Purpose                                                                                                                                                      This course is designed to provide you with the basis of news and feature writing for newspapers.   

This course is deliberately designed to conform to the Problem Based Learning (PBL) mode of delivery.

Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Define news and discuss criteria for judging the news worthiness of a story/event.

2. Discuss the principles of journalism and their importance in news writing and reporting.

3. State the organizational structure and the workings of a news establishment.

4. Explain the prevailing news ideologies and the process that shapes media content.

5. Demonstrate practical writing skills for competitive newspaper stories and feature articles.

6. Discuss ethical issues in journalism.

7. Explain the effects of new technology on news writing and reporting.

Content

The topics will include:  definition of news, nature of news, feature writing, structure of a news story, History of the press in Africa, quotes and attributions, ethics in journalism; interviewing techniques, press law and the role of the Christian journalist.