King Content and the Journalism Curriculum

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King Content and the Journalism Curriculum
Guy Berger, 14 December 2005
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Or an elected female president?
Nevertheless..
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Content means to an end
What end?
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Agenda-setting

• Philosophy, definitions
• Context
• Education, industry, conditions
• Curriculum or curriculae?
• The order of things
• Core vs peripheries
• Other knowledges
• Conclusion n questions

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1. Philosophy definitions
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1.1 Nature of the beast?

• Education or training?
• Outcomes-based?
• But, beware simple cause-effect
• What is journalism?
• no one size fits all
• extent to which we have a reified conception is
  indicative of how particular forms have become
  hegemonic
• Possibility of the universal?

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2. Context
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2.1 Changing higher education

• Branded, commodities, sales, customers.
• Numbers and niches
• Have to cover all bases tensions
• Bigger issue is NOT industry-academy relations
  but contribution to society.
• i.e. media not endpoint, but a means
• Practical connection USA 71
• But with what effect.?

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2.2 Historic dichotomy

• Industry point of reference
• Tension admin vs critical journ ed.

Industry
Academy

• Prod/professional skills
• Vocational
• External orientation
• Administrative

• Theory, concepts
• Academic
• Internal orientation
• Critical

Vs Vs Vs Vs
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2.3 Confounding the norm

• Prod/professional skills
• Vocational
• External orientation
• Administrative

Vs Vs Vs Vs

• Theory, concepts
• Academic
• Internal orientation
• Critical

• Theory embedded in Prod/Professional
• Prod skills ? vocation per se (eg. mm, WED)
• Academic ? internal orientation (topical)
• Critical can be in all these

BUT
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2.4 Brave new world

• Orientation to a changing industry
• Do we lag, or pioneer?
• Do we combat or cuddle?
• Do we serve, or transform?
• More media and journalists
• Is investigative journ only thing left?
• Globalisation national mould
• New technologies
• Peace, Aids, Union, Languages etc.

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3. Curriculum or curriculae?
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3.1 Horses, courses, configs

• Different answers depending on
• Diplomas (varying lengths)
• Degrees
• Post-grad programmes
• Certificate courses

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4. The order of things
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4.1 Life is short eat dessert first?

• Cobden, Fourie research, analysis, general
  knowledge before technique
• G Stuart Adam techniques, then depth techniques,
  then specialist knowledge for critique
• Rhodes Integrate where possible, though
  acknowledge some stand-alone theory components,
  some more production-oriented parts, some
  additive.

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5. Cores vs peripheries
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5.1 Theory onions, not apples

• Cultural studies
• Identity, Discourse, Representation
• Media studies
• Pol ecos, Law, Policy, Democracy (in various
  guises), History, Tech
• Journalism studies
• News, sources, ethics, genre, story telling,
  negotiation

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5.2 Elementary and specialist

• Main flavour vs smorgasboard.
• Time, time, time and more time
• Writing what is it? Thinking? Reporting?
• Generic versus medium-specific?
• Bridge to academic courses?
• Research what is it?
• Bridge to academic courses?

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5.3 Unesco African (UG degree)

• Year 1 Core
• Mass com intro
• Mass media history
• African comms
• Use of language
• Writing for mass media
• Computer literacy

• Mass media/com and society
• National comms systems
• Comms for devt
• Reading notes
• Current events
• Second language

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5.4 Unesco African (UG degree)

• Year 1 Elective
• Economics
• Afn history
• Philosophy of science
• Intro to Pol Sci
• Intro to Psych

• Intro to Philosophy
• Intro to Sociology
• Literary theories
• Art history
• Religious history

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5.5 Unesco African (UG degree)

• Year 2 Core
• Intro to print journ
• Intro to broadcast
• Intro to PR
• Intro to Ads
• Intro to book publish
• Intro to Photojrn
• Intro media manage
• News reporting

• Com theories
• Intro to comms research
• Intro to new ICTs
• Intro to film lit
• Media gender
• Intro to docu-mentation
• Use of language

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5.6 Unesco African (UG degree)

• Photo reporting
• Intro to library sci
• Good Governance
• Hist of film
• Script writing
• Books/Ads/Features
• Rhetoric
• Specialised reporting
• Animation

• Year 2 Elective
• Stats
• Layout
• Announcing
• Radio news
• Bdcast studios
• Intro to marketing
• Writing for PR
• History of Photography
• Fundamentals photo

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5.7 Unesco African (UG degree)

• Year 3 Core
• Devt comms
• Advance research
• Policies and law
• Consultancy
• Internat comms
• Ethics
• Advanced reporting

• Electives
• Mass comm lit
• Cross cultural comms
• Organisational comms
• Social marketing
• News agency reporting
• Media Human Rights

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5.8 Interrogating it

• Model of uniform curriculum
• Rationale unclear
• No rubric
• Eg. RU themes
• 1st year consumption
• 2nd year production
• 3rd year contexts

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6. Other knowledges
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6.1 Orientations

• Specifics
• Numeracy? Computers? What level?
• History, geography?
• Generic
• General knowledge, but..
• not learn more facts, but identify gaps and know
  how to reasearch them. Give a journo a fact and
  feed her for one story. Teach her how to
  discover, and she has a career

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6.2 Other

• Logic?
• Critical thinking?
• Entrepreneurialism?
• Negotiation and leadership?

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6.4 Cross-field outcomes

• identify and solve problems
• work in a team
• organise and manage themselves
• collect, analyse and evaluate information
• communicate effectively
• use science and technology
• recognise problem solving contexts
• reflect on effective learning strategies
• participate as a responsible citizen
• be culturally and aesthetically sensitive.

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7. Conclusion the questions
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Summing up

• Education? Journalism? Universal?
• Context
• Changing higher education, any impact?
• Industry vs academy a false dichotomy?
• Situation specific
• Rave new world, local issues nb?
• Note different qualifix and programmes?
• A right sequence? Integration?
• Theoretical knowledges (cs, ms, js)?
• General, foundational, cross field?

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Thank you
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