MCM 204: Advanced and Specialised Reporting

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students will

  1. define specialised reporting/specialised reporter;
  2. outline beats;
  3. identify specialised reports and the components;
  4. discuss how to make scientific language more audience centric;
  5. explain in-depth report and investigative journalism;
  6. discuss the steps to investigating human interest stories;
  7. explain how to fact-check a story; and
  8. discuss follow-up; write a publishable investigative human angle piece/specialized reports/ science articles for newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online platforms.
Course Contents

Advanced instruction and practice in writing news stories with emphasis on investigative and other in-depth reporting techniques; Instruction and practice in reporting and writing news stories with emphasis on the reporting of the neighbourhood, accidents, fires, suicides, crime, business, press conference, innovation hubs, etc. Advanced and specialized reporting is a vast field, but rather than narrow it down it has been designed in such a way that institutions/students will focus on their areas of strength.

This course is also designed to (i) provide instruction in the techniques of reporting specialized subjects such as agriculture, medicine, religion, sports, labour, the courts, the arts, science and technology, gender issues such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), children, etc; (ii) provide instruction and practice in writing popular science articles for newspapers and magazines with emphasis on translation of scientific language, familiarization with literature of science and the interviewing of scientists (iii) expose students to the basic literature as well as outstanding examples of reporting issues such as agriculture, medicine, religion, sports, labour, the courts, the arts, science and technology, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). and children.