Programme Convenor: Tim Crook

Production Courses - Detailed Descriptions

Radio Journalism (Autumn, Spring and Summer)

Tutors: Nikki Townley, Heather Bond, and Tim Crook.

Course requires radio journalism vocational placement throughout the year, preferably during vacation time. These can be organised through the Broadcast Journalism Training Council, and the BBC with advice from the Radio Tutor, but primarily as a result of student initiative. BBC newsroom placements are achieved through on-line application using BJTC course link on BBC Work Experience page.

Because the field is competitive with other courses no news editor is going to seriously consider a student for internship unless a professionally produced CV and show-case cassette/mini-disc of radio journalism are provided.  The students must use their own initiative to preserve qualitative work produced during the Radio Journalism teaching days to contribute to their ‘show-case reel’ for distribution to news editors.

The overall purpose of this 25 session course is to vocationally train the students to be able to survive as radio journalists in an industry, which is orientated to mainly news reporter induction. The students are obliged to take up three weeks of vocational placement in a radio editorial environment preferably within the year of the course. Consideration is given to professional work and internship undertaken prior to the course and after it.

Broadcast Journalism Training Council recognition means that half the students are eligible for placement in BBC newsroom and half are eligible to take up placements in independent radio newsrooms. Because of the intensive and comprehensive range of course components it is recommended that placements are organised for the Christmas and Spring vacations.  There are 10 sessions during the Autumn term held on Mondays during term-time excluding monitoring week. 5 sessions are held on the first five Mondays of the Spring term which is a national and international radio journalism course run by Heather Bond. There will be a further two news days run by Nikki Townley and Tim Crook in the newsroom with half hour rolling news sequences held on the first two Tuesdays of the Spring term. Eight sessions are held on the first two days of the first four weeks of the Summer term during which the students are assessed for the BJTC accreditation.

The Autumn course concentrating on Local Radio Journalism is taught by Nikki Townley and Tim Crook, with two further news days on the first two Tuesdays of the Spring term. The Spring term sessions concentrating on National and International techniques of radio journalism are taught on the first five Mondays by Heather Bond assisted by Tim Crook.
The course tutor also provides radio journalism skills training sessions on Wednesday mornings during the Spring term between 9 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. These concentrate primarily on news presentation for bulletins and news programmes.

The 8 sessions held in the Summer term will consist of news-days covering local, national and international stories.

Each student will be obliged to produce and present rolling half hour self-drive news sequences for assessment, and submit one portfolio consisting of a minimum of two and maximum of three radio news roles/products originated for any of the newsdays. The submission of radio news roles involves a leading editorial role in the news days such as Programme Editor, News Editor, Half hour sequence presenter or half hour news producer. The news products consist primarily of news programme pieces demonstrating depth and technique in radio news origination and reporting.

Areas covered

What is the story? Sources of information. Processes of news origination. News intake resources. Finding and securing the story. Methods of filing. Radio news products: Introduction to The news copy story. Actuality or the News Cut. The Voice Report, The News Wrap. The Q/A. The news programme piece.
Investigative techniques of news origination. Evaluating townscape and geography.  Lateral sources of intelligence.
Methods of journalistic interviewing: Interrogative, inquisitive, oblique information gathering, approaching bereaved people, interviewing ‘victims’, dealing with aggressive authority.
Radio Journalism and risk assessment. Covering demonstrations and civil disorder. Covering violent conflict, civil war and conventional wars between states.
Covering Local and Central Government.  Using the Internet for research and background.
Covering the Legal system. Covering Non government organizations (NGOS).
Covering the business world and finance.  Covering trade unions and industry.
The journalists' notebook. The contacts file. Establishing liaison with public emergency services, local authorities, quangos, pressure groups, political parties, and commerce. The forward planning file: Amiplan. The Press Association and Agence France Press. News service computer bulletin boards. Cuttings and CD ROM. Using the library.
News-desk operations. Copy tasting, copy writing, writing news from telephone contacts and check-calls. Writing from press releases. Packaging of networked services. Evaluation and re-writing of news wires. Packaging of background reports. Compilation of news bulletins and news programmes. Structure of editorial command. News Editor, Bulletin Editor, Intake Editor, and news desk operator. Coping with the pressure of deadlines.
Radio News Presentation. Methods of interpretation. Skills drills. Pacing and Phrasing. Vocalisation of authority and emotion. The Personality and the Voice.
Defining and operating roles of leadership and responsibility: Radio News Editor, Radio News Programme Producer, Radio News Forward Planning, Radio News programming studio management, Radio News Reporting, Radio News Presentation.
Ethical issues specific to radio news.
Exercising editorial judgment in terms of cultural horizons: Local markets and constituencies, the marketing profile, national markets and constituencies, international markets and constituencies. Constructing audience as the audience constructs you.

Additional Support teaching

Operational skills training is undertaken by Studio manager Keith Waghorn on Wednesday afternoons during the Autumn term.
Voice presentation for radio news and other radio journalism skills training is undertaken by Tim Crook on Wednesday mornings 9 to 10.30 during the Spring term.
Speech and voice presentation classes are taken by Anita Elias in group sessions by arrangement throughout the year.

Learning Tips

1. It is important to maintain a consistent application to skills acquisition. It is recommended that you allocate time to work on voice presentation, writing and news and current affairs knowledge each day. Handout exercises and drills are provided during the course.
2. The key to developing as a journalist/researcher is acquiring and maintaining your contacts file. Every contact you make on every kind of story builds up your personal intelligence file on a wide range of subjects and issues. 
3. Be prepared to make mistakes and learn from them. The professional radio journalist anticipates what can go wrong in terms of technical operation and makes realistic decisions to achieve the art of the possible. Do not be afraid of redoing interviews that have not recorded properly and being humble if things have not gone well. 
4. You need to be brave and bold in over-coming inhibitions and any residual shyness in contacting and approaching people who are strangers to you. After continual practice you will discover that 9 out of 10 people are pleased to speak to you and social interaction as a journalist is an enjoyable and fulfilling process. 
5. You need to develop a thick skin to deal with prejudice and fear of speaking to journalists that arises on occasion.  
6. Confidence building is achieved by persistence, discipline and a sense of humour.  
7. The effective journalist never gives up in the pursuit of the story.
8. It is important to learn how to control stress and to channel it constructively to achieve good performance and qualitative content. Never allow any sense of internal panic to transmit to your interviewees or colleagues involved in live programme production.     

The Creative Radio Course

(Autumn, Spring and Summer)

10 sessions in Autumn Term on Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. with Alan Hall.
5 weekdays during the second half of the Spring term on Mondays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. with Alan Hall.  Alan will provide 2 days of tutorials during the first half of the Spring term on a weekday to be arranged.
The Summer term will involve one full day of tutorials with Tim Crook on Mondays and Tuesday, and the students will be supported in the completion of their final production by technical staff on the other weekdays for which office hour access  (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is provided).
The MA course seeks to enable the students to experiment and explore the medium of radio while utilising the substantial developments in digital technology in recent years. The students are expected to learn creative sound production techniques, the principles of story telling and be able to decide the appropriate genre and method for creative expression for their programmes. The course work assignments concentrate on two programme pieces. The first will be 5 minutes duration and the second 10 minutes duration.  The course is designed to prepare students for the research and production of the final programme (15 minutes in duration), which comprises of the largest proportion of marking for the Radio MA.

Creative Radio Course themes

Portable recording units: Cassette, and digital technology. Unidirectional, omni-directional and stereo microphones. Interviewing practice in the College and local community.
Editing in radio. The principles of editorial achievement. Editing as a preliminary exercise. The Mission to Explain. Determining edited notions before interviewing. Analogue techniques. Speed, accuracy and ethics. Peer standards. Creative potential of subversive approaches to editing. Risks of distortion and propagandising. The creative dynamics of the imagination in radio.
Directions of narrative communication and understanding. Dramatic and communicative Purposes of streams of sound:
The Word.
Music.
Sound effects.
Actuality and post-modern sampling of archive and previously communicated human expression.
The imagination of the listener.
Introduction to multi-tracking. Creative juxtaposition. Mood. Conflicts in parallel streams of sound communication.
The tradition of narrative. Story-telling through sound. Action and performance through sound. The first minute is crucial. Characterisation in radio drama. Imperatives of the writer. Plot structure and development. Changing character through plot and story-line. Sub-plots and ancillary narratives.
Evaluating scripts. The critique. Sound Design. Use of sound effects and music. Location recording. Use of the studio. Appropriate allocation of microphones. Fundamentals of directing. Casting appropriately. Handling the actors.
The dynamics of entertainment and communication in the short feature. Structure and development of content. Application of the values of variety, strong, charismatic character, the opening gambit, and the employment of narrative tags. Models in six minute feature production: BBC Radio Four, Commercial radio, US public radio, and Music format pacing.
The use of music in the short feature. Montage construction. Sound Art/Ars Acoustica and the avant-garde in radio. The creative purpose in surreal and non-naturalistic sound. The design of the stereo field.
Echo and sound processing applications. Post-modernist editing. Repetition and reversal.
Applications in digital multi-track production. One software system will be taught:  WaveEdit with an opportunity to learn SADiE.

Media Law and Ethics.  (Autumn and Spring)

For the MA Practice Programmes: Radio, Journalism and Television Journalism.
Course Structure
The Course will be taught by a series of 10 core lectures. Nine by the course tutor, one by Angela Phillips.
Autumn term.
Course convenor: Tim Crook.
Core lectures on Tuesday evenings between 4 p.m. and   5.30 p.m.
Course will also be supported by interactive exercises, digital hand-outs and course materials provided on CD-Rom and the resource at learn.gold.ac.uk.
Spring Term.
Revision sessions to prepare for the 3 hour unseen examination on Wednesday evenings Between 5 and 7 p.m. during the first 5 weeks of the term.
Emailed updates on developments in media law and ethics will continue throughout the year.
The content of the lectures is provisional. Subjects are likely to be moved around to adapt to contemporary developments in case law and legislative changes.
Core Lectures 

Lecture One. Tim Crook.
The Historical Development of Media Law. Religious and Philosophical roots of controlling the dissemination of information. Social and political development of customs and laws relating to communication. Plato, Aristotle, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Cynicism, Judeo-Christian ethics, Utilitarianism, Baruch Spinoza, Emanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Subjectivism and Objectivism. Understanding Natural Law, Positivist Law, Rights Law, Critical and Racial Legal Studies, and the significance of feminist theory in relation to media jurisprudence.

Lecture Two.  Tim Crook.
Introduction to Defamation law and Contempt Issues. Definitions. Explanations. Case Law. Defences in defamation. Contempt for journalists and their defences. Recent developments in statutory concepts and precedents such as ‘Innocent Dissemination’ (1996) and the House of Lords ruling in ‘Turkington’(2000). Analysing the development of the UK ‘Reynolds’ defence and its comparison with the US Supreme Court case of Sullivan v New York Times. Libel and politics as illustrated by the death of Dr David Kelly and the Hutton Enquiry and the case of George Galloway MP v Daily Telegraph. Comparing UK Libel Law with US Libel Law.

Lecture Three.  Angela Phillips.
Ethical Judgements and Professional Codes for Media Practitioners. BBC Producer's Guidelines.UK Ofcom code regulating television and radio content. Taste and decency in broadcasting and print. Regulating privacy for print and broadcast journalists. The operation of the Press Complaints Commission and its code of ethics.

Lecture Four. Tim Crook.
State Security and Secrecy. Confidence and injunctions. Information as property and commodification. Confidentiality and the administration of justice. Confidentiality and criminal investigations. Confidentiality and National Security. Analysing key Official Secrets Act prosecutions: Jonathan Aitken, the ABC trial, Sarah Tisdell, Clive Ponting, David Shayler, and Katherine Gunn. The influence of the intelligence agencies and espionage on notions of media freedom. Censorship in the ‘global war on terrorism.’

Lecture Five. Tim Crook.
Media Ethics debates. Media Ethicology and Media Jurisprudence and Journalistic belief systems. The tension between idealism and materialism. The relevance of moral consequentialism and the role of the journalist as courtier. The course will also evaluate three significant case histories exploring legal, cultural and ethical issues relevant to journalistic conduct: The case and trial of black anti-Slavery activist Robert Wedderburn- accused of blasphemy and seditious libel. The case and trial of campaigning editor W. T. Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette. The case and trial of  Emile Zola and ‘J’accuse’- resisting the forces of Anti-Semitism.
 

Lecture Six.   Tim Crook
Privacy. Comparison between USA and UK. Historical development of the legal concept. Analysis of case histories: Naomi Campbell v Daily Mirror Group. Impact of European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. The development of UK privacy through primary and secondary law. The role of moral panics in galvanizing the ideology of privacy. Equivocating the trump card in civil and constitutional rights.

Lecture Seven.    Tim Crook.
The Media Law of Japan, India and France. Distinctions and comparisons between the defamation, contempt and privacy laws. The cultural and social contexts. Modern developments in libel, contempt and statutory media law controls.

Lecture Eight.  Tim Crook
The Legal Problematizing of Journalism. Justice and fairness in media law. Other restrictions in the media field: Children and Young Persons. The complainants of Sexual Offences.  The social implications of applying secrecy to Family court proceedings. The efficacy of providing media protection to witnesses and other participants in the legal process. Justifying and questioning anonymity. The implications of ‘In Camera’ hearings and secret judicial processes.  Legal pressures applied to publications in terms of broadcasting, book publication and Internet output. 

Lecture Nine.  Tim Crook.
Human Rights and International Law for Journalists. Debates over the implications of the 1998 UK Human Rights Act. Journalism and the Geneva Convention. The construction of rights and duties for journalists. The ethics and laws of journalism in war. Defining, evaluating and prosecuting the notions of ‘Information Terrorism’ and ‘Hate Journalism.’ The ethics of propaganda for journalists.

Lecture Ten. Tim Crook.
International Comparisons.  Global issues in Media Law and Ethics. The Roman-Dutch model for defamation. Issues of Freedom of Expression.  Human Rights and (In)Human Wrongs.  Contrasting values over communication that ‘interferes’  with the administration of justice. Case histories: Michael Fagan, Bruno Hauptmann and O.J. Simpson. Liminal events in the prejudicing of criminal trials: The Leo Frank case USA 1913, Hawley Harvey Crippen UK 1912.

There are two key course textbooks:
‘Media Ethics and Laws- Power with Responsibility’ and
‘Crook’s Media Law- Practice, Theory and International Perspectives.’ Both are expected to be published by Kultura Press in 2006/2007 and have been written specifically for this course. They include the necessary learning and reading materials. The second book provides the context of public administration and constitution setting out the functions of legislature, executive, and judiciary. In this way you will be provided the overall institutional, political and social frameworks in which media laws are developed and applied. A CD Rom specially produced for the course offers you teaching and learning materials that are interactive and illustrated.  These back up the content of the lecture programme and also contain other useful digital texts to support your learning.

Excellent supplementary and background reading can be achieved by borrowing or purchasing:
McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists (18th Edition, edited by Tom Welch and Walter Greenwood) Oxford: Oxford University Press in July/July 2005)
Reputations Under Fire by David Hooper (2000) London: Warner Books.
Law and the Media by Tom Crone (4th Edition 2002, edited by Alberstart, Cassels, and Overs) London: Focal Press.
Media Law (4th Edition 2002) by Andrew Nicol and Geoffrey Robertson: Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

The course also requires you to visit and report the UK legal system and structures of local, regional and national government.  While doing the course you should attend and produce journalistic copy from the following locations:

1. Magistrates Courts,
2. The Crown Court,
3. The Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand- for hearings of criminal and civil appeals, and a variety of High Court cases,
4. The Coroner’s court for inquests.
5. Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
6. Public enquiries.
7. Meetings of local authorities such as London Borough Councils, and the Greater London Assembly.
8. A visit to the Palace of Westminster to observe live hearings of the House of Commons, House of Lords, Commons select committees is recommended. In addition you should take any opportunity to view the BBC’s Parliamentary Digital television channel that relays live and pre-recorded sequences of these institutions.
9. Students from the UK nations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should also visit and attend assembly and parliamentary sessions in their respective capitals of Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.

Radio Studies- A Cultural Enquiry

(Autumn, Spring and Summer terms)

The History and Cultural Imperatives of Radio are explored in order to prepare the students for the 3-5,000 word Practice Theory essay. Seminars and handouts during the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms analyse a selection of topics and issues.
These sessions attempt to take an international approach to the cultural history and contemporary practice of radio drama, journalism, documentary, music programming and radio journalism.  The overall aim is to investigate how radio broadcasting institutions and the content of their programmes served the imagination of their host cultures and societies.

The course is built around a structure of Key concepts: Radio media language, Radio representation, Radio audience, Radio Ideology, Radio Institution, Radio Narrative and Radio genre.
Radio Media Language explores the following topics: Radio Audiences, Representations, Semiotics, Narratives and genres, Sound, Recording and Action, the Kinesics and Prosemics of Sounds, Deconstructing Radio/Sound and New Media, Radio Texts in Context.
Radio Media forms explores the following topics: Commercial Radio, Radio and Public Sector Broadcasting (PSB), Reality Radio, Radio Situation Comedy, Radio Soap Operas, Independent Radio Production, Mainstream Radio Drama, Radio Documentary, Radio Advertising and Marketing, Radio News Broadcasting.
Radio Media Issues explores the following topics: Effects theory, reception theory, uses and gratifications, narrative theory, representation and regulation, radio news values, radio audience profiling, radio advertising, radio and postmodernism, radio genre theory, radio star theory and auteurs, radio gender studies, radio Marxism, radio distribution and exhibition and radio pluralism.
Radio Media Debates explores radio documentary forms, radio censorship, radio media ownership, radio and globalisation, radio new media and the information society, radio cyberspace and identity, radio and popular music, radio crime and violence, radio politics and propaganda, radio sport and the radio media, and radio women.

The course textbook is ‘Radio Studies- A Cultural Enquiry’ that is expected to be published in 2007. The MA Radio CD-Rom provides detailed text and illustrative files to support the lecture topics. A DVD archive programme is also provided to give the students access to radio events and programmes broadcast in the past and present. These are all returnable in lieu of a deposit cheque of £20.

Course tutor:  Tim Crook.

The course consists of one and a half hour lecture/seminars held on Wednesday evenings between 5.30 p.m. and 7 p.m during the Autumn term and between 2 and 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons during the Spring term. These are some of the themes covered throughout the year:
Core topics:
Broadcasting House. The physical environment of radio production and culture. The link between architecture and cultural power in radio.
British Radio Journalism.  History and Cultural Issues.
US Radio Drama.  History and Cultural Issues.
BBC Radio Programming.  History and Cultural Issues.
News at Ten.  The nature of public sphere and its evolution in market economics.
The Radio Drama Debates of 1923-1935. Val Gielgud, R.E Jeffrey, Reginal Berkeley, Compton Mackenzie, Tyrone Guthrie, Lance Sieveking, Hilda Matheson, and Eric Maschwitz.
BBC Local Radio. History and Cultural Issues.
World Radio Drama. History and Cultural Issues.
BBC Radio. History and Cultural Issues.
Radio Biographies. Three men: Giles Cooper- radio playwright, Alistair Cooke- journalist and producer, Frank Gillard, journalist, executive and historian.
Desert Island Discs. The evolution of entertainment programming into an expression of  cultural credentialing and political emblematisation.
The Electrophone Age. The first wired sound network linking Victorian and Edwardian listeners with theatres, and opera houses. This was the foundation of radio broadcasting.
Mabel Constanduros. The talented writer and performer who founded the tradition of family sitcom on British radio.

Other topics that may be covered:

The Ambiguity and Paradox of multi-cultural representation at the BBC.
Coverage of the Holocaust and historical representations of past history through anniversary programming.
Orson Welles. His contribution to the cultural history and practice of Radio Drama.
Samuel Beckett. His contribution to the cultural history and practice of Radio Drama.
Radio Biographies. Five women:  Hilda Matheson, Olive Shapely, Elizabeth Welch, Mary Hope-Allen and Una Marson.
Dianarama.  Mourning Carnival through Radio. The radio journalism of the death of Diana, Princess of  Wales and her funeral.
Radio in War. Preparing the ground. The Italian invasion of Abyssinia. The Spanish Civil War and Munich.  The Second World War. ‘White and Grey’ propaganda.
Radio in War.  The Second World War. ‘Black’ Propaganda.
George Orwell. Writer, Cultural thinker and Broadcaster.
Norman Corwin’s ‘Undecided Molecule’- Cultural significance and subversion.
A case history on the radio journalism of the Second World War- Normandy and Captain J. H Crook. Measuring the distance between reality and representation. 

The Radio Studies course is supported by the provision of multi-media resources and handouts. The college library has a large and expanding section on radio monographs, textbooks and journals.  Some of the earliest texts include Hilda Matheson’s 1933 book on ‘Broadcasting’, Lance Sieveking’s 1933 publication ‘The Stuff of Radio’ and the 1935 translation of Rudolf Arnheim’s book on ‘Radio’ published by faber and faber. Several copies of US, Australian and British publications on the history and cultural issues of radio are kept on the shelves. In addition the library subscribes to 2 academic journals committed to ‘Radio Studies’:
The US Journal of Radio Studies published by the Broadcast Education Association and the new ‘The Radio Journal- International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media’ published by Intellect.

The course is supplemented by the showing of films and documentaries that investigate and illustrate many of the themes of the course. These may be shown during the Autumn and Spring term sessions, or additional showings can be organized by arrangement with the course convenor.

Radio Studies is an international and cross-cultural narrative and many references are made to the history of North American radio. The library has a range of significant texts covering this area.

Copies of the books whose covers are featured above are in the Goldsmiths College library. They have been published in the last 4 years and provide an excellent introduction to cultural studies issues concerning radio history.

They complement the listening archive programme that contains many sound illustrations of the programmes, characters and events analysed in these books.

Issues of representation feature very strongly in the history of US radio. The civil rights struggle and American version of apartheid meant that during the so-called ‘Golden Age’ African Americans were denied access to the expanding horizon of radio journalism and drama between 1920 and the early 1960s.
Furthermore representation of black and non-white Americans was derisive, belittling and stereotypical. Richard Durham was able to construct a radio drama series in Chicago between 1948 and 1950 that provided a positive and inspirational frame of African American history and achievement. Mark Norman’s book charted the rise of radio entrepreneurs from the African American community who took control of the means of production and transmission.
The students are obliged to produce an academic essay of between three and five thousand words arguing an issue concerning radio or critically analysing an aspect of history or contemporary radio practice. The students select their own title and agree it with the course tutor.

The course tutor has a unique individual library that probably includes the largest number of radio texts outside the British Library and BBC. It includes all the BBC Handbooks and scarce first editions of texts published between 1921 and the present day. This means that tutorial advice is likely to lead to strategic photocopying of extracts of relevant texts.
As a student at the college you are also able to obtain books on inter-library loans. You have access to the University of London library at Senate House. You can also join the British Library at St Pancras and the Public Records Office at Kew. With support from the course tutor it is also possible to arrange appointments to examine papers at the BBC’s written archives at Caversham in Berkshire. The British Sound Archive (BSA) is based at St Pancras. It is possible to order archive programmes (if available) for listening by appointment.

The Goldsmiths Library also has a full collection of the’ Radio Times’ (hard copy) and the ‘Listener’ and ‘Times’ on Microfiche.

As a student on the course you should make a habit of taking out books on radio and reading short extracts every day. This will widen your knowledge and understanding of the course themes and give you space and time to select your essay topic and develop its argument.

Sound Storytelling  and Narrative Intertextuality  (Spring and Summer terms)

A course for MA Script-writing and MA Radio and optional for other postgraduates in the Department.
Course module Convenor: Tim Crook Senior Lecturer.

Introduction to Area of Study - Rationale and Scope of the Course

This course explores the common aspects of sound narrative in different practice media, and critically investigates to an advanced standard how audiogenic techniques transfer intertextually between radio, prose, theatre, and film. Lecture/seminars, handouts and Web resources will look at the complex debates and issues encountered through the practical experience of adapting scripts between visual and sound storytelling. 
As a result the students are encouraged to comprehensively appreciate the practical and theoretical concerns of narrative intertextuality between different story-telling media. Current debates about sound narrative and sound design in visual media are generating a rich vein of publication and creative output.

Learning Outcomes

A comprehensive understanding of the radiophonic qualities of storytelling through  adaptation from prose, film, and theatre into radio
An advanced appreciation of the articulation of voice in terms of adapter’s originality
An advanced understanding and application of techniques for the maintenance of the original integrity of the source script
A proven - ability for complex problem solving in the adaptation of material for radio, and for an intended audience
An advanced ability to apply the techniques of dramatic structuring in the scripting of a radio adaptation

Learning Methods

The course is taught by a series 10 two-hour lectures/seminar supported by handouts, access to a CD archive of radio drama productions and CD Rom resources. The students will be able to receive feedback on their script development with the availability of tutorials. Feedback is also available via email.    (The themes outlined as lecture descriptions are liable to change and adjustment)

Lecture One.
Existing theory in narratology of sound.  Aristotle, Todorov, Propp, Bakhtin and Barthes.  Michel Chion and T H Pear.
Primary texts: 
Aristotle:  Poetics.
Todorov: The Fantastic and The Typology of Detective Fiction.
Propp: Morphology of the Russian Folktale.
Bakhtin:  Rabelais and his World, The Dialogic Imagination.
Barthes: S/Z
T.H Pear: The Voice and Personality
Michel Chion: Audio-Vision. Who were the key writers cited and how did their work become significant intellectually and culturally with practitioners.

Lecture Two.
Sound Design and the Imagination.  Theories concerning the Imaginative Spectacle.The Art of llusion by Gombrich and its relevance to designing sound in radio and film.  Furlong’s Philosophy of the Imagination. Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. Exploring the practical techniques of Diagesis and Non-Diagesis. Monophonic, Stereophonic and Surround Sound attributes and dynamics in narrative.

 Lecture Three.
Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas: The radio play, the theatre play and the film. Analysing and applying theoretic principles of sound story telling in an intertextual arena.  Identifying relative strengths and weaknesses of the text’s production in each medium. Exploring issues of intertextuality in script content, meaning and production.

Lecture Four.
Unman, Wittering and Zigo by Giles Cooper: The radio play, the theatre play and the film. Exploring the nature of author popularity and fashion. Why has Cooper become obscure? Analysing and applying theoretical principles of story telling in relation to each artifact.  Identifying relative strengths and weaknesses of the text’s production in each medium. Exploring issues of intertextuality in script content, meaning and production.

Lecture Five.
Spoonface Steinberg by Lee Hall: The radio play, the theatre play and the film. Looking at the political economy of a text’s market economic merchandizing. Why was the impact of the text’s radio production more resonant than in other media? How a text has more cultural meaning in time, space, and social context. Analyzing and applying theoretical principles of storytelling. Identifying relative strengths and weaknesses of the text’s production in each medium. Exploring issues of  intertextuality in script content, meaning and production.

Lecture Six.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: The novel, the radio dramatisation and the film. Apart from the analysis framework established in the first two lectures are there alternative cultural narratologies to apply through sound transvection between African and Western cultures? How do global forces in media production vary the cultural resonance and reception of a text’s production and reading. The novel remains far more resonant than the award-winning BBC radio dramatization and the film, which has only been produced and seen in Nigeria.

Lecture Seven. 
Sound storytelling in everyday life. The audio and visual theatre of Dianarama-  mourning, funeral and aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Analysing aspects of social behaviour, sound and visual media coverage by applying theoretical principles of story telling. Exploring dramaturgical performance and social anthropological principles of breach, crisis and resolution and how these rituals were ‘performed’ in sound and vision.

Lecture Eight.  
Comparisons, Parallels and Conclusions.
To what extent does the analysis in the foregoing case histories accentuate or diminish the relevance of those theoretical writers on principles of story telling and narrative in fiction, facting and ‘representation of reality’ i.e.news and current affairs? Extending the consideration of media events to include the death, mourning and legend of Eva Peron and how the extended narratives have transcended news ritual contemporary to her life and death have emerged in film. 

Lecture Nine.
Exclusive genres of sound narratology. Derek Jarman’s Blue.  Andrew Sach’s radio drama without words: Revenge.  Ars Acoustica and the links between narratology and musicology.  The theoretical and empirical links between colour and sound.Sound and visual dramaturgy. The journey between radio and theatre.  Case histories: Hello?  Still Stationery, Restless Farewell and Freefall.

Lecture Ten.
Music in radio drama and film. Does musical narrative represent mood enhancement or can it be a device of emplotment.  Focusing on the career of Bernard Herrmann. Case histories: Mercury Theatre on the Air, Citizen Kane, Psycho and Taxi Driver. The  work of Walter Murch in Touch of Evil, The English Patient and Apocalypse Now. Analysing the techniques of musical narrative in opera. To what extent have they an application and tradition in audio and filmic drama.
Timetable
Course is by ten lecture/seminars in the spring term- held on Wednesday
mornings between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m..

Learning Assessment Criteria

The students produce a half hour dramatised radio adaptation of a source text, which can be film, prose or theatre. In this examined artefact of scriptwriting the students will be assessed for their ability to create a sequence of storytelling that demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of radiophonic techniques of adaptation, maintaining an advanced expression of original creative voice in the adaptation of the source material, and an advanced execution of retaining the original integrity of the source script. 

The dramatization will also be assessed for the adaptor’s ability to solve complex problems in the process of adaptation for an intended audience and demonstrate to an advanced degree the techniques of dramatic structuring in the process of radiophonic adaptation.

Optional Courses

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS SERIES 2                        

AUTUMN 2006
WEDNESDAYS 11.00 A.M. to 1.00 P.M. in Room 5,  Media Research Building
(the Main Cinema in the New Building)

Complementing the Journalism in Context course, this course aims to equip students
with the critical, analytical and practical skills to research and construct stories for
public consumption. This involves three elements: the procedural – asking the right questions of whom, when and where; the political – knowing the organisational context in which the story has emerged, the constructs in which it will be seen, and the ways in which it will be perceived; and the personal – knowing what you can or cannot bring to the story, and managing the human factors that will enhance or obscure your story.    Thus the lectures will interweave practical instruction about the British political system and journalistic methodology in different areas with analysis of the systems of delivery and their demands, illuminated through the professional experiences of the lecturers and their visiting speakers.

1. Interrogating the Political Agenda  (27th September)

            PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. How our systems of government operate, set the agenda, with what objective, and how best to approach them? 
2. The evolution of a political press and broadcast industry and their relations with established methods of government information and regulation.
3. Recognising the way stories are spun and how they play for the different interests and how to unpick them for the audience.
4. ALLOCATION OF TEAMS & BRIEFS FOR THE BEAT REPORT EXERCISE.

1. Access and Contacts (4th October)

            ELLIE LEVENSON

1. Dealing with local and national government offices, corporations & press officers.
2. The development of areas of expertise and specialist knowledge.
3. Negotiating and managing essential access to places and people, and building contacts.

3.     Balancing Acts  (11th October)
          PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. News and current affairs as seen by the parliamentary representative –

            a challenge to democracy or the opportunity to make your mark.

1. Discussion of the merits and demerits of the parliamentary system and the rival claims for parliamentary reform and proportional representation.
2. The use and abuse of parliamentary privilege and political office; and how far the journalist may or should go in calling elected representatives to account.

     VISITING SPEAKER :  Martin Linton M.P.

4.    Investigation and Information (18th October)
        PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. The principles and practices of investigative journalism
2. The principles of the Freedom of Information Act and how to work it in practice.
3. Examples of stories that have successfully used the FOI and their impact.
4. How it compares in practice to US constitutional rights & EU ways of work.

VISITING SPEAKER: Gavin MacFadyen, Director of Centre for Investigative Journalism

5.     Freedom of Association (25th October)
          PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. The spread of the NGO, single issue politics and the web as new connective forces in popular discourse and political organisation
2. Sophisticated use of information systems and public passion in the construction of campaigns.
3. How one issue – say climate change – is approached, processed and disseminated by one organisation, say Greenpeace.

VISITING SPEAKER tba:  eg GREENPEACE PR

6.     Market Forces (8th  November)
            PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. How business and economics impact on the journalist,  both proprietorally and through market forces
2. How to negotiate with the business world and understand the world of high finance.
3. Reading a balance sheet, and presenting such complexity to the general public.

VISITING SPEAKER tba

 
7.     The Tough Stuff  (15thth November)
            PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. Dealing with crime and the law, its practices and officers, without breaking the law.
2. Breaking a story no-one wants and unearthing facts that have been carefully buried, notably as in miscarriages of justice.
3. Managing that story, your access & control, when the story breaks, promoting a media feeding frenzy.

    
8.     Of Fraud and Freedom (22nd  November)
            PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. The fastest growing white collar crime – is it too difficult for audiences, readers & juries?
2. Where complexity is used to confuse, with the aim of disempowering journalists & public.
3. How to construct a simple presentation of complex facts and figures.

VISITING SPEAKER: David Kirk, leading lawyer specialising in fraud

9.     Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics  (29th  November)
            ELLIE LEVENSON

1. The use and abuse of statistics
2. News and features are often based on 'new research
3. findings': the biggest, hottest, coldest , a majority of,  five out of ten householders etc.
4. How can you assess these findings?
5. Partisan use of statistics (immigration, crime, employment)
6. Misuse of statistics (eg. mixing rates numbers and percentages)

10.   Back to the Future (6th December)
            PETER LEE-WRIGHT

1. Plotting your own progress - learning to build a whole from the pieces.
2. Matching style to substance and developing an authorial voice and vision.
3. Recapitulation, reflection and reappraisal – learning from mistakes & divining the future.

Issues in the Media and Culture

MA Radio students have an opportunity of attending lecture/screenings for a theoretical course convened by Dr Janet Harbord during the Autumn term. These are held in the Small Hall/Cinema between 9 and 11 a.m. on Friday mornings. The course consists of ten two hour sessions. As you are not registered to complete the essay for this course, there is no need for you to attend the group seminars.

Narrative and Practice

MA Radio students have an additional opportunity on Friday mornings to attend a series of 10 lecture/seminars on applying narrative theories to professional media practice. These are held between 11 and 1 p.m. in Room 137 of the Main Building. The course is convened by Judy Holland and the lectures will be provided by theory and practice tutors. The full programme will be published at the beginning of the Autumn term.

Shorthand   

The Teeline shorthand tutor is Margaret Hales. The course is offered to MA Radio students who are expecting to work in the United Kingdom and have English as a first language. Those with English as their second language and who expect to develop their careers abroad in another language should not do the course.
The main teaching sessions are on Monday evenings between 4.30- 6.00pm and in the Autumn term there is an immersion learning process with sessions on Tuesday morning 9 to 10 a.m., Wednesday morning 9 to 10 a.m. and Thursday morning 9 to 10 a.m. The teaching during the Spring term will continue on Monday afternoons 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday mornings between 9 and 10 a.m.
The students must try and do all lessons in the first term when the theory will be taught.  It should also be understood that late students must not turn up for class as this caused disruption and undermines the learning process for those who have turned up on time.
It is also hoped that this course will be supported with learn.gold.ac.uk  sound and skills drills resources that you will be able to use outside the class times to develop your shorthand skills. A significant Teeline for Journalists textbook with CD-Rom is being published in 2006 and Margaret will advise you on its value as the core course book. Teeline for Journalists (Paperback) by Dawn Johnston is being published by Heinemann Educational Secondary Division (9 Aug 2006) ISBN: 0435471600.
Those students with English as their second language are expected to attend the English language course run by Paul Stocks in sessions between 4.30 and 6 p.m.
on Monday evenings. This is a course to improve spoken and written English- particularly at academic level. Paul is also prepared to run special examination preparation sessions prior to the Media Law & Ethics exam in February 2007.

During the Spring term sessions are also held on Monday evenings between 4.30 and 6 p.m.

Visiting Professionals

During the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms there will be occasional workshops and discussions provided by visiting professionals from the radio and journalism industries.  Most of these will take place on Wednesdays.

Supporting your learning

The Department recognises the importance of supporting your learning with high quality teaching on a predominantly small group lecture/seminar basis with significant levels of technical and tutorial support. This enables you to receive frequent feedback on many aspects of your performance during the programme.
However, you have tutorial access to all academic staff involved in course provision in addition to that timetabled in each course and you are strongly encouraged to seek immediate tutorial help should you encounter difficulties with your studies.

The MA Radio Convenor is also your Personal Tutor with whom you can discuss work or welfare-centred issues. In addition to working with established staff, you will come into contact with visiting professionals from the industry who regularly share their production expertise.

The Department has up to date media facilities and, where possible, aims to provide practice facilities, which emulate current industry use. You also have access to the College`s award-winning Rutherford Information Services Building that houses book, computer, multimedia and audio-visual study resources. The College also provides a wide range of other student support services including the English language Unit and details can be found on the College web site. 

Quality matters - Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of learning

As part of the Department's Quality Assurance System, you take an active part in monitoring quality and standards by providing regular feedback, including questionnaires on the content, management and delivery of all courses.

You also feedback to the Programme's Monitoring System which consists of a staff student committee with the power to make recommendations about the quality and standard of programmes of study to the College`s Academic Committee.

However, our departmental policy is to encourage the resolution of any problems as quickly as possible so that learning is not impeded. Tutorial access to course tutors and/or the Programme Convenor normally enables a speedy resolution to any such difficulties.

The Programme Convenor meets with all academic and technical support staff involved in the learning and teaching provision to evaluate feedback from both students and the External Examiner prior to the planning of each new programme and amendments are routinely made to course design.
As a matter of record, the Department was awarded 22/24 by the national Quality Assurance Agency in its assessment of the standard of learning and teaching within it. This is one of the highest marks awarded to a Media and Communications Department in Britain. Its teaching processes received the highest assessment possible during an external audit in 2005. The Department also achieved a 5* grading in the latest Research Assessment Exercise making it one of the two best performing research Media and Communications Departments in the country.

Postgraduate Employment and Exhibition

The students on the MA Radio programme have an excellent record of employment success in the all areas of the media and cultural industries. Former students are currently working at ITN, Channel Four News, BBC Television, BBC World Service, BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4, On-Line services and a variety of independent and BBC local radio services throughout the United Kingdom. Students from overseas are also employed in pubic and commercial broadcasting organizations. 

MA Radio students have also enjoyed success in securing domestic and internationals awards recognition for their student work. In 2002 three MA Radio Students, Christine Pawlowsky, Sarah Eustance, and Jason Caffrey were nominated for the Press Gazette Student Radio Journalist awards. Christine Pawlowsky was also nominated for the BJTC Radio Journalism award in 2002. In 2003, MA Radio Students Fiona Harris, Gareth Jones and Clare Barden were each nominated in the Press Gazette Student Journalism awards. The student group was also nominated for the team journalism award.
In 2000/2001 Agnes Kruger won the Linda Gage Radio Feature award. Fiona Harris won the award in 2002/2003. Sophie Black secured a finalist award for Best Radio Comedy at the International Radio Festival of New York in 2001. Ally Barnard won a finalist award for Best Human Interest Programme at the International Radio Festival of New York in 2005.
In 2005 Mike Wendling won the Press Gazette Student Radio Journalism of the Year Award and his fellow MA Radio Students Lucy Coward, Jessica Roscoe, and Kathleen McCaul were also shortlisted in this category. Kathleen McCaul also achieved shortlisting in the categories of Best Scoop and Best Online journalism.
In 2005 Katharine Begg won the Linda Gage Student Radio Feature Award. In 2006 she won the BJTC Student Radio Journalist of the Year award.
At the Press Gazette Student Journalism awards in 2006, MA Radio students Tim Wheeler, and Matthew Lockwood were shortlisted for Radio Journalism and Anna Norberg was shortlisted for Best Interviewer.
Students are encouraged to develop and place their work on professional platforms. The community arts station in London Resonance FM has also been willing to broadcast student work. The advantage of placing material on air, even for no payment, is that this provides an enhancing feature for your curriculum vitae. 

It should also be recognized that in the first year after graduation, particularly during periods of economic recession, seeking employment in an increasingly competitive employment market can be challenging.

The course tutor along with the College Careers Service do their best to advise on potential vacancies, CV and show-case reel presentation and strategies for securing work.

From time to time the MA course convenor may email ‘Job Search’ bulletins to past and present MA Practice students. Details of vacancies gleaned from a variety of sources are circulated to brief students on the range of employment opportunities in the field of radio, media, new media and journalism.

Bibliography Course Textbooks:

International Radio Journalism. History, Theory and Practice by Tim Crook (1998) London, New York: Routledge.
Radio Drama - Theory and Practice by Tim Crook (1999) London New York, Routledge.
Crook’s Media Law- Practice, Theory and International Perspectives, (2007) London: Kultura Press.
McNae's Essential Law for Journalists. 18th Edition. Edited by Tom Welsh, Walter Greenwood and David Banks. London: Oxford University Press 2005.
Media Ethics and Laws- Power with Responsibility, (2006) London: Kultura Press.
Radio Studies- A Cultural Enquiry by Tim Crook (2007) London: Kultura Press.
Sound Story telling by Tim Crook (2007) London: Kultura Press.
Reputations Under Fire by David Hooper (2000) London: Warner Books
Law and the Media (2002 4th Edition) Tom Crone edited by Philip Alberstat, Tom Cassels, and Estelle Overs, London: Focal Press.
The BBC News Style Guide by John Allen (2003) London: BBC Training & Development. This is provided free to students on the MA Radio course.

It is hoped that those books authored by the course convenor can be obtained directly from him via the publisher. Other books should be stocked in Waterstones in Goldsmiths College.

Recommended reading. Books held in the library.

Communities of the Air- Radio Century, Radio Culture (2003) Edited by Susan Merrill Squier, Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Rebels on the Air- An Alternative History of Radio in America (2001) New York & London: New York University Press.
Commercial Radio Journalism by Linda Gage (2nd Edition, 1998) Revised by Lawrie Douglas, Keith Belcher, Marie Kinsey, and law section updated by Tim Crook. London, New York: Focal Press.
Basic Radio Journalism by Paul Chantler and Peter Stewart, (2003) London: Focal Press.
The Radio Handbook by Carole Fleming (2nd Edition 2002) London: Routledge.
Understanding Radio by Andrew Crisell (2nd Edition, 1994) London, New York: Routledge.
Investigative Journalism- Context and Practice by Hugo de Burgh (2000) London, New York: Routledge.
Journalism in the Digital Age by John Herbert (2000) London, New York: Focal Press.
Practising Global Journalism by John Herbert (2000) London, New York: Focal Press.
Women & Radio, edited by Caroline Mitchell, (2000) London, New York: Routledge.
Interviewing for Radio by Jim Beaman (2000) London, New York: Routledge.
Radio in the Global Age by David Hendy (2000) Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
On Air- Methods and Meaning in Radio. Martin Shingler and Cindy Wieringa. Arnold. 1998.
Listening In- Radio and the American Imagination, Susan J. Douglas, Times Books, Random House 1999.
Legendary Pioneers of Black Radio, Gilbert A Williams, Praeger, 1998.
Voice- The Making of Black Radio, William Barlow, Temple University Press, 1999.
Radio Production by Robert McLeish. Third Edition. Focal Press 1994.
Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Guide to Radio Production. Edited by Lois Baird. Allen and Unwin Australia 1992.
The Radio Station. By Keith Krause. 2nd Edition. Focal Press 1989.
Radio Rethink. Art, Sound, Transmission. Edited by Diana Augaitis and Dan Lander. Book and CD. Published by Walter Phillips Gallery Canada 1994.
Broadcast Journalism. Techniques of Radio and TV News. By Andrew Boyd. 2nd or 3rd Edition. Focal Press 1993 and 1995.
Creative Radio Production. Book and Cassette. By Bruce H Siegal. Focal Press 1992.
Radio Texte (e) Edited by Neil Strauss. Associate Editor Dave Mandle. Published by Semiotext, Columbia University 1993. All these books are stocked by the College library.
Radio Reader- Essays in the Cultural History of Radio, Edited by Michele Hilmes and Jason Loviglio, (2002)  London, New York: Routledge.
Only Connect- A Cultural History of Broadcasting in the United States, (2002) Michelle Hilmes, London & New York: Wadsworth.

World Wide Web and E-mailing

The MA Radio course uses the Internet extensively and a significant amount of communication and teaching is undertaken by e-mail. The purpose is to introduce and consolidate electronic communications in the media workplace. If you are unfamiliar with the technology to begin with we ask you to be patient and persevere.
All the students are allocated a College e-mail address and the students must be prepared to receive communications and course-work by email.  As a postgraduate student you have access to multi-media facilities in the Rutherford Information Services building.
Briefings and handouts are provided by hardcopy distribution and compact disc multi-media resources.  Other handouts will be distributed by e-mail. However, email will not be used as a method of communicating feedback or critical tutoring.  On the basis of empirical research the tutor has decided that it is an inappropriate medium for teaching and learning in this context but does have advantages as a method of distributing information quickly and efficiently.
The process of internship and work experience.
Internship or work experience is a vital part of the MA Radio student’s process of professional development. It is often the gateway to paid freelance and full-time employment. In Britain a culture has developed whereby work experience is unpaid. This is not the case in many other countries where industrial/employment culture regards such arrangements as exploitative.
BJTC accredited courses seek to ensure that Broadcast Journalism students have worthwhile periods of internship in BBC and independent radio newsrooms.  The normal period engaged is 3 weeks, although it is obvious that longer periods mean that both the internee and broadcast organisation derive more fulfilling benefits through effective embedding in the newsroom’s unique practices and use of equipment and the growing confidence of the student.
The MA Radio course is flexible in recognising internships in ‘journalistic work environments’ rather than dedicated newsrooms set up to provide an output of news bulletins. Overseas MA Radio students and Home/EU students are able to undertake internships abroad. Internship periods undertaken prior to and after the taught terms of the course can be included in the ‘3 week certification’ that accreditation requires.
‘Certification’ is achieved through the completion by internship supervisors of the report pro-forma set out in the following two pages. Simply photocopy and ask your internship organisation to complete this towards the end of your time with them. There is an electronic version that can be used and returned to the MA Radio convenor, which will be included in your digital course resources.

Recommendations for obtaining employment

The overall aim of internship is to acquire confidence, skill and abilities to make you marketable in terms of paid freelance employment. Your success in this context is likely to lead to a situation where you will either be offered or find it appropriate to ask about whether the radio station needs to employ freelancers on a shift basis and would they be in a position to offer you any work. Another method of developing contacts and marketing your work is through the generation of original stories, features and packages that you sell piece-meal to radio stations. Generating original journalistic coverage means that you should be able to sell the copy story and television fixing scenarios to a range of multi-media. Even if the story is not wanted a polite and confidence approach and offer will make news editors and producers aware of your existence and if they are interested in hearing of anything else you may have to offer a developing freelance relationship could be established.
Keep a record of what you have sold, whether it was on spec, was used, and invoice efficiently. Point out that you are a member of the NUJ and would expect standard negotiated professional rates. Find out from the NUJ what those are.
Applying for positions through advertisements is another though more bureaucratic and laborious method of obtaining work. You need to keep an eye out for positions in the Radio Magazine, Press Gazette and the Guardian’s Media Jobs section. The Press Gazette, BBC and Guardian post media vacancies on-line. If you are seeking employment you should make a weekly check of these resources. If you are interested in teaching media, jobs.ac.uk advertises a variety of positions in Britain and abroad. The MA Radio course convenor occasionally transmits a ‘Job Search’ email bulletin. You can ask to be added to the mailing list.
You need to bear in mind that these positions are much sought after, and probably have a favoured internal candidate ‘in the frame’. However, nothing is lost and much is gained by applying. An excellent written application and impressive interview performance will make you known to the media organisation. There is no harm in regularly touching base with an organisation you would like to work for as people are continually leaving jobs or going off sick. This means that a ‘no’ in January, could mean a ‘yes’ only a few months later.
As ‘working in the media’ is a wide and over-subscribed ambition is it vital that you psychologically prepare yourself and toughen yourself up for rejection. You need to adopt the professional insouciance of people in the acting profession who regularly apply for auditions and have learned to not take rejections personally.
When applying for internships or employment you should maintain the following standards of professional requirements:

1. Make sure your CV and covering letter are presented well, with accurate information, spelling and grammar.
2. Research your target organisation and the audience and area it provides a service to. You can normally listen to most BBC and commercial radio stations on the Internet.
3. If you have any contacts in the target organisation find out from people ‘on the inside’ so that you are prepared to present an attitude and intelligence suited to their needs. There is no harm in contacting them to ask whether you can visit the newsroom and sit in during a shift and meet people.
4. Dress appropriately for the organisation that is going to interview you.

1. Demonstrate punctuality and politeness.

Programme Specifications

Educational Aims

This full-time one-year programme primarily aims to further your development as a media communicator through the acquisition of a wide range of radio journalistic and creative techniques and practices of production and the means by which they may be realised.

Through practical exercises and experimentation the course encourages an understanding of a critical approach to your own radio practice. The programme enables you to produce a portfolio of radio journalism and creative programming to a professional standard and to be conversant with the wider ethical, legal, and cultural contexts of international radio practice. By the end of the programme of study you should be able to critically describe the qualities of your own work and its cultural significance.

As well as subject specific knowledge and skills, the practical and theoretical studies will help you to further develop a wide variety of transferable intellectual, organizational and communications skills that can be applied in a wide range of employment contexts.

Most postgraduates enter the field of freelance, contractual or full-time radio journalism and or production at local, regional and national level either in this country or abroad. A proportion of the students are already practicing professionals who have decided to do the course to widen their portfolio of production and journalistic skills and cultural practices.

For those students who are engaging with radio at entry level, the course cannot be a substitute for several years of professional practice in the field. This means that at the end of the course such students will have been equipped with a framework of vocational skills and educational outcomes that will enable them to embed these in the context of radio professional practice.

Admissions Criteria

You will normally have a first degree at 2/2 or 2/1 level and have been able to demonstrate your commitment to radio by way of professional experience, internship/work experience or participation in voluntary radio broadcasting in student, hospital or Restricted Service License (UK) level.

Experience of journalism in other fields such as on-line, particularly where audio has been used, television, magazines and newspapers is also appreciated. You may also have had experience of broadcast communication in the field of public relations.

Previous learning on practice radio courses is appreciated.  Applications supported by cassette, CD, mini-disc containing examples of the applicants previous radio work are welcome.  Final selection is by interview during which the applicants may be asked to undertake writing, presentation and journalistic evaluation tests.

Mature students without a first degree, but a track record of professional media practice are considered and may be subject to a qualifying examination.

Learning Outcomes

The programme's subject-specific learning outcomes centred around radio journalistic and creative practice are devised as a result of continuing consultation with visiting tutors and other colleagues involved in professional practice and by staff who are at the forefront of their academic field of study. 

This process also includes the UK Broadcast Journalism Training Council and the National Union of Journalists, which have accredited the course. However, you should also develop a wide range of transferable qualities and skills necessary for employment in a variety of contexts.

The Quality Assurance Agency describes these qualities & skills as effective communications skills, `the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility, decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations, and the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development`.

Transferable outcomes are identified with an asterisk in the two groupings of learning outcomes below – Knowledge and understanding, and Skills and other attributes.

Learning Outcomes - Knowledge and understanding 

By the end of the programme you should be able to apply:

1. Familiarity with a wide range of journalistic and creative techniques and practices of radio production and the means by which they may be realised as a result of your own production of a portfolio of radio journalism and creative programming to professional standard.
2. A critical approach to your own practice, which involves describing the qualities of your own work and its cultural significance.
3. Knowledge of the wider ethical, legal, and cultural contexts of international radio practice.
4. A foundation ability in professional aspects of technical operation and confidence and knowledge of the potential and application of digital technology for editorial and creative programme operations.
5. Presentation for news and general entertainment programming and recognising the skills needed for radio drama performance.
6. Sound judgement in editorial decision making; news selection and priority, documentary research and programme structuring, live programme production in the magazine and news and current affairs formats, and presentation of popular radio formats.
7. Understanding of the applications of freedom of expression in varying cultural and political contexts, understanding the ethical issues in news and general programme production and broadcasting.
8. A critical approach to radio media history and practice, a critical understanding of contemporary approaches to analysing the practice and history of radio communication, and a critical understanding of radio as a cultural phenomenon.
9. Knowledge and skills to avoid the transgression of defamation and contempt and other principal media laws in the UK, the USA and Australia, an appreciation and ability to critically apply principles of ethical conduct in all fields of the media, a critical understanding of the cultural, social and political context of media law making and professional regulation, a critical appreciation of alternative international methods of media law  and those factors contributing to self-regulation by media practitioners.

10. An understanding of the radiophonic qualities of storytelling through adaptation from prose, film, and theatre into radio, appreciating the articulation of voice in terms of adapter’s originality, understanding the techniques of maintaining the original integrity of the source script, a practical experience of scripting radio adaptation to an intended audience, and appreciating the techniques of dramatic structures in radio adaptation scripting.

Learning and teaching methods and strategies to support these outcomes

The acquisition of outcomes 1,2, 4, 5 & 6 is through two substantial radio journalism and creative radio courses. Both courses involve workshops, group exercises, news-days and seminars.

Radio Journalism consists of 17 full day sessions across the Autumn and Spring terms and BJTC vocational tests in the early part of the Summer term.  Creative Radio consists of 23 full day sessions across the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms.

In the radio journalism course you develop skills in news writing, voice report and news package production, live news bulletin editing and presentation, and news magazine programme production. In the creative radio course you will develop your creative radio authoring skills through the production of a short (5 minute) intermediate (8 minute) and full-length  (15 minute) feature.

You may choose the genre of feature and they vary from investigative journalistic, dramatized documentary, radio drama to sound art.   Radio presentation skills are also supported by a voice-training course provided outside the college.

Learning outcomes 3, 7 and 9 are achieved through a programme of 10 lecture/seminars in a Media Law & Ethics course, supported by Internet and Email resources, which are provided during the Autumn term.

At the beginning of the Spring term three revision lectures/seminars are provided to prepare you for the three hour unseen examination and you will continue to receive email briefings on up-dated issues concerning media law & ethics.

Learning outcome 8 is provided through a programme of 20 seminar/lectures on Radio Practice Theory supported by dedicated Web resources through the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms. Individual tutorial support is given or is available to support the achievement of all outcomes and you are encouraged to supplement your learning through selected reading and viewing.

Learning outcome 10 is supported by a separate course of 10 seminar/lectures on the practice and theory of sound story-telling and narrative intertextuality during the Spring term and shared with the MA in Scriptwriting and other postgraduate programmes.

Assessment methods to test their achievement

Assessment of outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6 is by the marking of the individual feature projects, and performance in BJTC vocational tests. Outcomes 3, 7 & 9 are assessed by a three hour unseen examination paper held in February.  An essay of between three and four thousand words assesses outcome 8. Outcome 10 is assessed by a half hour radio adaptation of a film, theatre, or prose script.

Learning Outcomes - Skills and other attributes 

By the end of the programme you should be able to apply:
1.         A high level of critical evaluation skills that enable you to deconstruct the process of media communication in the production context, to judge between your own ideas and those of others, and to make informed and reasoned creative decisions *
2.         Skills in the constructive process of self evaluation of the ways in which you use differing methodologies to maximise the creative contributions of the production team and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the completed work *
3.         Conceptual knowledge and critical reasoning skills in complex production problem solving under strict production deadline conditions*
4.         Appropriate analytical and interpretation skills in the review of complex issues & problems *
5.         Written and oral communication and management/team strategies appropriate to the needs of each situation *
6.         A high level of organizational skills in the management of complex activities and processes * 
7.         A high level of self-starting, and individually resourced research motivation that results in an original edited artefact*

Learning and teaching methods and strategies to support these outcomes

The acquisition of most skills is achieved through both practical and more theoretically centred studies. Production based seminars and workshops aid the identification, practice and critical reflection of both conceptual and practical skills, which are further developed in the main project and in your critical reflections of your role as the author and editor of radio programmes.

Theory seminars and examined essays contribute significantly to the achievement of outcomes 1,3 and 4, and give further opportunities for the development of oral and written communication strategies.

Assessment methods to test their achievement

Outcomes 1,2,3,5 and 6 are assessed in the examination of your radio features and radio journalistic performance. The main radio feature production completed during the Summer term requires the effective application of all these skills.

The application of written communication skills and analytical and interpretation skills are examined in the marking of your examined essay, radio adaptation and performance in the unseen three hour Media Law & Ethics examination.

Further Assessment Information

There are three possible results for students on the MA programme - pass, fail, or distinction. A distinction is marked at 70% or above; a fail at below 50%. In order to obtain the degree, you must achieve at least a Pass in the course-work, (first and intermediate feature, vocational BJTC tests), practice theory essay, the radio adaptation script, 3 hour unseen Media Law & Ethics examination and main feature production.

Weighting

The allocation of weighting for course components in the overall degree is as follows:

Coursework:
First Feature:  5%
Intermediate Feature: 5%
BJTC Vocational Tests evaluated by portfolio: 10%
Final Production (Creative Radio) 35%
Media Law & Ethics Examination: 15%
Sound Storytelling radio dramatisation Script: 15%
Practice Theory Essay: 15%

Creative Radio- Feature Production Marking Criteria guidelines

Distinction 70% and above
Work of outstanding overall quality, which demonstrates the high understanding of the target audience for your programme, grasp of the subject, critical awareness of the historical and cultural background of your programme subject, evidence of originality and individual research, 
evidence of interviewing ability in the case of documentaries and radio journalism investigation,
ingenuity, originality, scope or appropriateness in your approach to the subject of your programme, writing style and ability to communicate with clarity and presentation from the point of view of use of voice, casting, and programme structure
It will be work that the Department would normally regard as appropriate to exhibit, publish or broadcast externally. A mark of 80% or higher is awarded when a candidate satisfies the requirements for a distinction but to an outstanding degree.

60-69%
Work that overall achieves a high standard. The work will have achieved the majority of its goals and will demonstrate a significant degree of originality and ambition with a good level of technical competence. It will be based on an original idea and will be well-structured. It will show significant evidence of research/planning and demonstrate a critical awareness of the radio and good use of audio elements to sustain the involvement of the audience. It will be work that the Department would normally regard as appropriate to exhibit or publish or broadcast externally.

50-59%
Work of an overall satisfactory standard showing degrees of originality and ambition and the achievement of its primary goal(s). Technically it will be competent in quality with a recognisable and successful overall structure. It will be based on a degree of research/planning and exhibit some critical awareness of the radio medium but with marked variations in the effectiveness of performances and in the use audio elements to sustain the involvement of the audience.
It will be work that the Department would normally consider appropriate for internal College & Departmental exhibition.

Fail 0-49%
Work of an overall unsatisfactory standard, demonstrating little originality or ambition. It is likely that its goals will not have been achieved to a satisfactory extent and its level of technical competence will range from adequate to poor with a weak structure. It will show evidence of a lack of research/planning and indicate little critical understanding of the radio medium with uneven performance by the producer and generally ineffective use of audio elements to sustain the involvement of the audience.  It will be work that the Department would not normally regard as appropriate for any exhibition or publication.

Please Note – The Department recognises the particular importance of the application of effective interpersonal, organisational and time management skills in the creation of practical work, and wishes to safeguard the interests of the majority of students who do make every effort to develop and apply them in their work. To this end, marks may be deducted from the appropriate Project marks if the examiners are not satisfied that every reasonable effort has been made by a student to apply these skills in course sessions and in the creation of the project. Exceptional cases of this kind will be discussed by the Internal Examiners in the presence of the External Examiner.

Media Law & Ethics Examination Marking Criteria

Distinction: A mark of 70 and above is awarded when candidates show evidence of extensive relevant reading and an impressive grasp of current major issues in the field. This knowledge will have been reviewed critically with insight and independence of thought. Arguments and the presentation of evidence will demonstrate sophisticated reasoning and with language  which is particularly clear, well-focused and cogent.
A mark of 80% or higher is awarded when a candidate satisfies the requirements for a distinction, but to an outstanding degree.

Pass:  A mark of 60-69% is awarded when candidates show consistency and fluency in discussing and evaluating evidence and theories drawn from a wide range of sources. They will demonstrate an ability to relate this reading to their topic, and will clearly have understood and assimilated the relevant literature. A mark of 50-59% is awarded when there is clear evidence of knowledge and understanding but there may be limited development of ideas or critical comment. There will be reference to relevant reading, though not necessarily critical evaluation. Within these limitations there will be an indication that the candidate has grasped fundamental concepts and procedures in the field. Fail: A mark below 50% indicates that a candidate has not satisfied the examiners that they have read and understood the essential texts of the course and when there is inadequate organisation of the work. There is evidence of considerable confusion, incoherence and unfocused comment on the relevant points that need to be made.

Quality of Presentation
In line with all academic marking practices, examiners will also be concerned with the structure and form of the written answers and their presentation in terms of attention to clarity of expression, clear printing, spelling and punctuation.

 Essay Marking Criteria
The marking criteria for theory essays are, in general:
the success with which the student has addressed the topic given in the essay title and whether there has been an answer given to the question.
the originality, ambition, scope and relevance of the essay in terms of the topic being addressed.
the structure and form of the essay.
the presentation of the essay in terms of attention to clarity of expression, clear print/handwriting, spelling and punctuation.

Postgraduate Essay Marking Guidelines for Radio Studies- A Cultural Enquiry

Distinction: A mark of 70%-79% is awarded when candidates show evidence of extensive relevant reading and an impressive grasp of current major issues in the field. This knowledge will have been reviewed critically with insight and independence of thought. Arguments and the presentation of evidence will demonstrate sophisticated reasoning, with clear awareness of issues of methodology and evidence, and be particularly clear, well-focused and cogent.  A mark of 80% or higher is awarded when a candidate satisfies the requirements for a distinction, but to an outstanding degree.  Such work may be of publishable quality, and will be a significant contribution to debate within the field

Pass:  A mark of 60-69% is awarded when candidates show consistency and fluency in discussing and evaluating evidence and theories drawn from a wide range of sources. They will demonstrate an ability to relate this reading to their topic, and will clearly have understood and assimilated the relevant literature.

A mark of 50-59% is awarded when there is clear evidence of knowledge and understanding, but where there may be limited development of ideas, critical comment or methodology. There will be reference to relevant reading, though not necessarily critical evaluation. Within these limitations there will be indication that the candidate has grasped fundamental concepts and procedures in the field.
Fail: A mark below 50% indicates that a candidate has not satisfied the examiners that they have read and understood the essential texts of the course and when there is inadequate organisation of the work. There may be confusion and incoherence and unfocused comment on the literature.

Radio Script Adaptation Marking Criteria guidelines

Distinction 70% and above
Work of outstanding overall quality, which demonstrates the achievement of the course learning outcomes to a very effective extent. The work will demonstrate an advanced understanding of the radiophonic qualities of storytelling through adaptation, achieve a distinctive voice in terms of adapter’s originality, and maintain to a high prose, film or theatre. The script demonstrates an excellent understanding of the intended audience, dramatic structure, and grasp of the subject. A mark of 80% or higher is awarded when a candidate satisfies the requirements for a distinction but to an outstanding degree.

60-69%
Work that overall demonstrated the effective achievement of the learning outcomes. The work will have achieved the majority of its goals and will demonstrate a significant degree of originality
and ambition. The adaptation approach will be based on an original idea and will be well-structured. It will show good use of audio elements to sustain the structure of storytelling.

50-59%
Work of an overall satisfactory standard showing degrees of originality and ambition and the achievement of its primary goal(s). Technically it will be competent in quality  with a recognisable and successful overall structure. It will exhibit some creative awareness of the radio medium but with marked variations in the effectiveness of  the audio elements to sustain the involvement of the audience. It will demonstrate a satisfactory application of appropriate knowledge and skills specified in the learning outcomes.

Fail 0-49%
Work of an overall unsatisfactory standard, demonstrating little originality or ambition. It is likely that its goals will not have been achieved to a satisfactory extent and its level of  competence will range from adequate to poor with a weak structure. It will show evidence of a lack of understanding of the radio and generally ineffective use of audio elements to sustain the involvement of the audience. It will demonstrate an unsatisfactory application of knowledge and skills specified in the learning outcomes. It will be work that the Department would not normally regard as appropriate for any exhibition or publication.

BJTC Vocational Test Marking Criteria guidelines

Distinction 70% and above
Work of outstanding overall quality, in which the student achieves excellent professional performance in radio news writing, radio news presentation, radio news editorial judgement, and radio news production. Work of distinction quality is also marked by excellent qualities in editorial leadership, news origination and team working during the production of news bulletins and news programmes to deadline. 

It will be work that the Department would normally regard as appropriate to exhibit, publish or broadcast externally. A mark of 80% or higher is awarded when a candidate satisfies the requirements for a distinction but to an outstanding degree.

60-69%
Work that overall achieves a good to high standard. The work will have achieved the majority of its goals in terms of news writing, editorial judgment, news production, news presentation, news origination and editorial leadership.
It will be work that the Department would normally regard as appropriate to exhibit or publish or broadcast externally.

50-59%
Work of an overall satisfactory standard showing degrees of success in terms of performance in the primary skills of news writing, editing, presentation, production, origination, and editorial leadership.    There will be marked variations in the effectiveness of performance. It will be work that the Department would normally consider appropriate for internal College & Departmental exhibition.

Fail 0-49%
Work of an overall unsatisfactory standard, demonstrating poor performance in the basic radio news journalism skills of writing, editing, presentation, production, originality and editorial leadership. There will be a consistently poor performance in relation to the basic skills required of professional radio journalistic practice. It will be work that the Department would not normally regard as appropriate for any exhibition or publication.

MA RADIO FINAL PRODUCTION ANALYSIS SUBMISSION

This is a one thousand word document that expresses a self-analysis of your 15-minute programme. It supports the internal and external markers’ appreciation of your work and assists them in applying the marking criteria to your work.
The deadline for submitting this document is Thursday 31st August 2006.
Please note that on Thursday 31st August the practice theory essay and sound story dramatisation examination scripts and this final production analysis have to be handed in between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The office will not be open at any other time on this day. If you are posting in your entries in make sure you ensure special delivery and allow time for delivery.
Deliver your Final Production Analysis (2 copies) to the Departmental Office in an envelope marked for the attention of Tim Crook, Head of Radio.  You are advised to divide your written analysis into the following categories:

1.         Editing and Post Production
2.         Writing/Structure
3.         Research/Journalism (For drama productions this criterion would apply to casting and selection of a script if not originated by the student.)
4.         Direction/Production/Presentation
5.         Creative Use of the Radio Medium

The other issues to be addressed in the document could relate to the influence of theory and your background reading and knowledge to the creation and completion of your programme.
You could consider analysing the development and realisation of your practical work and, where appropriate, your contribution to the creative process. You could consider the ways in which your theoretical understanding has directly or indirectly influenced your practical work.
The document would also benefit from any evidence of background reading and academic research that underpinned your approach to the origination and completion of your programme.
Although the document is not intended to be a traditional essay clearly the inclusion of any relevant notation and explanation in bibliography would leave the markers with a good impression.
The MA Radio course textbooks provide useful resources and reference points for critical vocabulary and notation in the construction of your analysis.
For journalism: International Radio Journalism- History, Theory & Practice, Broadcast Journalism, and Radio Production would be relevant texts.
For drama and creative features: Radio Drama- Theory & Practice, Writing Radio Drama and Radio Acting.
There are many other useful texts in the Radio Section of the College library on the second floor of the library.
Remember that this document requires precision of writing. There is little need to exceed the recommended word limit of 1,000 words.
Clearly an explanation of your target audience and the style/genre of radio station that you have made your programme for would merit inclusion. To what extent have you achieved your objectives? Why did you change course during your research and production?

TIMETABLES FOR 2006-2007  

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