 per cent of the final mark)

~ In total, there will be 6 quizzes over the course of the semester. Your top 5 marks will count towards your final mark.

~ Quizzes will be held in tutorials in Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13.

~ All questions will be based on the lectures and the readings from the Reader from the previous two-week period. For example, the quiz in Week 5 will be based on the readings from Weeks 4 and 5.

2. Essay/Feature Article
Worth 40 per cent of the final mark.
Due: 5 pm, Wednesday 8 April, 2009.
Word length: 2000 words.

Questions

1. ‘Respect for truth and the public's right to information are fundamental principles of journalism. Journalists describe society to itself. They convey information, ideas and opinions, a privileged role. They search, disclose, record, question, entertain, suggest and remember. They inform citizens and animate democracy. They give a practical form to freedom of expression.’

Reflecting on the above excerpt from the AJA Code of Ethics, and thinking about questions of truth, objectivity and freedom and the notion of the Fourth Estate, do you think that this is an accurate or realistic description of the role of the journalist? Or is it a convenient myth that journalists tell themselves and their readers/audiences? Defend your answer with examples taken from Australia and/or abroad.

2. Benedict Anderson argues that newspapers (and other print media such as books in the vernacular) were central to the rise of national communities. With reference to Anderson’s arguments about print capitalism, what impact do you think the rise of digital media and the decline of newspapers will have on the communities of the future? (Your answer need not be confined to national communities, but can be linked to other ways of defining community, such as local neighbourhood communities, communities of interest eg the business community or communities based on identity — eg the Greek community or the gay and lesbian community).

3. The ‘last, best hope for newspapers is Rupert Murdoch’ — ABC managing director Mark Scott, speech to the National Press Club, 10 September 2008, quoted in The Australian, 11 September, 2008. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24327383-7582,00.html

Do you agree with Mark Scott’s prognosis? Defend your answer with reference to the changing business model of the press, the role of owners and questions about diversity.

4. Your own question. You are welcome to come up with a different topic. Please discuss your question with your tutor.

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3. Essay/Feature Article
Worth 40 per cent of the final mark.
Due: 5pm Friday, 5 June 2009.
Word length: 2000 words.

Questions

1. ‘We are facing the possibility that independent news will be replaced by rumor and self-interested commercialism posing as news’. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel, The Elements of Journalism: What's Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, New York, Three Rivers Press, 2001, 6.

Discuss with particular reference to the changing business model of the press, the rise of blogs and the influence of the PR industry.

2. Tabloids enhance democracy, representing everyday people’s interests and concerns in ways ignored or pilloried by the so-called ‘quality’ media. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain you reasons.

3. How persuasive or relevant is the Hermann and Chomsky propaganda model in an age when almost anyone can make their own media using relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use tools and publishing platforms (blogs, podcasts, web movies) often provided by large media companies? Defend your answer.

4. The future of news journalism is currently up for grabs. People have proposed everything from ‘solo journalism’, where individual journalists ask for money from readers to fund their newsgathering activities, changing newspapers into charities or public trusts, and micro-payments for articles online. Given present trends, what do you think the future of journalism will look like? Defend your answer with particular reference to the changing business model for news outlets.

5. Your own question. You are welcome to come up with a different topic. Please discuss your question with your tutor.

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Deadlines

Due dates for assignments are deadlines and deadlines are a non-negotiable fact of life for journalists and students. Get used to this idea and plan your work accordingly.

Aside from the in-class assessments, all assignments must be printed out and posted through the slot at the media studies office and accompanied by the appropriate cover sheet for your year-level. Please do not email me your assignments.

Extensions

If you are struggling to make the deadline, please let me know well before your assignment is due. I am happy to grant extensions (of up to two weeks) for medical or other compelling reasons.

Extensions need to be granted on appropriate form (in pigeon-holes outside media/cinema office).

Late work

Faculty of Humanities and Social Science guidelines state that work handed in late, without an extension, will be penalised at the rate of 2 per cent per working day.

No written comments will be provided on work handed in late.

Work handed in more than 10 working days late will not be marked (e.g. it will get a zero). If you would like to get written comments on your final assignment returned to you, please submit it with a stamped, addressed envelope.

Marking procedures

Any assignments that get an A or a fail (e.g. below 50 per cent) are automatically double-marked (by another journalism lecturer) to check that the mark is appropriate.

Students have a right to appeal a mark for a bit of work worth more than 25 per cent. Appeals should be made, in writing, to the journalism program co-ordinator (Dr Lawrie Zion) setting out the reasons for the appeal. The coordinator will then decide whether the work should be marked again. A second marker will be appointed and the work will be marked “blind (e.g. the student is not identified).

Marking criteria

Assignments are generally marked on these criteria:

1. That they follow the written brief;

2. Display strong research skills, clear communication, plus clarity and originality of thought;

3. Work is underpinned by a comprehensive bibliography.

Third-year students and students doing graduate diplomas are expected to produce work that demonstrates a deeper understanding of the research and writing skills required in journalism. As a general guide, a second-year project which scores an A is likely to be rated as a B if presented by a third-year student.

Special consideration

Students who experience difficulty with their studies due to illness or another valid cause are invited to apply for special consideration. The appropriate form is available from the Student Administration Centre or Faculty Offices. Applications relating to special consideration for performance during an academic period must be submitted before any examination, i.e. assessment, to which such application relates.

If English is your Second Language

If English is your second language, or you feel you could use some assistance with your study skills, speak with your tutor who can refer you to free on-campus assistance.

You can also contact staff in the Language and Academic Skills ESL Unit yourself. They are in Humanities 3, rooms 416-418, tel: 9479 2788. Website: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/lasu/esl.htm

If English is your First Language

You can get help from the Humanities Academic Skills Unit. Dr Kate Chanock is the full-time staff member there.

Demand can be heavy and you may need to wait for two weeks to see Kate. Her office is in Humanities 3, room 414. Tel 9479 2535 or email: c.chanock@latrobe.edu.au. You can find useful handouts about the skills unit at the website http://www.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/supportunits/hasu.html

Kate also runs free workshops on how to write better essays.

Other sites and articles of interest

Writing Tools: 50 essential strategies for every writer

Essay research

Press and Society on iTunesU

Enroll in tutorials

Overview

Objectives

Course requirements

Course Outline

Week One 2–8 March Syllabus Overview and Introduction: A Broken Business Model

Week Two 9–15 March A (Very) Brief History of the Press

Reading

Other reading

Click

Listen

Week Three 16–22 March The Fourth Estate: The Roles of the Press and Journalists Quiz Week

Readings

Other reading

Click + Listen

Week Four 23–29 March News Values: Truth, Objectivity and Freedom

Readings

Other reading

Click

Week Five 30 March–5 April The Press and Community Quiz Week

Readings

Other reading

Week Six 6–12 April Ownership and Control PowerPoint

Readings

Other reading

Mid-Semester Break

Week Seven 20–26 April Propaganda, Rise of Public Relations and 'Churnalism' Quiz Week

Readings

Other reading

Listen

Click

Week Eight 27 April–3 May The Propaganda Model and its Critics

Readings

Other reading

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Week Nine 4–10 May The 'Quality' Press versus Tabloidisation Quiz Week

Readings

Other readings

Week Ten 11–17 May The Back Pages and the Supplements: Real Journalism or Just a Bit of Colour?

Readings

Other reading

Week Eleven 18–24 May Technology: The Converged Newsroom and the Blogosphere Quiz Week PowerPoint

Readings

Other reading

Click

Week Twelve 25–31 May Globalisation and the Press

Reading

Other readings

Week Thirteen 1–7 June The Future of the Press Quiz Week

Readings

Other readings

Watch

What's the future of print?

Business models

Assessment, assignments and tutorials

Submission Deadlines and Requirements

Consultation time

Week One 2–8 March
Syllabus Overview and Introduction: A Broken Business Model

Week Two 9–15 March
A (Very) Brief History of the Press

Week Three 16–22 March
The Fourth Estate: The Roles of the Press and Journalists
Quiz Week

Week Four 23–29 March
News Values: Truth, Objectivity and Freedom

Week Five 30 March–5 April
The Press and Community
Quiz Week

Week Six 6–12 April
Ownership and Control
PowerPoint

Week Seven 20–26 April
Propaganda, Rise of Public Relations and 'Churnalism'
Quiz Week

Week Eight 27 April–3 May
The Propaganda Model and its Critics

Week Nine 4–10 May
The 'Quality' Press versus Tabloidisation
Quiz Week

Week Ten 11–17 May
The Back Pages and the Supplements: Real Journalism or Just a Bit of Colour?

Week Eleven 18–24 May
Technology: The Converged Newsroom and the Blogosphere
Quiz Week
PowerPoint

Week Twelve 25–31 May
Globalisation and the Press

Week Thirteen 1–7 June
The Future of the Press
Quiz Week