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
- 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
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 | Not offered in 2025, expected to be offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2025 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- MFCO 101 or MFCO 102 or MFCO 103 or 54 Arts points
- 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
- Persuasive writing
- Culture criticism
- Press releases
- Feature articles
- Podcasts
- Teaching Arrangements
1-hour lecture once per week.
2-hour tutorial once per week.- Textbooks
Course reader available on Blackboard.
- Course outline
- 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.
- Assessment details
Assessment:
- Inverted pyramid news story 10%
- Press release and social media strategy 10%
- Cultural criticism 15%
- Story brief 5%
- Feature article and podcast: 60%