Journalism Studies

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

On campus

120

Admission to the postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in media and communication; postgraduate diploma in publishing and communications; Master of Global Media Communication; Master of Publishing and Communications; and Master of Journalism. Students wishing to enrol in this subject must consult with the subject coordinator.

None

None

Students who have previously completed 100-420 Journalism: Practice and Theory are not permitted to enrol in this subject.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject aims to provide students with an informed understanding of news organisation and professional practice, their informing determinants and impact on news representations. The course reviews and evaluates a wide range of theoretical frameworks and research studies and invites students to apply competing models to news materials and ethnographic and journalistic accounts of professional practice. This discussion of journalism as practice is considered in relation to normative liberal and professional views of journalism as "fourth estate", "independent watchdog" and provider of "factual" information and neutral conduit of political opinion. By completing this subject, students will gain an understanding of different perspectives on, debates surrounding and studies of journalism, including investigations of how the field has historically changed; the critical implications of such change for public knowledge and democratic debate; and critical questions regarding journalism's potential future(s).

Students who complete this subject will:

• be able to demonstrate a familiarity with, and critical understanding of, political-economic, social-organisational and cultural approaches to understanding journalism;
• be able to understand how journalism may be approached as a cultural field of practice, and how forces both within and outside the field impact upon it;
• be able to consider developments in journalism formats and practices, in terms of the challenges they pose to practitioners, and their broader social implications; and
• be able to draw on a critical understanding of existing research approaches to critically explore the relation between practices and theories of journalism and textual representations.

A media report of 2500 words 50% (due mid-semester) and an essay of 2500 words 50% (due at the end of semester). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who successfully complete this subject will:

• possess the capacity to critically reflect on the relations between social structures and practices;
• possess the capacity to conduct research and apply knowledge to develop informed critical arguments;
• possess the capacity to articulate knowledge and understanding in oral and written communication; and
• possess the capacity to design, conduct and report original research.