First Draft (12024.1)

Please note these are the 2024 details for this unit
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First Draft
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Arts And Design
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
School Of Arts And Communications Level 1 - Undergraduate Introductory Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 4 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan Social Work_Exclude 0905)
Throughout your course, you will work as a student journalist for The Owl, publishing stories across multiple online platforms and broadcasting on UCFM. In this unit, you will be inducted into The Owl¿s editorial processes and begin developing your skills in multimedia content gathering and production. Through practical weekly tasks, you will start to build confidence in public-facing aspects of journalism, such as interviewing and presentation, and you will begin generating networks of contacts and story ideas. By the end of the unit, you will have produced at least one complete story for The Owl. Alongside hands-on weekly activities, you will examine what is reported by the Australian news media, and how.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Produce basic multimedia and multiplatform content, working autonomously and collaboratively;
2. Gather journalistic source material through interviews and basic research methods;
3. Write a basic news story with all associated publication collateral for The Owl, within the structured editorial process; and
4. Critically reflect on the output of contemporary news media in Australia.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development


Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

11084 Journalism Now and Next

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 03 February 2025 On-campus Dr Scott Bridges
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 16 February 2026 On-campus Dr Scott Bridges
Not available

Required texts

Recommended reading and references can be found on the First Draft and The Owl Canvas sites.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Artificial intelligence

Students are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in assessments for this unit.

GenAI may only be used in authorised ways when completing assessments at UC. This means that GenAI can only be used for an assessment when:

  1. the Unit Convener has authorised GenAI use for that assessment
  2. the student uses GenAI in the way that the assessment instructions allow
  3. the student fully acknowledges their use of GenAI, with proper citations, references and a GenAI Acknowledgement Statement in line with the assessment instructions.

Where the assessment instructions do not specifically state that GenAI may be used and how, then its use is not permitted for that assessment. Students must still provide the required GenAI Acknowledgement Statement to indicate whether GenAI has or has not been used in the preparation of the assessment. If unsure, students should seek advice from the Unit Convener.

The GenAI for Students Library Guide provides further information, including how to reference GenAI.

Expectations

As a student journalist, you must assume that all content you generate in this unit is intended for publication. As such, you should aim to produce professional work to a high standard, observing all relevant laws and ethical standards.

You are to:

  • Observe the MEAA Code of Ethics (refer to The Owl Canvas site);
  • Refrain from interviewing anyone who presents a conflict of interest, such as family, friends or colleagues, without the express permission of your tutor;
  • Disclose all conflicts of interest or other relevant information in your stories;
  • Inform sources and interviewees that your stories are for publication via The Owl and/or UCFM;
  • In the first instance, produce your own original video, audio, images and text — if your tutor expressly permits the use of third party material, you must observe copyright law, licensing and ‘fair dealing’ provisions related to news reporting (refer to The Owl Canvas site) and give attribution if required;
  • Not plagiarise; and
  • Observe defamation, trespass and other relevant laws

Failure to follow these guidelines could result in a fail grade for an assessment task or for the unit.

If you have any questions about these guidelines or a specific assignment task, speak with your unit convener or tutor.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Participation requirements

This unit is built around synchronous experiential learning. Workshops are designed to scaffold students towards production of quality assessment work. As such, attendance at all classes is strongly encouraged and success in this unit will be very difficult without ongoing, in person engagement.

Required IT skills

This unit requires foundational IT skills such as basic computer and internet use.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None.