Good Journalism is Alive
During the past century, new practices of journalistic styles in the press have arisen, while the role of media in the society was reconfigured. This subject analyzes the course of journalism through its various genres, interviews, chronicles, and reports. By reading journalism must-read classics, like Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Oriana Fallaci, and John Hersey, among others, the aim will be to understand the structure that articulates them. What were the intentions of those who conceived them? Which effects do they have on the audiences?
We will also explore the new digital narratives evolution, from an analytical and descriptive perspective, avoiding normative parameters and catalogs. A social perspective will be considered too. What do we talk about when referring to 'quality journalism'? What is its contribution to a critical democratic society? Students are expected, after the course, to be able to identify the different genres, their main features, and to understand what strategies the authors have used and which effects they sought to provoke in the audience.
Courses generally have little or no prerequisite knowledge required for a given topic, however if students face any doubts, we recommend they contact course professors to clarify.
| Week | Contents | Teaching/learning activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
1.1 Introduction to journalism as a discipline. Importance and function 1.2 Ethnographic journalism 1.3. The Interview: typologies, aims and tips |
Identify different journalistic articles, similarities and differences. Printed press, radio, television and social media. Nixon/Frost and Oriana Fallaci Interviews |
| 2 |
2.1.The myth of ‘objectivity’ and the positivist paradigm. 2.2 Journalistic portrait. 2.3 Chronicles: the importance of the writer and time |
Writing precisely, but also clearly and directly at the same time Distinguish different strategies of communication in front of the support (printed vs. audiovisual). |
| 3 |
3.1 The 'watchdog' paradigm vs. 'journalist as echo' 3.2 Report: framing a good starting and better ending |
The New Journalism: Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, Gay Talese readings. Recognize rhetoric/linguistic resources in order to achieve an effect on the audience. |
From Monday to Friday.
From 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Evaluation on daily basis: following the professor explanation, journalistic articles (interviews, chronicles or reports) will be given to groups of three students in relation to the topic. After that, a general discussion will take place within the full class.
The final grade will be: 65% daily assigments; 20% case exposition (individual); 15% assistance-class participation.
- Adams, Sally and Hicks, Wynford. Interviewing for journalists. London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2009.
- Biagi, Shirley. Interviews that work: a practical guide for journalists. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1986.
- Call, Wendy and Kramer, Mark. Telling true stories: a nonfiction writers' guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University. New York: Plume, 2007.
- Fallaci, Oriana. Interviews with history and conversations with power. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2011.
- Hersey, John. Hiroshima. The New Yorker, 23rd August 1946
- Jarecki, Andrew. The jinx: The life and deaths of Robert Durst. HBO, 2015.
- Martínez, Óscar. The beast: Riding the rails and dodging narcos on the migrant trail. Verso Books, 2014.
- Johnson-Cartee, Karen S. News narratives and news framing: constructing political reality. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
- Pilger, John. Tell me no lies: Investigative journalism and its triumphs. London: Random House, 2011.
- Talese, Gay. Frank Sinatra Has a Cold. Esquire, 1st April 1966.
Ezequiel Ramon is a professor at the Faculty of Communication Studies at UAB. He teaches subjects related to public opinion and political communication from a sociological perspective. His research interests are the role of journalism in modern society, new journalistic formats against traditional ones, and in the development of new narratives articulated using new technologies. His investigation topics are Social Media, Journalism, Housing rights, and citizenry mobilisation.
- E-mail: ezequiel.ramon@uab.cat
- Department of Media, Communication and Culture