July 2015
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Community College
Subject Description Form
Subject Code
CCN2179
Subject Title
News Writing
Level
2
Credit Value
3
Medium of
Instruction
English
Pre-requisite /
Co-requisite/
Exclusion
Nil
Objectives
This is a pragmatic subject designed to equip students with basic news
writing and reporting concepts. Students will learn how to develop news
story ideas for print and electronic media. This subject will provide
students with specific skills to identify and design original materials from
the conceptual to the publication stage. As their professional
competencies develop, students will be able to contrast styles and
contents in print and broadcast media; they will select information which
influences and persuades the target audiences. This subject also aims at
encouraging students to cultivate a newspaper reading habit and analyse
news stories critically.
Intended Learning
Outcomes
Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to:
(a) identify and interpret news decisions made by different media
outlets.
(b) analyse and critique the strengths and weaknesses of newspaper
stories.
(c) develop news ideas and organise them logically into a story.
(d) conduct interviews with appropriate techniques to collect specific
and targeted contents for news stories.
(e) apply learned strategies to differentiate styles and contents in print
and broadcast media.
(f)
Subject Synopsis/
Indicative Syllabus
plan, organise, structure, and deliver a presentation.
Ingredients of *ews
Hard and soft news; Gatekeeping; Newsworthiness; News mix.
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July 2015
Qualities of Good Writing
Use of short sentences; Familiar words; Put action into verbs; Use terms
to tie in with a reader’s experience.
Summary Leads
The five W’s and H. Characteristics of a good summary lead.
Organising a *ews Story
The inverted pyramid; The hourglass style; The circle style; The block
style.
Interviewing
Make an interview appointment; Funnel and inverted-funnel interviews;
Closed-ended and open-ended questions; Taking notes.
Broadcast Writing
Rules of style; Writing for radio; Writing for television.
Teaching/Learning
Methodology
Lectures focus on the introduction and explanation of key news writing
and reporting concepts. Students will learn the steps involved in
developing, designing, and writing news stories. Occasional group
discussions might be arranged.
Tutorials provide students with the opportunity to deepen their
understanding of the concepts taught in lectures and to apply the theories
to evaluate existing news stories and write original news stories. The
activities in tutorials normally include student presentations and
discussions of problems sets.
Assessment
Methods in
Alignment with
Intended Learning
Outcomes
A variety of assessment tools will be used to develop and assess
students’ achievement of the subject intended learning outcomes.
Specific assessment
methods/tasks
%
weighting
Intended subject learning
outcomes to be assessed
a
b
c
d
e
f
Continuous
Assessment*
100
Mid-term Test
20
Individual
Assignment
30
Group Assignment
40
Participation
10
Total
100
*Continuous assessment items and/or weighting may be adjusted by the subject
team subject to the approval of the College Programme Committee.
To pass this subject, students are required to obtain Grade D or above in
the Continuous Assessment.
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July 2015
Student Study
Effort Expected
Class contact
Hours
Lecture
26
Tutorial
13
Other student study effort
Self-study
39
Continuous Assessment
52
Total student study effort
Reading List and
References
130
Recommended Textbook
Itule, B.D. & Anderson, D.A. (2006). "ews writing & reporting for
today’s media. McGraw Hill.
References
Brooks, B. S., Kennedy, G., Moen, D. R., & Ranly, D. (2008). "ews
reporting and writing. (9th ed.), St. Martin's.
Fox, W. (2001). Writing the news: A guide for print journalists. (3rd ed.),
Iowa State University Press.
Mencher, M. (2008). Melvin Mencher's news reporting and writing. (11th
ed.), McGraw Hill.
Rich, C. & Harper, C. (2007). Writing and reporting news: A coaching
method. (5th ed.), Wadsworth.
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