The Chinese University of Hong Kong

School of Journalism and Communication

COMM1150B Introduction to Media Industries and Practices
Second Term, 2021-22
Lecturer Tsang Tsz Yeung <[email protected]>

Office NAH 321

Teaching Liu Weiyu ([email protected])

Assistants

Jay Mak Chung Yin ([email protected])

Time of class Every Wednesday, 10:30am - 1:15pm

Venue of class YIA 201

1. Course Description: What is the course about?

In the latter half of the 20th century, working in the media and communication
industries referred mainly to working for newspapers, broadcasting stations, film
companies, and advertising or PR industries. But with the advance of digital media
technologies, old boundaries among the distinctive media sectors are seemingly
blurring or even falling apart, while there might also be new types of "media
companies." This course is designed to get students familiarised with the evolving
realities of the various media industries in Hong Kong, China, and beyond.

The overarching questions to be discussed in the class include: How can one
characterise the configuration of the contemporary media industries? What are the
key trends underlying the transformation of the media industries? What are the
implications of these transformations for "media workers"? What does it mean by
working as a journalist, a creative content producer, an advertiser, etc. in the
contemporary world and in the future? What are the communication practises
involved in the various industries? What are the broader social, cultural, and political
implications of the transformation of media work and media industries?

2. Expected learning goals and outcome

Students are expected to acquire an overall understanding of the configuration of the
contemporary media industries, and also be able to analyse the continual evolution of
the media industries and media work. Students are also expected to better position
themselves in terms of possible future career choices and to take further steps to
understand the fields of industry they are interested in.
3. Assessment Scheme

Assessment Description Weight

Scheme

Class Exercise Details of the class exercise will be distributed during lectures. 5%
Students are expected to attend all lectures and discussion
sessions.

Individual Media Students are required to choose either: 30%

Reflection 1. An online news production series OR
Report 2. An online marketing campaign OR
3. An online video production campaign

How it affects your media consuming behaviour in the digital age.

(15%)
Also, further discuss if the case holds the key to the media's future.
(15%)

Word limit is 1,000. Deadline of this Individual Media Report is 5pm

on 18 Nov, 2021. Detailed guidelines for the report will be
distributed in class.

Mid Term Exam Mid-term exam will be given on 26 Oct 2022 within class time. 30%
Students are required to finish the exam.

A preview of the exam will be given on 12 Oct 2022. Lecturer will

announce the exam area and format during class time.

Group Project Students are required to form a group of 5 to 6 and develop an idea 5%
Proposal for the presentation.

Each group can choose a topic upon their interests in journalism/

advertising and PR/ creative media. Detailed guidelines will be
distributed on Week 3.

Students need to submit the plan of the group project presentation

with preliminary research at 5pm, on 21 Oct, 2022.

Group Project Groups of students are required to give a 20-minute presentation. 30%
Presentation The presentation is expected to be multimedia and conducted in
creative ways.

Groups will conduct the presentation in class during Week 12

and Week 13.

Students will draw lots on the presentation order on Week 4.

The Group Project’s 30% score is divided into TWO parts:

1. 20 minute Group Presentation: 25% of course score
2. Peer Evaluation: 5% of course score

Peer Evaluation will be in a form of online questionnaire, deadline

 of submission is Week 13.

4. Teaching schedule

Date Class Topic Remarks

7 Sept 1 Course overview.

Development of the news industry in Hong Kong.

14 Sept 2 Theories of media convergence.

Digital media and the blurring boundaries of the
media industry.

21 Sept 3 Journalism I: Transformation of the newspaper

industry - from print to digital newsroom.
Preview on Final Presentation

28 Sept 4 Part 1: Journalism II: Convergent journalism Form teams for

Part 2: Transferable skills: Online content production group project, draw
lot for deciding
presentation date

5 Oct 5 PR & advertising: Basic concepts of marketing and

public relations.

12 Oct 6 Creative Media I: Visual Storytelling

Preview on Mid-term Exam

19 Oct 7 Guest Speaker 1 (On Creative Media) (Speaker to Submission of

be confirmed) Project Plan

26 Oct 8 Mid-term Exam

2 Nov 9 Creative Media II: Video and film production and Confirm mode of
practises. presentation
Transferable Skills II: Usage of media metrics in
digital content production

9 Nov 10 Guest Speaker 2 (On Journalism) (Speaker to be

confirmed)

16 Nov 11 Guest Speaker 3 (On PR & Advertising) (Speaker to

be confirmed)

23 Nov 12 Group Presentation (Group 1 - 6)

30 Nov 13 Group Presentation (Group 7 - 12) Peer Evaluation

Submission
*Course schedule may change subject to availability of guest speakers.
5. Back Up Teaching Plan and Assessment Scheme for Online Teaching

● Classes will be taught live on Zoom in real-time according to the course schedule.
Classes will be recorded and Zoom links will be uploaded on Blackboard.
● Classes from Week 10 to Week 13 of Student Presentations and Guest Lectures will
be held in a form of face-to-face class at NAH114. Synchronous online classes will
be held on Zoom for these classes. Students should attend the face-to-face class if
possible.
● If students are not able to attend the face-to-face class due to sickness or are not in
Hong Kong in that period, please email TA at least one week in advance. Attendance
will be taken for face-to-face class for record purpose, but no marks will be deducted
due to absence of face-to-face class.
● In case face-to-face meeting is not possible due to the further spread of COVID-19/
university’s requirement, the teaching mode will be switched to online teaching
accordingly.
● Students should submit soft copies of the Individual Media Report, Project Plan,
Presentation Powerpoint, Guest Lecture Report and Peer Evaluation Form online.
The requirement and submission would remain the same when classes turn online
due to the pandemic.
● You should email the Lecturer and TA if you have questions about the online
teaching mode and assessments arrangement.

Assessment Changes of assessment format under online teaching module Weight

Scheme

Individual Format of the report will be announced during the online lecture. 30%
Media Review
Report Students will need to submit the report in “.docx” format to the
online assignment collection portal as instructed. The report will be
marked on soft copy and to be returned to students through the
online portal or via email.

Deadline of the report: 5pm on 18 Nov, 2021.

Mid Term Exam Mid-term exam will be given on 26 Oct 2022. 30%

Students need to complete the exam questions WITHIN CLASS

TIME (2:30pm to 5:00pm) and send the answers to Blackboard by
5:15pm. Late submission will face a mark penalty.

Exam guidelines will be distributed in class on 12 Oct, 2022.

Group Project Students will conduct a presentation in an online session. 40%

Presentation
Each group will need to prepare a 20 minute online presentation
with Powerpoint slides. Each group needs to submit one set of PPT
slides to class email for assessment. For the Project plan,
students need to submit it to Blackboard.

Peer Evaluation will be done in a form of online questionnaire.

 Students should fill in the online form and submit it online.

6. Grade descriptors
Grade Overall course

A Outstanding performance on all learning outcomes#.

A- Generally outstanding performance on all (or almost all) learning outcomes.

B* Substantial performance on all learning outcomes, OR high performance on

some learning outcomes which compensates for less satisfactory performance
on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.

C* Satisfactory performance on the majority of learning outcomes, possibly with a

few weaknesses.

D* Barely satisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes

F Unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, OR failure to

meet specified assessment requirements.
#Detailed learning outcomes need to be included in the course outline.
*Sub-divisions (i.e. B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+) are still applicable.

7. List of references and websites

Students are encouraged to read online news from both Hong Kong and overseas
news media on a daily basis, so as to observe the latest trends of technological
advancement.

English news media such as The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC, South China
Morning Post are recommended. Chinese news media such as NOW TV, Cable
News, RTHK, Apple Daily, The Initium Media, HK01, The Reporter (Taiwan) are
recommended. You are also encouraged to download these news apps to observe
the mobile reading experiences provided by these news media.

Students interested in marketing should pay attention to the trending ad campaigns

on social media both locally and worldwide. Facebook Pages such as “Ads of the
World” are one of the sources of interesting ads.

For those who are interested in Creative Media, you are encouraged to bookmarked
video production channels on YouTube and on social media platforms. Platforms
such as “Great Big Stories” is a good reference.

You are also encouraged to read books from different areas to enrich your
knowledge. Here is a list of reference books. They are optional for your learning.
Citation ends with “web” indicating that an online version is available in CUHK library.

On Media Convergence and Convergent Journalism:

 Siapera, Eugenia, and Veglis, Andreas. The Handbook of Global Online Journalism.
Somerset: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Handbooks in Communication and Media. Web.

Kolodzy, Janet. Practicing Convergence Journalism. London: Routledge, 2013. Web.

林照真. 新聞, 在轉捩點上 : 數位時代的新聞轉型與聚合 = News (2017). Web.

黃哲斌. 新聞不死, 只是很喘 : 媒體數位轉型的中年危機 = The Turning Point of Digital Media. 第

一版 ed. 台北市: 天下雜誌股份有限公司, 2019. Print. 新視野(天下雜誌股份有限公司)

On Journalism - Practices of Online Journalism:

Filak, and Vincent F. Convergent Journalism: An Introduction. 3rd ed. Routledge, 2019. Web.

Briggs, Mark. Journalism next : A Practical Guide to Digital Reporting and Publishing. Fourth
ed. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, 2020. Print.

Hill, Steve, and Paul Lashmar. Online Journalism : The Essential Guide. London: SAGE,
2014. Print.

Thornburg, Ryan. Producing Online News : Digital Skills, Stronger Stories. Washington, D.C.:
CQ, 2011. Print.

Wilkinson, Grant, Fisher, Grant, August E., and Fisher, Douglas J. Principles of Convergent
Journalism. 2nd Ed., Instructor's ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

On Advertising and Public Relations:

吳博林（2018）廣告 101 --之變，天窗出版社

Young, Miles, and Ogilvy & Mather. Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age. First U.S. ed.
New York: Bloomsbury, 2018. Print.

On Creative Media:
Barsam, Richard Meran. Looking at Movies : An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton,
2004.

8. References on Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work,
and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such
policy and regulations. Details may be found at
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that
they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.
• In the case of group projects, all students of the same group should be asked to
sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions
should there be any plagiarized contents in the group project, irrespective of whether
he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed directly or
indirectly to the plagiarized contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally
text-based and submitted via VeriGuide
 (https://academic.veriguide.org/academic/login_CUHK.jspx), the statement, in the
form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft
copy of the assignment. Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not
be graded by teachers. Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted
via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one
purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration
to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submission.
It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from
one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the
course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece
of work.
Any assignment which shows evidence of plagiarism will be penalized severely.
Plagiarism is the copying of passages from other sources without proper citation or
attribution. In the case of plagiarism, the minimum penalty is one demerit and a zero
mark for the assignment.

9. Conflict resolution processes for group assignments

In the event of a conflict within Group, students must undertake the following
process:
● Students must address issues early (do not leave the problem until the week
before the assignment is due);
● Call a meeting with all group members to discuss a concern or a breach of
contract/agreement;
● If resolution is not achieved, request mediation by the Lecturer; If resolution is not
achieved, evaluation of individual group member’s contribution is to be reflected in
the Group Project Peer Evaluation Form. The completed Forms will be served as
the final resolution.

10. Feedback for evaluation

Students are welcome to give comments and feedback in class, or by appointment or
email with the lecturer and teaching assistants.