DIPLOMA IN PUBLISHING AND JOURNALISM VWR002

COURSE CONTENT

The course consists of 21 modules as follows:

• Freelance Writing
• Advanced Freelance Writing
• Creative Writing
• Children’s Writing
• Technical Writing
• Fiction Writing
• Publishing l
• Publishing ll
• Publishing lll
• Practical Journalism I
• Photographic Practice
• Writing a Website
• Project Management
• Advertising and Promotions
• Digital Photography
• E Commerce
• Workplace Health and Safety
• Research Project 1
• Research Project 11
• Research Project 111
• Plus 100 hours relevant industry meetings or work experience

Duration: 2100 hours.

Module Content

Freelance Writing

There are ten lessons:

1. Introduction to freelancing
2. Basic writing skills
3. The publishing world
4. Manuscripts
5. Planning what you write
6. Newspaper writing
7. Magazine writing
8. Writing books
9. Writing advertising
10. Special project

Advanced Freelance Writing

 The course is divided into 8 lessons as follows: 

1. Introduction. Writing Themes, Sentence Structure, Summary Skills, Theme Development (eg. Deductive, Inductive, Classic, Chronological, Descriptive, Analogy, Cause & Effect, Classification, Definition Analysis, Comparison & Contrast, Flashback etc) 
2. Writing a Regular Column  Newsletters, News Columns, Criticism Journalism (eg Theatre Critics, Book Reviews, Film Reviews, etc) 
3. Educational Writing  Interviewing Skills, Illustrating an article, Putting it all together 
4. Scientific Writing  Technical Writing, Statistics 
5. Writing a Biographical Story   Developing a draft plan, Research, Writing the final manuscript 
6. Writing a News Article  Analysing a news article; writing and illustrating a sporting event 
7. Fiction Writing  Category Writing; Mainstream Writing; Characteristics of good fiction (ie. A strong plot;. A hero or heroine; Obvious motivation; Plenty of action; A colourful background), Forming and developing an idea. 
8. Other Writing    TV & Radio Scripts, Science Fiction, Conducting a Survey; Developing a Story.
   

Creative Writing

The ten lessons are as outlined below:

1. Introduction
2. Basic Writing Skills
3. Being Concise and Clear
4. Planning what you write
5. Fiction
6. Non Fiction
7. Newspaper Writing
8. Magazine Writing
9. Writing Books
10. Special Project

Children’s Writing

There are ten lessons in this unit, as follows:

1. Introduction: Understanding Children, their thoughts, needs, development.
2. Overview of Children’s Writing: Categories (fiction & non fiction), understanding the market place; analyse & understand what is needed for the different categories, etc.
3. Conceptualisation: Conceiving a concept…where & how to find inspiration/influence. Developing a concept … how to plan.
4. Children’s Writing for Periodicals: Children’s pages in magazines, newspapers, etc.
5. Short Stories
6. Non-Fiction: Texts (writing to satisfy curriculum. Other (eg. nature, history, biography, hobbies).
7. Fiction: settings, characterisation, fantasy, science fiction, adventure.
8. Picture Books and Story Books
9. Editing your work: Grammar, spelling & punctuation. Improving clarity. Cleaning out clutter; expansions.
10. Project - write a short story, picture book or kids page for a (hypothetical) periodical.

Technical Writing

There are eight lessons in this module as follows:

1. Scope and Nature of Technical Writing
2. Presentation
3. Matching style and content to the audience
4. Planning: Developing a Logical Structure or Format
5. Collaborative Writing
6. Writing Technical Periodicals
7. Writing Manuals and Procedures
8. riting Project Proposals
9. Writing Project Reports.

Fiction Writing

 There are eight lessons in this module as follows:

1. Scope & Nature of Fiction
2. Components of a Story – beginning, middle and end
3. Technique…The Creative Process – conception, developing a plot,  Writing a Draft, Editing and rewriting; Method Writing
4. Conception and Research 
5. Drama
6. Fantasy
7. The Short Story
8. The Novel

Publishing l

1.  The content of each of the ten lessons is as outlined below:
2. The Publishing World     Nature & scope of publishing, types of publishers, how books are published, market research
3. Publishing Procedures & Techniques    Colour or black & white; film or digital imaging, types of printing, alternative ways of doing layout (eg. typesetting, paste up, electronic layout with Adobe products or MS publisher), comparing types of digital graphic files, printing costs, etc.
4. Desktop Publishing    Word Processing, Alternative publishing methods: Printing on a Computer Printer; Supplying a "Master" to a commercial printer, or plublishing electronically (eg. Internet or CD)
5. Desktop Publishing    Software options, use of colour, black and white, use of graphics, putting it together, etc.
6. Illustration: Graphics   Line illustrations, cartoons, photos etc. Freehand work, Computer graphics, etc.
7. Illustration: Photography    Photographic Equipment & Materials; Composition; Development of Photographic Style Portraiture, Posing for Photographs, Planning a Photo Session, Studio Photography, Fault Finding, etc.
8. Researching    Types of Research (Exploratory, Experimental etc), Primary & Secondary Data sources, Planning a survey, Conducting an interview.
9. Marketing in Publishing   Understanding marketing & publicity –what makes a publication succeed or fail, launches, press releases, etc.
10. Publishing: Ethics & The Law   Public attitudes, accuracy of writing, bias, monopolies, media ownership concerns, etc.
11. Publishing Project    Here you actually publish something.

Publishing ll

There are eight lessons in this module as follows:

1. The Publishing Process
2. Law and the Media
3. Ethics & Morality
4. Production Systems I –from writing to printing
5. Production Systems II
6. Layout for Print Media
7. Media Advertising
8. Marketing and Distribution Systems –Print & Electronic Media

Publishing lll

 There are seven lessons as follows:

1. What to publish? – Deciding what and how to publish: market analysis, sponsorship, advertising, reader demand, industry support, distribution channels
2. Planning a New Publication 
3. Costing a New Publication
4. Resource Management – Managing physical, human and intellectual resources
5. Risk Management – Legal considerations, insurance, staff wellbeing
6. Managing Writers
7. Managing Production & Distribution – Cost, timing, quality control, accuracy

Practical Journalism I

This module gives you hands-on experience in writing for our online student magazine(http://www.studentmag.acsedu.com . You work with a mentor (member of our academic staff) who will oversee your role as writer for an online publication, for one edition of that publication. 
With so many would-be writers around, publishers can afford to be very choosy. Most will only accept work from writers who have already been published, but getting that first work published can be a daunting and difficult task. Many very good writers just never get published at all.
This module provides our students with just what they need: an opportunity to get work published. On graduation, you will have at least one work published (maybe more) in a publication that you can show to potential employers, which will increase your chances of being employed or published in future.
This course takes you through the processes of writing for a specific publication, submitting work for publication, and meeting the requirements of an editor and publisher.

Photographic Practice

There are 8 lessons as follows:

1. Composition
2. Photographing People
3. Nature & Landscape Photography
4. Colour vs. black & white
5. Special Techniques
6. Illustrative Photography
7. Publishing Photos
8. Business Opportunities in Photography

Writing a Website

There are 8 lessons as follows:

1. Getting Started
2. Page Layout
3. Navigation
4. Images and Page Weights
5. Colour and Style
6. Designing a Web Site
7. Building and Testing a Web Site
8. FTP

Project Management   

There are nine lessons as follows:

1. Introduction
   Understanding what project management is, and what its applications might be.
2. Project Identification
   Identification and defining projects which need management.
3. Project Planning
   Developing a strategy and framework for the plan.
4. Project Implementation
   Managers duties during implementation, developing a Preparation Control Chart,
   Regulating implementation.
5. Project Completion & Evaluation
   Dangers in this stage, Steps in Project completion, Declaring a project sustainable,
   Developing an evaluation method.
6. Technical Project Management Skills
   Preparing a proposal, budget control/management, steps in drawing up a
   post project appraisal.
7. Leadership Skills
   Styles of leadership, leadership principles and methods.
8. Improving Key Personnel Skills
   Listening skills, Negotiation skills, Conflict management.
9. Major Assignment
   Developing full documentation for a project.

Advertising and Promotions

 The content the ten lessons is as outlined below:

1. Analysing the Market
2. Target Marketing
3. Display and Display Techniques
4. Advertising and Promotions Strategy
5. New Product Development
6. Sales Techniques - General
7. Writing Advertisement
8. Electronic Marketing -Telephone & Email
9. Direct Mailing
10. Exhibitions & Shows

Digital Photography

This course is divided into eleven lessons as follows:

1. Introduction To Digital Technology
   How images are captured and stored, categories of equipment & software, scope of applications 
2. Equipment -getting started; deciding what you need
   CCD's, Image Sizes, Raster Images,, Video Cards, Colour depth, Computer terminology etc.
3. Digital Technology
   Colour, resolution, sensors (how technology enables digital images to be captured).
4. Digital Cameras
   Image formation, lenses, camera stability, one shot cameras, 3 shot cameras, terminology (eg.DPI, DVD, Bit, EDO RAM, Plug In etc)
5. Taking Photographs
   Principles of Photo Composition, Creating effects, Default Setting, Compression of Data, Dithering, Halftones etc
6. Scanners
   Techniques which can be used for digitally capturing images from film photographs, or graphics 
7. Uploading Images
   How digital images can be transferred effectively from a camera (or scanner) onto another device (eg. a computer, video monitor, television set, etc).
8. The Digital Darkroom
   Techniques that can be used to process digital photographs within a computer to achieve improved or changed images
9. Compositing & Imaging - Production & manipulation of images
   How digital photos can be manipulated and changed to produce altered images
10. Special Effects
    Scope and nature of special effects that can be created with digital photographs
11. Outputs & Applications- Printers, The Internet
    How and where digital photography can effectively be used.

E Commerce

 There are eight lessons in this module as follows:

1. Introduction: What is e-commerce, scope of e commerce. E commerce problems & advantages, security, using the internet, contract law, How different electronic payment systems work (eg. credit card, bank transfer etc)
2. Success & Failure: What makes a web site commercially successful? Relaxing with technology, what can go wrong, site visibility, interactivity of a site, etc
3. Promotional Strategies: Internet differences; Internet code of conduct, marketing management, target marketing, categories of url’s (search engines, ffa’s, directories etc)
4. Optimizing Web Site Potential: Monitoring visitors, Ground rules keep changing, Meta tags, Evaluation services, Submission services, etc
5. Increasing Web Site Exposure: Developing a marketing plan, Promoting a site, Forms of advertising, Types of Marketing (Affiliate marketing; Free Content Marketing; Drive in Marketing, Buzz Marketing and User Group Marketing.)
6. Automating Supply of Goods, Services and Cash flow: Ways to process payment; Ways to supply goods or services.
7. Managing Constant Change: Ways to keep information up to date, Resource Planning, Information Currency vs Cash Currency, etc.
8. Dealing with E Commerce Problems: Learning from mistakes (others & yours)

Workplace Health and Safety

Learning to recognise potentially dangerous situations can mean the avoidance of litigation, work disruption, and significant, unnecessary costs. Make sure that an accident that could have been avoided is not the reason your business fails.
This course was developed by highly qualified professionals, who have years of experience in industry.There are 7 lessons as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Legislation
3. Handling Chemicals
4. Handling Equipment
5. Handling Objects
6. Standards & Rules
7. Signs & Signals

A solid foundation for a career in the Publishing industry.

This course is very practical, and develops a strong capacity to adapt to an industry that is changing so rapidly that it often leaves graduates of other courses behind.

Study this with a view to becoming:

• As a journalist or writer
• Publishing assistant or manager
• Web Developer
• A Marketing manager
• A Production Manager ...etc

ACS tutors are well published and successful professionals with current industry experience. Study here for an education with a strong dose of both reality and opportunity.