INTS 312/3.0 Journalism in the 21st Century

This course will make sense of contemporary multi-media through a series of workshops and lectures that are focused on the profession of journalism.

We live in an era of information overload with 24-hour TV news, social media streams, online newspapers and blogs.  This course will make sense of contemporary multi-media through a series of workshops and lectures that are focused on the profession of journalism.  By experiencing the art of writing for journalism and the creation of visual narratives in photography and video, the students will gain practical skills for the online world of 21st century. They will also gain an understanding of how changes in technology have always driven journalistic innovation, and how journalists have contributed to the evolution of contemporary culture.

Learning Outcomes

Students will learn the evolution of professional journalism from its historical beginnings into the 21st century and how traditional and online publishing and broadcast platforms have developed.  They will gain practical multi-media skills in writing, photography and video. Students will also learn how media theory contextualises the practice of journalism within contemporary culture and ethics.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

ELOs and active learning for this course will include virtual visits to media organisations such as BBC London and also field assignments in writing, photography and video. This course is evaluated through a series of coursework assignments that the students will collect in an online blog. The students will also produce a journalism feature and a short essay that contextualises this feature within the contemporary media debates that they have learnt on the course.