JN04, Social Media Newsgathering

This course discusses the significance and challenges of using multiple media platforms. The instructor and practicing media professionals will provide the learner with expert analysis of audience media habits and tips on how to customise news content on different media platforms. This course is designed to help the learner engage with the evolving media landscape and show them how news organisations are responding to the changes in the habits of news audiences.

What is the difference between a journalist and a communicator? This course will introduce the learner to the what it means to be a journalist and the use of tools such as a mission statement as a personal or organisational guiding reference and as a tool to safeguard reputation. The course is divided into four sections, Section 1 provides an overview of the course and introduces the course trainer and media experts. Section 2 asks you to examine and define what you consider as journalism. Section 3 runs you through the use of mission statements to achieve transparency and to gain the readers trust. Section 4 introduces you to a reputation management tool developed by international academics Charles Fombrun and Cees Van Riel.

This course is designed to help practicing journalists to explore their audience - that is, identify who is reading or watching their content, and consider whether their approach is the right one for them. By understanding how to create content which will interest and engage the audience, they will be able to make an informed judgement on prioritising which stories to cover, and how to present them.

The aim of this course is to help journalists and editors clearly identify and understand the reasons for using Social Media and to help them and their organisation prepare and plan their approach and use of social media including choice of platform, identifying target audience, and appropriate content, language, and style. The course is divided into two sections, Section 1 provides an overview of the course and introduces the course trainer and media experts. Section 2 details the five steps of formulating a Social Media strategy. Participants will be asked to work on a strategy document throughout the course.

This course is designed to provide learners with a framework by which to understand the ethics of journalism and its practice and a means to navigate the issues and make considered ethical decisions when dilemmas arise. This course will look at, How to apply ethical principles to your journalism whether you are working in social media, in print or on TV/radio, How to maintain your independence and impartiality in the face of powerful interests trying to influence your work, How to maintain your humanity and the humanity of the people you are reporting about even when other journalists fail to, How to ignore fake news and discover the facts while maintaining your principles of honesty, objectivity and accountability.

This course is designed to introduce participants to some key principles in photography ethics. It is a primer course that is applicable to photojournalists as well as anyone who regularly takes or shares photographs. This course is divided into six sections, Section 1 provides an overview of the course and introduces the course trainer and media experts. Section 2 discusses photography ethics and introduces three key ethical principles in photography, Empathy, Autonomy, and Integrity. Section 3 explores how empathy can be applied in photography. Section 4 explores the principle of autonomy in photography, and discusses how you can handle consent in different situations. Section 5 explores the importance of acting with integrity toward the audience. Section 6 summarises the key points covered in the course and lists some takeaway questions to consider in your photography practice. Each section will have at least one online or offline activity to apply the concepts that we discuss in the course. In these activities participants will be graded on their engagement with the activities rather than the "correctness" of your answers.

This course covers various topics around quantitative and qualitative research. It will guide you through some important issues about representative samples and give you useful tips for creating surveys. We will discuss different formats you can use for questionnaires and the importance of formulating your questions. The aim of this course it to give you practical skills to conduct your own audience research but also to equip you with background knowledge when dealing with marketing agencies.

This course is designed to get you started in using your phone to produce more professional quality cross-platform content with your smartphone.