Module: Journalism Practice: Digital Storytelling

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Journalism Practice: Digital Storytelling
Module Code	JRR1033 (ITS: CM5971)
Faculty	Humanities & Social Sciences	School	Communications
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	15

Description

This is a companion course to CM5969 in Semester 1. It is a similarly intensive, practice-based course focused on the use of digital technologies (video, digital video, radio) to create journalism content and to tell journalistic stories.

Learning Outcomes

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2. Record, edit and publish news videos
4. 22,7,15,6
5. 1
6. 1E5B0A0F-4DB7-0001-CF17-A26817D51BCC
7. Record, edit, and publish audio content related to the news
9. 22,7,12,6,8,9
10. 2
11. 1E5B0A0F-6775-0001-6FC6-C320E151178F
12. Locate, download, manipulate datasets related to news stories
14. 7,6,8,11,9,10
15. 3
16. 1E5B0A0F-748B-0001-6FCC-CC1027806A00
17. Produce data visualisations based on large datasets
19. 7,6,8,11,9,10
20. 4
21. 1E5B0A0F-8736-0001-63C7-19001C7A1210
22. Identify and critically analyse the multimedia content strategies of news organisations
24. 7,6,8,11,9,10
25. 5
26. 1E5B0A0F-A000-0001-71CD-1DB0C5FD18D6
27. Identify story opportunities suitable for reporting in audio or video formats
29. 7,6,8,11,9,10
30. 6

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	132	Lectures take place over three days each week, and last three hours each. In week 13, Newsdays are full, 8-hr working days.
Fieldwork	40	Students record audio and/or video in the field for use in class editing and discussion exercises
Independent Study	203	No Description
Total Workload: 375

Section Breakdown
CRN	20583	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	100%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	N
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	David Robbins	Module Teacher	Colleen Murrell, Conor Tiernan

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Participation	Evaluation of students' participation in class discussions and activities and engagement with VLE resources	5%	Week 12
In Class Test	Written test to evaluate students' knowledge and understanding of radio reporting strategies and techniques	15%	Week 4
In Class Test	Written test to evaluate students' understanding of news video production techniques and practices.	15%	Week 9
In Class Test	Written text to evaluate students' ability to source public datasets, to import and clean up data, to identify story angles from datasets, and to produce data graphics and other visualisations based on datasets.	15%	Week 11
Digital Project	Students are required to produce a substantial piece of journalism which includes video/audio and data journalism elements	50%	Week 12

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Weeks 1-4 - Radio Journalism
Students learn to write, record and edit news stories and current affairs stories and to critique podcasts and news programmes.

Weeks 5-9 - video journmalism
Students learn to examine the context within which television/video journalism occurs and gain an understanding of the basic skills employed by TV journalists. They learn to critically evaluate TV journalism reporting and scheduling, and to explore the relationship of TV journalism to new forms of media.

Weeks 10-11 - Data Journalism
Students will gain a solid basic understanding of the tools available and possibilities of data

journalism. Besides learning about the basics of this increasingly vital discipline, students will learn how data is used in the media industry today, where to locate data, how to clean and analyze it critically, and how to optimise the presentation of information for maximum readability and interactivity. This module element also gives students a thorough grounding in the use of common tools including spreadsheets and presentation. The module element focuses particularly on using visualisation to effectively communicate data sets. Students will apply these principles and tools in telling journalistic stories.

Week 12 - Masterclasses
3 x 3hr sessions in which working journalists give presentations and workshops on new trends and practices in newsrooms

Week 13 - Newsdays
3 x full day newsroom simulations in which students work as a newsroom team to produce TV and radio programmes covering the news of the day.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Liliana Bounegru and Jonathan Gray: 2021, The Data Journalism Handbook, Amsterdam University Press, 0, 978946298951
Peter Stewart,Ray Alexander: 2021, Broadcast Journalism, Routledge, 406, 9780367460464
Siobhan McHugh: 0, The Power of Podcasting, 9780231208772
Andrew Boyd: 2001, Broadcast Journalism, Taylor & Francis, 470, 0240515714

Articles:

Siobhan McHugh: 0, Subjectivity, hugs and craft: Podcasting as extreme narrative journalism, Nieman Storyboard, https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/subjectivity-hugs-and-craft-podcasting-as-e xtreme-narrative-journalism/, 58728
2016: Researching the Podcast Audio Storytelling Genre, The Radio Journal International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, 14 (1), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305728362_How_podcasting_is_changing_th e_audio_storytelling_genre,

Other Resources

None