Unit details [HEJ]
Introduction to Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ101
Offered: Hbt: sem 2 (See also Unit details 'Special note')
Special note: subject to approval, may be offered by video-link to Launceston
Unit description:
Introduces students to the essentials of writing for newspapers. Students learn how to
write concisely and effectively. They also study the process of news gathering and analyse
what makes news. Agenda setting and gatekeeping models are critiqued. Students write
their own stories from exercises including role-played press conferences. The major
assignment involves researching and writing a campus-based news story.
Staff: Ms L Lester (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 3 contact hrs weekly (13 wks)
Assess: 3 – 4 assignments, approx 2,500 words total (60%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Courses: [R3A] [S3T]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Introduction to Media Studies
Enrolment code: HEJ102
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Unit description:
Introduces the interdisciplinary field of media studies. Students gain a foundation in key
concepts, methods and theories in the study of media, communication and culture. Topics
include: the history of media and communication theory, media structures and
institutions; media industries and organisations; media texts and genres; audiences and
‘effects’; media and identity (class, gender, race, age); and the media and public interest.
Students are encouraged to apply the theoretical vocabularies and skills of analysis
covered in this unit to specific examples and to think critically about the role the mass
media plays in contemporary societies such as Australia.
Staff: Dr B Hutchins (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2-hr lectures, 1-hr tutorial weekly (13 wks)
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Unit details [HEJ]
Assess: minor assignment (20%), major essay (40%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Feature Writing
Enrolment code: HEJ201/301
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Unit description:
An advanced unit that develops comprehensive research skills; analyses the development
of story ideas; and provides an opportunity to write in-depth features with a view to
publication. The unit explores the relationship between journalists and their sources, and
encourages students to critique their own work and that of others from an ethical
perspective and from the point of view of news formats and agendas. Students will keep
diaries to record, research and analyse their work, and will be encouraged to think of
themselves as journalists finding stories in the community, and submitting finished pieces
of a publishable standard.
Staff: Ms L Lester (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: tutorial participation (10%), 1,500-word oral presentation (20%), 2,000-word story
(30%), 1,500-word story (20%), workshopping process (10% each story)
Required: Unit Reader
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Environmental Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ202/302
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Unit description:
Students explore the current issues and the key players in the environment movement
from the perspective of the journalist. The unit includes sources of news; case studies of
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Unit details [HEJ]
major environment issues in the media; and analysis of the historical, political and legal
background of environmental concerns nationally and internationally. Trends in industry
and governmental response to issues are examined and the influences of the environment
lobby and other interested parties are introduced. Students also develop appreciation of
environmental science and the special skills needed to report on scientific issues in the
mass media. The unit may include field trips.
Staff: Ms L Lester (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: 1,500-word essay (25%), class participation and attendance (10%), 1,500-word
feature (25%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Required: Unit Reader
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Public Relations
Enrolment code: HEJ205/305
Offered: not offered in 2004
Unit description:
Introduces students to the principles, practices and theories of public relations and places
the profession into its societal and media contexts. Students become familiar with public
relations writing and develop skills in seeking, organising and presenting information.
The dual emphasis on practical matters and their underpinning theory and ethics help
students develop an appreciation of how public relations practitioners interact with the
media and the wider community, and how public relations has become a significant factor
in shaping world events. Public relations has an important and growing political and
social role and these matters are canvassed to provide students with a broad context.
Staff: Ms L Tynan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: 2x1,200-word essays (35%), 2,000-word public relations campaign (25%) 2-hr exam
(40%)
Required: The Australian and New Zealand Public Relations Manual
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Unit details [HEJ]
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Ethics in Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ209/309
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Unit description:
Students examine the basic conflicts of principle and practice confronting journalists such
as the competing claims of privacy and the public’s right-to-know, the justification of
censorship against the demands of freedom of expression, the reporting of minorities,
commercial pressures, confidentiality of sources and bias v. balance. At a time when the
role and the responsibilities of the media is an increasing focus of public debate, students
will also evaluate the competitive commercial environment in the media which
encourages breaches of ethics.
Staff: Ms N Goc (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: 1,500-word essay (20%), tutorial participation (10%), media monitoring project
(including 1,500-word report) (30%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Radio Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ213/313
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: a strict quota of 40 applies to this unit and prospective students must obtain
permission to enrol from the Journalism coordinator
Unit description:
Students are taught how to interview and write for radio, as well as radio/sound
production and post-production skills. They are expected to contribute broadcast quality
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Unit details [HEJ]
material to a youth community radio station based on campus, which may include reading
the news as well as producing a 15-minute radio documentary or current affairs program
by the end of semester.
Staff: Ms L Tynan (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: internal assessment (60%), final assessment, based on production of radio
documentary or current affairs program (40%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Online Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ219/319
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: a strict quota of 40 applies to this unit and prospective students must obtain
permission to enrol from the Journalism coordinator
Unit description:
Provides students with both practical and theoretical skills in the field of online
journalism. Skills needed to research and analyse information on the internet are taught.
Students are also introduced to editing software used in electronic publishing and work
towards producing publishable online material for a real website. Key concepts and issues
in online journalism are evaluated including ethics and copyright.
Staff: Ms L Tynan (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% at level 100 in Journalism and HEJ221/321
Assess: individual contribution to production of online publication, including
contributions to layout (30%), 2x1,000-word online newsgathering assignments (30%), 2-hr
practical exam (40%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
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Unit details [HEJ]
Sub-editing and Layout
Enrolment code: HEJ221/321
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: a strict quota of 40 applies to this unit and prospective students must obtain
permission to enrol from the Journalism Coordinator
Unit description:
Explores key disciplines in print journalism. An effective sub-editor transforms reporters’
stories into newspaper texts designed to convey meaning about the everyday world and
events. Communicating information in a way that will reach the audience effectively
requires a deep understanding of language and how meaning is created, as well as a high
standard of cultural literacy. This unit also focuses on the final layout of text, including
the practicalities of design and layout and how they combine with editing to deliver the
final product.
Staff: Ms E Delaney (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
M.excl: HEJ207/307, HEJ220/320
Assess: editing assignment (10%), editing and layout assignment (20%), major 4-page
tabloid design and editing project and 1,500-word essay (60%), tutorial participation (10%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Journalism: the People’s Witness
Enrolment code: HEJ222/322
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Unit description:
Focuses on the writings of journalists whose work significantly impacted on the times in
which they were reporting. Students examine the reportage of political journalists, war
correspondents, social commentators and novelist journalists. There is an emphasis on the
reportage of military conflict from the Napoleonic campaign to present day conflict, and
on the reportage of political and social issues including poverty, racism, the civil rights
movement and the women’s movement. Journalists to be studied include William Russell,
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Unit details [HEJ]
Martha Gellhorn, William Shiver, Wilfred Burchett, Joan Didion, Bob Woodward, Carl
Bernstein, Philip Knightly, John Hersey, Ernest Hemingway, Neil Sheehan, George
Orwell, H.G. Wells, John Simpson, Noam Chomsky, Svetlana Alexiyevich, James Cameron
and Christopher Hitchens.
Staff: Ms N Goc
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102 or 25 % at level 100 in Faculty of Arts Group I units
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 2-hr exam (50%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Television Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ303
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Special note: a strict quota of 40 applies to this unit and prospective students must obtain
permission from the Journalism coordinator
Unit description:
An introduction to news production and on-camera news reporting. The unit includes
skills such as camera presentation, news reading, interviewing techniques, and deals with
the production of news stories and news programming. Technical skills including camera
work, sound, lighting, and program editing are taught.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ101 and HEJ102
Assess: internal assessment (60%), final assessment, based on production of a television
news assignment (40%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Professional Placement
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Unit details [HEJ]
Enrolment code: HEJ318
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: has a quota according to how many industry placements are offered
Unit description:
Students are assigned to a placement in the media industry either in a government or
private institution approved by the University. Students learn the practical skills
necessary for the media practitioner. Placement gives students the opportunity to better
understand how journalistic theory operates in practice. Students will improve their
ability to meet news writing, public relations and production deadlines. Students will,
where opportunity allows, contribute to the gathering of news, the presentation or
publication of news or contribute to the production of press releases or similar material
while working under the supervision of a qualified professional.
Staff: Ms N Goc
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: minimum of 10 days placement per student; 1-hr lecture, 1-hr seminar
weekly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% at level 100 in Journalism plus 25% level 200/300 Journalism units
Assess: professional practice skills acquired during placement (40%, awarded in
consultation with placement provider), 1,500-word report and placement diary (20%),
work portfolio (20%), oral presentation on placement (10%), tutorial participation (10%)
Majors: Journalism and Media Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Writing for Media
Enrolment code: HEJ501
Offered: Hbt: may be taken in sem 1 OR sem 2
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Students with no previous experience writing for media are introduced to the basic skills
of how to write journalistically for print and broadcast outlets. Other skills, such as
interviewing, effective communication and structuring narratives, are taught. At the
conclusion of this unit, students will be able to produce a news story of publishable
standard.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
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Unit details [HEJ]
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hours fortnightly
Assess: 4,000 words of internal writing assignments (100%)
Required: Unit Reader
Courses: [R5P] [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Investigative Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ502
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Students are introduced to specialised skills required to produce a major piece of
journalistic work. They are shown how to access information in more specialised areas
such as financial research and to explore the legal and ethical implications of such
research. Interviewing as a research tool is taught and particular case studies are presented
through guest lecturers from the media industry.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator), other staff tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hours fortnightly
Assess: 1 x 2000-word issue paper (40%), 1 x 3,500-word research essay (60%)
Required: tba
Courses: [R5P] [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Media and the Environment
Enrolment code: HEJ503
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Introduces students to modern and past media practice and theory, including legal and
political issues, using an environmental framework. The unit also examines a range of
issues concerning the ethical basis of environmental and media attitudes and practices as
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Unit details [HEJ]
well as examining the larger philosophical frameworks where these can be located. The
unit may include field trips.
Staff: Ms L Lester (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 25%
Teaching pattern: 2 contact hrs weekly
Assess: 2,000-word ‘issues’ paper (30%), 1,500-word feature (30%), 4,500-word research
essay (40%)
Required: Unit Reader
Courses: [R5P] [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Advanced Writing
Enrolment code: HEJ601
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Journalism and fiction occupy different domains but there has long been a relationship
between the two. This unit examines the different narrative techniques in non-fiction
writing. Students examine various writing genres such as the essay, reportage and creative
nonfiction. Students are expected to produce a substantial piece of nonfiction writing and
to reflect on and constructively critique their research and writing processes to develop the
skills required to write nonfiction articles.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator), Dr R Ferrell
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2-hr weekly seminars (13 wks)
Prereq: HEJ501
Assess: 1,000-word news feature (25%), 1,000-word profile (25%), 2,500-word research
feature (50%)
Courses: [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Media Studies
Enrolment code: HEJ602
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Unit details [HEJ]
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Concentrates on various media institutions and media debates as they concern the
production, social circulation and consumption of print media, film, television, radio and
video. The unit explores the way these media sites and institutions are caught up in
political and cultural debates concerning capitalism, monopolisation, nationalism and
environmentalism. By way of a series of case-studies of particular media events and
scandals/controversies – examples of which will be local (Tasmanian), national and
international, and will vary from year to year as specific media controversies present
themselves for public debate – the unit allows students to explore the political, discursive
and institutional links between specific sites of media production and subsequent sites of
media consumption/interpretation.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 contact hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Assess: 1 x 1,000-word essay (20%), 1 x 2,000-word essay (40%), 1 x 2-hr exam (40%)
Courses: [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Convergent Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ603
Offered: Hbt: winter-sch
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Students learn how to use the latest technological tools in the media industry and are
expected to work in a group to produce a 3-minute microdoc to be considered for
publication on the World Wide Web. Students are introduced to digital cameras,
non-linear editing (audio and visual) and radio skills. This unit prepares students for
careers in convergent journalism.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator), other staff tba
Unit weight: 25%
Teaching pattern: 52 contact hours
Prereq: HEJ501
Assess: 3 x 2,000-word (or equiv) assignments (20% ea), participation in microdocumentary
production (40%)
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Unit details [HEJ]
Courses: [R6P] [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Advanced Investigative Journalism
Enrolment code: HEJ604
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
Follows on from HEJ502 Investigative Journalism. Students become more adept at using
other skills available to investigative journalists. They are introduced to Freedom of
Information legislation and taught, in a practical way, how to access information using
this legislation. Students are also shown how to access information in more specialised
areas such as science, environment and technology, as well as historical research using
primary research in archives. Students are introduced to more advanced business research
including accessing information from the Stock Exchange and business reports. Electronic
research (computer assisted reporting CAR) is a focus of the unit and students find
themselves using the skills acquired during the unit as they continue to work through
their degree, and later in the workplace.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator), Dr K Gibson, Dr R Snell
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 32 hrs lectures/seminars
Prereq: HEJ502
Assess: 2 x 2,000-word issue papers (25% ea), 2 x 2,000-word research stories (25% ea).
Required: tba
Courses: [R5P] [R6P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Major Research Project
Enrolment code: HEJ701
Offered: Hbt: may be taken in summer-sch OR sem 1 OR sem 2 OR end-of-yr-sch
Special note: restricted to students with undergraduate degrees or equivalent.
Unit description:
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Unit details [HEJ]
Students undertake independent research on an approved subject leading to a major
journalistic project or thesis in one of the following areas:
Advanced Writing
Convergent Journalism
Media and the Environment
Environmental Politics and Policy
Media Studies
Investigative Journalism
Staff: Supervisors in the research topic area selected from lecturers in the Masters of
Journalism and Media Studies course.
Unit weight: 50%
Teaching pattern: students will work independently with consultation and seminars
Prereq: 100% of coursework units
Assess: 1 x 10,000-word (or equiv) major journalistic project or thesis in 1 of the following
areas: Advanced Writing, Convergent Journalism, Environmental Politics & Policy, Media
Studies, Media & The Environment, Investigative Journalism
Courses: [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Major Research Project
Part time
Enrolment code: HEJ702
Offered: Hbt: may be taken in summer-sch OR sem 1 OR sem 2 OR end-of-yr-sch (See
also Unit details 'Special note')
Special note: taken over two sequential semesters on a part-time basis (see HEJ701)
Unit description:
Students undertake independent research on an approved subject leading to a major
journalistic project or thesis.
Staff: Ms L Simpson (Coordinator), Ms N Goc, Ms L Lester, Ms L Tynan
Unit weight: 50%
Teaching pattern: students will work independently with consultation and seminars
Prereq: 100% of coursework units
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Unit details [HEJ]
Assess: 10,000-word (or equiv) major journalistic project or thesis in one of the following
areas: Advanced Writing, Convergent Journalism, Environmental Politics & Policy, Media
Studies, Media & The Environment, Investigative Journalism
Courses: [R7P]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
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