ALJ111 - Introduction to Journalism
Unit details
| Year | 2025 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, Community Based Delivery (CBD)* Trimester 3: Burwood (Melbourne), Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 1: Alison McAdam Trimester 3: Kristy Hess |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | ALJM111 |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment: | Trimester 1: Burwood: 1 x 2-hour on-campus seminar per week Geelong: 1 x 2-hour on-campus seminar per week Trimester 3: 1 x 5-hour on-campus seminar in week 1 1 x 4-hour on-campus seminar in weeks 2, 5, 6 1 x 5-hour on-campus seminar in week 10 |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | Approximately 2-hours of online learning tasks and discussions per week |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Note:*Community Based Delivery (CBD): only for students of the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation NIKERI Institute (located at the Waurn Ponds campus) | |
Content
Discover what it’s like to be a journalist and produce multimedia news stories. In this unit you will learn about news values, researching, interviewing, editing and photojournalism. You will produce your own news stories that cover issues that interest you. The stories you produce in this unit will be a written news story for print or online, and your own audio news story for radio or podcast. You will meet deadlines and learn about the social, professional and legal contexts journalists work within.
Learning Outcomes
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Identify, develop and research engaging news stories | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO2 | Arrange and carry out successful news interviews | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO3 | Sort and sift the material gathered to identify the key news points | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO4 | Write a news story in direct, effective, engaging style with strict attention to factual accuracy as well as accuracy in punctuation, spelling and grammar | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication |
| ULO5 | Develop an awareness of the legal and ethical framework that journalists operate within in Australia | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Research file | 800 words or equivalent | 20% | Week 4 |
| Assessment 2: News story | 1600 words or equivalent | 40% | Week 8 |
| Assessment 3: News story | 1600 words or equivalent | 40% | Week 11 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning resource
The texts and reading list for ALJ111 can be found via the University Library.
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.