Course Overview
Trains a broadcast journalist to function within the Canadian judicial system. This course explains the inner workings and the various levels of courts, and familiarizes students with Canadian criminal law and the laws of libel and slander.
Prerequisite(s)
- No prerequisites are required for this course.
Credits
3.0
- Retired
- This course has been retired and is no longer offered. Find other Flexible Learning courses that may interest you.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, the student will be able to function within the Canadian Judicial system as a working Journalist by:
- Identifying the various levels of the court system.
- Differentiating between common, civil and statute law.
- Applying the principles of Canadian law to coverage of the courts.
- Identifying libelous and contemptuous statements and the different kinds of contempt; identifying what will get a journalist sued.
- Identifying statutory restrictions when reporting crime such as publication bans.
- Analyzing judgments and writs and applying that knowledge to the writing of news stories.
- Identifying pre trial in the criminal justice system starting with news of the event, followed by the arrest and the charge being laid and the legal implications for reporting.
- Understanding the law as it applies to young offenders and restrictions on reporting.
- Locating search warrants and other court documents that provide material for writing news stories.
- Writing news stories of a trial, an arrest, or a crime by analyzing information from court documents, police files and police officials.
Effective as of Fall 2009
Programs and courses are subject to change without notice. Find out more about BCIT course cancellations.