The 2005 syllabus is still being developed,
but it will be similar to the 2001 syllabus below

British Studies in Journalism:
Introduction to British Journalism
Course syllabus
JOU 499/599-Summer 2003

David R. Davies
Journalism Department
University of Southern Mississippi
Box 5121, Hattiesburg MS 39406-5121
601-266-4258
Course website: http: //daviddavies.org

Coordinator: David Kidd-Hewitt

This course provides a broad overview of journalism as practiced in Britain today. Emphasis will be placed on contrasting British and American press traditions. Students will learn the historical background and recent contemporary backdrop to British journalistic practice, structure and organization. We will see numerous examples of British journalism through visits to local and national newspapers, a variety of broadcast outlets, and other audio, visual and electronic media. Students will hear lectures from experts in British media.

Course requirements

25 percent:
Journal, due at the following address on Sept. 15, 2003: David R. Davies, Box 5121, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5121. The journal will include synopses of lectures, reviews of British media, and your own observations about your time in London. We will discuss the requirements for the journal in detail in class.

25 percent:
Class attendance and participation. Tardiness and absences are unacceptable. Students are required to attend all schedules course lectures and tours. One letter grade will be deducted from the student's final grade for each missed class or activity.

20 percent:
Newspaper project. The first week of class, you will pick an issue that receives wide play in the British press. Each day you will read newspapers to find coverage of that issue, collecting clippings as you go. Write a eight- to 10-page paper analyzing press coverage of the issue, paying particular attention to differences in coverage by various media outlets. Include a scrapbook of clippings. Due to my address of September 15, 2003.

10 percent:
Seven-page book report on Get Me a Murder a Day, due to my address on September 15, 2003.

20 percent:
Final examination (Sat 4 Aug 2003).

Graduate students must complete all of the above, but their research paper must be 25 pages.

Textbooks

John Wilson, Understanding Journalism (Taylor & Francis, 1996). We will purchase the book the first weekend of class from Blackwell's on Charing Cross Road.

Kevin Williams, Get Me a Murder a Day: A History of Mass Communication in Britain, paperback edition (Edward Arnold, 1997). (ISBN 03406-14668) Order your copy from Blackwell's and take it home with you.

 

JOURNALISM 499/599
REVISED CLASS SCHEDULE
SUMMER 2003

What we did

Details

 

Monday July 9 - Nicholas Drumgoole lecture a.m. St. Bride's Church visit p.m.


 Drumgoole, former dance correspondent for the Telegraph, spoke on history of British newspapers.St. Bride's Church in Fleet Street is considered "the journalist's church." We walked Fleet Street after the visit and visited a famous journalists' pub afterward.

Tuesday July 10 - Newspaper exercise a.m. David Kidd-Hewitt exercise in the p.m.		 Lecture by Professor David Kidd-Hewitt, London-based coordinator on the course, providing an overview of British journalism.

 

Wednesday July 11 - Video. House of Commons visit

 

 Morning video: "The Spin Doctors." Visit in the afternoon to the House of Commons Press Gallery. The class then sat in on "Question Time" in the House. Unlike regular folk, who waited hours in line, we stepped right in because of our special passes.
Thursday, July 12 - Press Complaints Commission visit. The PCC is an press-created regulatory agency that accepts and makes decisions concerning complaints against the press.
Friday Saturday Sunday off

Monday July 16 - Jeremy Dear/Journalism careers in UK. Afternoon time off to read local newspapers in preparation for tomorrow's visit.

 

 Dear is executive director of the National Union of Journalists, the largest such organization in the UK.
Tuesday July 17 - No classroom. 10:30 a.m. visit to South London Press. The South London Press is the largest local (i.e., not national) newspaper in London. We met with the editor and toured the paper's facilities.
Wednesday July 18 - Visit to Freedom Forum International Center. The Center, founded by the Freedom Forum, runs international programs to serve needs of international journalists. The visit to the Center is usually one of our most compelling visits.
Thursday July 19 - Class visit to British Museum. We visited the world-famous British Museum. Our time there was delayed slightly by the arrival of President Bush, who was in London to meet with Tony Blair. Bush toured the library just before we did.
Friday Saturday Sunday off


Monday July 23 - Visit: Advertising Standards Authority 10:30 a.m.

 

 The Advertising Standards Authority upholds policies regarding content of advertising.
Tuesday July 24 - Two visits: BBC & Institute of Public Relations. We had a guided tour of BBC Television Centre by the agency's chief of public relations. In the afternoon with visited the Institute of Public Public Relations, the professional organization for PR professionals in the UK.
Wednesday July 25 - Newspaper Library. We received a detailed tour of inner workings of one of the world's largest newspaper repositories. Students were able to browse the collections, which date to the 1600s.
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday off for Minibreak


Tuesday July 31 - Keynote address 11 a.m. Visit to Sun newspaper.

 

 The entire British Studies Program, more than 200 students in all, gathered to hear our keynote speaker addresses recent developments in the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. In the evening the class visited the Sun newspaper, the largest daily in the U.K.
Wednesday Aug 1 - Lecture by Bill Glauber a.m. Visit to Talk Sport Radio p.m. Glauber, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, is the outgoing head of the association of American correspondents in London. He gave an American perspective on British journalism. He went to lunch with the class afterward. In the afternoon we visited Talk Sport Radio, an all-talk sports station. The program director there gave us an overview of commercial British radio.
Thursday Aug 2 - Visit to the Home Office. The Home Office is the British office that oversees all domestic policy. We heard a presentation from the chief public relations person for the agency.
Friday Aug 3 - Day off to prepare for final. No class. Davies takes class to Chinatown for closing class lunch.
Saturday Aug 4 - Final exam.  
   
The syllabus doesn't reflect informal class trips, which weren't required but in which almost everyone participated. We took class trips to Greenwich, Abbey Road, the National Portrait Gallery, and we took a boat ride down the Thames.
Return to the main page
for British Studies in Journalism

This page is maintained by Dr. David R. Davies []
at the University of Southern Mississippi.
URL: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~ddavies/ukjournalism/syllabus01.htm


AA/EOE/ADAI