STUDENT RESOURCES
Introduction to IJP Class
Intructions for Students
Report Instructions
Reflective Essay Instructions
Sample Report and Reflective Essay
Download Agreement Form for Students
Case Resources for Student Download
INTRODUCTION TO INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM CLASS:
Welcome to the Investigative Journalism class and the IJP site.
The detailed Class Handbook will be distributed in class in forthcoming weeks. In the meantime, I thought you might benefit from this downloadable little guide to the class itself, to get you started thinking about the subject; the class; and some of the tasks which lie ahead.
1. Module: The module will be taught over 12 weeks via a one hour class lecture and then followed up by workshops which will last 1-2 hours depending on areas of the course at that point.
2. Lectures: These will be taught using a mix of traditional lecture techniques; Power-Point presentations; DVDs; and online web resources. Attendance is strongly advised.
3. Speakers: It’s planned to have two visitors for this class: both are respected journalists based in the UK who specialise in investigative journalism.
4. Assessment: details of the assessments will be handed out in class. Following last year’s model, the assessments will probably consist of two main elements: a major essay in the first half of the course on a theme specified by the class leader; and a Report and Reflective Essay (worth 70% and 30% of marks respectively) handed out in the second half of the semester. The latter will be based on a real, ongoing alleged miscarriage of justice case. Details and instructions for this will all be placed in the IJP site in due course. You must follow guidelines placed there and use the site as your starting point and resource centre from that point onwards.
5. Set Texts: This is not a text heavy class – but three books are required from the outset: (a) De Burgh, Hugo (2000) Investigative Journalism, Context and Practice, Routledge. (b) Spark, David (1999) Investigative reporting: A Study In Technique. Focal press. (c) Bernstein, Carl; Woodward, Bob (2005) All the President’s Men. Bloomsbury Film Classics.
6. Handouts: Will be available in class and on this site. It’s important you collect these as early as possible.
7. Documents: Important documents will be placed on this site for use in the class project. Please treat these with the care and respect one would expect professional journalists to extend. Examples of the kind of documents used in the Gilbert case during last semester are available on this site at the moment. New documents dealing with a new case will be available here soon in a reserved area of the site which will be password protected and only accessible to Napier students and the class leader.
8. Examples for Download on the Site: (please see 4 – above): Two examples of students’ work from last semester is available on this site. These are simply to give you an idea of the standard of work you should aim for; an indication of the kind of detail you should work towards in your own assessments; and a blueprint of what the shape of your assessment should be like. Feel free to download them, examine them, argue about them and generally use them as a a starting point for your own work projects.
I hope you find the class – and the resources on this site – useful and enlightening.
Eamonn O’Neill.
All students in the Investigative Journalism (IJ) class must:
1. Download all relevant documents:
Please use, in particular, the following Herald Mag investigation into the Gilbert case by Eamonn O'Neill, as a starting point and context research.
Also download the agreement form:
Ray Gilbert Case Study Agreement Form
2. Make sure they have the relevant material with then in class for use on designated days (see class handbook distributed in class).
3. Follow REPORT guidelines set out below and follow REFLECTIVE ESSAY guidelines set out below.
4. IMPORTANT NOTE: Students may work in self-selecting groups; work tasks may be divided up within these groups to target specific areas for the projects; however, all final pieces of work must be individually written even if students share results of their investigations.
• This class is assessed via a formal Report document which should be between 1500-2000 words in length.
• This document should be written as a formal and professional Memo to Editor. Its aim is twofold: firstly, to convey to the editor your evaluation of the material you’ve examined and indicate whether you think this case is worth investigating; secondly, to display a solid understanding of the aims of investigative journalism and present a strong analysis of the existing material as well as a sure sense of where you see the investigation going in the future.
• Included in this Report should be: Student Name and Number; Date; Class Leader’s name.
• Also included in report should be: Breakdown of material examined; aims of report; What you have discovered in the documents which leads you to conclude there are – or indeed are not – and justification in Gilbert’s claims of innocence.
• Extra marks will be awarded for original thinking; original approaches in terms of examining unexpected areas of this case; impressive use of material and resources; implementing robust and aggressive reporting techniques which still stay within industry standards; anyone who engages in research which produces fresh evidence.
• This should be between 500-750 words in length.
• Students should reflect in their work what they feel the positive and negative aspects of the IJ class have been?
• They should mention their attitudes about IJ in practical and theoretical terms?
• They should explain how they felt being involved in a real case as part of the coursework?
SAMPLE REPORT AND REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Special Note for Students:
The following is a sample Report and Reflective Essay by Napier student Mark McLaughlin, who participated in the initial Napier investigative journalism module.
Please pay special attention to the following:
- Current students should follow this as a template for new assignments and assessments.
- In the sample presented here, Mark chose to style his Report after a typical News Feature article in both structure and content. Other students followed class instructions - which I intentionally left 'loose' to encourage some creativity - and adhere to a 'Memo to Editor' style.
- The main question to consider when deciding what style to present your Report is to ask: 'What style would best serve the information I want to convey and does it showcase my writing ability well?'
- The Reflective Essay was again left 'loose' in terms of approach and style. Its central aim is to ask students to think carefully about the educational journey they've undertaken in both the case and their experiences working on a real case.
- The samples below from Mark McLaughlin chose to focus heavily on the use of a 'real' case in the class which is also taught by a practicing journalist. Students can choose other areas to focus on. Marie Crosta's 'take' on the class was highly positive and flattering (!) not all students felt this way and some more sober comments and suggestions were included in their 'reflective' work.
- More sample material will be added in due course to reflect the diverse approaches and range of areas students chose to focus on.
Below are links to some of the Students work: