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• city: module 2

Year 2 Specialism

• Module 2: Business Journalism
• Location: City University London
• Professor: Roger Jeal
• Duration: 10 weeks
• Credits: 10 ECTS

Overview

This module is taught by Roger Jeal, a business journalism lecturer, editor and English teacher who was a correspondent and desk editor at Reuters for 27 years (mainly in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Hong Kong and Sydney). Roger has reported and edited news on a wide range of business/economic issues including stock markets, company news, bond markets, money markets and central banks, government budgets/finances and commodities. He has taught journalists from 94 countries, including those from newspapers, magazines, online news, radio and television.

This course will give students a broad understanding of all major aspects of business journalism and media. More specifically, it will:

• build on the other modules taught at City to give students an overview of the business sector, focussing on its relevance and importance to individuals;
• give students an understanding of the scope and nature of the business media. This will include the national, international and regional press, specialist and trade titles, wires and news agencies, radio and TV, and new media;
• give students an understanding of how news is communicated to journalists, how stories are covered, the challenges faced by business journalists, the changing nature of business journalism, and how business stories are covered in the mainstream media.

Indicative Syllabus

1. Financial journalism and sources of stories
2. Debt and banks; Writing news
3. Investment; Writing features and profiles
4. Regulating and protecting; Writing for a specialist audience and for the trade press
5. Economics; Online journalism
6. Housing; TV and Radio
7. Scandal and fraud ; Blog/ interactive journalism
8. Pensions; Leader Writing/ blogs/ op-eds
9. Field Trip
10. Financial PR

Learning Outcomes

Subject Knowledge & Understanding

• How to write copy for business pages.
• Understand how business works within a European context and globally, from SMEs to transnational corporations; how their activities are reported and interpreted.
• Have knowledge of structure, balance and narrative in business stories, and of the kinds of information which need to be acquired and included by the proficient journalist. Understand the role of journalism and the journalist in the business context.
• How to interpret balance sheets and other business documents.

Subject Specific Skills

• Produce copy in English to publishable standard.
• Develop interviewing skills with a wide range of stories and covering complex issues.
• Manage the implications of practical, operational and ethical dilemmas in the specific area and work to produce solutions.

Typical Methods of Assessment

Coursework is assessed on a regular basis using the Department’s standard tests of publishability, and there is a final time-constrained assessment exercise. All work (whether individual or in groups) stresses meeting deadlines and encourages a critical, reflective approach.

Indicative Reading List

1. Gerber, David, Global Competition: Law, Markets and Globalization, Oxford University Press, 2009
2. Sharma, Shalendra D., China and India in the Age of Globalization, Cambridge University Press, 2009
3. Harcup, Tony, Journalism: Principles and Practice, Sage, 2009
4. Starkey, Guy and Crisell, Andrew, Radio Journalism (Journalism Studies: Critical Texts), Sage, 2009
5. Roush, Chris,Profits and Losses: Business Journalism and Its Role in Society, Marion Street Press, 2006
6. The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and The Economist regularly.