Course Communication
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Reham Al Farra
Police contacts 2005
Related links
Core Skills site
Media2
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News Instructions
Critical Analysis
Timeline: eight weeks - two weeks dedicated.
Submission:
Two weeks from the submission of the project
2. The content
The analysis will review the journalism of your site in 3,500 words. It may focus on aspects of the journalism such as representation of sources or groups, and/or discussion of usability.
It should refer to academic sources where appropriate. Discussion could include editing decisions, presentation, development of angles, ethics, and debate balance and impartiality.
It is recommended that where possible, opinion and independent insight into your work is obtained, perhaps via a questionnaire to respondents, or by a focus group, but this would have to be conceived and executed at least in part before project hand-in.
Discussion of the journalism could (but may not) begin with brief analysis of sites with similar content or outlook, identifying the distinctiveness of your own.
You might want to identify web-style journalistic dilemmas such as:
How to include background
Problems in narrative
How to organise material
User guidance Or you may wish to look at standard critiques of journalism in relation to your website:
Impartiality requirements
Loaded language
Public Service ideals and market ideals
Sources and ideology
Innovations and medium choices, design, and imagination in combining media, are legitimate areas for attention.
In that case you would discuss the claimed effect of what you have done, compared to the possible merits of some alternatives.
Reference to other sites would be desirable including reference to any research and opinion online or in academic writing that disucusses similar decisions (e.g. BBC editors' blog).
Format:
Define your goals, refer to literature, organise your analysis, draw conclusions Relate conclusions to literature and context.
Marking criteria:
Ability to identify issues
Context and complexity
Appreciation of the evolving conventions of new media journalism
INDICATIVE LEARNING RESOURCES
Use Reading lists from relevant topics from Frontiers in Journalism
Use online resources of criticism such as:
The Poynter Institute, The Columbia Journalism Review, and British journals such as: Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Convergence
Allan S. (2006) Online news: journalism and the internet
McQuail, D. (1997) Audience Analysis Sage
Franklin, R. (2005) Key concepts in journalism studies
Boyd, A. (200) Broadcast Journalism: techniques of radio and televisin news
Donsbach, W. (2008) International Encyclopaedia of Communication
Frost, C. (2007) Journalism ethics and regulation
Hall, J. (2001) Online Journalism: a critical primer
Nielsen, J. (2000) Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, New Riders Publishing
Sundar, S (2000) Multimedia Effects on Processing and Perception on Online News: A study of Picture, Audio and Video Downloads, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 77 (3, autumn), p.p. 480-499
Grusin, R and Bolter, J (1999) Remediation: Understanding New Media, Massachussets MIT Press
Ward, M. (2002) Journalism Online, Focal Press
MacGregor, P. (2003) Mind The Gap: Problems of Multi-Media Journalism, Convergence, Autumn edition
Starkey, G. 2007 Balance and bias in journalism, Palgrave
Fowler R. (1991) Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press, Routledge