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From the course by The University of Melbourne

Journalism Skills for Engaged Citizens

10 ratings

The University of Melbourne

Journalism Skills for Engaged Citizens

10 ratings

This is a course in basic journalism skills, designed for the many people who are now taking advantage of new media to publish news, views and information. For five hundred years, the privilege of being able to publish was enjoyed by very few people – those who had access to a printing press or a radio microphone or a television camera. Now, almost anyone can publish to the world within minutes of being able to do so. But is it journalism? How does a citizen journalist find things out, so they can report facts and news - moving beyond merely braying opinion? And what are the legal and ethical pitfalls to publishing facts that some people might prefer remain secret? Over six weeks, this course teaches the basics of news writing, how to interview people to gain crucial information, how to develop and manage your sources and how to use your legal rights to access public information - and stay on the right side of the law when you publish. We discuss the ethics behind journalism practice, and conduct a mock investigation into local government. This course aims to empower engaged citizens to better participate in the news ecology. View the MOOC promotional video here: http://tinyurl.com/jj46rxw

From the lesson

What is a Journalist, and What is News?

This week we will discuss what journalism is, what journalists do, and how this has been affected over time by technology. We'll think about the exciting changes of our own time – the first in human history when the means of publication are in everyone's hands. We will then talk about the principles of news writing, and the nature of news. Finally, we will introduce Newstown, a fictitious place in Victoria, Australia. We also attend a news conference held in the Newstown Council Chambers. We will be using Newstown as the basis of our skills based exercises in this MOOC, so please take the time to become familiar with the town and its issues by following the link to Newstown in the course resources.

Journalism Skills for Engaged Citizens - overview3:09

Course introduction5:44

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Denis Muller
Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Advancing Journalism
Dr. Margaret Simons
Associate Professor and Director
Centre for Advancing Journalism

>> Hello my name is Margaret Simons.

I'm a journalist of 35 years experience and also

the director of the Center for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne.

>> And I'm Denis Muller.

I'm a newspaper journalist of 27 years experience, most of it in Australia,

some of it in the UK and I'm

a senior research fellow at the Center for Advancing Journalism.

>> Welcome to journalism skills for engaged citizens.

We're really glad to have you with us.

We think the previous times we ran this course,

it was a terrific success.

We've had tens of thousands of students from

nearly 200 different countries and about a third of them came from developing nations.

>> We think we made a really good impact on those people's ability to

actively engage with their society through the practice of journalism.

But journalism is such a fast changing profession.

And since then, an enormous amount has changed.

There's a great deal that's extremely exciting going on.

Just think about the Panama Papers for example,

which were terrific example of how journalists can use new technology to

collaborate across the world on analyzing the data from leaked material.

>> The boundaries as a journalism professional are growing

more and more porous and that means that it's

increasingly possible for engaged citizens to

practice journalism with a positive effect on society.

In fact, I think that the practice of journalism is becoming

part of the responsibilities of an engaged citizen.

>> This MOOC will be run on Coursera's new On-Demand platform.

It means that you can get the material on demand,

which is going to be helpful for you.

But it also means that you have to do the course

within the six week boundaries that are set for it.

So, in that six weeks you're going to make

sure that you participate in the peer assessments,

in any discussion forums that you want to participate in and that

you basically get access to all of the content that you want in that six weeks.

You can, of course, download it and work outside the six week period,

but if you're going to participate in those activities,

then they have to be done within the six weeks.

Now, most importantly, the assessment.

And there are four different bits of assessment.

There are two, firstly,

two news lead writing assessments.

Now, writing a news lead is actually quite difficult,

although the actual number of words is quite small.

Getting the news point right and

expressing it nice and clearly is actually quite a skill.

So there are two different assignments on

news lead writing and then there is another assignment on actually writing a news story.

And finally, there is an assessment on an investigative story,

where you actually have to go out and find some information,

which is not otherwise going to be available.

So they are the four assessment tasks and you have to make

sure that you attend to those and do them in the six week period.

>> All the practical news writing assignments are based

on a fictitious place called Newstown.

Now one very important aspect of this course is that it is peer assessed.

I think that's really appropriate for journalism.

The whole art and skill of journalism is being able to communicate to

a wide general audience and so you need to

get the essential news points of the stories across to your peers.

But aspects of peer assessment mean that you need to

engage in constructive criticism and actually

think carefully about how you can give your classmates

feedback in a way which is going to help them,

and of course ultimately,

contribute to better journalism.

>> What we're trying to do here, of course,

is we're trying to strike a note of professionalism.

Now, that basically means that you treat others as you would have them treat you.

And so, when you're assessing somebody else's work,

think how would I like somebody else to be assessing mine and proceed accordingly.

So, don't be rude, be courteous.

Don't just be negative.

Make sure that you are constructive and remember that

the cohort that does this course is a global cohort.

So it's incredibly diverse.

Lots of the students,

lots of new students, won't have English as a first language.

And so it's very important to understand that the person whose work you're assessing,

may not have English as a first language.

So, please be civilized about it.

>> And I'm assuming that you're doing this course because you care about journalism.

You care about journalism as a force for good in the world and the ultimate aim,

both of your own participation in this course and

your constructive critique of your classmate's work,

is to build better journalism,

to build, ultimately, a better society.

Please keep that in mind. And don't be a fool.

>> And just to help you through all this,

we have a wonderful teaching assistant called Megan Toomey.

You'll get to know her quite a bit,

if a bit indirectly.

And Megan will be your first point of contact on

any queries you have or any particularly about course content.

Megan is your person.

>> Hi everyone. My name is Megan Toomey and I'm

a teaching assistant for the journalism skills for engaged citizens.

I am an alumni of the Center for Advancing Journalism

and I do communications work on campus here in at the University of Melbourne.

My interest has always been in science communication and science journalism.

But I'm here for the course to help you with any questions and concerns you might

have and to guide you along as you do the next six weeks.

>> We really look forward to getting to know you and

your work and your priorities and your passions in the weeks ahead.

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