1996 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

Recommended reading
Barr, T. The Electronic Estate New Communications Media and
Australia. Ringwood, Penguin Books, 1985
Barr, T. (ed.). Challenges and Change Australia's Information
Society. Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1987
Brand, S. The Media Lab., New York, Penguin Books, 1988
Forester, T. (ed.), The Information Technology Revolution. Oxford,
Basil ~lackw;11,'1985
Reinecke, I. Connecting You ..., Ringwood, Penguin Books 1985
Roszak, T. The Cult of Information, New York, Pantheon Books,
1986
AM404 Writing for the Media
3 hours per week Hawthorn Prequisite: nil
Assessment: production of a script, exercises and seminar
participation.
A subject in the Graduate Diploma in Writing
Objectives and Content
This subject involves the practice of writing for specific
purposes within different sectors of the media: news reports,
feature stories, press releases, advertorials, community press
and in-house releases, and documentaries. It will take a case
study approach which analyses the strategies and
& conventions utilised by different media to common subject
U.
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matter. Students will also be expected to produce original
material for different media, and to reflect theoretically on
the implications of different media production on issues of
8.
F reception and comprehension.
Recommended reading
Ong, W. Orality and Literacy: The Tecbnologizing of the Word.
London, Metheun, 1982
Swinbune Radio Production Notes, 1990, Hawthorn, Vic.,
Swinburne Press, 1990
White. S.A. Rmrtinp in Australia. Melbourne, Macmillan, 1991
~indschuttle,'~. a& E. Writing, Research, Communicating.
Commtrnication Skillsfor the Information Age. 2nd edn, Sydney,
McGraw-Hill, 1994
AM406 Community Press Process and
Production
4 hours per week Hawthorn Prequisite: nil
Assessment: class exercises, sub-editing and layout, team
publication project and individual newsletter
A subject in the Graduate Diploma in Writing
Objectives and Content
This subject examines a range of publications which serve
specific community or special interest information needs.
The subject has both a theoretical and a practical
orientation. There are two main areas of study: the tradition
of community press in Australia, including suburban and
regional newspapers, and the impact of new technology on
the evolution of publications such as newsletters and special
interest magazines and the production of newsletters using
the PageMaker desktop publishing package.
Recommended reading
Davis, A. Magazine Joumlisrn Today. Oxford, Buttenvorth-
Heinemann, 1992
Evans, H. Editing and Design. Book Two: Handling Newspaper
Text. London, Heinemann, 1983
Harrower, T. The Newspaper Designer's Handbook. 2nd edn,
Dubuque, Iowa, W.C. Brown, 1992
Media Information Australia, selected articles
AM408 Scriptwriting
4 hours per week Hawthorn Prerequisite: Completion of
two semester subjects Assessment: weekly submitted scenes
and final project
A subject in the Graduate Diploma in Writing.
Objectives
Students will develop a proposal into script form.
Students will develop skills in the processes of writing up
guidelines and making grant applications.
Content
In this subject students will develop a proposal into script
form. A series of workshop exercises will explore the nature
of the dramatic script and its application in different fields
such as radio, film, television and theatre. The course places
emphasis on the importance of the development phase in
shaping the idea and of working with criticism from both
peers and practitioners. In exploring the particulariteis of
each medium, students will deal with the "business of
writing", working with processes such as writing to
guidelines and making a grant application.
Recommended reading
Field, S, Screenplay. New York, Dell, 1987
Sign, L, Making a Good Script Great. New York, Dodd, Mead and
CO, 1987
Campbell, J. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. London. Abacus,
1975
Pearson, C. 'Ihe Hem Wthin. San Francisco, Harper Collins, 1989
AM500 Globalisation: Media and
Telecommunications
Objectives and Content
This subject examines the international market, policy and
cultural trends in many fields of communications, with
special attention to broadcasting, cinema, and
telecommunications industries. It will examine many
complex forces for chahge, particularly the increasing
international trend towards privatisation, megaamalgamation,
liberalisation and deregulation. Special
attention will be given to debates about international
networking, cultural imperialism and globalisation,
especially for television and cinema. Contemporary policy
debates about the future of broadcasting, and the complex
issues involved in the introduction of new communications
technologies and about the associated institutional pressures,
especially on public broadcasters, will be highlighted.
This subject also examines various schools of thought and
practices of industry innovation and development in the
context of information industries - telecommunications and
information technology. It will analyse the last decade of
Australia's information industry policy under Labor,
especially research and development policy, the Partnerships
For Development program, IDAs, export enhancement and