Course program
Session 1: The Origins of News
9.30am-12.00pm Monday, 14 January 2019
Our course will begin in early modern Europe (1500-1800), when the invention of printing and the development of postal networks changed the way news was exchanged and sold to the public. Our first session will emphasise the variety of oral, manuscript, and printed news, and include a special presentation on ballads by Dr Una McIlvenna.
Session 2: The Rise of the Newspaper
9.30am-12.00pm Tuesday, 15 January 2019
How did the newspaper become such an important medium for the exchange of news and political commentary? This session will explore the causes and consequences of the proliferation of newspapers in Enlightenment-era Europe and North America. We will be joined by PhD researcher Jean McBain for a discussion of historical debates about press freedom and its limits.
Session 3: Politics, Technology, and the Experience of News
9.30am-12.00pm Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Focusing on the nineteenth century, this session will consider how a combination of political, economic, and technological changes affected the cultural experience of news. Topics include changes in law and government policy, the spread of the telegraph and newsrooms, the development of visual news, and the "tabloidisation" of the mass press. Professor Megan Richardson from Melbourne Law School will join this session to offer her expertise on intellectual property law.
Session 4: The View from the Internet Age
9.30am-12.00pm Thursday, 17 January 2019
The spread of the Internet and social media have transformed the business and culture of news. Our course will conclude by considering the challenges and opportunities created by recent shifts in the media landscape. For this final session, Associate Professor Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne, and Dan Stinton, Managing Director of Guardian Australia, will join the course for a round-table discussion on the current state of the media and the future of news.
Supporting Australian Journalism
The Faculty of Arts is delighted that Dan Stinton, Managing Director of Guardian Australia will be a part of this course. In 2016, the Faculty of Arts and Guardian Australia came together to establish the Guardian Civic Journalism Trust. The Trust supports journalism projects that advance public discourse and citizen participation in issues such as the environment, Indigenous affairs, human rights, inequality and governance and accountability. It also invests in the next generation of journalists by giving students the skills they need to become world class reporters in a changing environment.