An investigation into blogging as an opportunity for work-integrated learning for journalism students.

Blogging has become a well-established method of online communication and publication, used by individuals and organisations to disseminate news, ideas and information. In their earlier forms, blogs were used as online diaries, but have now evolved into complex digital environments. This paper argues that these online environments with their associated communities, offer journalism students opportunities for work-integrated learning. It argues that blog environments have the potential to enable students in develop journalism-specific skills, and enhance transferable graduate attributes including creativity, sophisticated communication competencies, initiative and problem solving. It suggests that blogging offers a platform for accessing experiential learning, and as such should be considered within a curriculum for work-integrated learning in the journalism and media subject are

Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2004/5 : An Investigation into the feasibility of developing a Virtual Newsroom - An e-learning tool for journalism

The aim of my fellowship was to put the idea of developing a Virtual Newsroom – an online means of teaching journalism -- to the test. I began work on this idea some six years ago after many years of using computers in the teaching of journalism. At that time, I developed, together with the IT Research and Development Unit (ITRDU), at the London Institute (now University of the Arts London), an e-learning prototype based on the ‘breaking story’ exercise – a fundamental exercise for journalism teaching. In tests on students the early prototype proved to be an effective method for learning journalism skills. The students found the prototype programme a worthwhile and stimulating experience. Teachers of journalism saw it as an innovative way of teaching journalism, but were hampered by the fact that there was no way, with the programme as then developed, they could get behind the scenes to change any of the content, or other elements of the exercise. It was essential then, that in any future development, the programme would have to have enough flexibility to enable journalism teaching staff to easily manipulate the content. It also became clear that, six years on, it was necessary to determine if any new developments in online learning for journalists had superseded my original idea

Online Feature Journalism: a Clash of Discourses

Although online journalism still is dominated by breaking news coverage, new genres are emerging that differentiate it more and more from old media journalism. This article explores the emergence of feature journalism in online newspapers. Through comparative qualitative text analysis of feature journalism in the US online newspaper palmbeachpost.com and the Norwegian online newspaper dagbladet.no, two widely different approaches to the production of feature journalism on the web are uncovered and a critical perspective on the remediation of journalistic genres in online newspapers is elaborated. The analysis shows that both these approaches display a clash between discourses of traditional feature journalism and discourses of online communication. It further reveals that genre development in online journalism is a complex process marked by contradictions and inconsistencies and that online newsrooms are struggling to find solutions on how to differentiate online journalism from old media journalis

The re-birth of the "beat": A hyperlocal online newsgathering model

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journalism Practice, 6(5-6), 754 - 765, 2012, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17512786.2012.667279.Scholars have long lamented the death of the 'beat' in news journalism. Today's journalists generate more copy than they used to, a deluge of PR releases often keeping them in the office, and away from their communities. Consolidation in industry has dislodged some journalists from their local sources. Yet hyperlocal online activity is thriving if journalists have the time and inclination to engage with it. This paper proposes an exploratory, normative schema intended to help local journalists systematically map and monitor their own hyperlocal online communities and contacts, with the aim of re-establishing local news beats online as networks. This model is, in part, technologically-independent. It encompasses proactive and reactive news-gathering and forward planning approaches. A schema is proposed, developed upon suggested news-gathering frameworks from the literature. These experiences were distilled into an iterative, replicable schema for local journalism. This model was then used to map out two real-world 'beats' for local news-gathering. Journalists working within these local beats were invited to trial the models created. It is hoped that this research will empower journalists by improving their information auditing, and could help re-define journalists' relationship with their online audiences

Kamasutra1 Journalism; Degradation of News Quality in Online Media in Indonesia

Online media in Indonesia is called secondary journalism as it gives priority on speed and tends to ignore other journalism principles such as accuracy and completeness. ‘Kamasutra journalism’ is another label for this platform since it provides space for discussing sexuality vulgarly, particularly during the boom of the ‘Ariel and Luna Maya2 porn video case’. This study applies the theory of determination technology (Marshall Mc Luhan; 1962) to explain how technology has influenced the newsroom. Exploration on media routines (Pamela J. Shoemaker; 1991) is done to get in-depth description of how the production of online news is occurred and how the quality of reporting is affected by the use of the internet. The results of this study indicate that internet technology has contributed to the degradation of news quality. It happens when the media industry forces the editor to defeat old platforms by maximizing internet superiority such us quickness, interactivity, etc

Influence of Online Journalism on News Reach in Kenya

Online journalism is a type of journalism practised through digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, websites and blogs. It has transformed traditional journalism by enabling media practitioners to propagate news in real time to their audiences. However, online journalism and news access has not received enough research. This study sought to investigate the extent to which digital journalism platforms influence news access in Kenyan universities. The study employed descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 63,817. Random sampling was used to sample 381 respondents from the sampled four universities. Data was collected using a questionnaire. The data gathered was analyzed using descriptive statistics using statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17.0. Frequencies and percentages were used for analysis. The study established that digital journalism platforms are to a larger extent is accessible to internet users for news purposes. The study recommends that media practitioners should conceptualize their audiences and adopt digital journalism platforms that are accessible and interest them. Media houses and the government to develop internet infrastructure, formulate ethical framework and policies to guide online journalism practice in Kenya. The study also recommended the review in online journalism curriculum in learning institutions to make it more current in line with online journalism digital developments. Key words: Digital Journalism, Influence, Hyperlink, Online Audienc