BBC Course

A ten-week TV journalism module run by the BBC is
a part of the Broadcast specialisation. BBC journalist
Stephen Hall with students.

Weeks One to Four

The first part of the course will concentrate on the core values of broadcast news journalism. The participants will undertake intensive training in editorial and production skills. The instructor will use a combination of writing master classes, video workshops, group exercises, and role-play to get the students used to working in a newsroom environment. The emphasis on small groups of students allows the instructor to spend time with each student assessing her/his particular needs and developing her/his skills.

This part of the course will include sessions on how to serve your audience, how to assess audience preferences, and how to present news. The instructor will look at different news output from various stations and get students to compare and contrast the different styles of news production.

Heavy emphasis will be placed on news-gathering. Students will be asked how they think news stories should be sourced. Sessions on news management and prioritising news values will get students to think about the news agenda and what the most important stories are for their audiences and stations. All the news-gathering education and training will be underpinned by the values of free, fair, objective, and accurate reporting of news events.

Students will also be made aware of the requirements for reporting for the different news media, including online journalism. This part of the course will introduce students to the technical equipment they would work with. There will be sessions on camera work, video tape editing, and studio direction. There will also be sessions on microphone work, edit suite etiquette, the gallery, the sound desk, vision mixing, basic news lighting techniques, and studio presentation.

Students will learn about the realities of health and safety at work, and about the need to understand the issues involved in hazard assessment.

Towards the end of this period, students will begin research work on their documentaries, a major part of the education and training in the 10-week course.

Weeks Five to Eight

The first four weeks will lead up to students producing their own news programme in weeks five to eight. Each morning will start with an editorial meeting where the team will discuss the news agenda and allocate stories. The students will rotate roles on a daily basis with each taking turns as News Editor, News Producer, and News Reporter. They will run three camera teams and film three stories for an evening news programme.

The instructor will continually assess the standards of the journalists-in-the- making as they work. Each day there will be a review and assessment of their work. There will be opportunities to vary the format of the programmes, using packages, interviews, two-ways, and discussions.

BBC Journalist Stephen Hall

Week Nine

This is the documentary week. Students will spend this time shooting, writing, and editing their own five-to seven-minute feature.

Week Ten

Revision, Examination and Graduation.

By now, all the individual assignments will have been completed along with the documentaries, and after a day of revision, it’s exam time. All students get an opportunity to view and listen to each other’s work in a special session on the last day of the course.

BBC CERTIFICATE IN TELEVISION JOURNALISM

Those who successfully complete the BBC Television Journalism Course will be awarded a BBC Certificate.