Conference presentation at IAMCR Dublin 2013 on our Office of Learning and Teaching funded project on curriculum renewal in journalism education

1. 1
Graduate qualities and journalism
curriculum renewal: balancing tertiary
expectations and industry needs in a
changing environment
1
Marcus O’Donnell, Stephen Tanner, Trevor Cullen, Kerry
Green IAMCR Dublin 2013

2. 2
Two Drivers of
Curriculum
Renewal
• changes in the
journalism sector
wrought by innovations
in the digital, networked,
creation and delivery of
information; and
• moves within higher
education to a
standards approach to
curriculum, which seeks
to guarantee teaching
and learning quality and
broad graduate
employability.

3. 33
disciplinary
skills
generic graduate
attributes
generic graduate
attributes

4. 4
Graduate Attributes
Information Literacy
• Technological Literacy
• Information Processing
Research & Inquiry
• Ability to undertake
research
• Critical Analysis
• Discipline knowledge
Ethical, Social and
Professional Understanding
• Ethics awareness
• Professionalism
• Sustainable development
Communication
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy• Manage
Change• Work
Independently•
Leadership• Teamwork
GAP Project -Barrie 2006

5. 5
Graduate Attributes for an unknown
future
Graduate attributes are the qualities, skills and
understandings a university community agrees its
students should develop during their time with the
institution.
These attributes include but go beyond the
disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge that
has traditionally formed the core of most university
courses.
They are qualities that also prepare graduates as
agents of social good in an unknown future.
(Bowden et al. 2000)

6. 6
Multiple journalisms & the unknown
future
Journalism is not moving from A to B, from one stable
state in postwar America to some new, alternate state
today. Journalism is instead moving from one to many,
from a set of roles whose description and daily patterns
were coherent enough to merit one label to one where
the gap between what makes Nate Silver a journalist and
what makes Kevin Sites a journalist continues to widen.
We’re not shifting from big news organizations to small
ones, or from slow reporting to fast. The dynamic range
of journalism is increasing along several axes at once.
Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present
C.W. Anderson, Emily Bell & Clay Shirky, Tow Center Columbia University

7. 77
constant
innovation
change

8. 88
graduates
for an
unknown
future

9. 9
Evolve the industry: lower our
fists
•There has only been a relatively brief period in
human history when these ideas of editorial
independence within a huge industrial media
structure have existed in the way we are now
trying to preserve. I don't think we need to
preserve it. Well maybe we should be trying to
preserve it but also evolve it and lower our fists
a little. That's one of the reasons I think
journalistic integrity is a better word than
independence.
•Margaret Simmons Melbourne University
9

10. 1010
lower our
fists

11. 1111
evolve the
industry

12. 12
Basic skills agenda
A variety of studies of what skills are valued by
journalism employers (Callaghan and McManus
2010; Nankervis 2005; Dickson and Brandon 2000;
Criado and Kraeplin 2003; Huang et al 2003)
they prioritize traditional skills including basic writing,
punctuation and grammar over computer skills and
technological literacies.

13. 13
Apprentice/Cadetship
model
What are the implications for innovation if what
has gone before is always presented as best
practice? Where, indeed, when one trainer
explicitly states, "we are trying to create
journalists in our own image, it is a chance to
shape people" and further, "we try to influence
them culturally"?
This constant emphasis on replication would
seem to leave little space for the notions of
innovation and change.
Mandy Oakham 2006

14. 14
Hospital model
Journalism education programs have an
opportunity to become “anchor institutions” in the
emerging informational ecosystem....Just as
teaching hospitals don t merely lecture medical‖
students, but also treat patients and pursue
research, journalism programs should not limit
themselves to teaching journalists, but should
produce copy and become laboratories of
innovation as well.
They should beta test new models for journalism and
understand how journalistic ecosystems emerge as
well as contribute to the policymaking process that
underpins them.
C.W. Anderson et al 2011

15. 15
Journalism Values
Journalism Process

16. 16
Journalism Ideology
Public service: journalists provide a public service (as
watchdogs or ‘newshounds’, active collectors and
disseminators of information);
Objectivity: journalists are impartial, neutral, objective,
fair and (thus) credible;
Autonomy: journalists must be autonomous, free and
independent in their work;
Immediacy: journalists have a sense of immediacy,
actuality and speed (inherent in the concept of ‘news’);
Ethics: journalists have a sense of ethics, validity and
legitimacy.
(Deuze 2005: 447)

17. 17
Journalism Process
Access/Observation – access to news events and
news data is negotiated and reporting involves first
hand observation and analysis
Selection/filtering – reporting resources are prioritised
according to perceived public impact
Processing/editing – stories are edited and packaged
Distribution – stories are published and publicised
Interpretation – audience/public reaction is monitored
and engaged
Domingo and colleagues (2008),

18. 18
Access/
observation
Selection/f
iltering
Processing/
editing
Distribution/
Platforms
Reception/
Interpretation
Public
service
Objectivity
Autonomy
Immediacy
Ethics

19. 19
Access/
observation
Selection/fi
ltering
Processing/
editing
Distribution/
Platforms
Reception/
Interpretation
Public
service
Negotiate access
Prioritise for
relevance and
impact
Process for clarity
and impact
Maximise reach and
access
Facilitate active
citizenship
Objectivity
Seek range of
sources
Represent
diverse points of
view
Fact-check and
verify
Produce non-
sensationalised but
impactful delivery
Ensure transparent
accountability for
journalistic processes
Autonomy
Balance access
and independence
Provide
independent
critical analysis
Undertake
independent
critical analysis
Negotiate
commercial
imperatives and
potential conflicts
Ensure transparent
accountability for
journalistic processes
Immediacy
Negotiate timely
access to
information
Use varied
technologies/pla
tforms to
minimise
intrusive
gatekeeping
Use layered
processes and
delivery methods
to ensure different
story iterations to
ensure immediacy
in breaking news
Use multiple
technologies and
varied story
iterations
Facilitate active
engaged feedback
loops
Ethics
Protect source
confidentiality and
journalistic
independence
Ensure respect
for minority and
diverse
viewpoints
Ensure respect for
minority and
diverse viewpoints
Maximise reach and
access
Develop engaged
community

20. 20
Journalist ‘soft skills’
Mindset: “a mindset that wants to improve journalism, not
simply replicate or salvage it”
Being Networked: “Editing, assigning and reporting all
become tasks wholly or partially delegated to the network”
Persona: “The more we feel engaged with a journalist
through his/her persona, the more we want to hear what
they have to say about the world.”
Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present C.W.
Anderson, Emily Bell & Clay Shirky Tow Center Columbia
University

21. 21
Journalist ‘hard skills’
Specialist knowledge: “the complexity of information and
the speed at which people wish to have it explained and
contextualized leaves little room for the average
generalist.”
Data & Statistics “the volume of available data on many of
the important actors—businesses, politicians, priests,
criminals—has grown dramatically”
Understanding Metrics and Audiences: “in today’s
fragmented and fraying world, knowledge of how
audiences consume information, and whether what you
write,record, or shoot reaches the people whom you want
to see it, becomes critical”
Coding: “every journalist needs to understand at a basic
literacy level what code is, what it can do, and how to
communicate with those who are more proficient.”

22. 22
Storytelling: “We focus less on these skills
because we do not expect the basic skills of
being able to identify and report a story to
change, and they remain central to a journalist’s
skill set. As part of technical literacy, journalists
need to understand how each of these skills
might be affected by a development in
technology or a shift in human behavior.
Narrative can be created by the new skills of
aggregation, which implies understanding
sources and verification of disparate material.
One aspect of working with networks and
crowds is the journalistic skill of aggregation”
Journalist ‘hard skills’

23. 23
Project management: “As we see more effective models of
journalism emerge from a remaking of the existing
process, one widely held observation is that journalists are
having to move from a world where the sole focus of their
activity was their own stories to a host of different
concerns....being able to keep across all parts of the
process and understand how they can be brought
together to produce something that works.”
Journalist ‘hard skills’

24. 24
Information Literacy
• Technological Literacy
• Information Processing
Information Literacy
A journalism graduate will make efficient and effective use of a range of
technologies to gather, process and communicate information
Research & Inquiry
Their use of current technologies and adaption to technological innovations
will be grounded in a sound knowledge of media histories, forms, technologies
and techniques and they will be able to critically investigate and analyse the
affordances of new technologies
Ethical, Social &
Professional
Understanding
Their use of current technologies and adaption to technological innovations
will be grounded in a sound knowledge of media ethics and professional
standards and processes
Communication
They will be particularly adept and efficient at using a range of software and
technologies to gather edit and produce material for public multimedia
communications and to engage communities in public discussions which
facilitate active citizenship
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy
They will understand fundamental technological and software processes and
functions which will enable them to quickly adapt to changing technologies
and programs
They will be aware of the ways that technologies can facilitate both
independent and collaborative work.

25. 25
Research & Inquiry Ability to undertake research Critical
Analysis
Discipline knowledge Problem Solving
Information Literacy
They will be adept at using a range of technologies to access and process
research data
Research & Inquiry
A journalism graduate will be able to undertake a broad range of research
tasks, making use of original interviews and data analysis, together with
quickly and effectively processing and verifying information gathered from
wide-ranging secondary sources.
Ethical, Social &
Professional
Understanding
They will adopt a critical independent perspective in their research
investigations, informed by a sound knowledge of media histories, ethics
and professional standards and processes.
They will adopt a rigorous range of verification strategies to ensure the
trustworthiness and credibility of all information gathered from primary
and secondary sources
Communication
They will be adept at gathering, organising and communicating complex
information in clear, concise, engaging and entertaining ways.
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy
They will work well as part of research and reporting teams
They will develop and evaluate ideas, concepts, sources and processes by
thinking creatively, critically and reflectively.

26. 26
Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding
• Ethics awareness
• Professionalism
• Sustainable development
Information Literacy
Their negotiation of new technologies and new approaches to media and
communication will be governed by an understanding of the ethics of privacy
and human rights
Research & Inquiry
Their professional choices will be informed by a sound knowledge of media
histories, forms, technologies and techniques and an understanding of the
ways that media and communications facilitate democracy and global
citizenship.
Ethical, Social &
Professional
Understanding
A journalism graduate will function ethically and professionally in a variety of
autonomous and organisational environments across the rapidly changing
media and communications sector
Communication
Their choice of sources, story formats, and story approaches will be governed
by an understanding of media ethics and professional responsibilities and an
understanding of media communication as an engaged participatory process.
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy
They will be adept at assessing and negotiating personal and organisational
ethical frameworks for ethically responsible professional practice.

27. 27
Communication
Information Literacy
They will effectively leverage the full spectrum of technological solutions to
produce professional public communications in a variety of differently
resourced environments
Research & Inquiry
Their public communication products will be underpinned by rigorous,
critical, original research and exhibit creative responses to public
communications problems
Ethical, Social &
Professional
Understanding
A journalism graduate will function ethically and professionally in a variety of
autonomous and organisational environments across the rapidly changing
media and communications sector
They will be familiar with and adept at utilising a range of standard
journalistic conventions in the presentation of news and feature stories
Communication
A journalism graduate will be adept at engaging a variety of audiences
through entertaining, creative and informative story formats presented in a
broad range of media. Their execution of media communications will be
underpinned by an understanding of and designed to facilitate the
participatory cycles of contemporary communications.
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy
They will be able to edit and produce a range of communication packages both
independently and collaboratively
They will be able to engagingly present and promote their own work as skilled
communications professionals

28. 28
Personal & Intellectual Autonomy
• Manage Change
• Work Independently
• Leadership
• Teamwork
Information Literacy
They will be able to identify and leverage a variety of new and existing
technological solutions to facilitate effective and efficient solutions to
emerging media problems
Research & Inquiry
They will be skilled researchers who can identify emerging trends and who
can source and provide information that will aid the effective and efficient
adaption to and facilitation of change in a rapidly changing media sector
Ethical, Social &
Professional
Understanding
Their sound knowledge of media histories, ethics and professional processes
will aid their effective and efficient adaption to and facilitation of change in
the rapidly changing media sector
Communication
They will be able to edit and produce a range of communication packages both
independently and collaboratively
Personal & Intellectual
Autonomy
A journalism graduate will be able to work independently and collaboratively
in a range of autonomous and organisational environments across a
constantly changing media and communications sector. They will exhibit
resilience and creative flexibility in the face of change.

29. 29
Public service
Community
Development
Objectivity Creativity
Autonomy Entrepreneurship
Immediacy Multiplicity
Ethics Integrity

30. 30
Resilience

31. 31
marcuso@uow.edu.au