Media Skills for Engaged Youth

Topic outline

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  Course Description

  

  Online course ‟Media Skills for Engaged Youth – how to create engaging social media content‟ is an interactive, multilingual (English, Spanish and Serbian) online Moodle course that supplements the one on media literacy and equips the participants with practical skills and knowledge required for them to write, create, post and share media messages in the form of articles, short videos for social media and creating a YouTube channel.

  For centuries, the ability to produce printed and media content belonged to a privileged few with access to education and technology to do so. Nowadays, anyone can publish almost everything within minutes. But, is this journalism, or stating opinions, citizens’ activism, or policymaking? This course is primarily intended for those young people and youth workers wishing to create media content to express themselves, advocate their attitudes, fight for their goals and inspire and induce positive social change.

  The goal of this course is thus to offer engaging and inspiring content with the two-fold purpose: 1) to teach participants how to use the media as a tool for activism and social change; and 2) to have participants become effective media activists (agents of change) themselves.

  These subjects are covered within three main clusters. The first one, Are you Stylish? contains a practical guide to style, composition and good usage that underscores all good writing. It will provide practical advice for avoiding typical stylistic and grammar mistakes in writing and exemplify elementary rules of style, composition and good writing. This section will also offer instructions, “tricks” and how to about structuring an argument, achieving clarity and cohesion, being specific and concrete in writing, developing stylistic elegance and grace etc.

  The second cluster focuses on acquiring the knowledge needed to actively participate in new media forms - in particular, how to write articles, including some tips and sources about investigative, responsible journalism and journalist ethics, and a tutorial on how to make a YouTube channel. It also contains a link to our rebranded Transnational Youth Magazine (TYM), where you can read about youth issues but also publish your articles.

  Finally, the third section on Youth Media Activism will provide short and inspiring stories and case-studies about the most influential recent examples of youth activism in/through the media, such as the Kony 2012 campaign, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai or environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
  

  Taking this three-part online course will enable the participants to grasp the role and potential of contemporary media and youth activism, as well as to obtain essential and/or improve their existing writing skills. The course thereby aims at equipping the participant with a full range of skills which will enable them to fully, creatively and actively participate in today’s world dominated by information and technology.

  
  
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  Are You Stylish?

  
  

  The first section, Are you Stylish? contains a practical guide to style, composition and good usage that underscores all good writing. It provides practical advice for avoiding typical stylistic and grammar mistakes in writing and exemplifies elementary rules of style, composition and good writing. It covers in more detail basic rules of composition and elementary rules of usage. We will also discuss some basic writing rules, practice using them and test our writing skills. 

  
  

  
  

  Lecture Basic Rules of Composition This lecture covers Top 10 basic rules of composition, such as: omit needless words; use definite, concrete, specific languages; keep related words together; make a paragraph into a unit of composition and others. Once fully acquired, these rules help users to avoid many typical mistakes in written English, common even for experienced native users.
  

  
  

  Prezi presentation of the lecture can be found here. 
  

  
  

  • The Elements of Style - Composition File

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    The Elements of Style is a famous short book written by William Strunk and abridged by E. B. White over a hundred years ago. It had numerous editions and is still considered one of the best manuals for good writing in English. 

    Please read carefully the section - Elementary Principles of Composition pp. 26-40.

    
    

    
    

    
    

  • Lecture - Elementary Rules of Usage Page

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    The next topic in this course is the list of the ten elementary rules of good usage, a sort of top ten list of basic grammar rules in English, or the most common mistakes that people usually make. Our source for this is the already mentioned book Elements of Style written 100 years ago by William Strunk and modified half a century ago by Elwyn White.

    
    

    Prezi presentation of the lecture can be found here. 
    
    
    

    
    

  • The Elements of Style - Usage File

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    The Elements of Style is a famous short book written by William Strunk and abridged by E. B. White over a hundred years ago. It had numerous editions and is still considered one of the best manuals for good writing in English. 

    Please read carefully the section - Elementary Rules od Usage pp. 13-25.
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

  • Interactive Quizzes on Grammar and Writing URL

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    This website contains a list of a number of interactive quizzes on grammar and writing that you can take at will. They cover all the major fields such as: BASIC SENTENCE PARTS, VERBS AND VERBALS, CLAUSES & PHRASES, STRUCTURAL FLAWS, PUNCTUATION & BASIC MECHANICS, PRONOUN USAGE, STYLISTIC CONSIDERATIONS, NOTORIOUS CONFUSABLES, SPELLING, VOCABULARY and GENERAL GRAMMAR quizzes.

    
    

    
    

  • Writing with Style - summary URL

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    A useful summary of main points on style from John R. Trimble, Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing, such as:

    1 “Getting Launched”
    2 “Thinking Well”
    3 "How to write a critical analysis"
    4 "Openers"
    5 "Middles"
    6 "Closers"

    
    

    
    

  • Advanced Writing Skills Test URL

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    Writing Skills Test Practice Exam: 45 Minutes—75 Questions

    (developed by the Evergreen Valley College)
    
    

    In the five passages that follow, certain words and phrases are underlined and numbered. In the right–hand screen, you will find alternatives for each underlined part. You are to choose the one that best expresses the idea, makes the statement appropriate for standard written English, or is worded most consistently with the style and tone of the passage as a whole. If you think the original is best, choose “NO CHANGE.”

    You will also find questions about a section of the passage, or about the passage as a whole. These questions do not refer to an underlined portion of the passage, but rather are identified by a number or numbers in a box.

    For each question, choose the alternative you consider best and click the corresponding button. Read each passage through once before you begin to answer the questions that accompany it. You cannot determine most questions without reading several sentences beyond the question. Be sure that you have read far enough ahead each time you choose an alternative.

    
    

    
    

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  Mastering Old and New Media: Writing Articles and creating a YouTube Chanel

  
  

  
  

  The second cluster focuses on acquiring the knowledge needed to actively participate in old and new media forms - in particular, it offers some more tips on how to write a publishable article and a tutorial on how to make a YouTube channel. It also contains a link to our rebranded Transnational Youth Magazine (TYM), where you can read articles about youth issues from Europe and America, but also publish your articles.

  
  

  
  

  • Investigative journalism File

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    Investigative journalism is often defined as a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. 
    

    
    

    Organizations of investigative journalists 

    •IRE (www.ire.org) – for years, it gathers journalists, editors, educators and trainers, as well as student, from USA and worldwide.

    • the Global Investigative Journalism Network has been established in 2003, with members being invited from all national, regional and continental organizations of investigative reporters.

    
    

    
    

  • Investigative Journalism Sources Page

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    Investigative Journalism Sources:
    

    The Internet offers a number of useful, practical and insightful manuals about investigative journalism, with step-by-step guide on how to find a story, follow it, treat your sources, defining minimal and maximal hypothesis etc. 

    
    

       Ten Steps to Investigative Reporting By Lucinda S. Fleeson publication by the International Center for Journalists

    "Broaden the Definition of Investigative Reporting 

    Don’t limit yourself! Investigative reporting includes more than stories that expose corruption and criminal activity. Important and suitable topics include stories that explain how systems work or fail, or reconstruct a complex event. Reporters at many newspapers have found that readers have a great interest in how things work, what is going on, how it may affect ordinary people." 

    
    

    

    Investigative Journalism, From BIRN’s Probe to Porn Vids, A short article by Serbian Award-winning investigative journalist Branko Čečen (in English) 

    
    

    

    What is investigative journalism? Publication and website by Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Africa)       "By the time you read this chapter and worked through the exercises and reading, you'll know how to:

    * Define the practice of investigative journalism; Discuss the mission of investigative journalists and some of the ground rules they need to observe; Discuss the skills and personal qualities investigative journalists need;  Identify topics and approaches appropriate for investigative stories; Discuss, critique, and derive pointers from examples of African and other investigative journalism." 

    
    

    
    

     The Global Investigative Journalism Casebook, UNESCO series on Journalism Education
    

    "the Casebook serves as a complementary material for training purposes, aiming to enhance the exchange of good practices and networking in investigative journalism throughout the world. It contains more than 20 worldwide recent investigative stories, covering a wide variety of topical subjects and of special interest to UNESCO such as freedom of information, good governance, social and legal issues, the environment, health and gender...,  followed by an explanation of how the authors conducted their research and the writing of the piece. Many of the authors belong to the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and the stories exemplify modern techniques and high standards.
    

    
    

    
    

    Investigative Journalism: Context and Practice, Edited by Hugo de Burgh

    Investigative Journalism is a critical and reflective introduction to the traditions and practices of investigative journalism. Beginning with a historical survey, the authors explain how investigative journalism should be understood within the framework of the mass media. They discuss how it relates to the legal system, the place of ethics in investigations and the influence of new technologies on journalistic practices.