Journalism Major

The Journalism Major is offered in three concentrations: Chinese Journalism, International Journalism and Data and Media Communication.  All choices share a core of Required and Elective Courses dealing with the activities and responsibilities of the print, broadcast and internet journalist.  Each choice requires bilingualism, but stresses the particular language and professional skills appropriate for the specializations of Chinese Journalism, International Journalism or Data and Media Communication. 

Students in the Journalism Major pursue studies in three major areas: (1) professional journalism, in which students learn the principles and skills of gathering, presenting, and producing news and current affairs; (2) the theoretical foundations of the profession, in which students develop a conceptual understanding of the profession and its role in society through legal, ethical, political, historical, economic and media communication theory courses; and (3) complementary studies of the relationship between broadcast or print or internet journalism and society as well as the way politics, government, business, and law operate in both local and international communities. In all these areas, emphasis is in Hong Kong and mainland China, with due attention to the international context in which both communities operate. 

Except for Data and Media Communication Concentration, all students are expected to undertake a professional internship during the summer following the third year. Students in each concentration will take elective courses in which to explore aspects of journalism in greater depth or to increase their knowledge of some specialized types of reporting. At the end of the programme, students integrate their conceptual and practical knowledge in their final year project. 

Chinese Journalism (CJ): CJ comprises the three “writing” courses, of which two are offered in Year 2, one is offered in Year 3. The two two-unit production courses in Year 2 help the students to develop professional news reporting and production skills with multimedia elements in multiplatform; the journalism practicum courses which run for at least two semesters from Year 3 to Year 4, provide the opportunity to put the resulting news gathering, reporting and editing skills into practice. At the same time students will undertake a conceptual course which stresses the theoretical aspects of journalism and its practice. Journalism Major Elective is provided, in Year 3, by which time we hope students will be qualified to make intelligent choices. Law and Ethics for Journalists is required in Year 3. The Honours Project (3 units) is taken in the final semester of the programme. 

International Journalism (IJ): IJ has the similar structure with CJ in terms of the writing, production and practicum courses are concerned. It follows the sequencing of writing, production, and practicum courses, and finishing with the Honours Project. Students will take one theoretical course in the second semester of Year 3 and 2 Major Elective Courses in Year 3. 

Every CJ or IJ student is required to take one stream out of the three choices: Broadcast Journalism (BJ), Financial Journalism (FJ) and General Stream. Students will take two Stream Required Courses and one stream practicum course in Year 3. Students who wish to specialise in traditional broadcast journalism will take News Anchoring, Advanced Broadcast Production and Investigative Reporting, and BJ practicum. Those who are interested in FJ will take two theoretical courses and a FJ practicum course. There are no specific courses in the General Stream. Students are required to select 6 units from the Major Electives (except BJ and FJ courses) and take one more practicum course of CJ or IJ Concentrations. 

Data and Media Communication (DMC): DMC aims to provide solid journalistic education and training with specialised data analytics to students, with set of courses jointly offered by the Department of Journalism and the Department of Computer Science. Students from the Department of Journalism will take two bridging courses offered by the Department of Computer Science in the first semester of Year 3. After laying the foundations of data science, students will take four concentration core courses, offered by the Department of Journalism and the Department of Computer Science in the second semester of Year 3 and the first semester of Year 4. Students will complete a final project and take a Concentration Elective Course in the final semester of the programme. Students will be able to make use of the data collected from various sources and analyze these data according to the journalistic practices to produce analytics, solutions and insights for media organizations and others connecting to the industry. DMC students do not need to take any streams due to the limited curriculum space. 

Requirements

 II. Major Courses 46 units
  Major Required Courses (22 units)  
  JOUR2005 Broadcast Reporting and Production 2 units
  JOUR2077 Chinese News Reporting and Writing 3 units
  JOUR2085 English News Reporting and Writing 3 units
  JOUR2086 Multiplatform Journalism 2 units
  JOUR2116 Finance and Economics for Journalists 3 units
  JOUR3137 Communication Theory 3 units
  JOUR3157 Law and Ethics for Journalists 3 units
  JOUR4007 Research Methods in Communication 3 units
  JOUR4015 Journalism Internship 0 unit
     
  Concentration Courses (18 units)   
  Chinese Journalism Concentration Required Courses  
  JOUR2046 Advanced Writing and Investigative Reporting (Chinese) 3 units
  JOUR3245 Journalism Practicum I (Chinese) 2 units
  JOUR3246 Journalism Practicum II (Chinese) 2 units
  JOUR4005 Theory and Practice of Journalism in Greater China 3 units
     
  Chinese Journalism Concentration – Broadcast Journalism Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR2095 Advanced Broadcast Production and Investigative Reporting 3 units
  JOUR3047 News Anchoring 3 units
  JOUR3265 Journalism Practicum (Broadcast) 2 units
     
  Chinese Journalism Concentration – Financial Journalism Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR3165 Unlocking Finance 3 units
  JOUR3166 Strategic Investments and Contemporary Economics 3 units
  JOUR3266 Journalism Practicum (Finance) 2 units
     
  Chinese Journalism Concentration – General Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR3247 Journalism Practicum III (Chinese) 2 units
  Two courses from the Major Elective Courses 6 units
     
  International Journalism Concentration Required Courses  
  JOUR2096 Advanced News and Feature Writing (English) 3 units
  JOUR3136 International News in a Globalized World 3 units
  JOUR3255 Journalism Practicum I (English) 2 units
  JOUR3256 Journalism Practicum II (English) 2 units
     
  International Journalism Concentration – Broadcast Journalism Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR2095 Advanced Broadcast Production and Investigative Reporting 3 units
  JOUR3047 News Anchoring 3 units
  JOUR3265 Journalism Practicum (Broadcast) 2 units
     
  International Journalism Concentration – Financial Journalism Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR3165 Unlocking Finance 3 units
  JOUR3166 Strategic Investments and Contemporary Economics 3 units
  JOUR3266 Journalism Practicum (Finance) 2 units
     
  International Journalism Concentration – General Stream Required Courses  
  JOUR3257 Journalism Practicum III (English) 2 units
  Two courses from the Major Elective Courses 6 units
     
  Data and Media Communication Concentration Required Courses  
  COMP2865 Fundamentals of Data Analysis and Management 3 units
  COMP3925 Data Analysis Studio 1 unit
  COMP4115 Exploratory Data Analysis and Visualization 3 units
  ITEC2016 Data-driven Visualization for the Web 3 units 
  JOUR3155 Investigative Reporting for Data and Media Communication 2 units
  JOUR4046 Integrated Data-driven Storytelling 3 units
     
  Data and Media Communication Concentration Elective Courses** 3 units
  COMP4015 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 3 units
  COMP4027 Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 3 units
  COMP4045 Human Computer Interaction 3 units
  COMP4075 Social Computing and Web Intelligence 3 units
  COMP4909 Data Media Project II 3 units
  COMP7930 Big Data Analytics 3 units
  JOUR2005 Broadcast Reporting and Production 2 units
  JOUR2086 Multiplatform Journalism 2 units
  JOUR2105 Visual Journalism 3 units
  JOUR3096 Current Affairs and News Analysis 3 units
  JOUR3115 Media Management 3 units
  JOUR4005 Theory and Practice of Journalism in Greater China 3 units
  ** And any course approved by the Department of Journalism and Department of Computer Science. 
     
  Major Elective Courses (6 units)  
  JOUR2046 Advanced Writing and Investigative Reporting (Chinese) 3 units
  JOUR2076 Data Journalism 3 units
  JOUR2095 Advanced Broadcast Production and Investigative Reporting 3 units
  JOUR2096 Advanced News and Feature Writing (English) 3 units
  JOUR2097 Advanced News and Feature Writing (Finance) 3 units
  JOUR2105 Visual Journalism 3 units
  JOUR2106 Data Visualization 3 units
  JOUR3016 Political Economy for Journalists 3 units
  JOUR3046 Critical Comparative Studies of News Media Systems 3 units
  JOUR3047 News Anchoring 3 units
  JOUR3057 Finance and Investment 3 units
  JOUR3075 Economics for Financial Journalists 3 units
  JOUR3077 Magazine Design and Editing 3 units
  JOUR3085 Media Transformation and Institutional Change in Historical Perspective 3 units
  JOUR3095 Business and Financial News Reporting 3 units
  JOUR3096 Current Affairs and News Analysis 3 units
  JOUR3097 Current Hong Kong Issues for Communicators 3 units
  JOUR3105 Current Issues in Journalism 3 units
  JOUR3106 Images of Media in Popular Culture 3 units
  JOUR3107 Media Development in Global Perspective 3 units
  JOUR3115 Media Management 3 units
  JOUR3117 News Translation 3 units
  JOUR3125 Strategic Television Communication 3 units
  JOUR3126 Visual Literacy: Critical Appreciation of Photos 3 units
  JOUR3135 Analytical and Opinion Writing 3 units
  JOUR3136 International News in a Globalized World 3 units
  JOUR3145 Investigative Reporting (Chinese) 3 units
  JOUR3146 Investigative Reporting (English) 3 units
  JOUR3147 Investigative Reporting (Finance) 3 units
  JOUR3165 Unlocking Finance 3 units
  JOUR3166 Strategic Investments and Contemporary Economics 3 units
  JOUR3205 Convergence Editing (Broadcast) 3 units
  JOUR3215 Convergence Editing (Chinese) 3 units
  JOUR3225 Convergence Editing (English) 3 units
  JOUR3235 Convergence Editing (Finance) 3 units
  JOUR3275 Immersive Journalism 3 units
  JOUR3276 Data Story Laboratory I 3 units
  JOUR3277 Data Story Laboratory II 3 units
  JOUR4005 Theory and Practice of Journalism in Greater China 3 units
  JOUR4017 China Reporting and Writing 3 units
  JOUR4025 Critical Studies of Media 3 units
  JOUR4045 Entrepreneurial Journalism 3 units
     
III. Honours Project 3 units
  Chinese Journalism Concentration  
  JOUR4865 Honours Project in Chinese Journalism 3 units
     
  International Journalism Concentration  
  JOUR4885 Honours Project in International Journalism 3 units
     
  Data and Media Communication Concentration  
  COMP4908 Data Media Project I 3 units
     
VI. Free Electives 36 units

 

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