The six-week course is designed to be adapted by universities and colleges to meet local needs.

It explores modern journalism, focusing on technology, ethics, and media production. Students will examine digital newsgathering, fact-checking, and editorial ethics while analysing misinformation and bias in the news. The course also covers the role of AI and algorithms in shaping journalism. Through a mix of theory and practice, students will gain the skills to navigate and influence the future of digital media.

Week 1: Editorial ethics in the digital age

• Overview:
  • In today’s fast-changing digital media landscape, journalistic ethics face new challenges. In the first week we’ll focus on core values such as accuracy, fairness, and integrity. We’ll examine how these principles apply online, the impact of unconscious bias on news, and the pressures of the digital news cycle. Through readings and discussions, we’ll tackle ethical dilemmas and learn how to uphold high journalistic standards.
• Topics:
  • Ethical principles in digital journalism and their practical applications
  • Ensuring accuracy, fairness, and journalistic integrity in online reporting
  • The role of unconscious bias in shaping media narratives and audience trust
  • Ethical dilemmas in the fast-paced, high-pressure digital news environment
• Essential reading:
  • Why editorial ethics are important
  • Lesson: Editorial ethics
  • Integrity and journalism
  • Lesson: Integrity in journalism
  • Accuracy in journalism
  • Lesson: Accuracy in journalism

Week 2: Digital newsgathering and production

• Overview:
  • The digital revolution has transformed journalism, shifting from traditional reporting to advanced digital production. In the second week you’ll learn how newsrooms adapt to a digital-first world. We’ll explore investigative journalism in a multi-platform environment, advanced storytelling techniques for digital and video formats, and strategies for audience engagement. This week will equip you with the skills to create impactful stories in today’s fast-paced media landscape.
• Topics:
  • The transformation of traditional newsrooms into digital-first operations
  • Investigative journalism in a multi-platform and converged media environment
  • Advanced storytelling techniques for digital, video, and interactive formats
  • Effective strategies for online news prioritization and audience engagement
• Essential reading:
  • Introducing a converged newsroom strategy
  • Lesson: Newsroom convergence
  • Creating a converged news operation
  • Convergence workflows: Roles and responsibilities
  • Lesson: How to construct a TV news package
  • Presenting and exploiting content online
  • How to set online news priorities
  • Managing a news website front page

Week 3: Advanced fact-checking in the digital age

• Overview:
  • As information spreads more rapidly and misinformation is a constant threat, it’s crucial to know how to separate fact from fiction. In the third week we’ll focus on the importance of verification in journalism. You’ll learn ethical fact-checking practices and methods for real-time digital verification. We’ll also cover how to create fact-checking systems and explore how AI is used to detect manipulated content. By the end of the week, you’ll be equipped to defend against misinformation and uphold journalistic integrity.
• Topics:
  • The ethical necessity of rigorous fact-checking in modern journalism
  • Investigative methodologies for real-time digital verification
  • Developing and implementing comprehensive fact-checking frameworks
  • The role of artificial intelligence in detecting misinformation and verifying sources
• Essential reading:
  • Fact-checking and adding context
  • Beyond basic fact-checking
  • Lesson: Beyond basic fact-checking
  • Creating a strong fact-checking system

Week 4: Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news

• Overview:
  • Not only has the digital age enabled information to spread faster, it’s also also made it easier to manipulate, which can have serious social and political effects. In the fourth week we’ll explore the dangers of false information. You’ll learn how to spot and counter disinformation and understand the importance of trust in digital journalism. We’ll also look at the rise of deepfakes and AI-generated content and their impact on public trust. This week will help you navigate the challenges of misinformation in today’s media landscape.treacherous landscape of online deception and learn how to defend the truth in an age of pervasive misinformation.
• Topics:
  • The societal and political ramifications of misinformation campaigns
  • Techniques for identifying and countering disinformation tactics
  • The role of trust chains in digital journalism and credibility assessment
  • The impact of deepfakes and AI-generated content on public trust
• Essential reading:
  • How to identify and deal with fake news
  • Fake news and trust chains
  • Lesson: Fake news
  • Dealing with disinformation and misinformation
  • Information disorder: Mapping the landscape
  • Snacking on rumour, feeding on fact

Week 5: Bias, social media, and audience influence

• Overview:
  • The influence of social media where unverified information spreads at speed, along with algorithms deciding what information is shared, maintaining journalistic integrity is harder than ever. In the fifth week we’ll examine how bias affects news production and trust in media. You’ll learn about the powerful role social media plays in spreading news and shaping how it’s created. We’ll look at audience habits and how their demand for instant, personalised content can impact objective reporting. This week will provide practical strategies for reducing bias and keeping your journalism fair and truthful.
• Topics:
  • The impact of bias in digital journalism and media credibility
  • The influence of social media platforms on news production and dissemination
  • Audience consumption patterns and their implications for journalistic integrity
  • Strategies for mitigating bias and enhancing journalistic objectivity
• Essential reading:
  • • Confronting editorial bias in election coverage
    • Social media in news production and news dissemination
    • Adapting to changing audience behaviour and monitoring the market
    • Unconscious bias and its impact on journalism
    • Lesson: Unconscious bias

Week 6: Artificial intelligence and algorithmic influence in journalism

• Overview:
  • Artificial intelligence is changing journalism. It offers new possibilities and raises new factual and ethical challenges. In the sixth and final week we’ll explore how AI is used in news automation, curation, and investigative reporting. You’ll learn about the practical uses of AI and the ethical concerns, like algorithmic bias. We’ll also examine how machine learning and audience targeting are shaping the future of journalism. This week will give you strategies to maintain journalistic integrity in an AI-driven media world, ensuring truth remains the priority.
• Topics:
  • The expanding role of AI in news automation, curation, and investigative journalism
  • The ethical challenges posed by algorithmic bias and AI-driven reporting
  • The implications of machine learning and audience targeting on journalism’s future
  • Strategies for maintaining journalistic integrity in an AI-driven media landscape
• Essential reading:
  • Artificial intelligence assesses its role in journalism
  • AI and investigative journalism
  • Lesson: AI-powered investigations
  • How to detect AI-generated images
  • Systems thinking for journalists

Coursework and assessement

For coursework and assessment, students are expected to combine the theoretical and practical knowledge gained throughout the six weeks. This includes demonstrating an understanding of ethical considerations in digital journalism, proficiency in digital newsgathering and verification techniques, and the ability to critically analyse the impact of emerging technologies. Assessments will include a combination of written assignments, such as essays and case studies, and practical exercises, such as developing fact-checking frameworks or analysing digital news narratives for bias. Students should be prepared to articulate their perspectives on the future of journalism, considering the interplay of technological advancements, ethical dilemmas, and audience engagement. Ultimately, this course aims to foster informed, ethical, and adaptable journalists capable of upholding journalistic integrity in the rapidly evolving digital age.

The post Module: Digital Journalism first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Failure to recognise and keep up with changing audience behaviour is one of the most common reasons for media organisations struggling.

Continually monitoring how content is being consumed by the audience, and responding quickly to technological and market opportunities, is essential.

The four scenarios

The four attitudes to digital news production, news gathering and news dissemination are digital denial, digital parallel, digital enhanced, and digital first.

Some media managers refuse to accept that there is a digital audience which needs to be served.

Others become digital evangelists who make production decisions that are not always backed with firm business logic.

Some prefer to focus on the old ways of working, and give little consideration to the digital audience and market.

Of course, each newsroom will have a different approach, based on local business logic, legacy issues, and political and cultural factors.

However, one fact is clear; without a converged/integrated newsroom, it’s difficult to make the most of the digital opportunities that might exist.

And although the essential elements of newsroom convergence might be similar for all news organisations, each solution has to be crafted according to local needs, based on solid business data that informs and justifies every suggested change.

Please refer to our article “Creating a converged news operation”.

Let’s look at the four typical scenarios. As you do, try to work out which scenario best describes your media house.

Digital denial

• This is when there is no clear vision from the senior management about why newsroom convergence/integration is important, which often results in there being no buy-in from senior editors, and resistance from many.
• There will have been a failure to invest in the digital technology required to produce content for use on multiple platforms/devices, and there will be little awareness of audience needs and changing audience behaviour.
• Management and staff are stuck in a time warp, bogged down with legacy issues, doing what they have always done, and living in a false comfort zone.

Digital parallel

• Management acknowledges the digital needs of the audience but fails to realise its importance.
• They will usually ask a couple of people to build a website and upload video from its main TV shows.
• This operation will often not be connected to the newsroom. It might even be on a different floor. There might be little to no editorial supervision.
• At times the online version will be a copy and paste version of what was broadcast, there will be no added value in terms of interactive assets that help explain the stories. There will be no user engagement.
• The result will be a rather dull repetition of the TV output, often text heavy, updated once or twice a day, and offering no compelling reason for the audience to visit or return.

Digital enhanced

• In some cases there is an online, multimedia and social media team embedded in the newsroom made up of trained journalists who are part of the news operation. In these cases the on-air, online and mobile versions are all linked.
• There will be an attempt, often made during the morning meeting, to select the top three stories that require some added value online in terms of timelines, interactive maps, infographics, fact boxes, comments etc.
• The source content will be much the same, but the user experience will differ depending on the platforms used by the audience.
• Social sharing and encouraging the audience to comment will be a central part of this strategy.
• There will be a healthy buzz in the newsroom. Journalists will be keen to see how the audience responds, and, after monitoring that interaction, will use the material to build on the interest generated.
• As a result new angles will come to light and be developed. The output on all platforms/devices will feel fresh, relevant and timely.

Digital-first

• This is where the newsroom operates around a central superdesk or hub acting as the main command and control unit for all output.
• There will be shared forward planning. Stories will be created in advance for all output areas with carefully planned cross-promotion.
• Interactivity will be dynamic, meaning that it will be controlled and updated from the newsrooms central database.
• It will be built into detachable, shareable and embeddable multimedia assets, rich in links to background information, which the audience can take away to their own preferred social media space in order to extend the conversation.
• That total user-engagement will be monitored by the social media team and fed back into the news production process so that the output continually reflects the changing needs/concerns/questions posed by the target audience.
• The digital-first converged newsroom will work closely with business development, technological development, and sales and marketing to ensure that any opportunities are fully exploited for the benefit of both the audience and the brand.

Digital evolution

I have worked with all four models in varying forms, helping them evolve to meet audience needs. Some media organisations, sadly, make a start on introducing convergence and then give up.

They sometimes blame the technology rather than their own inability to adapt. And there will be those who take comfort in retreating back to the known and dragging others with them.

But the challenge for media managers is massive. To survive they need to ensure that they have a plan for remaining relevant to changing audience demands while protecting their existing business.

The best strategy for survival and prosperity is a fully converged/integrated news operation delivering content to whatever device the users turn to for information.

The principle is clear – but news organisations should accept that there is no quick out-of-the-box one-size-fits-all solution.

Yes, it is possible to learn from what other organisations have tried successfully. But every media business has its own particular problems and opportunities.

They will need a bespoke strategy, tailored to their exact situation, in order to meet the changing needs of their own target audience.

The post From digital denial to digital first first appeared on Media Helping Media.