Course Description
This course is a build up upon News Reporting and is structured to help students become careful and precise editors of their own writing and that of others. The goal is to expose students to the function and operations of copy editing. The course focuses on skills associated with all stages of the news reporting process with the view to developing the knowledge of students on how potential news items are selected, how journalists manage relationship with contacts and how they conduct interviews. Topic covered include news writing and structures employed in news reporting of different types, and skills required to distil sometimes complex material into a form which will attract and hold the attention of casual readers.
Leaning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to
· Demonstrate a profound understanding of how to identify news and methods of gathering news
· Thoroughly analyse the various forms of news writing and their guiding principles
· Discuss the role of citizen journalism in the contemporary world
· Explain factors that go into conducting an effective interview for a story
· Discuss why journalists must uphold ethical principles in their trade
Course Content
· Redefining News: Citizen Journalism and Convergence
· Gathering and verifying information
· Reporting with numbers; computer assisted reporting
· Inverted pyramid; beyond the inverted pyramid
· Covering and writing news, speeches, news conferences
· Conducting interviews
· Reporting and code of ethics, qualities of a reporter
Required Reading Materials
· Harrower, Tim. (2010). Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism. New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education.
· Hough, G. A. (1994). News Writing. (5th ed.). USA: Houghton Mifflin College.
Optional Reading Material
· Kamath, M. V. (2009). The Journalist’s Handbook. India: Vikas Publishing House Ltd.