JOUR 430 – Writing For The Media In Italy
Credits: 3
Instructor: Lorenzo Picchi, Ph.D.
Description
This course follows two parallel and complementary paths: firstly, it introduces students to the history of the Italian media system and journalism, tracing their evolution from the Fascist period to the present day by focusing on the roles played by the radio, cinema, TV, and — more recently — the internet; secondly, it examines the main writing styles in journalism and the fundamental aspects of media ethics.
Students also develop their skills in critiquing existing media writing. Finally, through this course, they will have the opportunity to publish articles in the local monthly newspaper, Florence News.
The course is taught through a combination of formal lectures and workshops. The lectures provide a broad outline of the respective period, while the workshops enable students to focus on key topics or themes and learn the fundamental aspects of news writing.
Objectives and Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
– Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the ways Italian media and specifically Italian journalism vs. other national contexts.
– Demonstrate an ability to produce effective media stories and reflect on this process.
– Deliver work with limited supervision, thus showing their capacity to use different research methodologies and critical thinking skills.
– Demonstrate the ability to use effective interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills to adapt to a series of non-routine performance tasks by using information communication technology.
– Students should be able to demonstrate their ability to structure information on a chosen topic and do so in a journalistic way.
Course descriptions may be subject to occasional minor modifications at the discretion of the instructor.