JBV3000 Follow the Money Course description

Basic economic knowledge is pivotal for journalists reporting and understanding of contemporary societies. In this course, students will learn basic economics, statistics and accounting in order to do investigative journalism on economic issues and finance. Using companies as cases, students will learn to reflect critically on economics and analyse financial statements.

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After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has basic knowledge of

• the role of economics in contemporary societies
• the accessibility of economic and financial information in both public and private sector
• basic accounting and economics

Skills

The student has a basic understanding of how to:

• identify newsworthy information in budgets and financial statements
•  find and access sources of economic and financial information

General competence

The student

• can critically reflect upon the impact and role of economy in contemporary society
• can critically reflect upon the role of journalism for public understandings of economic and financial mechanisms

The course is organized in gatherings of intensive tuition, with lectures, workshops, group presentations and discussions.

Participation during class sessions is mandatory. Students who have more than 20 percent absence from class sessions will have to hand in an additional assignment.  Students who have more than 25 percent absence from class sessions will  not be qualified to take the exam.

The coursework requirements consist of three obligatory assignments. Two of the assignments will be related to the practice of economic/financial journalism, while the third is a discussion assignment focusing on a subject from the required reading. All three assignments must be handed in within the deadline and approved before the student can take the exam.

Each group will consist of approximately 5 students. The purpose of the first assignment is to learn about a case of financial crime and by sharing the knowledge between the groups, everyone should become better acquainted with current trends in international financial crime. The first assignment will be a group work in which students will investigate literature about a recent financial scandal involving corruption. The group will present their findings in an oral presentation lasting 15 to 20 minutes, and after the presentation, they will upload their power point to Canvas.

The second assignment will also be a group work, in which students will discuss and give an oral presentation on a portion of the reading list in front of all the students. The purpose of this assignment is to learn from existing literature relevant for the course and to facilitate learning between groups and students. Like the first assignment, the oral presentation should be 15 to 20 minutes and after the presentation, the students can upload their power point to Canvas.

The third and final assignment will be individual, and will require students to use the knowledge acquired during the work on assignments 1 and 2 to write a short op-ed analysing the issue at stake from a journalistic, economic, or juridical perspective. The purpose of this assignment is to train students to formulate complex issues in a clear and readable way designed for a general audience. This assignment will not have an oral presentation, instead, students should upload a word document of approximately 1 page on Canvas.

If the assignment is not approved, the student may hand in a new, improved version within a set deadline. In the event of illness or other documented absence for compelling reasons, special deadlines can be agreed with the lecturer. If a student fails to submit work within the deadline stipulated in the course plan or agreed with the lecturer, the assignment cannot be submitted, and the student will lose the right to take the exam.

Individual three day take home exam. Analytical paper, 6-8 pages. Language: English. Font and font size: Arial or Calibri, 12 points. Line spacing: 1.5.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A-F

The exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. At least 25% of the exam papers will be assessed by two examiners. The grades awarded for the papers assessed by two examiners form the basis for determining the level for all the exam papers.

Roy Krøvel