An introductory text that provides an overview of the ‘mediasphere’ to demonstrate how a knowledge of media can inform a knowledge of journalism and vice versa; and to show how such knowledge is best acquired through a combination of theory and practice. It integrates media theory with journalistic practice by drawing on current theories of the media as well as providing practical instruction on how to write journalistic pieces that put these theories into practice.

This book is divided into six parts, with the focus becoming progressively broader – from journalism and news writing, to the contexts in which they operate, to the larger mediasphere, to the media industries themselves, to the contexts in which these industries function. This encourages students to follow the flow of information and ideas from news production through to dissemination and negotiation, revealing how important journalism and media studies are to each other.

• A blend of ‘up-to-date’ (Iraqi blogging) and ‘classic’ (War of the Worlds radio broadcast) case studies to offer students a wide range of perspectives.
• Each part is completed with a ‘Tools’ section. This provides practical training, eg: interviewing, writing feature articles and media releases, textual analysis, and highlights the aims of the section

Foreword by Alan McKee

Introduction – Jason Bainbridge, Nicola Goc and Liz Tynan

PART 1: INTRODUCING MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

1. The Public Sphere – Jason Bainbridge

2. The First Mass Medium – Nicola Goc

3. The Fourth (or Fifth) Estate – Nicola Goc

4. The Elements of Writing – Liz Tynan

CASE STUDY 1: The Power of the News Image: Port Arthur and the Virginia Tech. Massacre – Nicola Goc

TOOLS 1: Print Media and Broadcast Interviews – Liz Tynan

PART 2 : MEDIA INSTITUTIONS

5. Radio: The Tribal Drum – Liz Tynan

6. Film: The Seventh Art – Jason Bainbridge

7. Television: The Zoo – Jason Bainbridge

8. Public Relations: Spin Cycle – Liz Tynan

CASE STUDY 2: Magazines – Nicola Goc

TOOLS 2: How to write a media release – Liz Tynan

PART 3 : MEDIA ANALYSIS

9. Media Texts – Jason Bainbridge

10. Audiences and Representations – Jason Bainbridge

11. Celebrity – Jason Bainbridge

CASE STUDY 3: Media Narratives: The ‘Murdering Mother’ – Nicola Goc

TOOLS 3: Textual Analysis and Media Research – Jason Bainbridge

PART 4 : MAKING NEWS

12. News Values and News Culture – Sarah Gillman

13. Broadcast News: Keep It Simple – Liz Tynan

14. Sub-editing, News Language and Convention – Liz Tynan

CASE STUDY 4: What’s in a Name? New Journalism; Literary Journalism and Creative Nonfiction – Nicola Goc

TOOLS 4: Finding Information – Elizabeth Hart

PART 5: FRAMEWORKS

15. Ethics in Communication – Nicola Goc and Liz Tynan

CASE STUDY 5: Chequebook Journalism and the Changing Nature of Celebrity – Nicola Goc

TOOLS 5: Writing Features – Elizabeth Hart and Liz Tynan

PART 6 : SOCIAL CONTEXTS

16. The New Media Environment – Jason Bainbridge and Liz Tynan

17. Convergence – Jason Bainbridge

18. Postmodernity – Jason Bainbridge

CASE STUDY 6: Media Ownership – Elizabeth Hart

TOOLS 6: Blogging and Citizen Journalism – Liz Tynan

Conclusion: The View from Here – Jason Bainbridge, Nicola Goc and Liz Tynan

Glossary

Jason Bainbridge – Lecturer, School of English, Journalism & European Languages, University of Tasmania

Nicola Goc – Lecturer, School of English, Journalism & European Languages, University of Tasmania

Liz Tynan – Senior Science Writer, Australian Institute of Marine Science, (former journalism lecturer at the University of Tasmania and James Cook University)