Dan Hallin

Health and medicine are major subjects in the news, and the media play a central role in circulating medical information and establishing the cultural meaning of medicine. However, there has been relatively little scholarly attention to health and medical reporting.

Hallin proposes a framework in which health and medical journalism plays an active role in helping societies construct medical knowledge and culture.

He has written many books on the media, some of which are considered  among the most influential works in comparative media research in recent decades. His topics include media and politics, media and war, media and public health, the history of journalistic professionalism, and comparative media systems, particularly in Europe and Latin America.

Date: Friday, 20 April 2012
Time: 12-1pm
Venue: Shum Wai Yau Reading Room, Eliot Hall, The University of Hong Kong (see map)

For more information on the JMSC Media Research Seminar series, please click here.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural New Media Conference, which was jointly organised by the AAJA and JMSC, the two organisations have decided to repeat the event this year at the University of Hong Kong.

Revisit coverage of last year’s New Media Conference here.

Full-time / Part-time / PDipJ

Admissions briefing sessions:

Monday, Jan 16, 5:30PM @ T6, Meng Wah Complex, University of Hong Kong.

Master of Journalism Open Week (Jan 16-19, 2012) Registration Form

Eliot Hall

A world-class international journalism degree – in the heart of Asia

Admissions – Master of Journalism (MJ)

The Master of Journalism course is a one year full-time or a two year part-time course. Students address the core skills of journalism – reporting and writing, television and video production, media law and ethics and multiple-media online journalism. They also have the opportunity to take elective courses in a broad range of subjects from business and finance to public health to digital media and to undergo short-term internships.

• Learn more about the MJ programme and application process

• MJ Admissions FAQs

• Download MJ programme brochure (PDF)

Admissions – Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism (PDipJ)

The Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism course is a part-time course over one or two years. Students learn the core skills of journalism – reporting and writing, television and video production, media law and ethics and multiple-media online journalism. Students also have the opportunity to take elective courses in a broad range of subjects from business and finance to public health to digital media and to undergo short-term internships.

• Learn more about the PDipJ programme and application process

Admissions – MPhil / PhD

Please note that the application deadline for the main round of MPhil / Ph.D admissions for the 2012-13 academic year is December 1, 2011.

• Guide to MPhil and Ph.D Admissions

Evelyn Ho (MJ 2012)

Ho’s article was about Hillary Clinton’s forthcoming visit to Myanmar in early December and what it means.

Originally written as an assignment for JMSC 6048 International News, a class taught by Assistant Professor Thomas Abraham, Director of the JMSC’s Public Health Media Project, it was published on Abraham’s newly-established class website, World Watch.

It was then picked up by the ISEAS website.

“My focus was on a recent statement made by White House official, Ben Rhodes, that Clinton’s visit would not automatically be translated into the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on the country (Myanmar),” said Ho.

“I highlighted the small, progressive and shrewd steps that Myanmar has taken in recent months to court the favour of the world’s biggest power,” she said.

“I also referred to an article by an expert from Georgetown University, which suggested some reasons for Myanmar’s transformation. In addition, I quoted the views of an expert from the ISEAS about his views that any political reform in Myanmar would have to stem from the country itself, independent of any other external push and pull factors.”

It was this quote by Dr. Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Fellow of Regional Strategic and Political Studies and Lead Researcher for Political and Strategic Affairs of the ASEAN Studies Centre at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, that caught the attention of the ISEAS.

Ho was required to write four stories for Professor Abraham’s class.

“I chose to work on Myanmar because it is a country I know so little of but am intrigued by,” she said.

“I also wanted to have a series of four articles on how the Myanmar government has been carrying out political reforms, how it is reinventing itself to become a credible chair of ASEAN in 2014 and a responsible member of the global community, and to examine if its political reforms can be sustained.”

The article on Clinton’s visit was the third in her series.

When the report was published on the JMSC’s World Watch site, Ho informed Dr Chachavalpongpun.

The ISEAS picked up on it and posted her report on its website.

“I am thrilled because the ISEAS is a well-regarded regional research centre on socio-economic and political trends in Southeast Asia,” said Ho. “To have my news report posted on the website could only mean that Dr Chachavalpongpun was happy with how he was quoted in my article and that I can look forward to more insights from him for my final analytical piece on Myanmar.”

Ho has been particularly pleased with Abraham’s class this semester.

“I have a lot to thank Thomas Abraham for,” she said. ” He is an extremely good tutor who helps students get to the crux of the news in double-quick time.  He is also an excellent editor who is able to highlight discrepancies and any incoherence in our reports.”

“I think the World Watch website is a testimony to how he has helped me and my course-mates grow from having near zero-journalistic skills to be able to put up articles fit for publication.”

Award-winning photographer Michael Coyne will hold a photography workshop and a public talk in Hong Kong .

Photography Course: Beyond Basic Photography
Dates: Friday–Sunday, Dec 2-4, 2011 (3 mornings)
Time: 10am – 1pm
Venue: Foundation Chamber, Eliot Hall, The University of Hong Kong
Tuition fee: HK$3,500 ($2,800 for HKU Alumni)

Syllabus: please see here.

This course explores different photographic techniques, purposes and outcomes. It will enable you to identify good techniques and minimize bad photography.. Students will learn how to produce effective portraits, which illuminate the subjects’ personality as well as their appearance. By the end of the course you will be able to effectively tell a story or illustrate an issue through photography.

REGISTER NOW. Space is limited
Register here.
Register here with discount, if you are a HKU alumni.  Reference number is required.

This workshop is part of the JMSC’s Photojournalism @ HKU year-long series, which includes masters lectures, public courses and an exhibition of works by JMSC students at the Fringe Club. For details, visit http://jmsc.hku.hk/photojournalism

Enquiries: Kylie Chan at kyliec@hku.hk or 2219-4416

Justin Heifetz (MJ 2011)

The programme, formed in conjunction with the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre (HKRAC), allows undergraduate and postgraduate law students to practice direct client services under the supervision of a qualified lawyer.

It is highly competitive to enter — six places are available and it is open to more than 1,000 students.

The goal is to aid asylum seekers in making a case to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to gain refugee status in Hong Kong.

Heifetz, who is from Boston, USA, studied for a Master of Journalism degree at the JMSC last year. He is about to embark on a two-year Juris Doctor course at the Graduate Law Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“The reason I got this job was because of my experience as a journalist and that’s pretty much how I nailed my interview,” said Heifetz.

“During the interview, they asked how I’d write country reports and do country research. I immediately thought of Doreen Weisenhaus‘ Media Law class and the work we did on her Global Media Law Project.

“Professor Weisenhaus’s course taught me how to conduct detailed legal research from the vantage point of both a journalist and a legal analyst. I had written an overview for journalists to acquaint themselves with libel and privacy law in South Korea, and the interviewers loved how it was straight to the point and not bogged down with unnecessary legalese.”

Heifetz said that at the JMSC he’d learned to put the subject at ease, a vital skill when dealing with refugees, who are often survivors of serious trauma.

“Actually, I thought back to a presentation I’d prepared for Professor Gene Mustain’s literary journalism class on Joan Didion,” he said.

“Suddenly, it hit me one of her biggest keys to success was to elicit all this information by speaking very little — only when necessary. I think forcing questions can be where a lot of journalists make mistakes.”

Heifetz’s interest in human rights and his pro bono work ethic also helped him in the interview.

“Professor Chan’s Covering China summer course was a great springboard for me to discuss how I was able to nurture my own skills and enthusiasm in following and reporting on the recent crackdowns on dissidents in Beijing,” he said.

Heifetz’s career goals entail a combination of law and journalism.

“I don’t think many people see how closely related journalism and law are,” he said.

“Ultimately, I want to gap the bridge between law and journalism. For some, it’s very black and white: we go to journalism school to be a journalist, we go to law school to be a lawyer. But for me, the subjects have become strongly interrelated.”

“I left the JMSC with a strong ethic to aid human rights and I’m continuing on to law school and the legal clinic to cultivate that ethic. I’m not sure yet if I’ll end up as a barrister or a reporter in a few years’ time, but the core values remain the same.”