ZUR350 Making News

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Mgr. Zdeněk Havlíček (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Contact Person: Drahomíra Soldánová
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 P22
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
The course is built around reading and discussing important and essential texts dealing with the fundamental principles of making news. The course starts with discussing the current state of research into news-making and then continues through the topics of producing the news, examining the news content and news effects, and eventually to the contexts of news making.
Syllabus
  • Session 1 – Course introduction Introducing the course and the credit requirements. Selecting presentation and essay topics.
  • Session 2 – Research into news making and studying media
  • Session 3 – Producing the news I (news content)
  • Session 4 – Producing the news II (selecting the news)
  • Session 5 – Producing the news III (news-making organisation and its routines)
  • Session 6 – News contents I (the news as a story and myth)
  • Session 7 – News contents II (access to the news)
  • Session 8 – News contents III (representations and stereotypes)
  • Session 9 – News effects I (disseminating the news)
  • Session 10 – News effects II (agenda-setting function)
  • Session 11 – News effects III (meanings of the news)
  • Session 12 – News-making context I (news as an economic product)
  • Session 13 – News-making context II (ideology of the news)
  • Session 14 – Credit test
Literature
  • BRIGHTON, Paul and Dennis FOY. News values. London: SAGE Publications, 2007, viii, 205. ISBN 9781412945998. info
  • MCCOMBS, Maxwell E. Setting the Agenda : the mass media and public opinion. 1st pub. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004, 184 s. ISBN 0745623123. info
  • McQuail's reader in mass communication theory. Edited by Denis McQuail. 1st pub. London: SAGE Publications, 2002, xxiv, 427. ISBN 0761972439. info
  • Media and cultural studies : keyworks. Edited by Meenakshi Gigi Durham - Douglas Kellner. 1st pub. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 2001, vii, 646. ISBN 0631220968. info
  • PICKERING, Michael. Stereotyping :the politics of representation. 1st pub. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001, xvii, 246. ISBN 0-333-77210-5. info
  • News, gender and power. Edited by Cynthia Carter - Gill Branston - Stuart Allan. First published. London: Routledge, 1998, xi, 298. ISBN 0415170168. info
  • HARTLEY, John. Understanding news. London: Routledge, 1982, xiii, 203. ISBN 0415039339. info
Assessment methods
The classes are intended as seminars. This means that students' work consists of reading required texts, active participation in discussions, and preparing a presentation on a selected topic. The students will also be asked to write a short formal essay expanding the topic the opted for their presentation. At the end of the course, the students are expected to sit for a credit test.
Language of instruction
English
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2011.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2009/ZUR350