1. Journalism Pathway Subject(s): VCE English, English Language
Possible Partner Subject(s): Literature, Creative Writing

2. Course Outline Assessment
This course will help students to develop an understanding of the evolution of the media and the continuing evolution of the 21st century media landscape. Students will look at the purpose and role of the free media in Australia, the role of journalism in the world today and opportunities in this field of work and study. Students’ communication skills will also be a focus of this course, namely to identify and manipulate the appropriate language features in a variety of media forms and improve their capacity to write clearly. Finally, the course will provide opportunities for students to write for a broad audience and use feedback to develop their communication.
Assessment
The course is divided into :
Class notes and exercises (20% of overall grade). An orderly collection of class notes and activities which show the development of the extended assessment pieces.
Research Tasks: (30% overall grade) 1.Understanding the Australian Media Landscape; 2. The Changing Face of Journalism; 3. A History of the Fourth Estate
Journalistic Portfolio: (50% of overall grade) A collection of at least four drafted and edited pieces.

3. Topics Covered
History of Journalism and the development of the media. This area of study explores the historic developments of the fourth estate, looks at the influence and interaction of both technology and growing literacy in the development of the media in the Western world. From Caxton’s printing press in the 15th century to the decreasing readership of newspapers today and the growth of social media, students will look at how the nature and role of the media and therefore of journalists have evolved. This area of the course will also look at the changing nature of journalism in the 21st century and beyond.

4. Topics continued… The art of a journalist
This area of study involves students in the production of their own stories whether they are written, with photographs and or both and on a variety of platforms. Students will look at the process of researching and the language features of journalistic pieces, including the role of headlines, sentence and paragraph length, the creation of a “hook” and how to use visual representations (graphs, tables, pictures, flow charts) to help clarify information for the audience. This area of study also involves group work where students will have to work together to build a story. Students will have to produce at least 4 pieces which are the result of development and drafting.