57138 International and Comparative Journalism
UTS: Communication: Journalism Information and Media LearningCredit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks
Handbook description
This subject is concerned with the ways in which the philosophical basis, role and activities of journalism have developed in relation to social context. It takes a comparative approach to historical and contemporary forms of journalism in western liberal democracies, post-colonial multi-party states and single-party states, and relates professional and community practice in journalism to developments in the political, economic and coercive fields. Among other themes it will consider internationalisation of news flows, development journalism, policy initiatives such as NWICO (the New World Information and Communication Order), free speech and censorship, and public/private sector media. It emphasises the specificity of historical and geographic factors within larger structural developments, and takes a comparative and critical approach to the use and evaluation of social theory.
Subject objectives/outcomes
At the completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- compare and evaluate the contribution of different approaches to journalism
- demonstrate an understanding of theoretical debates in the conceptualisation and evaluation of journalism
- critically analyse the way professional principles such as 'public right to know', 'freedom of expression' and 'access to information' relate to historically and geographically specific social contexts
- relate the scholarly issues and debates to the professional perspectives of practitioners in these fields.
Contribution to graduate profile
This subject contributes to the development of graduates who have:
- a knowledge and critical understanding of journalism in its social context
- a knowledge of the historical and geographical factors in the development of different approaches to journalism
- a critical understanding of issues of nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, disability and class and the way these are linked to issues in the practice of journalism
- an understanding of the role of the media in local, regional, national and global contexts
- an understanding of the relationship between media theory and practice
- an understanding of and commitment to ethical journalism professional practice.
Teaching and learning strategies
The focus of teaching and learning will be students' engagement with complex ideas, extending their ability to critique ideas and to formulate their own viewpoints, positions and constructs, and then apply these ideas and formulations to their own research and scholarship. Learning activities will centre on lectures, workshops, readings, discussion (face-to-face and online), and independent and group study. There is an emphasis on mutual engagement by students in each other's learning in this subject, in both face-to-face and online environments.
Content
- Historical and geographical perspectives on debates about the origins and roles of journalism, and their underpinning values, assumptions, traditions, epistemologies, theoretical and professional contexts, arenas of convergence and contest (Objectives a, b, c)
- Comparative analysis of the impact of technological developments and media globalisation in different national and social contexts (Objectives b, c, d)
- The debates in social theory about the relationships between political, economic, legal/coercive and cultural factors in the production of media representations of social events and processes, particularly with respect to debates about technology, globalisation, socio-economic development and national culture (Objectives a, b, c, d)
- Contemporary research and scholarship in Australian and international journalism studies (Objectives a, b, c, d).
Assessment
Assessment item 1: Participation in online discussion group (individual task)
| Objective(s): | a, b, c, d |
| Weighting: | 30% (including 10% peer assessment) |
| Task: | Cumulative contribution of at least 2,000 words per student, in at least four distinct postings. |
| Assessment criteria: | Students' work will be assessed for the quality of its:
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Assessment item 2: Research and presentation of issues in current journalism practice (individual or group)
| Objective(s): | a, b, c, d |
| Weighting: | 30% (including 10% peer assessment) |
| Task: | Tutorial presentation and written tutorial paper of 1,000 words per student. |
| Assessment criteria: | Students will be assessed in terms of:
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Assessment item 3: 2,500-3,000 word research essay (individual)
| Objective(s): | a, b, c, d |
| Weighting: | 40% |
| Task: | Students are expected to demonstrate their capacity to synthesise the material studied during the semester and to apply it as appropriate to a research project by formulating a research question, carrying out research that can address the question adequately and presenting the research and analysis in written form using the conventions of academic presentation. |
| Assessment criteria: | Students will be assessed in terms of:
|
Minimum requirements
Students are expected to attend and participate in classes and online activities. Work during the semester will be based on the lectures, readings and resources set out in the subject outline. Students are expected to be familiar with the readings and lecture material, and to contribute actively in class by sharing their understandings of the ideas under discussion and by raising questions about the issues covered. Students who have a reason for extended absence from class (e.g. illness) may be required to complete a supplementary assignment to ensure they achieve the subject objectives. Penalties may apply for late submission of work. All assessment tasks, including peer assessment of other students' work in Tasks 1 and 2, must be completed and submitted as required and a satisfactory level overall must be achieved to pass the subject. Tutors will provide written comments on each written assignment to assist students.
Indicative references
Anderson, B. 1998: The spectre of comparison: nationalism, southeast Asia and the world, London, Verso
Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW, 2003: Race for the Headlines: racism and media discourse, ADB, Sydney NSW
Bacon, W., and Nash, C. 2003: How Australian media covers humanitarian issues, Australian Journalism Review, 25(2).
Bacon, W., and Nash, C. 2003: Stories in distress: Three case studies in Australian media coverage of humanitarian crises, Australian Journalism Review, 26(1).
Beder, S. 2000: Global Spin: the Corporate Assault on Environmentalism, Scribe, Melbourne
Benson, R. and Neveu, E. 2004: Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field, Polity
Carey, J. 1989: Communication as Culture, New York and London: Routledge,
Castells, M., 1996, 1997, 1998: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volumes 1,2 and 3, Blackwell
Cunningham, S. and Sinclair, J (eds) 2000: Floating Lives: the Media and Asian Diasporas, University of Queensland Press
Curran, J. and Park, Myung-Jin (eds.), 2000: De-Westernising Media Studies, Routledge London
Dahlgren, P. and Sparks, C. (eds) 1991: Communication and citizenship : journalism and the public sphere in the new media age, Routledge, London
Donald, S. et al. (eds), 2002: Media in China: Consumption Content and Crisis, Routledge Curzon London
Galtung, J. and Vincent, R.C. (1992) Toward a New World Information and Communication Order?, Hampton Press, Cresskill, New Jersey.
Gillespie, M., 1995: Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change, Routledge, London
Habermas, J. 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Polity Press, Cambridge
Harvey, D., 1996: Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference, Blackwell
Innis, H, 1951/91: The Bias of Communication, Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Keane, J. 1991, The Media and Democracy, Polity, London
Lull, J. 1995: Media, Communication Culture - A Global Approach Polity Press, Cambridge
Manning, P. 2003: Dog Whistle Politics: reporting Arabic and Muslim people in Sydney newspapers, Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, University of Technology, Sydney
Servaes, J. 2000 'Reflections on the Differences in Asian and European Values and Communication Modes', Asian Journal of Communication 10(2): 31–52
Servaes J. 2002, Communication for Development. One World, Multiple Cultures, Hampton Press, Cresskil
Sparks, C and Reading, A. 1998: Communism, capitalism and the mass media
Sage, London
Wanning Sun, 2002: Leaving China: Media Migration and Transnational Imagination, Rowman and Littlefield, Boulder, CO,
Wong, K. (2001) Media and Culture in Singapore: A Theory of Controlled Commodification. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press
Yao, S. (1994) 'The Predicament of Modernity: Mass Media and the Making of the West in Southeast Asia', Asian Journal of Communication 4(1): 33–51.
