The breaking story creating a dynamic learning environment for journalism students.

Transcription

1 Case Study for Journalism Education Barry Lowe, Thames Valley University The breaking story creating a dynamic learning environment for journalism students. Summary One of the problems of teaching journalism in the classroom is replicating the environment of news production, which requires journalists to process information from a range of sources under the discipline of strict deadlines. This case study describes the use of a model that aims to teach journalism students to respond to these pressures by creating a dynamic learning environment that simulates the task performed by journalists engaged in reporting on a breaking story. Students were presented with a range of documents and materials (videotape footage, messages, telephone messages and photographs) that all relate to a newsworthy incident (a political assassination). This information was introduced into the learning environment at pre-determined intervals. The task of the students was to write a news story about the incident; a news story that kept up to date with the arrival of new information and was completed according to a strict time limit. Level This case study was used with first year undergraduate journalism students. However it can be adapted for higher levels, including postgraduate, by making the task more difficult and using a larger quantity of raw data. Resource requirements The exercise requires the following resources: 1. a laboratory with a computer work station for each student 2. computers with internet access and with Word software 3. a video player and monitor 4. an audio cassette player Prerequisite skills Students participating in the exercise should be familiar with using a word processor, the internet as a research tool and using (each student should have an account). Time requirement A minimum of two hours class time is required for this exercise. This case study was undertaken during a regular weekly two-hour workshop session for a group of 2 nd year journalism undergraduate students. 1

2 Preparation The exercise was based on a package of materials that served as raw information sources, which the students were required to process as part of their task to produce a news story within a fixed period of time. The package of materials was designed to replicate the stimuli of a reporting experiences, i.e. it contained representations of the objects and actions that news reporters see and hear when they are assigned to report on an event. This package consisted of three types of materials: 1. information as written text 2. information as oral testimony 3. information as visual data The written texts comprised of short episodic descriptions of an unfolding event. The oral testimony consisted of audio recordings of witnesses to the event giving accounts of what they saw. The visual data consisted of short video recordings of scenes relating to the event. The preparation for this exercise involves: 1. writing the text materials 2. writing the scripts for the oral testimonies and recording them on audio cassette (using others to read the scripts and thus act as the witnesses) 3. videotaping the scenes The scenario The exercise requires the students to complete a news story about the event portrayed by the materials. This event can be anything that conforms to the notion of newsworthiness. The scenario used for this case study was an assassination attempt on Prince William at St Andrews University. The information given to the students to be processed into a news story related to aspects of their hypothetical event. The information was delivered to the students by the following methods: the text information is delivered to their accounts as attachments to messages (the tutor sends these messages to a pre-prepared address list of all the students in the class) the audio information was delivered by playing the audio texts to the class from a cassette player the visual information was delivered by playing the video tape to the students These delivery methods approximate the way journalists access the information they use to construct news stories, i.e.: breaking news delivered by news agencies - formerly called wire services - such as Press Association, Reuters and United Press International (text messages from these agencies are delivered to journalists as computer files conveyed by internet links) eye-witness accounts from the scene of the event delivered as first-hand oral testimony visual evidence seen by reporters at the site of the event Running the exercise Stage one pre-task instructions (5 minutes) The students were told that the session will be dedicated to an exercise in reporting a running story. Their task was to write a 400-word news story about a breaking news 2

3 event. They were told that they would receive messages containing information about the event in the form of messages, audio broadcasts and video broadcasts. They were told they must start writing their stories on the basis of the first information that they received, and keep updating their stories according to subsequent messages. They must complete their stories and submit them by to the tutor 10 minutes before the end of the session. Stage two running the exercises (160 minutes) At irregular intervals throughout the sessions the students received four messages containing breaking news texts; were asked to listen to two audio recordings of oral testimony and a shown a video sequence of a scene from the hypothetical news event. The messages were delivered in this order: 6 th minute: 1 st ed message 15 th minute: 2 nd ed text message 40 th minute: 3 rd ed text message 55 th minute: 1 st audio message 75 th minute: video sequence 90 th minute: 4 th ed message 100 th minute: 2 nd audio message Stage three evaluation and feedback The students submitted their completed stories 10 minutes before the end of the class. The tutor then led a short discussion on how the students responded to the task. The tutor assessed the scripts and gave feedback at the next class. Learning objectives The learning objectives of this exercises were: understanding the diverse nature of source information for news stories developing skills in writing a news story from a range of primary sources developing news writing skills in the context of a pressurised time-constrained environment developing skills in editing and updating news stories developing listening skills appropriate for news reporting tasks developing visual observation skills appropriate for reporting tasks developing skills n time management and task planning Outcomes The students involved in this exercise reacted positively to the task, saying they found it challenging and stimulating. They said the exercise required them to apply the skills they had been learning. Some found it stressful, as they were unused to doing such a complex task under the discipline of a strict deadline. However many said they would like to do a similar exercises in the future. A positive effect was noted in subsequent classes with the same group. Students in the group tended to perform timed tasks better and met deadlines more easily. 3

4 Variations There are almost endless variations that cane be applied to this exercise. Among them: the exercise can be extended to include a field trip where students get to observe some of the visual data at first hand a more complex set of data can be used for more advanced students or for longer class times other types of data can be introduced, such as photographs and objects live actors can be used as eye witnesses to provide oral testimonies students can also be instructed to use the Internet to search for background information to incorporate into their stories Because of its reliance on the exercises can be conducted remotely, with the tutor feeding the text information from another location. A website could also be used to post the data. 4

5 Appendix Samples texts of messages 1. There have been reports of a shooting incident at St Andrews University, where Prince William is a student. A large number of police have rushed to the scene. Witnesses say the shots were heard just inside the main quadrangle. There has been no official word yet from police about the incident. Two ambulances have arrived at the scene. The shots were heard just before 10 o clock this morning, a time when the quadrangle is packed with students going to their classes. Prince Williams went up to St Andrews last year to study Art History. 2. There are unconfirmed reports that Prince William has been shot and wounded in an assassination attempt at St Andrews University. Gunshots were heard earlier today inside the Scottish university s main quadrangle. The area has been cordoned off by a large contingent of police and no official statement on the incident has been released so far. But friends of Prince William have told reporters at the scene that the prince was standing in a crowd of students when the gunman opened fire and that he was seen to fall to the ground. One student said he saw Prince Williams lying on the ground with blood on his chest, being tended to by one of his body guards. A fleet of ambulances has arrived at the campus. At least two of the ambulances were later seen rushing away. Students had reported hearing a burst of gunfire, suggesting an automatic weapon was involved. Some students who are classmates of Prince William say he was walking through the quadrangle to class, accompanied by his usual security escort, at the time of the shooting. A source at an unidentified hospital in the St Andrews area said: We have a very high profile patient, very high profile. Two army helicopters have arrived at the campus. Police have begun blocking access roads to St Andrews and are preventing anyone from entering or leaving the town. St. Andrews, the oldest university in Scotland, was founded in It has three colleges: St. Salvator s (where PrinceWilliam is based), St. Leonard s and St. Mary s. In his first year as an art history student Prince Williams has been studying Italian renaissance art, and European art and architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. St. Andrews has a population of only 16,000, of whom 6,000 are affiliated with the university as either staff or students. The current undergraduate population is around 4,500. 5