City University of Hong Kong Information on a Course offered by Department of Media and Communication with effect from Semester A in 2012/13 Part I Course Title: Course Code: Television News Practicum COM4308 Course Duration: 1 semester Credit Units: 3 Level: B4 Medium of Instruction Medium of Assessment English [For practicum component: English and Chinese (Putonghua and Cantonese)] English supplemented by Chinese This course is designed to teach students communication skills in both English and Chinese to prepare them for a bilingual working environment. Prerequisites: None Precursors: None Equivalent Courses: (Course Code and Title) EN4537 Documentary Production IV Exclusive Courses: None 1
Part II 1. Course Aims This course aims to let students discover the practice of television newsroom operation and television news reporting and production in both English and Chinese. It is designed to enhance students skills and knowledge of visual information processing, television story editing and production, and television newscast production through actual operation of a newsroom-like setting. Special emphasis will be placed on TV news reporting, editing, and production, TV newsroom operation, and the effective use of video production equipment. Students will work as a television journalist on different positions in a newsroom, use the digital video equipment to gather news information, process information, edit the news stories, produce news stories in the Chinese and international contexts, and broadcast it through appropriate media outlets. Students will deal with real-life issues and challenges of TV news reporting business. As any professional news organization would require, students are expected to produce timely and proficient news stories and newscast. 2. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to: No. CILOs Weighting (if applicable) 1. Demonstrate knowledge and skills of news reporting, editing and television news production 2. Cover news stories and operate a television newsroom under deadline pressure 3. Use computer and related software to process visual information and produce television news story packages 4. Use digital editing software to create visual effects 5 Write news stories in Chinese and English in line with the professional standard of media industry 6 Produce television newscasts of professional quality that are acceptable for broadcasting through media outlets 3. Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) (Indicative of likely activities and tasks designed to facilitate students achievement of the CILOs. Final details will be provided to students in their first week of attendance in this course) CILO No. TLAs Hours/week (if applicable) 1-2 Lectures on news information processing and Throughout the class television news production through first-hand practice 1-2 Lectures and class discussions on how to work as a Throughout the class television news reporter, editor and producer in a newsroom 1-2, 5 Assignments on covering news events and issues as a Throughout the class television news reporter 3-6 Exercises on processing visual information, edit Throughout the class television news stories, and producing a television newscast for broadcasting in English and Chinese 5 Exercises on news writing in Chinese and English Throughout the class 6 Lectures and discussions on how to operate a television newsroom Throughout the class 2
4. Assessment Tasks/Activities (Indicative of likely activities and tasks designed to assess how well the students achieve the CILOs. Final details will be provided to students in their first week of attendance in this course) CILO No. Type of Assessment Tasks/Activities Weighting (if applicable) 1-2 Television newscast and news production critiques 10% 1-2, 5 Television news reporting and editing 20% 3-4 Visual effects used in television news production 10% 5 Television news script writing and editing in Chinese and English Remarks 20% 50% of the writing exercise assessment will use Chinese 3-6 Television newscast production 40% 50% of the newscast assessment will use Chinese 5. Grading of Student Achievement: Grading pattern: Standard (A+, A, A-.F). Grading is based on student performance in assessment tasks/activities. Specific grading criteria for selected assessment tasks/activities are as follows: a. Assignments Grading criteria for assignments involving writing (20% of each assignment) Accuracy = 5 points Conciseness = 5 points Expression = 5 points Grammar and style = 5 points Story Exercise Grading Criteria Quality Point Notes News value 10% Framing 10% Visual activity 10% Combination of shots 10% Moving shot use 10% Shot length 10% Field interview 10% Editing 10% Story line 10% Visual continuity 10% Total 100% 3
b. Group projects (stories, production) Grading Criteria for News Reporting Assignments A The news story is well produced, and contains effective visual images, transition, and accurate facts. It can be broadcast by television outlets. B The story contains only a few minor errors. The story is not as well-produced as an A story, but has the acceptable level of production with visual images, transitions and facts. A television station could broadcast the story after minimal editing. C The news story tends to be disorganized and contains several errors. The story was not well produced with effective visual images, transitions and the facts are not presented clearly. It could be broadcast only after extensive work of production. D The news story does not present facts effectively and the story line is not clear. The story also may contain an unacceptable number of editing and production errors. The story will need to be re-produced before being considered for broadcast. F The news story is incomplete, confusing or erroneous. The important visual images or facts are missing. The story could not be re-produced and cannot be broadcast by any television outlets Letter Grade A+ A A- Grade Point 4.3 4.0 3.7 Grade Definitions Excellent: Superior grasp of subject matter; evidence of extensive knowledge and skills of the subject; Strong evidence of good writing, visual information processing, organization, and capacity to apply knowledge and skills in television news reporting and production (with a total score of 90-100 weighted points). B+ B B- 3.3 3.0 2.7 Good: Evidence of grasp of subject, evidence of knowledge and skills of the subject; evidence of good writing, visual information processing, organization, and capacity to apply knowledge and skills in television news reporting and production (with a total score of 80-89 weighted points). C+ C C- 2.3 2.0 1.7 Adequate: Some grasp of subject, evidence of knowledge of the subject and the basic skills; some evidence of capacity to apply knowledge and skills in television news reporting and production (with a total score of 70-79 weighted points). D 1.0 Marginal: Familiar with the subject matter; some knowledge and skills of television news reporting and production to enable the student to progress without repeating the course (with a total score of 60-69 weighted points). F 0.0 Failure: Little evidence of familiarity with the subject matter, and little evidence of knowledge and skills of television news reporting and production; unable to apply knowledge and skills to produce minimally acceptable television news programs (with a total score of 59 or lower weighted points). 4
Part III Keyword Syllabus Television news, journalism, news reporting, news editing, television news production, electronic news, non-linear editing, visual story telling, visual effect, newsroom operation, newscast, broadcasting Recommended Reading Text(s) Fred Shook, John Larson, & John DeTarsio (2008). Television Field Production and Reporting (5 th ed.). Allyn & Bacon. Schultz, B. (2005). Broadcast news producing. Thousand Oaks, Calif. Sage. Silcock, B. W., Heider, D., & Rogus, M. T. (2007). Managing television news: a handbook for ethical and effective producing. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 蕭碧芬 (2005) 電視編導私札記 香港 : 嘉出版有限公司 徐威 ( 主編 ) (2005) 電視新聞節目製作與播出 北京市 : 中國廣播電視出版社 Other references / online resources Hemmingway, E. (2008). Into the newsroom: exploring the digital production of regional television news. London; New York: Routledge. Keirstead, P. O. (2005). Computers in broadcast and cable newsrooms: using technology in television news production. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum. Schroeder, A. (2009). Writing and producing television news: from newsroom to air. New York: Oxford University Press. Thompson, R., & Malone, C. (2004). The broadcast journalism handbook: a television news survival guide. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. Zalbertus, A., & Rosenblum, M. (2004). Video journalism: the digital revolution. Berlin: Uni-Edition. Producers Guidelines of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). 香港電台節目製作 人員守則 (1999) (You can download from this website: http://rthk.hk/about/guide/index.htm) 香港廣播事務管理局電台電視業務守則 (You can download from this website for details of the codes and practices for local television stations: http://www.hkba.hk/en/doc/code_tvprog_e.pdf) 5