• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Ms Esther Beadle
• Lecturer: Mr Andy Sixsmith, Dr Mercy Ette

• Owning School: Arts & Cultures
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

• Capacity limit: 54 student places

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

This module introduces you to basic journalism skills as required by industry and allows you to develop them through regular practice. These skills include finding original news stories in the community, interviewing skills, writing news reports and features for different audiences, applying basic media law and ethics, editing and fact-checking.

In addition, the module encourages you to think about the ethics in journalism, about audiences, and about newsgathering in a wider industry and social context. You will develop an awareness of and sensitivity to diverse audiences.

You will be introduced to forms, industry conventions and standards in news practice and be encouraged to evaluate these practices critically. You will practise reporting and writing in styles common to the industry and consider how visual and multimedia elements are combined with the written word to present information effectively.

You will practice strategies for gathering information efficiently, including the development of skills in interviewing, fact-checking and observation.

This module allows students:
- to develop an understanding of the conventions and practices of newsgathering and writing journalistically;
- to develop a practical knowledge of the key elements of clear, concise writing, reporting and editing;
- to consider and assess ethics in journalism practice, the aims and objectives of journalism practice and the role of the audience;
- to practise, evaluate and edit their own writing and multimedia;
- to critically evaluate the writing of others;
- to begin to put together a portfolio of evidence which can be used in relation to employment, career or postgraduate education aims.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module is aimed at students who are new to practicing journalism, and sees students develop different journalism skills through iterative practice.

Students will be asked to critically consider, discuss and analyse newsgathering and journalistic copy in relation to form, convention, audience, platform, grammar, style and ethics.

The topics covered in this module may include:
- What is journalism and how does it differ from other forms of media?
- What is news? What are ‘news values’ and how do they affect newsgathering?
- Confidence-building exercises
- Pitching
- Introduction to interviewing (‘vox pops’)
- Introduction to newswriting for different audiences
- Introductory journalism ethics and media law

Not all of these topics will necessarily be taught every year; and indeed the syllabus may shift in emphasis according to media climate and culture at the time of teaching.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The range of material covered in the module will provide students with the opportunity to establish a base from which to develop as professional journalists in a range of media settings. Students have the opportunity to be taught by professionals in the field. Students will be able to develop their skills and enhance them in the context of either advanced professional study, employability, or career. Classes will mix formal instruction with informal advice. Newsgathering, writing practice and reflection will be to the fore both inside and outside the taught sessions. Regular news assignment homeworks will see students develop their skills as the module progresses, building on experiential learning processes in an iterative fashion.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Zero Weighted Pass/Fail Assessments

Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Please note, all work must adhere to the ethical, health and safety requirements outlined on the module and spelling and grammar will be noted, as per in industry.

News report: Students will identify, develop and produce an original 500-word news report suitable for an online news platform of their own choice and its audience. Students will be expected to write a suitable headline (not included in word count) and should include original images and other multimedia suited to the story at hand (captions etc not included in word count).

Assessment-specific criteria are:
Candidates must ensure their report:
1. is appropriate and newsworthy for their chosen platform;
2. demonstrates established journalistic form and conventions;
3. demonstrates independence and accuracy of newsgathering;
4. and shows understanding and awareness of their audience and the role of multimedia.

Feature: Students will identify, develop and produce an original 800-word feature suitable for an online news platform of their own choice and its audience. Students will be expected to write a suitable headline (not included in word count) and should include relevant original images and other multimedia suited to the story at hand (captions etc not included in word count).

Assessment-specific criteria are:
Candidates must ensure their feature:
1. is appropriate for their chosen platform;
2. builds on a subject of interest to the audience;
3. demonstrates further independent, original and accurate newsgathering, investigation or research suited to the story at hand;
4. and shows understanding and awareness of their audience and the role of multimedia suited to the story at hand.

Critical and reflexive analysis of practice: Students will submit a 1,500-word critical analysis of their own journalistic practice, based on a portfolio of work produced throughout the module and responding to a prompt released during the module. A portfolio of work must accompany the analysis, drawn from the formative assessments. Any analysis submitted without an accompanying portfolio will fail.

Percentages for each assessment component have been decided based on the challenge presented by each assignment and the effort required for each, as well as their roles within the field.

Formative assessment rationale and relationship
The formative assessments for this module are homework/in-class exercises set throughout the semester that immerse students in the core elements of journalism practice from the earliest opportunity, allowing them to develop self-confidence in a new and challenging discipline. Each week following the formative assessment, the tutor will provide whole class feedback, perhaps using anonymized examples, for students to take on board and feed into their ongoing practice.

Reading Lists

• MCH1030's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• MCH1030's Timetable