Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

Campaigning Journalism, Activism and the Crowd develops digital creativity, strategic thinking and critical analysis of practice. In a small group you devise, organise and research your own campaign before setting goals and launching the project, using open source digital and social media tools. While running the campaign “live” for four weeks, you are supported to develop campaigning journalism that engages “the crowd”, channelling audiences towards specific actions. You devise strategies to raise your campaign’s visibility and identity, improve the user experience and design of your website and produce high quality related news, features and interviews. You also work individually to critically analyse practice based on primary and secondary research in campaigning journalism and activism and their relationships with investigation and news.

In this module you analyse the historical and current landscapes of campaigning journalism, activism, and successful strategies to channel “crowds” towards direct action, as led by both mainstream and independent news-based media. You further develop your multimedia journalism skills, including finding and using data, video and audio production, infographics and still image capture. You will be introduced to and implement effective strategies to build the visibility of your campaign, your editorial content and improve your own creative and innovative practice. You will develop new knowledge and skills in journalism, social media, campaigning and activism, user experience and design, effective and interactive journalistic narratives and digital creativity and innovation.

Outline Of Syllabus

Key themes:
Critical analysis of the fields of campaigning journalism and activism:
Campaigning journalism: history and current practices; activism; investigation; news and news features; data and journalism; crowd funding, sourcing and action; branding, campaigns and activism; social media optimisation and strategies; audience analysis and engagement; editorial strategies; research based critical analysis, reflection and peer review.

Platform development and production:
Campaigning journalism; engaging audiences; research and evidence; digital content production skills including video, audio, infographics, skill image acquisition and text; open-source website and social media platform user experience and design, effective use of social media for gathering, production and dissemination; interviews, news production; feature production.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

K1: Critically analyse your own and other people’s campaigning and activism including their content production and editorial strategies;

K2: Adapt performance in journalistic situations of varying complexity and predictability, building on skills from first year of study and in preparation for final year;

K3: Confidently define and present strategies for campaigning journalism and activism, based on relevant evidence and research from primary and secondary sources;

K4: Demonstrate awareness of the political, cultural, socio-economic and ethical implications of working in campaigning journalism and activism.

Intended Skill Outcomes

S1: Select appropriate digital tools such as video, audio and still images, to produce effective campaigning journalism and to operate responsibly in digital environments in order to build audiences;

S2: Produce publishable feature and news content which targets and engages audiences towards clearly defined actions;

S3: Interact effectively within a team, giving and receiving information and ideas and modify responses where appropriate in order to develop a meaningful campaigning journalism project;

S4: Adapt and develop content and editorial strategies for journalism work of varying complexity and predictability, with limited supervision;

S5: Be able to both self-present and interact effectively with others to produce campaigning journalism, including relevant interviews, research and investigation.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The teaching methods for Campaigning Journalism, Activism and the Crowd work cohesively to build competencies and skills in journalism and digital communication including text, audio, video, still images, infographics. Students work as a team to build their own website with consideration of user experience, design, content and audience engagement and critically analyse and reflect on their own practices.

Weeks 1-6
The lecture series and small group seminars introduce and analyse histories of, and current practice in, campaigning journalism, activism and audience engagement, as well as the use of social and digital media to reach strategic goals. (Learning Outcomes K1). Between the initial lectures and small group sessions and workshops students are guided to undertake directed and/or independent study to consider the political, cultural, socio-economic and ethical implications of campaigning journalism (K4). In week three, they form into groups of between four and five to develop and define ideas and strategies for your own self-devised campaign, as well as determining your parameters for effective team working and peer review. The group “pitch” their idea, including the campaign name, purpose and brand and editorial and social media strategies, for immediate formative feedback in week 6 (K3). They then respond to feedback before launching your campaign in Week 8 (K2), and running it as a live and publically facing creative project for 4 weeks.

Weeks 8-11
During the four-week campaign period practical workshops are focused on newsgathering, interviewing, researching including data and statistical evidence and developing digital content for specified goals (S1). Learning and teaching works both proactively and reactively to the projects devised, in order to support development and to facilitate the production of meaningful multimedia journalism (S2; S5). The campaigning sites and associated social media pages must include effective use of text, video, audio, still images and infographics, with content being published to publically facing sites regularly throughout the four week campaign period. Workshops are focused on developing relevant skills and expertise in order to successful achievement of the campaign’s goals and editorial strategy (S3; S4).

Weeks 11-13:
Following a workshop focused on critical analysis of professional practice and strategies, students engage in a self-managed evidenced-based analysis of the campaign and reflect on their participation. They are expected to make links between secondary and primary examples and research in the fields of campaigning journalism, activism and channelling audiences to specific action and their own practice, with specific links to content from the campaign included as part of the analysis.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The summative assessment strategy for Campaigning Journalism, Activism and the Crowd has two components:

1) A campaigning journalism website with a range of multimedia content. The website must use visual, audio, written and interactive technologies as appropriate. Each member of the group must contribute to a minimum of four pieces of journalism, evidenced through by-lines, and the site should have a minimum of ten pieces of journalism. A peer review form grading the contribution of fellow group members against agreed criteria should also be submitted.

2) A 2,000 word critical and reflective analysis of the campaign and your role within it, drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources. The analysis should reference specific journalism from the campaign, highlighting work undertaken.

The campaigning journalism website demonstrates increased skills and competencies appropriate to moving into second year of study. It supports transition between from Level 4 into Level 5 through advancing journalistic practice, developing editorial and creative strategies and fostering interpersonal skills and relationships through group activity.

The critical and reflective analysis demonstrates engagement with the fields of campaigning journalism and activism, and the ability to undertake independent research. Students must use secondary and primary sources and make links to their own practices in campaigning journalism and activism, including how they embedded knowledge from the lecture series and their own research when conducting the campaign

In order to ensure students are fully supported to produce formative assessment, they are provided with the following specific criteria linked directly to learning outcomes:

Campaigning journalism website project:
1) Production of a range of journalism for a specific goal, using visual, audio, written and interactive technologies as appropriate to the task if producing a campaign (S1);

2) Effective use of digital and social media to build a platform and to gather, produce and disseminate content in order to engage “the crowd” and channel them towards specific action (S2; S4);

3) Demonstration of effective journalism skills and original newsgathering including news stories, interviews and reviews (S3; S5);

4) Development of a cohesive campaigning journalism/activism brand across related social and digital platforms (S2; S4).

Students also submit a peer review form grading team members’ engagement across four group-determined criteria. Final grades for element one can increase or decrease by up to 10% based on this numerical feedback.

2,000 word critical and reflective analysis of practice:

1) Research-based analysis of campaigning journalism and activism including discussion of purposes, practices and implications, using appropriate primary and secondary research (K3; K4);

2) Evidence and articulation of application of research to the goals, content production, social media and editorial strategies of the campaign (K1, K2);

3) Reflection and analysis of own practice and how it contributed to the overall success of the campaign, against its strategic goals (K2; K3).

Formative Assessment:
In order to support attainment, summative assessment is provided against a 15 minute group “pitch”. The pitch should compromise of the following: name/brand/logo for campaign; outline of purpose and need; analysis of relevant examples of campaigning or activism; editorial strategy; appropriate contacts for participation/support/newsgathering."

General Notes

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