JOUR90027 Global Crisis Reporting

How JOUR90027 is assessed

Weights follow the University's 2026 handbook record for the subject, which matches the 2026 subject guide. The handbook lists two hurdles: a minimum of 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars or workshops, and submission of all pieces of assessment as complete, genuine attempts; you cannot pass without meeting both. Late work without an extension loses 5% per day. The presentation page says the annotated bibliography is handed in at the end of the presentation, while the presentation slide deck says within a week through the LMS, and the page dates eligible coverage from 25 July 2025; confirm both with your tutor.

Current JOUR90027 dates

Dates are as published in the 2026 subject guide and the subject's assignment pages. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.

What JOUR90027 covers

Twelve chapters follow the lecture schedule from news values to politically constructed crises, then turn to the media report and the research essay. Each topic links to its free chapter guide.

It examines how global crises, from pandemics and wars to terrorism, climate change and humanitarian disasters, are reported, and what that reporting means for publics, politics and the people caught up in them.

The subject asks how coverage has changed with digital technologies, how crises are constructed, mediated and communicated, whether journalists should practise a journalism of attachment, how humanitarian organisations communicate, and what moral responsibility news-makers carry when they show human suffering.

Teaching runs through a weekly one-hour lecture and a 90-minute seminar.

The weeks move from news values and Simon Cottle's idea of a global crisis, through press systems and pandemic reporting, war and objectivity, climate framing, terrorism and moral panic, claims-makers and NGOs, unreported crises, photojournalism and foreign correspondence, to crises that are politically constructed.

Readings range from Four Theories of the Press to recent studies of humanitarian data and freelance climate journalists.

The learning outcomes ask you to evaluate key studies and theoretical frameworks, apply them in your own critique of media performance, and adhere to ethical practice under pressure, with accountability and sensitivity toward affected populations.

Assessment is a group presentation worth 20%, a 1,500-word media report worth 30% that compares two countries' coverage of one crisis, and a 2,500-word argumentative research essay worth 50%.

Two hurdles apply: at least 80% attendance at seminars, and submission of every piece of assessment as a complete, genuine attempt; missing either means you cannot pass. The subject forbids generative AI, translation tools and Grammarly for researching or writing assignments.

Worked example · free

Why one disaster becomes a global crisis and another does not

Key terms

News values

News values are the criteria journalists use to select and rank stories for an audience, such as magnitude, proximity, the power elite, surprise and shareability, listed by Galtung and Ruge and revised by Harcup and O'Neill.

Global crisis

A global crisis, in Cottle's usage, is an event or process that the world's news media publicly define, legitimate and mobilise as a crisis, so its status depends on claims-making and power as well as on its scale.

Claims-maker

A claims-maker is a person or organisation, such as a government, NGO or politician, that defines a situation as a crisis and promotes that definition through the media.

News frame

A news frame is the angle that organises a story, which in Entman's account defines a problem, interprets its causes, judges it morally or recommends a remedy.

Journalism of attachment

Journalism of attachment is Martin Bell's term for reporting that cares as well as knows and will not stand neutral between victim and oppressor, while still aiming to be fair and accurate.

Bystanders' journalism

Bystanders' journalism is Bell's label for detached war reporting that describes military circumstances from a distance rather than the people who fight and suffer.

Four Theories of the Press

Four Theories of the Press is the framework of Siebert, Peterson and Schramm holding that a press system reflects its society, described as Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social Responsibility and Soviet Communist theories.

Indexing theory

Indexing theory is the proposition that the press follows what government considers important, so coverage of an issue rises and falls with the attention of officials.

Propaganda model

The propaganda model is Herman and Chomsky's account of news shaped by five filters, ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak and ideology, that favour dominant interests.

Moral panic

A moral panic is public alarm, often amplified by media, that is out of proportion to a threat and casts a group as a danger to shared values.

Mundane witness

Mundane witness is John Ellis's term for the everyday position of viewers who see fragments of distant events through broadcast media and so cannot say they did not know.

Data churnalism

Data churnalism is Sunderland and Jackson's term for the recycling of secondary humanitarian figures, often unattributed, from NGO press releases into news coverage.

Performance of crisis

The performance of crisis is Benjamin Moffitt's model of how populist actors spectacularise a failure into a crisis, blame an enemy of the people and offer simple solutions.

JOUR90027 FAQ

Questions students ask in each JOUR90027 chapter

Why does the subject start with news values?

Because every later topic depends on them. The front-page exercise shows that coverage is a set of judgements about audiences, and the media report asks you to compare how two national presses made those judgements about one crisis. Chapter 01 · News Values and the Idea of a Global Crisis

What is Four Theories of the Press?

It is a framework by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm arguing that a press system reflects its society's beliefs about people, the state and truth. It describes Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social Responsibility and Soviet Communist theories, two of which develop the other two. Chapter 02 · Press Systems and Pandemic Reporting

What is the journalism of attachment?

It is Martin Bell's term for reporting that cares as well as knows and will not stand neutral between good and evil or victim and oppressor, while still promising fairness, impartiality and attention to facts. He separates it from campaigning journalism. Chapter 03 · War Reporting, Objectivity and Attachment

What frames did Han, Sun and Lu find?

Six: environmental and human impact (22.43 per cent of frame use), attribution of responsibility, collaboration, conflict, leadership and human interest (3.36 per cent). An economic consequence frame appeared in under half a per cent of articles and was dropped. Chapter 04 · Climate Change Coverage: Framing and Balance

What does Lim argue about terrorist videos?

That mainstream outlets should acknowledge and contextualise such videos but generally not show them, because they serve the perpetrators' propaganda and harm victims' dignity. She judged self-censorship most ethical for the Foley video and Fox News's full embed of the al-Kasasbeh video ethically indefensible. Chapter 05 · Terrorism, Moral Panic and Bearing Witness

Why do NGOs matter for crisis reporting?

Powers argues that as legacy outlets cut foreign coverage, leading human rights NGOs grew their research staff, country coverage and output, partly offsetting losses with their own boots-on-the-ground reporting, some of it designed to look and read like journalism. Chapter 06 · Crisis Communication, NGOs and Claims-Makers

Why are some crises not reported?

The lecture offers several reasons: news values that favour dramatic, familiar stories, structural filters described by the propaganda model, coverage indexed to official attention, media bias toward some regions, and practical limits of access, verification and danger to journalists. Chapter 07 · Unreported Crises: Propaganda, Indexing and Access

Do shocking photographs change policy?

Linfield argues they rarely do on their own. Images supported movements already under way, as with Emmett Till, but famine pictures from Somalia were followed by a hasty retreat and the Caesar archive changed almost nothing. People, not photographs, create political change. Chapter 08 · Photojournalism and the Ethics of Crisis Images

Why do outlets rely on freelancers for crisis coverage?

Wadud links it to profit-driven business models, the decline of foreign bureaus, the lower cost of freelancers and logistical barriers such as visas, security and language that local reporters avoid. Chapter 09 · Foreign Correspondents and Freelance Risk

What does it mean to perform a crisis?

Moffitt argues populists do not just respond to crises but stage them: they identify a failure, elevate it to a crisis with urgency, blame an enemy of the people, use media to spread the performance, offer simple solutions and keep the crisis going. Chapter 10 · Populism and Politically Constructed Crises

How long can the media report be?

The target is 1,500 words. The FAQ says roughly 1,250 to 1,750 words avoids a penalty, while the General Assessment Guidelines ask for work within 10% of the limit, so 1,350 to 1,650 words satisfies both. In-text citations count; the reference list, appendix, figures and tables do not. Chapter 11 · The Media Report: Comparing Two Countries

How many sources does the essay need?

At least two from the required reading list and at least six scholarly sources from beyond it, which can include the further reading list. The instructions call this a minimum and expect high-performing essays to exceed it, and you also need examples of contemporary media coverage. Chapter 12 · The Research Essay: Arguing a Position

How to prepare for the assessments

Work the subject in three passes that match its tasks. During Weeks 1 to 7, read the set readings before each seminar and write a two-sentence note per reading: its central claim and one case it uses, because the media report must engage with literature from those weeks.

Start reading a quality newspaper daily from Week 1 and keep a list of crises that receive sustained coverage in more than one country, so that choosing a crisis for the presentation and report is quick. Treat the presentation as a pilot for the report: analyse two articles for news values, then reuse the frame you build.

For the report, fix your two outlets, your two-week window and your coding questions before you read deeply, and write the approach section first. For the essay, choose a prompt by Week 9, draft a one-sentence argument, and gather at least two required readings and six further scholarly sources, then use the Week 10 and 11 workshops and Week 12 consultations to test your plan.

Throughout, keep notes and drafts, which the guidelines say may be needed to show the work is your own.

Your AI Media tutor for JOUR90027

Stuck on a hard JOUR90027 question? Sia is AskSia’s AI Media and Communications tutor — ask any JOUR90027 Global Crisis Reporting question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how the course is actually taught and assessed. Read this whole study guide free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.