DESCRIPTION

Community Reporting is a branch of journalism that focuses on covering happenings, events and activities within a community that maybe defined by area, ethnicity, language or even as an institution or organisation. Therefore, it is relevant for trainee journalists to learn their craft by identifying potential stories, covering and reporting them within a community setting which is an appropriate grounding for work they would do for provincial, national and regional media organisations. This unit enables students to work around a functional newsroom setting  and building upon the general reporting skills learned in CA120 Basic Reporting. Students are encouraged to  use their own initiative to generate news stories through planning, gathering information and writing copy for the DWU news website and the department's training newssheet, Liklik Diwai. The stories on the DWU website will be available for the PNG national media to use and gives the opportunity for students to have their work published thus gaining valuable work experience. Students in this unit are taught how to find, develop and write stories that are suitable for publication. They are expected to appreciate their role as reporters in a developing country with specific challenges. Students will demonstrate an understanding of issues that have an impact on the PNG society and diverse communities and regions and write competently about them.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successfully completing this unit, the students will be able to:

1. initiate appropriate news stories

2. gather appropriate information for a range of news stories

3. show the importance of personal initiative in gathering news

4. write copy suitable for publication

5. demonstrate the importance of awareness of issues and events to be reported on

6. prioritise the role of a reporter in a developing country