Lecture 1 in the Fourth Estate: News Journalism Class at SCU. Topic: Defining journalism

1. +
The Fourth Estate:
News Journalism
Topic 1: Defining Journalism

2. +
The Fourth Estate
Syllabus
(see also back page of UIG)

Topic 1: Defining Journalism

Topic 7: Ideas and research

Topic 2: What is news?

Topic 8: News sources

Topic 3: Style and language

Topic 9: Interviewing

Topic 4: Story Structure

Topic 10: Moral minefield

Topic 5: Focus and follow-up

Topic 11: Journalism law

Topic 6: News technology &
people

Topic 12: Indigenous issues in
the media

3. +
Jeanti St Clair
See UIG for contact details.
Twitter: @jeantistclair1
Student Contact Hours:
Tues 2pm – 3pm (appointment only)
Thursdays: 10am – 11am (open office)
Please make an appointment by email
Former ABC, News Limited journalist.
Extensive experience in independent
and community media

4. +
Today’s lecture
Defining Journalism

Journalism’s role in society

Journalism as a set of cultural practices

Trust, objectivity and truth-telling

Journalism as a conversation with readers

Journalism as a profession

Unit materials, assessment overview, and weekly topics

5. +
What is a journalist?

‘news workers, information workers, gathers, reporters,
entertainers, historians, researchers, explainers, probers and
writers…editors, communicators, storytellers, producers and
presenters’
(Tapsall and Varley pp. 5-6).

6. + Superman’s alter ego was a
journalist, Clark Kent

7. +
Cinematic and television
depictions
Watch:
All the President’s Men,
Goodnight and Goodluck,
Veronica Guerin,
Balibo
State of Play,
and the Newsroom series

8. Wikileaks
+ Founder
is Julian Assange a
journalist?
Accepting the 2011 Walkley Award for Outstanding
Contribution to Journalism
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-28/assange-accepts-journalismaward/3698074

9. Media as social
+
change agent

10. +
Why do you believe
what you read?

11. +
News of the World Phone Hacking

12. +
Roy Morgan 2013 poll of professional
PUBLIC IMAGE
In 2013, Federal politicians rate
14% , and state pollies 13%
(toxic party political fighting)
In 2013, Newspaper Journalists
rated 19%.
Why is this?
http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Findings%20PDF/2013/May/4888-Image-of-Professions-2013-April-2013.pdf

13. +
Roy Morgan 2013 poll of professional
PUBLIC IMAGE
IN 2013, university lecturers rated
68%
Nurses top the list at 90%
Source: http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Findings%20PDF/2013/May/4888-Image-of-Professions-2013-April-2013.pdf

14. +
News circulates ‘new’ information about the world
through a process of mediation, filtering,
interpretation and re-presentation
Journalists have the job of accurately and fairly
processing this information for public consumption.

15. +
Journalism as a cultural practice

forms culture (our ways of living/behaving/ understanding the
world)

is made up of ritualised ways of doing things (techniques of
reporting, styles of writing)

is influenced by relationships of power

whose practices are impacted by technological change

16. +
The Fourth Estate

The ‘estates of the realm’: Historical roots in French Revolution included clergy, nobility, and commoners.

Today, the media claims title of the Fourth Estate and plays an
integral part of representative democracy alongside

the parliament,

the executive (ministry)

the judiciary.

Journalists monitor actions of other ‘estates’ on behalf of the
public, and communicate between people and parliament.

But is the relationship between press and parliament too close to
ensure journalists maintain their independence?

A Fifth Estate? Emerging theory that ‘networked individuals’ via
internet (social media, bloggers, whistleblowers and Wikileaks)
constitute a Fifth Estate (See Dutton or Cooper, S.)

17. +
Journalists safety
DATA FOR 2013
Reporters Without Borders
(rsf.org) found:




PETER GRESTE TRIAL IN
EGYPT
75 journalists killed
4 media assistants killed
38 netizens and citizen
journalists killed
Iraq (10), Syria (10)
India (8) and Somalia
(7) among most
dangerous countries.
en.rsf.org/annualoverview-21-12-2011,41582.html

18. +
Journalism on the Open Web
News, not a product
News is a process

The Guardian ad promoting
its Open Journalism
processes:

http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=WW_dBQPAeDY
News is not one-way
News is a conversation
between journalists &
readers

19. +
News production as a
conversation





Social Media: about half of all Twitter
and Facebook users get at least some
of their news from those sites
Twitter as a source of breaking news
content
Crowdsourcing story ideas Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Be transparent in showing your
research or source materials where
possible
Follow me on Twitter: jeantistclair1

20. +
Your mission
 On
to:
completing this subject, you should be able




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Discuss the roles that news journalism can play in contemporary
societies
Define news and distinguish its characteristics from feature and
opinion writing
Explain how news is produced and published for different
readerships.
Apply journalistic techniques and conventions to the accurate
research and writing of news stories.
Critically discuss representational, legal and ethical issues in
contemporary journalism.
 COM00481 Unit Information Guide, page 8

21. +
Assessments

Online quizzes – test your current affairs knowledge as well as
theoretical and practical skills. Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12

News article production – build your skills in write in news style
and form. Includes reflection and development of your network
of sources. Weeks 5 and 8.

News story revision – develops your editing skills. You must
improve on your two news stories, and explain why you have
made those edits.

See UIG – and more detail in tutorial in week 1 (Externals
attend scheduled collaborate session).

22. +
To do this well….

Read newspapers, online news, your readings, your UIG and the
study guide

Do the writing and reporting exercises

Participate in class and online

Follow the assignment guidelines

Hand in your assignments on time

23. +
Tutorial is next ….
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In Room 193 (computer lab directly downstairs)

From 10am-12pm