DPHU1003 News Fundamentals
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · T3 2026DPHU1003 Overview
- Term 3, 2026
- UNSW College pathway
- Diploma level
- Assessment based
DPHU1003 News Fundamentals is a Term 3, 2026 pathway course delivered by UNSW College within the UNSW Sydney environment. It introduces journalism as a public practice and then turns that purpose into repeatable reporting decisions. Students begin with the public sphere, the Fourth Estate, news functions and news values.
- Assessed by Blogs, hard news, radio and viva
- Core craft Angle, evidence and clear structure
- Professional test Verify, attribute and justify choices
What you get in the full DPHU1003 Study & Assessment Guide
- 10 chapters, 23 pages — every assessed topic, week by week
- 23 original practice questions, most with model answers
- 10 worked examples, solved the way DPHU1003 marks
- 15 computed figures, redrawn from the course’s own numbers
- Before-you-submit checklist for the Radio Story (30%) — what markers reward, what costs marks
Free on this page: assessment table, chapter map, one worked example, key terms, FAQ. The rest is in the full study & assessment guide.
How DPHU1003 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Learning Blogs | 15% | Individual reflections due across Weeks 4, 8 and 10 |
| Hard News Story | 25% | Individual written hard-news story |
| Radio Story | 30% | Group research, script and recorded story |
| Media Defence | 30% | Individual viva voce |
| Assessment Completion · hurdle | 0% | Hurdle: submit every required assessment with a genuine attempt |
What other students are asking about DPHU1003
- Where can I find lecture notes or study guides for DPHU1003 at UNSW?
- The DPHU1003 study guide in AskSia Library covers News Fundamentals in 10 chapters, with the assessment table, a chapter-by-chapter topic map, key terms and a worked example, free to read on this page.
- Is there a final exam in DPHU1003?
- No final exam is listed in the offering this AskSia Library guide is built from; DPHU1003 is assessed by Learning Blogs 15%, Hard News Story 25%, Radio Story 30%, Media Defence 30%.
- What does DPHU1003 cover on writing headlines and leads?
- In AskSia Library's DPHU1003 guide, the Writing Headlines and Leads chapter explains angle selection, active headlines, concise leads, 5Ws+H and certainty.
- What does DPHU1003 cover on hard news structure and style?
- In AskSia Library's DPHU1003 guide, the Hard News Structure and Style chapter explains inverted pyramid, paragraph priority, direct and indirect quotation, neutral style.
- What does DPHU1003 cover on story angles and orbital structure?
- In AskSia Library's DPHU1003 guide, the Story Angles and Orbital Structure chapter explains nucleus, satellites, elaboration, context, cause, effect and appraisal.
What DPHU1003 covers
News Fundamentals follows the reporting process from identifying public relevance and selecting an angle through headlines, leads, structure, interviewing and radio. Later chapters test ethical judgment, court-reporting discipline, citizen-content verification and the ability to defend editorial decisions in a viva voce.
News Functions and News Values
Public sphere, Fourth Estate, journalistic functions, newsworthiness and audience relevanceJournalism contributes to public discussion by informing audiences, scrutinising power and making significant events intelligible. News functions describe that social work.
- Public sphere: A shared arena where citizens encounter information and debate matters affecting collective life.
- Fourth Estate: The watchdog role through which journalism scrutinises institutions and enables public accountability.
- News function: A social purpose served by reporting, such as informing, monitoring power or supporting public discussion.
- News value: A cue used to judge the relevance and likely audience significance of an event.
- Public interest: A civic benefit connected to rights, safety, power, public resources or consequential community decisions.
- Proximity: The closeness of an event to the audience in place, identity or practical consequence.
Writing Headlines and Leads
Angle selection, active headlines, concise leads, 5Ws+H and certaintyThe headline and lead form one promise in two forms. A hard-news headline compresses the focal development into meaningful words and normally uses an active present-tense verb.
- Headline: The compressed title that signals the focal verified development and attracts attention accurately.
- Lead: The opening sentence that states the most newsworthy point with essential context and attribution.
- 5Ws+H: The reporting questions who, what, where, when, why and how, used as a completeness check.
- Active voice: A construction that places the actor before the action when responsibility is known and relevant.
- Angle agreement: Consistency between the event, scale and certainty promised by the headline and delivered by the lead.
- Attribution: Wording that identifies the source responsible for a claim, explanation or judgment.
Hard News Structure and Style
Inverted pyramid, paragraph priority, direct and indirect quotation, neutral styleHard news orders information by importance rather than by the sequence in which events occurred or facts were discovered.
- Inverted pyramid: An ordering method that places the most important verified material first and expendable detail last.
- Direct quotation: A source's exact distinctive words reproduced in quotation marks with clear attribution.
- Indirect quotation: An accurate paraphrase of a source's meaning presented without quotation marks.
- Neutral style: Language that separates observation, verified fact, allegation and attributed interpretation.
- Throw forward: A closing move that identifies the next expected development rather than supplying an essay conclusion.
- Paragraph priority: The relative importance of a paragraph to understanding the central news development.
Story Angles and Orbital Structure
Nucleus, satellites, elaboration, context, cause, effect and appraisalAn angle selects the most relevant verified relationship from a larger fact set.
- Story angle: The evidence-based focal relationship that controls selection and emphasis throughout a report.
- Nucleus: The headline and lead that establish the newsworthy centre of an orbital story.
- Satellite: A movable paragraph that supports the nucleus through a defined informational role.
- Appraisal: An attributed human interpretation or evaluation of an event, usually supplied by a source.
- Contextualisation: Background that helps the audience understand circumstances, history or significance.
- Elaboration: Additional detail that develops who, what or another element already present in the nucleus.
Researching and Interviewing
Question design, listening, follow-up, source fit, recording and verificationReporting begins before the first question. Research establishes what a source can know, what records exist and which claims remain unresolved. Open questions invite an account, while precise follow-ups test sequence, evidence and certainty.
- Open question: A prompt that invites explanation rather than steering the source toward a yes or no answer.
- Follow-up: A question built from a source's answer to test detail, evidence, sequence or meaning.
- Vox pop: A small set of public responses illustrating experiences or views without proving population prevalence.
- Corroboration: Independent evidence that supports, qualifies or contradicts a claim.
- Source fit: The match between a claim and a source's knowledge, authority, independence and access.
- Ground rule: An agreed condition governing whether and how information may be attributed or used.
Writing News for Radio
Newsreader intro, voicer, grab, outro, wild noise and spoken clarityRadio copy must make sense on one hearing. Direct sentence structure, early identification of speakers and restrained use of numbers reduce cognitive load.
- Newsreader intro: The opening read that states the development and hands the story to a reporter or audio element.
- Voicer: A recorded reporter narration that develops a radio story and may introduce source grabs.
- Grab: A short excerpt of recorded source audio chosen for evidence, explanation or human response.
- Outro: The closing line that resolves the segment, supplies a next step or identifies the reporter.
- Wild noise: Ambient sound recorded at a location and used to establish place or action accurately.
- Theatre of mind: The listener's mental scene created through clear language, voice and purposeful sound.
Media Ethics and Public Interest
Public interest, accuracy, fairness, harm, independence and accountabilityMedia ethics changes the reporting process from source choice to publication. Public interest concerns civic consequence, accountability, safety, rights or public resources; it is not identical to curiosity.
- Public interest: A civic benefit arising from disclosure about rights, safety, power, accountability or public resources.
- Fairness: Accurate contextual treatment of materially relevant people, evidence and responses.
- Proportionality: A judgment that the public benefit and reporting detail justify the foreseeable intrusion or harm.
- Independence: Freedom from interests or relationships that distort source choice, framing or publication.
- Accountability: Responsibility to explain decisions, correct errors and respond proportionately to resulting harm.
- Right of reply: A meaningful opportunity for a person or organisation facing serious criticism to answer before publication.
Reporting on Court Cases
Open justice, attribution, allegations, contempt, sub judice and fair trialCourt reporting serves open justice by enabling public scrutiny of legal proceedings, while rules of contempt and sub judice protect the administration of justice and the right to a fair trial.
- Open justice: The principle that court processes are generally observable so the public can scrutinise legal administration.
- Contempt: Conduct or publication capable of interfering with the authority or proper administration of a court.
- Sub judice: The active-proceeding context in which prejudicial material may threaten a fair trial.
- Allegation: A claim not yet established as fact by the relevant legal process.
- Procedural status: The exact stage or legal position described by terms such as charged, pleaded, convicted or sentenced.
- Court attribution: Language identifying whether a claim came from evidence, a witness, counsel or a judicial finding.
Citizen Journalism and Verification
Provenance, geolocation, chronology, corroboration, manipulation and consentCitizen journalism can provide access, immediacy and evidence where professional reporters are absent. It can also circulate recycled, edited or miscaptioned material at great speed.
- Provenance: The origin and custody history of a digital item, including who created and first uploaded it.
- Geolocation: The process of matching visual or other evidence to a claimed physical place.
- Chronology: The verified timing and sequence of events represented by a post, image or recording.
- Corroboration: Confirmation from genuinely independent evidence rather than repeated versions of one claim.
- Manipulation: Editing, synthesis or contextual alteration that changes what an item appears to show.
- Consent: A person's informed agreement to recording or publication, considered alongside public interest and harm.
Preparing a Media Defence
Define, apply, justify, balance and defend an editorial decisionA media defence turns editorial judgment into an explainable chain. Define the governing principle, apply it to exact scenario facts, justify the angle and structure, acknowledge a serious objection, describe mitigation and state the decision.
- Media defence: An oral justification of reporting choices using relevant principles, facts, alternatives and consequences.
- Justification: A reason that connects an editorial choice to evidence, public purpose and professional obligation.
- Counterargument: The strongest relevant challenge to a proposed interpretation or decision.
- Mitigation: An action that reduces error, unfairness or harm while preserving legitimate reporting value.
- Editorial choice: A deliberate decision about angle, evidence, structure, wording, identification or publication.
- Scenario application: The use of specific supplied facts to demonstrate how an abstract principle changes practice.
Those ideas establish why some developments deserve attention and why newsworthiness is never a substitute for verification or ethical judgment. The writing sequence then moves through the hard-news headline and lead, the 5Ws+H, neutral language, inverted-pyramid ordering and the orbital model of a nucleus supported by movable satellites.
Research and interviewing add source planning, open questions, precise follow-up, accurate recording and corroboration. Radio work requires a second kind of editing: copy must be clear on one hearing, cues must identify the newsreader, reporter and source, and sound must perform an editorial role rather than merely decorate the piece. The final part of the course focuses on professional responsibility.
Media ethics asks students to distinguish public interest from curiosity, test fairness and harm, and justify what they publish or withhold. Court reporting links open justice to careful attribution, fair-trial protection, contempt and sub judice restrictions. Citizen journalism expands access to events but increases the need for provenance, location, time, corroboration and manipulation checks.
The media defence brings these strands together by asking students to define principles, apply them to scenario facts, justify angle and structure, address a strong objection and make a clear editorial decision. The official assessment structure contains four weighted components that total 100%, plus a separate completion hurdle.
Learning Blogs are worth 15%, the individual Hard News Story is worth 25%, the group Radio Story is worth 30%, and the individual Media Defence is worth 30%. The Moodle syllabus also states that every required assessment must be submitted with a genuine attempt.
This guide therefore treats the tasks as one learning sequence: reflect on concepts, write and structure a news story, adapt reporting for sound, and defend the resulting editorial choices. It does not reproduce lecturer scenarios or sample scripts. Practice material uses new situations so students can learn the method without copying assessed or proprietary material.
Worked example · free
From a verified notice to a defensible hard-news top
- +1The marks shown here are not a published university assessment scheme. Identify the verified development and limitation: the building reopens, while one service remains unavailable.
- +1Headline: Regional library reopens after safety repairs. This uses an active verb and does not overstate the scope.
- +1Lead: The regional library will reopen on Saturday after safety repairs, while its children's room remains closed for another week, the council said.
- +1The angle is restored public access with a material limitation. Timing and attribution keep the sentence useful and verifiable.
Key terms
- News value
- A feature that helps explain why a verified event is selected or emphasised for an audience.
- Public sphere
- The social space in which people encounter information, debate public questions and form judgments.
- Fourth Estate
- Journalism's watchdog role in scrutinising institutions and enabling public accountability.
- Story angle
- The central, evidence-based focus that determines what the story foregrounds.
- Lead
- The opening sentence that states the most newsworthy verified development with essential context.
- Inverted pyramid
- A structure that orders information from most to least important so the story can be shortened from the bottom.
- Orbital structure
- A model in which a headline and lead form the nucleus and supporting paragraphs act as movable satellites.
- Grab
- A short recorded contribution from a source inserted into a radio story.
- Open justice
- The principle that court proceedings are generally open to public observation and scrutiny.
- Sub judice
- The period and legal concern surrounding active proceedings when prejudicial publication may threaten a fair trial.
DPHU1003 FAQ
How is the course assessed?
The published structure has four weighted tasks: Learning Blogs at 15%, an individual Hard News Story at 25%, a group Radio Story at 30%, and an individual Media Defence at 30%. A separate 0% completion hurdle requires every assessment to be submitted with a genuine attempt.
What makes a hard-news angle defensible?
A defensible angle foregrounds the most publicly relevant relationship supported by verified facts. It remains consistent across the headline, lead and body, gives material complications fair context, and does not rely on speculation or emotional adjectives to manufacture importance.
How should a headline differ from a lead?
The headline is compressed and normally uses an active present-tense verb to signal the focal development. The lead is a complete, neutral sentence that supplies the decisive who and what plus any where, when, why or how needed for accurate understanding.
Why is radio copy written differently?
Listeners hear radio copy once and cannot scan backward, so sentences need direct structure, clear speaker identification and interpretable numbers. Intros, voicers, grabs and outros organise voices, while verified sound creates place or evidence without obscuring the words.
What is the safest starting point for court reporting?
Begin with what occurred in court, preserve procedural status and attribute contested claims. Separate a charge from proof, avoid assumptions about guilt, and do not import prejudicial outside material merely because it is available online.
How do I prepare for a media defence?
Practise a visible reasoning chain: define the principle, apply it to exact scenario facts, justify the angle and structure, acknowledge the strongest objection, explain mitigation and conclude with the editorial choice you would make.
Questions students ask in each DPHU1003 chapter
- Can a story have several news values?
- Yes. Most worthwhile stories combine signals such as impact, proximity, prominence and conflict. The analytical task is to show which verified fact activates each value and which one best explains the chosen emphasis for the intended audience. Chapter 01 · News Functions and News Values
- Which details belong in a hard-news lead?
- Include the decisive who and what, then add where or when when those details change usefulness or meaning. Why and how can move into the next paragraph if they are uncertain, require attribution or would overload the opening sentence. Chapter 02 · Writing Headlines and Leads
- Why is chronology often weak for hard news?
- Chronology reflects when events occurred, not what readers most need to know. A later decision may be the central development. Hard-news ordering foregrounds consequence and verification, then uses chronology only where sequence explains cause or responsibility. Chapter 03 · Hard News Structure and Style
- How narrow should a story angle be?
- Narrow enough that the headline, lead and supporting paragraphs answer one coherent question, but broad enough to include the strongest relevant complication. If two unrelated developments compete for the nucleus, they may require separate stories. Chapter 04 · Story Angles and Orbital Structure
- What makes an interview question neutral?
- It seeks information without embedding the preferred answer or accusing the source through its premise. Neutrality does not mean softness: a precise question can confront a contradiction by naming the record and asking the source to explain it. Chapter 05 · Researching and Interviewing
- Why are short radio sentences easier to understand?
- Listeners process the script in real time and cannot scan backward. A direct subject, action and object reduce memory load. Supporting context can follow in another sentence once the actor and development are secure. Chapter 06 · Writing News for Radio
- Is public interest the same as audience interest?
- No. Popular curiosity may produce clicks without a civic benefit. Public interest is tied to consequences involving safety, rights, power, accountability or public resources, and the asserted benefit should be stated specifically rather than assumed. Chapter 07 · Media Ethics and Public Interest
- Why does open justice matter to journalism?
- Public observation and accurate reporting allow courts to be scrutinised, help people understand legal processes and support confidence grounded in evidence. That role does not remove fair-trial safeguards or authorise publication of prejudicial outside material. Chapter 08 · Reporting on Court Cases
- Why is the original upload so important?
- Each repost can strip metadata, crop context and copy an inaccurate caption. The earliest available source offers a better path to the recorder, full sequence and uncompressed file, although it still requires independent verification. Chapter 09 · Citizen Journalism and Verification
- How long should a media-defence answer be?
- Long enough to complete the reasoning chain without repeating definitions. A focused answer defines the principle, identifies scenario facts, explains the choice, addresses a serious objection and concludes. Depth comes from application rather than duration. Chapter 10 · Preparing a Media Defence
How to prepare for the assessments
Build a running editorial notebook rather than memorising disconnected definitions. For every workshop topic, keep five columns: the public purpose, the central claim, the best evidence, the main risk and the next reporting action. When practising headlines and leads, draft several angles from the same verified fact set, then reject any version that overstates scale or certainty.
For structure, print a draft and label each paragraph as essential fact, elaboration, quotation, context, cause, effect or appraisal. If a paragraph has no role, cut or relocate it. Interview practice should include listening: prepare open questions, but write at least two follow-ups based on the source's exact wording and record what still requires independent confirmation.
Read radio scripts aloud and listen once without looking at the page. For ethics and court reporting, turn abstract principles into decision verbs such as verify, attribute, redact, delay, exclude and correct. Before the media defence, answer prompts aloud using the sequence principle, fact, choice, objection, mitigation and decision.
Keep the assessment completion hurdle visible in your calendar and verify the required file, format and submission receipt on Moodle.