Model curricula for journalism education for developing countries ...

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Week 21
Seminar and workshop: Oral presentation and discussion of the third special report
on a political party campaign or a candidate campaign. Reading for week 22: Fox
(2001), Levin (2000), and Stein (2006).
Week 22
Lecture: Event coverage. Types of political events. Elections, conventions, meetings,
speeches, press conferences. Following the news, following the candidate, following
the officials. Actors, messages, gestures, audiences, political environment.
One event, different point of views. News judgment. Critical analysis of political
implications. Assignment: coverage of a press conference held as a part of a political
campaign. Explanation of the fourth special report (due in week 30): students will
conduct a 2500-word investigative report about financing an election. They will
work in teams of three members each. Students will find out the public and private
sources of an specific political campaign, as well as the fundraising techniques used
by a political party or a candidate. Reading for week 23: Cook (1998), McNair (2000),
Fox (2001), Levin (2000), and Stein (2006).
Week 23
Lecture: Sources of information. Classification. Material sources of information:
archives, documents, statistics, press releases, newsletters, video tapes, papers.
Human sources of information: bureaucrats, politicians, entourage, spokesmen,
informers, advisors. How to deal with sources of information. Techniques.
Information to be published, information for further research. Seminar: practice of
managing information (provided by the teacher) from different sources. Reading for
week 24: Cook (1998), Levin (2000), and Stein and Burnett (2006).
Week 24
Lecture: Sources of information and levels of political information. Political interests
of sources of information. Favorable, unfavorable, official and technical sources of
political information. Building a trusting relationship with sources of information.
Quotations, differences and purposes. On the record and off the record in a political
environment. Information with undefined origins. Avoiding the role of political
messenger. Seminar: practice of gauging political information (provided by the
teacher) from different sources. Reading for week 25: The AP Stylebook (2006), The
Chicago Style Guide (2003), Kuhn and Neveu (2002) and McNair (2000).
Week 25
Lecture: Processing information. How and where to gather political information.
Fighting for keeping the agenda initiative. Developing story ideas. Checking,
balancing and providing a framework for political information. Methods of ensuring