IMJ7001 Required Reading Overview

Updated August 2019 / Sharron Lovell

This page outlines the Core Required Readings for IMJ7001 that you will complete in full during Term 1.

Please note, there are additional weekly seminar specific readings. You will need to view the Seminar Schedule and take note of the weekly readings to ensure you complete them for specified deadlines. Find the Seminar Schedule and associated weekly readings online in the dropdown menu.

We aim to keep our required readings well-selected and prioritized and we expect you to manage your own time and read them in full. There are optional recommended readings for faster readers but we do not advise optional reading unless you can keep pace with the required texts.

REQUIRED READINGS:

1: www.multimediatrain.com (7 complete chapters)

You should read each and every section of this site, week by week as it corresponds directly to your core skills: In term one, you must complete:

  • Photography
  • Writing
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Infographics (Beware this section is dated. The class notes will be more useful here, but still worth having a look through)
  • Going Mobile (Beware this section is dated. The class notes will be more useful here, but still worth having a look through)

The newer, ‘Short news video‘ section is longer, and a great primer for Term 2. You should complete this section during the December reading weeks or over the Christmas holiday. If you are really keen and ahead with readings you can also read it earlier in Term 1

2: Selected Multimedia Journalism projects and stories (Minimum of one hour each week)

Please note, this reading refers explicitly to multimedia packages not journalism produced with single mediums. You can find multimedia journalism stories and projects here:

Spend at least one hour a week, every week and aim to read one or two pieces deeply each time. There are videos, text features, audio features, graphic led pieces, data journalism, interactive documentaries and of course multimedia features 0 stick to the multimedia packages for this reading. There’s news, sports, tech, science, human interest, lifestyle and travel pieces from an array of publishers – pick the ones that interest you!

Some stories are short and some long, some may take over an hour to read. Some are spot news, others are longer features or documentary in nature. Take your time, it’s better to go slowly and really understand the articles or projects than to rush through them. You don’t need to read all of them and you don’t need to go through them in any particular order, consume the ones that are most interesting and appealing to you.

Pace yourself weekly, and beware, this is not the type of reading you can ‘cram’ at the end of the term. You need to be consuming feature journalism as you go along. If you are not consuming and analyzing quality journalism you haven’t a hope of producing any.

3: The Handbook of Independent Journalism by Deborah Potter (The complete book)

Read the required textbook by Deborah Potter in full. This is not the most up-to-date or thorough book on reporting, however, it provides a good simple primer to accompany the class sessions. It offers the fundamentals without being overwhelming. Download the book PDF here: The Handbook of Independent Journalism by Deborah Potter

  • Complete chapter 1 What Is News? in the pre-reading week (Week 1)
  • Complete chapter 2 Getting the Story in week 2
  • Complete chapter 3 Telling the Story in week 3
  • Complete chapter 4 Editing the Story in week 4 (This chapter is less important)
  • Complete chapter 5 Broadcast and Online in week 5
  • Complete chapters 6 & 7 Ethics and Law by week 8

4: The IMMJ-MA code of ethics. This will be discussed in class, however, you must read the guidelines carefully. (Read in full and refer to as needed)

you should complete it before Term 2 and refer to it throughout Term 2. http://www.beijingimmj.wordpress.com/immj-ma-code-of-ethics/

5: The BBC Academy style guide is for all BBC News output (3 chapters and as needed)

All large news outlets will have a style guide, you’ve probably heard of the famous AP Styleguide which is the most standard global style guide. On the IMMJ we expect students to adhere to the BBC news style guide – it’s good and it’s free. You can download a fully searchable version or just use it online. Please familiarise yourself with the resource for an hour or so during the pre-reading week and use it as needed. Be sure to cover the following sections during your reading weeks:

Please note, IMMJ-MA calls for high standards of English and well-written stories that we can easily understand, poor English will dramatically impact your marks, and if serious problems persist will lead to assignment failure

6: The BBC Academy (At least 15 hours total)

A truly wonderful and free resource. The BBC Academy puts training and skills at the heart of the BBC and the industry to help meet the challenges of an ever-changing media world. The Academy focuses on providing a portfolio of high-quality training and development. You should spend at least an hour each week looking at the training videos relevant to you. Spend longer in the scheduled reading weeks. The only trouble with this resource is that it’s huge and it’s not designed for easy navigation, meaning it’s not that easy to find your way around or find the best stuff. Try tapping in something that interests you into the search box (e.g. interviewing or virtual reality or get really specific like depth-of-field). Oh – there are Chinese subtitles available too. See the video below for an overview:

 

Heres a few favorites:

7: MultimediaWeek Podcast (aim for one a week)

multimediaweek.net is the home of a podcast that IMMJ tutors produce. We interview influential people and organizations in the field of multimedia journalism, who talk about their experiences in the profession. Listen to at one each week, choose the ones that interest you. Right now we’ve stopped recording – but now Sharron’s maternity leave is over we’ll start up again in October so watch this space! Here are a few favorites: