Faculty of Education and Arts

School: Communications and Arts

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Business Journalism
  • Unit Code

    JOU3109
  • Year

    2015
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus

Description

Private investors and public companies make a significant contribution to the shape of our cultural and physical landscape, and news about important new projects and developments often breaks first in the business pages. This unit equips students to access and report information from this sector by providing an overview of its structures and of the concepts that underpin the movement of money and the behaviour of companies. The unit is focused on practical journalistic skill development.

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded {JOU4109}

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Access relevant current and archived information about financial and corporate matters.
  2. Apply understanding about vocabularies and business literacy to construct business-related articles of a publishable standard across a range of financial sectors.
  3. Describe the basic structure and mechanisms of the major financial market sectors.
  4. Discuss the legal pitfalls of insider trading as it affects reporting.
  5. Judge why particular events in the business sector are newsworthy.

Unit Content

  1. An overview of the structure of, and mechanisms that drive, the major financial market sectors.
  2. Discussion of newsworthiness in the business sector.
  3. Explanation of risk and reward, insider trading, global finance and sustainability.
  4. Practical exercises in financial and corporate information retrieval.
  5. Practical exercises in the production of business-related articles of a publishable standard across a range of financial sectors.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Workshops, lectures with interactive activities.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
PortfolioSeries of 4 tasks @ 10% each40%
AssignmentFeature article30%
ParticipationMarks for activities in tutorials30%

Text References

  • Hicks, W. et al. (2005). Writing for journalists.
  • Hicks, W. (2007). English for journalists. London: Routledge.
  • News Ltd. (2007). Style. Southbank, Victoria: News Custom Publishing.
  • Barwick, J., & Barwick, J. (2008). English skills for primary students.
  • Pearson, M., & Polden, M. (2011). The journalist's guide to media law. (4th ed.). NSW: Allen & Unwin.
  • Lamble, S. (2010). News as it happens. Melbourne: OUP.

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

JOU3109|1|1

Faculty of Education and Arts

School: Communications and Arts

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Business Journalism
  • Unit Code

    JOU3109
  • Year

    2015
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus

Description

Private investors and public companies make a significant contribution to the shape of our cultural and physical landscape, and news about important new projects and developments often breaks first in the business pages. This unit equips students to access and report information from this sector by providing an overview of its structures and of the concepts that underpin the movement of money and the behaviour of companies. The unit is focused on practical journalistic skill development.

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded JOU4109

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Access relevant current and archived information about financial and corporate matters.
  2. Apply understanding about vocabularies and business literacy to construct business-related articles of a publishable standard across a range of financial sectors.
  3. Describe the basic structure and mechanisms of the major financial market sectors.
  4. Discuss the legal pitfalls of insider trading as it affects reporting.
  5. Judge why particular events in the business sector are newsworthy.

Unit Content

  1. An overview of the structure of, and mechanisms that drive, the major financial market sectors.
  2. Discussion of newsworthiness in the business sector.
  3. Explanation of risk and reward, insider trading, global finance and sustainability.
  4. Practical exercises in financial and corporate information retrieval.
  5. Practical exercises in the production of business-related articles of a publishable standard across a range of financial sectors.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Workshops, lectures with interactive activities.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
PortfolioSeries of 4 tasks @ 10% each40%
AssignmentFeature article30%
ParticipationMarks for activities in tutorials30%

Text References

  • Lamble, S. (2010). News as it happens. Melbourne: OUP.
  • News Ltd. (2007). Style. Southbank, Victoria: News Custom Publishing.
  • Pearson, M., & Polden, M. (2011). The journalist's guide to media law. (4th ed.). NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

JOU3109|1|2