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Unit of Study COM00482 - Hot Topics: Feature Journalism (2019)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    Basic newswriting and reporting skills.

Unit description

Completes students' introduction to journalism as a contemporary cultural and media practice. Students consolidate their skills in news gathering and writing, and are introduced to feature writing techniques through applied theory and practical activities and assessment. Students learn further research and interviewing skills, and develop a critical understanding of key professional, legal and ethics issues relevant to journalism.

Unit content

  • The nature of features
  • Story ideas and planning
  • Advanced interviewing
  • Feature writing techniques
  • Narrative and description
  • Legal issues and ethics
  • Rhetoric and persuasion
  • Data and verification
  • Marketing your work
  • Investigative journalism
  • Wordcraft and editing
  • Book-length features

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Online Session 1 Session 1

Learning outcomes and graduate attributes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

GA1: Intellectual rigour, GA2: Creativity, GA3: Ethical practice, GA4: Knowledge of a discipline, GA5: Lifelong learning, GA6: Communication and social skills, GA7: Cultural competence
Learning outcome count Learning outcome description GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 discuss the characteristics of feature writing, including the role of argument, narrative, persuasion and description
2 apply skills in planning, researching and interviewing for feature-form journalism writing projects
3 access, critically evaluate and document information sources, including reports, databases and specialist publications
4 write a newspaper/magazine feature article
5 identify and discuss professional, legal and ethical issues in feature journalism practice.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. discuss the characteristics of feature writing, including the role of argument, narrative, persuasion and description
    • GA2:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  2. apply skills in planning, researching and interviewing for feature-form journalism writing projects
    • GA2:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  3. access, critically evaluate and document information sources, including reports, databases and specialist publications
    • GA2:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  4. write a newspaper/magazine feature article
    • GA2:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:
  5. identify and discuss professional, legal and ethical issues in feature journalism practice.
    • GA2:
    • GA4:
    • GA5:

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.