Curricular Unit:Code:
Specialized Journalism III: Compared Investigative Journalism793JES3
Year:Level:Course:Credits:
1MasterCommunication Sciences (Journalism)6 ects
Learning Period:Language of Instruction:Total Hours:
Portuguese/English78
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
By fostering the study of paradigmatic works in investigative journalism students are invited to move from a more cognitive level, peculiar to the 1st cycle, to a more in-depth hermeneutics, which is more compatible with the demands of the 2ndcycle of studies.
To sum up, it is the aim of this curricular unit to guide the students, so that they can acquire an overview of the value and social, political, ethical and moral implications of the revelations provided by investigative journalism, as well as to prepare them for professional settings where this area of newswriting work takes place. Thus, writing skills and methods are improved and expanded, which will allow students to carry out more demanding journalistic work.
Syllabus:
1. Investigation journalism and democracy
2. Investigation journalism and freedom of expression
3. The issue of sources and the concept of objectivity
4. Notions of “truth”, “post truth”, “fake news”, “alternative facts”, the dangers for journalism and the value of research.
5. Crisis, certainty, uncertainty and hope in journalism: new research paradigms.
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
The programatic contents pinpoint the importance of a theme which still has very little academic research, but which has great social relevance. The module will justify the research journalistic sphere, considering the ethical, moral and political implications. It will also stand out paradigmatic examples and one proposes the revaluation of key concepts of the journalistic practice, such as “objectivity”. It is also proposed the comparative analysis of references in this specialised area of journalism. Using this approach methods and technics to be applied to research journalism will be identified. Also, these stand out social consequences arisen from the content dissemination that reveal public interest secrets and discuss the role of the “sources”. The aspects taught on this module give intellectual conditions and procedures that allow the student to set himself in the perspective of the research journalist, evaluating the impact of editorial decisions, identifying themes with potent
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Exams, projects and oral presentations
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
The adopted methodologies focus on the contente analysis and on the explanation of concepts related to the theory of news, which allow one to back up and justify research and its strategic value regarding the media. These articulate exposition, induction and deduction, and develop the right conditions for the student to acquire and back up a consistent perspective about the value of research in journalism. This is a fundamental approach aimed at preparing the student for the professional course in this area of communication.
Reading:
Hersh, Seymour M. (2020) Reporter: A Memoir, Penguin Books Ltd, London
Mascarenhas, Óscar; Detetive historiador, (2016) Ética e Jornalismo de Investigação, Âncora Editora, Lisboa
Mouriquand, Jacques, O jornalismo de investigação, Ed. Inquérito, Lisboa, 2002
BFP 070/MOU/48563
Rancière, J; O ódio à democracia, Mareantes editora, Lisboa, 2006
Mesquita, Mário O quarto Equívoco, Minerva, Coimbra, 2003
Ferrucci, Patrick; “The End of Ombudsmen? 21st-Century Journalism and Reader Representative” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 96 2019 b-on
Warburton, N. Liberdade de expressão, Gradiva, Lisboa, 2015
Wemple, Erik; “I don't know who gave you that': Trump cheapens investigative journalism”; The Washington Post. Feb 20, 2019, b-on