COMS233-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025

Media Law for Journalists

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2025
End Date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 27 July 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 28 September 2025

Description

This course aims to give you the foundational knowledge you need to practice ethically and legally as a journalist. By the end of the course you’re expected to have developed a basic understanding of the range and impact of laws and regulations restricting the media and journalists in New Zealand, as well as practical skills in court reporting. You will be required to attend a courts field trip, and to create and share work with others in order to learn from and support each other. Please note, the course’s practical focus requires active in-class engagement. It is not a distance course. Note: This course is restricted to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) or Graduate Diploma in Journalism.

Prerequisites

Limited Entry: Subject to admission to the Journalism Major and permission from the Head of Department.

Restrictions

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 13:00 - 15:00 Ernest Rutherford 460
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct
Workshop A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 09:00 - 11:00 Ernest Rutherford 460
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct

Lecturers

Conan Young and Ursula Cheer

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Portfolio of court stories 40% 3 court stories, from 3 separate cases.
2 x Tutorial assignments 10% You will be assigned court report writing tasks, which we will workshop in class.
Field Trip Assignment 10% We aim to attend the Christchurch courts as a class, where you will take notes from the courtroom and write a court report.
Law Exam 40% Open book exam

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,011.00

International fee $4,217.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Limited Entry Course

Maximum enrolment is 25

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All COMS233 Occurrences

  • COMS233-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025
Previous year