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This course provides intensive training in the foundational skills and knowledge required for communicating news and information to various publics. Students will learn how to conduct effective research and develop writing and multimedia skills to produce engaging digital content. Students also gain knowledge of their ethical responsibilities, and learn to critically reflect on their news and media practice. The course combines analytical skills with practical experience, including fieldwork opportunities and a final work placement, to help consolidate the links between theory and practice, and develop independence in professional work.
This course is a core paper in the Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism. It aims at preparing graduates for significant careers in the media through intensive training in newsgathering and writing, research and analysis, and multimedia skills. We aim to produce highly competent and multi-skilled professionals who think critically about standards and, each year, most, if not all, of our graduates win jobs in top newsrooms and in social and online media roles with various government and corporate organisations.JOUR401 has a strong emphasis on practical work and we maintain a close relationship with the profession through our many guest lecturers. You will report for local newsrooms and contribute to a range of media, including radio station RDU 98.5 and our own digital news outlet, The Record. In addition, you may be sent on work placement in the June break (see below).
The successful completion of this course enables you to develop the critical insight, writing, reporting and multimedia skills, and flexibility needed to excel in a rapidly changing media world. By the end of this course, you are expected to be able to gather news and information expertly using a range of tools, including social media, to report news and information with speed and accuracy across different media platforms, including the web and radio, and to critically reflect on your own practice. You are expected to demonstrate: Personal Attributesa high standard of communication skillsindependent judgmentorganisation and time management skills, including an ability to work under pressure and meet deadlinescomputer technology skills, including an ability to use and critically evaluate new media and digital tools a critical knowledge of news and current affairsan ability to locate, critically evaluate and use information in a range of contextsself-reflection and critical evaluation of your own practiceInteractive Attributesan ability to work effectively and collaboratively with others to plan and produce newsan ability to relate to and communicate with people from a range of backgrounds, including journalism professionals Specific Programme Attributesan ability to independently and effectively gather and research news an ability to write and edit journalism across a range of styles and platforms to recognised industry standardsstrong research and investigative skills, including the retrieval and critical analysis of information from a range of sources using a range of toolsan ability to conduct interviews to a recognised industry standardeffective use of digital, audio and visual technologiesan ability to reflect critically on journalism practice a critical understanding of journalism within its social, cultural and international contexts
Subject to approval of the PGDipJ coordinator
Tara Ross
JOUR401 Learn page
Course structurePlease see the lecture outline on Learn for the detailed class schedule. Note, you are also required to attend one-on-one tutorial sessions with our writing coaches each Wednesday. There will also be times where you are required to work a full day, such as when you produce on-air news for RDU in Term 2, when you intern in the June break and when you attend the COMS postgraduate marae trip to Tuahiwi on April 26. Work placementsYou will be assigned an internship at a South Island newsroom or communications organization in the mid-year break, June 4-15. When assigning internships, we take into account your professionalism, progress and the work environment. The decision on where to send you is ours – and we reserve the right to decline a placement if we believe you are not yet competent to carry out an internship.
Domestic fee $2,194.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
Maximum enrolment is 25
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .