Course overview
The aim of this course is to extend and apply students' knowledge of journalistic reporting to investigative practices and forms; and to enable them to produce in-depth and investigative feature writing and podcasting across platforms, with a social justice focus. Students develop and advance their journalism understanding and skills to extend and deepen their social justice and public interest story-telling, while learning to reveal previously concealed or unknown information. The course covers the history, traditions, contemporary realities, possibilities and successes of public interest investigative and in-depth journalism. It takes students beyond shorter journalistic narratives and into advanced journalistic practices, to produce both an in-depth feature story and a podcast on the same social justice topic, for publication/broadcast on student platforms. Students work on taking the audience deeper into the evidence and data in their stories, examining diverse perspectives and including diverse voices.
Course learning outcomes
- explain the history, traditions and contemporary nature of investigative, in-depth and social justice journalism, as the context for their own journalism
- apply advanced journalism research techniques and skills, including data research and analysis and investigative interviewing
- apply relevant data research to the resulting interpretation and visualisation required
- plan, create, write and produce an investigative/in-depth work of social justice journalism in the form of a feature story and podcast
- critically interpret, analyse and report empirical evidence
- identify and practice in accordance with the ethical and legal obligations associated with professional journalism