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    Overview

    Provides students with writing skills across a range of media, with an emphasis on cross-platform, non-fiction writing. The conventions and creative roles involved in producing media texts are interrogated.

    Digital technologies and social media have transformed journalism and news reporting practices. This paper will provide you with the writing and production skills to produce news stories across a range of different media, print, online and radio. You will learn to interrogate the workings of news media and examine how news generates social and cultural meanings about what is considered newsworthy. You will also learn the conventions and creativity involved in producing new forms of news media. This paper will help you develop a greater appreciation of the complexity and importance of online news media and empower you to produce ethical and critically informed news.

    About this paper

    Paper title Writing for the Media
    Subject Media, Film and Communication
    EFTS 0.15
    Points 18 points
    Teaching period Semester 1 (On campus)
    Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) $981.75
    International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
    Prerequisite
    MFCO 101 or MFCO 102 or MFCO 103
    Schedule C
    Arts and Music
    Notes
    May not be credited together with MFCO230 Special Topic: Writing for the Media passed in 2012, 2013, or 2014.
    Contact
    mfco@otago.ac.nz
    Teaching staff

    Convener and Lecturer: Dr Olivier Jutel

    Paper Structure

    This paper is structured around a practical and theoretical engagement with different types of media forms:

    • News writing
    • Persusasive writing
    • Culture criticism 
    • Press releases
    • Feature articles
    • Podcasts

    Assessment:

    • Inverted pyramid news story 10% 
    • Press release and social media strategy 10% 
    • Cultural criticism 15% 
    • Story brief 5%
    • Feature article and podcast: 60%
    Teaching Arrangements

    1-hour lecture once per week.
    2-hour tutorial once per week.

    Textbooks

    Course reader available on Blackboard.

    Course outline

    View a sample course outline for MFCO 220

    Graduate Attributes Emphasised
    Lifelong learning, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research, Teamwork.
    View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.
    Learning Outcomes

    Students who successfully complete this paper will:

    • Develop competencies in producing a range of news media texts, with an emphasis on online, print and radio news.
    • Develop critical skills in examining the social and cultural meanings of news.
    • Gain an ethical understanding of the issues surrounding the production, dissemination and consumption of news media texts.

    Timetable

    Semester 1

    Location
    Dunedin
    Teaching method
    This paper is taught On Campus
    Learning management system
    Blackboard

    Computer Lab

    Stream Days Times Weeks
    Attend one stream from
    A1 Thursday 10:00-11:50 9-13, 15-16, 18-22
    A2 Wednesday 16:00-17:50 9-13, 15-22
    A3 Tuesday 16:00-17:50 9-13, 15-22
    A4 Thursday 16:00-17:50 9-13, 15-16, 18-22

    Lecture

    Stream Days Times Weeks
    Attend
    A1 Monday 14:00-14:50 9-13, 15-22
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