Course overview
The course will offer an understanding of the Canadian legal system and the workings of legal proceedings, aimed at journalists reporting on the Courts. It will explore the ways in which reporters cover the courts and sometimes become involved in issues over access and openness. The course will cover the legal restrictions upon reporters, including defamation, contempt, publication bans, privacy, intellectual property and freedom of expression issues. Current cases in the news as well as those affecting journalists, along with example stories raising legal issues will be used as lesson examples.
The course uses a combination of instruction on the law and working through practical examples. The objective is for students to learn to spot and deal with the legal issues in each situation from an early stage and to report on legal matters with an accurate context. Discussion about important legal and philosophical questions is encouraged.
Course type
This is a 1st year core course.
Course overview
This course will look at the role imagined for journalists and media organizations in a democracy, and consequent professional norms, practices, obligations, dilemmas, and expectations.
Using a variety of texts and case studies, this course will discuss, study, and debate journalism ethics and leadership as they relate to this changing media landscape. We will address long-held journalistic tenets of objectivity, accuracy, verification, and accountability as they relate to both digital and traditional forms of media. We will also explore what these traditional norms and practices mean in a rapidly expanding, global world where accountabilities and sensibilities shift based on diverse and dispersed audiences.
Course type
This is a 1st year core course.
Course overview
This course is designed to help you think more broadly about journalism and who you are as a journalist. In this course, we will discuss questions such as why journalism matters? Who is a journalist? What factors influence news production? How do journalists function in different media and political systems? Why does journalism matter in any given society? What are the main issues facing journalism today? And other essential concepts and questions regarding journalism. Journalism is changing (more so during the pandemic than ever before), and you are caught up in it. This course aims to give you a firm grounding in the concepts and traditions of journalism as you know it while looking forward to thinking about journalism and its methods when considering breaking news situations.
Knowing fundamental journalistic and communication theories help enhance your practical abilities by providing useful roadmaps to navigate the world around you. To become a good journalist, you need to think critically about your surroundings. Being a critical thinker does not mean you criticize everyone and everything. Our aim here is to stimulate your thinking about the news and how it’s formed. Thinking about questions such as why is a news story covered a certain way? Or why is a particular group marginalized or a specific topic ignored in the media? This class is designed to help you clear answers to such questions using theory and relevant current affairs examples to discuss and analyze the news.
Course type
This is a 1st year core course.