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Sample Syllabus

JOUR201 Sample Syllabus: News Writing and Reporting 1 

Section: xxxxx, fall 2020

Day and Time: 
xxxxxxx

Class Dates: From xxxxxx to xxxxx

Lab: (if in-person) OR Delivery mode: Online

Class Zoom link/ ID:

Instructor: 
xxxxxx

Phone: 
xxxxxx

Email: xxxxx; On Twitter: xxxxx

Office Hours: By appointment or immediately after class

Prerequisites:
Minimum grade of C- in ENGL101, JOUR181 and JOUR200; and permission of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Goals:
JOUR201, News Reporting & Writing I, is a skills-based immersion into journalism. Students will learn the foundations of journalism and the craft’s two main components – reporting and writing of the news — and will explore how news is delivered through multiple platforms, including mobile devices, broadcast, Web and printed publications. They will be introduced to concepts of libel and copyright and discuss the need for multicultural sensitivities in their stories.

Learning Outcomes Expected: 
At the successful conclusion of the course, students will have demonstrated through their story assignments knowledge and professional proficiency of the following:

•   Fundamentals of Journalism – how to judge information for newsworthiness and to report and write with accuracy, balance and fairness.

•    Basic News Writing Skills – with an emphasis on spelling, grammar and AP style; use of direct quotes, paraphrasing and attribution; structuring single-sentence and two-sentence paragraphs and tying them together in news stories, following the inverted pyramid structure with crisp, concise and compelling news leads.

•    Basic Reporting Techniques – with an emphasis on interviewing skills and the use of social media, commercial databases and the Internet to research and report stories and to find news.

•    Basic writing of a variety of stories for print, Web, radio and mobile devices. Students will learn to write obituaries and short stories about accidents and/or disasters, crimes and court cases, speeches, meetings and news conferences. They will learn the basics of headline writing and updating stories on continuous Web deadlines. Assignment length will generally vary from 280-character tweets to 250- to 400-word news articles. The final obituary assignment may be slightly longer.

JOUR201 serves as the foundation for the skills-based curriculum at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, which is consistently ranked as one of the top journalism schools in the nation. This course is designed to be challenging. Be forewarned and prepared.

About the Instructor:

(Paragraph bio goes here.)

Required Readings and Texts:

Students must read the digital or print Washington Post every day – unless the teacher directs you to another site — focusing on the home page and National and Metro sections. Students should also regularly watch broadcast news reports on TV or online. News stories should be analyzed for both quality of writing and depth of reporting. We will discuss the content and structure of stories regularly in class. Students also should sample other media, including other newspapers, broadcast news, websites and blogs, and Twitter feeds posted by journalists. (Sites such as The Skimm, CNN’S “5 Things” and the New York Times’ Tuesday Briefing aggregate the day’s top news from a variety of sites and link to original stories. Free subscriptions for The Skimm and “5 Things” push the latest news to your email.)

Recommended:
 A dictionary app (or a bookmark on your computer browser to http://www.merriam-webster.com/ ). You also will be checking locations on Google maps.

Other readings may be handed out in class, posted on our class site or emailed to you throughout the semester.

Assignments:

There will be several types of assignments and assessments in this class. Most must be typed and double-spaced, with your name and a word count at the top. Please submit digital copies of all assignments, unless otherwise instructed.

News Quizzes: There will be about eight news quizzes throughout the semester. Some quizzes may include a question or two from the week’s discussions or assigned class readings. All quizzes are weighted equally. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. News quizzes will be worth 15 percent of your class grade.

In-Class Stories and Exercises: There will be about a dozen exercises reported and written on deadline for class – ranging from leads to tweets to Web headlines and blurbs to short radio stories to print stories (such as obits, accident, crime, speech, meeting and criminal justice stories) All are weighted equally. The lowest two in-class scores will be dropped. In-class assignments will be worth 35 percent of your class grade.

AP Style Assignments: There will be about four AP style exercises. (None of these scores will be dropped.) These will be worth 10 percent of your class grade.

Outside Writing Assignments: There will be eight to 10 outside research, reporting and writing assignments, and students will be given one week to complete many of them. The lowest single grade on an outside assignment will be dropped. Worth 30 percent of your class grade.

Final story assignment: Given on the last day of class. This final story grade cannot be dropped, and it cannot be taken or turned in late. This is given in lieu of a final test. This will be worth 5 percent of your class grade.

In-Class participation: Students are expected to do the assigned readings before live Zoom classes and come prepared to intelligently discuss them. Also come prepared to discuss ongoing news stories. To foster an environment for meaningful discussion, cell phones should be turned off during class, unless otherwise instructed by the teacher. Worth 5 percent of your class grade.

Math Competency Requirement: 

All JOUR 201 and 501 students must pass a journalism math competency requirement the semester they are enrolled in the course. Students will be asked to show facility with basic math skills such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, rounding, figuring percentages and percentage changes. They must also show they can calculate the answers to questions that might come up in stories, such as figuring out which city in a state has the highest crime rate per 10,000 or 100,000 population. This is basic math that news journalists must know to do their jobs successfully. It is rudimentary but requires attention to detail.

Students in this class will be asked to solve math problems as part a crime statistics story. Students must get all the math calculations correct on the quiz to pass the class math requirement. The quiz will have about five to seven problems. If any problems are missed on the first try, students will get another chance or two to solve similar problems correctly.

The math work will be integrated into a story, which will be graded following the rubrics laid out for other stories in class, with any factual mistakes dropping story grades down to an F=55.

If students do not complete the math requirement, they will be given an Incomplete for the class and will not be allowed to enroll in the next journalism skills classes until passing.

Help with basic math problems is available on Khan Academy, at https://www.khanacademy.org, and on the Math Success site at UMD, at http://reslife.umd.edu/mathsuccess/resources/.

If you believe you need one-on-one assistance, you are encouraged to contact the academic support unit of the university counseling center, at https://counseling.umd.edu/las/. Services are free to UMD students.

Format of Sessions for JOUR201:

This is primarily a skills class, but you cannot learn the essentials of good reporting and writing unless you talk about them. So we will spend the first part of class doing some combination of the following: discussing the day’s top news, reviewing good writing techniques for print, Web or radio, and getting feedback on previous assignments. The second half of the class will usually be spent interviewing/researching/writing on deadline – or dissecting good news writing. For writing assignments, you will be given the facts of a breaking news situation — verbally and/or in writing — from me (or a guest speaker). The story may be an obituary, a brief about a car crash, or a story stemming from a press conference, speech, meeting or court case. Once you have gathered all the information, you will write a story or tweet, or write headlines or Web blurbs. Typically you will be given 30 to 45 minutes to compose a 250-word news story – and more time if the story is longer. These timed assignments, however, may sometimes not be due until later in the day or the next day — allowing students who had technical difficulties time to get them in.

Grades: 

1.   The two lowest grades on in-class stories and exercises will be dropped.

2.   The lowest news quiz grade will be dropped.

3.   And the lowest single grade on an outside assignment will be dropped.

Attendance will impact your final grade because any missed assignments – in our out of class – will receive 0 points. See the “Attendance and Punctuality” section for more information. Grades on assignments will be based on the following criteria in an effort to reflect professional newsroom and university standards:

Libel. Any story that includes libelous material will result in an F (55 percent). Examples would be if you describe someone as a murderer in your story before he or she has been convicted, or if you mistype the name of a convicted rapist or robber, implicating someone not guilty of the crime.

Accuracy. Any factual error in a story, including the misspelling of a person’s name or hometown or an incorrect age or address, will result in an F. (You will receive a score of 55 percent for your effort.)

Deadlines. Any story or assignment that is submitted after the deadline will result in an F, which will show up as 55 percent. The deadline for in-class assignments is the end of class, unless otherwise instructed, and for outside assignments, the start of class. Turning in an assignment late, even by a minute, will result in an F — no discussions.

Stories that have no factual errors and are submitted on time will be evaluated based on the following criteria: rules of spelling, grammar, AP style, story structure, conciseness, clarity, readability, accuracy, completeness and fairness.

Grading Rubric. Grades will be assessed as follows:

A (90 to 100 percent): The story has virtually no style, spelling, grammar or punctuation errors and is ready to be published by a professional news outlet with very little editing. The lead is strong, the point of the story is clear and it is well organized. It contains all the important elements, leaving out information that is off point or redundant.

B (80 to 89 percent): The story has a few style, spelling, grammar and/or punctuation errors but with minor editing is ready to be published by a professional news outlet. The lead is acceptable, main points are explained and the story is well organized. The writing may need to be tighter and some word choices may need to be clearer.

C (70 to 79 percent): The story has some style, spelling, grammar and/or punctuation errors but with some editing can be published by a professional news outlet. The lead may be buried, main points may not be clearly articulated, and the story may have left out one or two important facts or included information not germane.

D (60 to 69 percent): The story has multiple style, spelling, grammar and/or punctuation errors. It does not have a clear lead, main points may be missing and the story is poorly organized and written. Key points may be missing, requiring more interviews/calls. The story would have to be substantially reworked to be published.

F (<60 percent): The story is inaccurate, late or libelous, or it is of such poor quality that another journalist would be required to re-report and write the piece in order for it to be published.

XF: A final class grade that signifies the Office of Student Conduct found that the student plagiarized or otherwise cheated in class.

Minus and plus grading will be assessed as follows:

98-100 = A+

93-97 = A

90-92 = A-

88-89 = B+

83-87 = B

80-82 = B-

78-79 = C+

73-77 = C

70-72 = C-

68-69 = D+

63-67 = D

60-62 = D-

Below 60 = F

Grades will be recorded as soon as possible so that students can gauge their progress throughout the semester. I will also meet one on one with you, as warranted, to discuss your performance in the class.

 Make an appointment with me if you need help!

Extra Credit for Published Work:

 Journalism students and those considering journalism as a major are encouraged to get news stories published to begin building a professional portfolio.  There are a number of student publications on campus, including The Diamondback, the Eclipse, the Mitzpeh,  Unwind! magazine and The Writer’s Bloc, which accept stories from freelancers and staff writers. Up to two stories published from the first day of class until the last day of class may be submitted for extra credit in JOUR201; each of those two published bylined news stories will increase your final grade by 1 percent. Only news and sports stories and news features containing your original reporting from multiple sources (not aggregation from previously published work) count for extra credit; editorials, columns, reviews and opinion pieces do not count for extra credit in this class. I will accept video stories from Stories Beneath the Shell and The Left Bench if they conform to the rules, above. All stories must be published in EDITED news publications –print or online. Submissions from internal (public relations) publications and newsletters (Greek life publications included) will not be accepted. Please consult the instructor for clarification.

Assessment:

 This course is assessed as part of the college’s learning outcomes assessment program, which helps us identify areas in the curriculum that need updates or improvements. Assessment is required by the university and by the national accreditation body, The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Students enrolled in this course will be required to upload one writing assignment and one AP style exercise to the J-Assessment site for assessment.  Your math quiz ties in to the assessed story. The story will be rated using a five-point system, or rubric, that considers how well students write, report and edit their work. The assessment scores do not affect any student’s grade on an assignment; however, students must submit the required assignments to receive a final grade for this class.



Attendance and punctuality: 

It is important that you attend every class and show up on time. To do otherwise will negatively affect your grade, because you will be missing reporting and writing instruction, class discussions, quizzes and assignments. The dropped grade policy (as described in the grading section above) is designed to accommodate missed class assignments due to brief illness and emergencies. Please notify the instructor in advance, if possible, if you will be missing class due to illness or emergency, so that she or he can make arrangements to get notes to you.

If you become seriously ill during the semester, please contact me as soon as possible.  Please include a note from your doctor, if possible. Please also let me know if someone in your immediate family is hospitalized, or if there is a death in your immediate family. I understand how difficult these situations can be, and I will work with you through any such crisis to try to help you finish this class.

Academic integrity:

Along with certain rights, students have the responsibility to behave honorably in an academic environment. Academic dishonesty, including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Adhering to a high ethical standard is of special importance in journalism, where reliability and credibility are the cornerstones of the field. Therefore, the college has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy on academic dishonesty. Any abridgment of academic integrity standards in a College of Journalism course will be referred to the university’s Office of Student Conduct and the college’s associate dean. To ensure this is understood, all students are asked to sign an academic integrity pledge at the beginning of the semester that will cover all assignments in this course. Students found to have violated the university’s honor code may face sanctions, including a grade of XF for the course, suspension or expulsion from the university.

Religious holidays:

 There will be no tests or major assignments scheduled on religious holidays identified by the university. If you expect to miss a class during the semester due to a religious holiday, please notify the instructor in writing before the start of the second class.

Inclement weather: 

If the university closes due to foul weather (snow, ice, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes) or other emergencies and class must be canceled, students will be advised of assignment adjustments by the instructor. We will likely use our class Elms site to make these notifications and/or conduct a virtual class. Please check the university’s home page if in doubt about whether or not classes have been canceled on campus. Please also consider signing up for other emergency alerts from campus.

Names and self-identification: The University of Maryland recognizes the importance of a diverse student body, and we are committed to fostering equitable classroom environments. I invite you, if you wish, to tell us how you want to be referred to both in terms of your name and your pronouns (he/him, she/her, they/them, etc.). The pronouns someone indicates are not necessarily indicative of their gender identity. Visit trans.umd.edu to learn more. Additionally, how you identify in terms of your gender, race, class, sexuality, religion and disability is your choice whether to disclose (e.g., should it come up in classroom conversation about our experiences and perspectives) and should be self-identified, not presumed or imposed. I will do my best to address and refer to all students accordingly, and I ask you to do the same for your fellow Terps.

Students with disabilities:

 Students with a specific disability (permanent or temporary, physical or learning) needing  accommodation during the semester should make an appointment to meet with the instructor as soon as possible after the first class. Students will be asked to provide the instructor with the accommodation letter developed for the student by the Accessibility and Disability Service on campus. To schedule an appointment with the ADS, call 301-314-7682 or stop by the Disability Support Service front desk in the Shoemaker Building, Room 0106. The office is open Monday through Friday,  8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Find more on the process here: https://www.counseling.umd.edu/ads/start/eligibility/ .

Additional support: The UMD Counseling Center provides personal, social and academic support services for UMD students. This includes individual, group and couples counseling, for anxiety, depression, stress, relationship problems, eating concerns, traumatic events and more.

Tips for Success in an Online Course:

  • Participate. Discussions are a critical part of the course. You can learn a great deal from discussing ideas and perspectives with your peers and instructor. Participation can also help you articulate your thoughts and develop critical thinking skills.
  • Manage your time. Give yourself time to complete assignments, including extra time to handle any technology-related problems.
  • Log in regularly. Log in to ELMS several times a week to view announcements, discussion posts and replies to your posts. You may need to log in more than once on class days to meet deadlines.
  • Keep up with assignments. This class moves at a quick pace and each week builds on the previous one. It will be hard to keep up with the course content if you fall behind.
  • Use ELMS notification settings. ELMS can ensure you receive timely notifications in your email or via text. Be sure to enable announcements to be sent.
  • Ask for help if needed. If you are struggling with a course concept or are concerned about your grades, reach out to me for help. Grades will be recorded regularly so that you can follow your progress. I will also meet one-on-one with you, as warranted, to discuss your performance.
  • Netiquette:  To create an inclusive and welcoming online learning environment, communication must be conducted in a professional and courteous manner at all times, guided by common sense, collegiality and basic rules of etiquette.

Technology Tips:

  • Please refrain from using cellphones and other electronic devices during class sessions unless we are using them as part of a class exercise.
  • Please try to keep your camera on during Zoom sessions if possible.
  • If you are having trouble with internet access or other technological issues, please alert me as soon as possible.

Communication with Peers:

I encourage you to exercise your right to free speech. I will make every reasonable attempt to create an atmosphere in which you feel comfortable voicing thoughts without fear of being personally attacked, mocked, demeaned or devalued. But keep in mind that free speech has its limits, and this course is NOT the space for hate speech or harassment.

Any behavior (including harassment, sexual harassment, and racially and/or culturally derogatory language) that threatens this atmosphere will not be tolerated. Please alert me immediately if you feel threatened, dismissed or silenced at any point during our semester together and/or if your engagement in discussion has been in some way hindered by the learning environment.

Copyright Notice: Course materials are copyrighted and may not be reproduced for anything other than personal use without written permission.

For more on university course-related policies,  please refer to The University’s Office of Undergraduate Studies: http://www.ugst.umd.edu/courserelatedpolicies.html .

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE:

(Subject to change at the discretion of the instructor, to accommodate the speed at which the class learns and the schedule of guest speakers. Updates will be posted in the schedule on our class Elms site.) Readings should be completed before the start of class, except for the first class, which will be done after that class.

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTIONS / LEADS / THE INVERTED PYRAMID:

Session 1:

MEET: on ZOOM. Welcome! Introductions / Syllabus and Schedule Overview. 

CLASS ASSIGNMENT (approx. 1 hour): Begin thinking like a reporter:  Interview and write a brief story (up to 320 words) of a classmate. These will be turned in to the instructor on Elms (but not graded).  Due: 9 p.m. Not timed.

 

Session 2, Sept. 3: READ before the start of class: “News Reporting and Writing” Chapter 1, “The Nature of News,” and Chapter 8, “The Inverted Pyramid.” 

ZOOM at start of class: What is News? What’s a Story? Basics of lead writing (summary leads,  delayed-identification leads) and breaking news story organization (inverted pyramid). With leads, consider: brevity (35 words or less); S-V-O structure; using active voice; avoiding unfamiliar proper names; focusing on a key point; getting time element near verb; including brief attribution as appropriate.) Plus an AP Style introduction: Your instructor will give you a crib sheet of commonly used style points.

CLASS ASSIGNMENT: An intro to AP Style (with a Powerpoint and a crib sheet). Your instructor will post a crib sheet of commonly used style points in the Elms Files folder, along with a sheet of copy editing marks. Familiarize yourself with these.

HOMEWORK assigned: Outside class assignment: AP Style Ex. #1, due in one week. You may use your stylebook, but you must work alone.

WEEK 2: AP STYLE / INTERVIEWING / USING QUOTES:

Session 3: READ before the start of class: Chapter 3,  “Gathering and Verifying Information,” pages 40-48; and Chapter 4, “Interviewing.” 

ZOOM at start of class: Begin discussion of interviewing techniques: Be careful about the terms you agree to: What does it mean to take information “off the record,” and “on background?” When and how should you use either?  When should interviews be recorded? Conducted by email? Also discuss avoiding plagiarism when writing stories that rely heavily on research, by using appropriate attribution and quote marks for direct quotes. 

CLASS ASSIGNMENT: LEAD WRITING: Started together and completed on own. Due by xxx. 

Session 4: READ before the start of class: Chapter 5: “Quotations and Attribution.”

ZOOM at start of class: More on interviewing, and using quotes and attribution. Class discussion on when to use direct quotes, and when to paraphrase. 

Homework DUE: AP Style exercise 1.

In class: More with lead writing.

WEEK 3: RESEARCH / ADVANCED SEARCH:

Session 5: READ before class: Chapter 15, “Other Types of Local Stories,” only pages 320 through the 332 (stopping before “The Court Story.”) 

On Zoom at 9:30: Review/analyze work from previous week.

CLASS assignment: Using quotes and attribution in a brief story (several paragraph-class assignment). Due 5 p.m.

 

Session 6:  Research and evaluating web pages. READ before class: Chapter 3, “Gathering and Verifying Information,” pages 47-59. PLUS: Nexis Uni LibGuide for JOUR  501: https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=327057&p=6238277 . Review links on  Nexis Uni Searching — for News Articles, Legal Information, Business Information and web-only publications

Zoom at 9:30 a.m.: A discussion of domain names; using Better-who-is.com and Internic.net to determine who owns and manages a site; using anywho.com to locate people by name, phone number or address (in reverse lookups); using advanced google search and google scholar. PLUS: Government sites to bookmark: Maryland Manual; Maryland General Assembly; Maryland State Board of Elections; Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation’s Real Property Database; U.S. Census QuickFacts; congress.gov

HOMEWORK assigned: Finish by 9:29 a.m. next class: Research exercise. 

 

WEEK 4: COVERING ACCIDENTS AND TRAGEDIES:

Session 7:   

READ before the start of class: Articles from Poynter: “When the newsroom has to evacuate,” “Preparing for the Worst: Are You Ready?” 

ZOOM at 9:30. Review of previous assignment(s). Then, covering accidents. What details must be included?

CLASSWORK: Accident story. Timed on Elms Quizzes. Deadline: xxxxx

HOMEWORK: AP Style Ex. 2 assigned, for Elms Quizzes. Timed.  Due at start of next class.

 

Session 8:

More on covering accidents/tragedies, and more on interviewing. 

READ before start of class Sept. 24:  “12 basics of interviewing, listening and note-taking,” by Roy Peter Clark, Aug. 19, 2015, on poynter.org (https://www.poynter.org/2015/12-basics-of-interviewing-listening-and-note-taking/367011/); “How journalists can become better interviewers,” by Chip Scanlan, March 4, 2013, on poynter.org (https://www.poynter.org/2013/how-journalists-can-become-better-interviewers/205518/). 

ZOOM at 9:30: Tips on interviewing and note-taking. Then: What’s it like to cover large-scale tragedies? TENTATIVE GUEST.

HOMEWORK assigned: You will practice interviewing techniques and write about a 320-word story based on the interview. The story will focus on a key point of the talk. It should include a focused lead, amplification of that lead, quotes and context. Assume you are writing this for The Diamondback. Story due at the start of the next class in a Word File, to be uploaded to Elms. Please double space your work and put your name and word count at the top. 

 

WEEK 5: COVERING GOVERNMENT/POLITICS / MEETINGS:

Session 9:  Read before class: Chapter 6, “Using News Releases as Sources,” and Chapter 14, “Speeches, News Conferences and Meetings.”

ZOOM at start of class: Review work. THEN: Discuss covering speeches, meetings and news conferences — along with some writing techniques to guide readers through a story: using transitional words; repeating key nouns and phrases; using parallel construction within bullets and phrases within a sentence.

Classwork: Short meeting story. Timed in an Elms quiz template. Must be completed by xxxx.

Homework due at start of class: Interview story from Thursday.

 

Session 10: Writing about government and politics, and more with interviewing. Read before start of class: Chapter 13, Covering a Beat. PLUS: “Ten Hints for Covering Government,” by Charlotte Grimes, on Journalist’s Resource, and “12 basics of interviewing, listening and note-taking,” by Roy Peter Clark, Aug. 19, 2015, on poynter.org; “How journalists can become better interviewers,” by Chip Scanlan, March 4, 2013, on poynter.org; “Don’t be boring and 6 other interviewing tips from Jacqui Banaszynski,” by Lauren Klinger, May 20, 2015, on poynter.org.

Zoom at 9:30 a.m. Discussion of covering local government and elections. With TENTATIVE GUEST.

HOMEWORK DUE in one week, before start of class: Q & A of our guest’s discussion. 

 

WEEK 6: LEVERAGING TWITTER AND PROMOTING NEWSROOM DIVERSITY:

Read: before Session 11: On Twitter, you’re better off fact-checking your crazy uncle than a complete stranger,” by Daniel Funke, on poynter.org, Sept. 11, 2017; “Newsrooms Grapple with How to Avoid Twitter Bloopers,” by Katie Takacs, American Journalism Review, Jan. 8, 2015;  “Slate’s Good Strategy for Correcting Errors on Twitter, Elsewhere,” by Craig Silverman, March 4, 2014, on poynter.org; “NPR’s Giffords Mistake: Re-Learning the Lesson of Checking Sources,” By Alicia Shepard, Jan. 11, 2011, NPR.

On ZOOM at start of class: Discuss how journalists use Twitter to cover breaking news; to crowd-source stories; to re-publish stories to a larger audience and to interact with audiences. PLUS: ethical and accuracy concerns of moving too fast with stories on this platform. And discuss acceptable do’s and don’ts.

Session 12: Women and minorities in newsrooms: How does a lack of representation affect coverage? And how can women and minorities work toward greater representation and more leadership roles?

READ before start of class:  The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2019,” from the Women’s Media Center, Feb. 21, 2019; AND “Divided 2019: The Media Gender Gap,” from the Women’s Media Center, Jan. 31, 2019; “America’s Newsrooms Should Employ More People of Color, Annual ASNE Survey Finds”; graphic: How Diverse are U.S. Newsrooms (based on ASNE data); From RTDNA: 2019 Research: Local Newsroom Diversity;  RTDNA: Losing Touch: Why Newsroom Diversity Matters; AND “Never Cry in a Newsroom? Here’s What Female Journalism Leaders Know,” published July 14, 2019, on AZCentral.com.

ATTEND ZOOM session at 9:30 a.m. Discussion with TENTATIVE GUEST(S) TBD.

Homework assigned for next class: Blog post on Discussions page. Please reply to my thread. About 300 words. Due Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the start of class. 

AND: Watch and take notes on a Sunday morning talk show,  ABC News’ “This Week.” It’s on WJLA-TV (Channel 7) in Washington at 9 a.m. We will discuss the show in class next Tuesday, so that I can help you find a focus for your story. You will write 320-400 words, due at the start of class Thursday, with a strong lead, amplification of the lead, context, background, transitions and quotes, focused on a key point or two made by a newsmaker (not a journalist) on the show. You will not be including every point discussed. You may need to find context and background from primary documents, such as the White House site and congressional sites. A transcript or video of the show should be available on its site within 24 hours — or on Nexis Uni.  

WEEK 7: COVERING MEETINGS / TALK SHOWS / NEWS CONFERENCES:

Due at start of Session 13: Blog post from previous class.

ZOOM at start of class: Discuss how the talk show story should be reported and structured.

Session 13: In-class assignment: A brief meeting story. Due: xxx.

Session 14:

Read before class: TBD

Due at start of class: Talk show story from Sunday. About 320 to 400 words, double space and put your name and word count at the top. Include a strong lead with points made on the show, amplification of the lead, context/background, transitions/quotes. Focus on newsmaker points, not journalists’. You will not be including every point discussed. You may need to find context and background from primary documents, such as the White House site (for transcripts of briefings) and congressional sites.

ZOOM at start of class: Review of past work and AP style. 

In-class Assignment: 320-word news conference story. Due: xxxxx

WEEK 8: REPORTER ETHICS/ WRITING SPEECHES

Session 15:  Read before class: Chapter 20, Ethics. 

ZOOM at start of class: Review work. THEN: Journalism Ethics — focusing on how a news reporter should operate on the job. A discussion of the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethics guidelines for reporters’ conduct–with a look at guidelines from NPPA, RTDNA and large newsrooms, such as The Washington Post, as well. Is it OK for a news reporter to wear political buttons? Blog opinions about politics? March in rallies? Accept gifts or free meals from sources? Vote? Run for office? And more. What kinds of stereotypes creep into news stories? How can they be thwarted? We will break into groups to talk about the Associated Press, RTDNA and Washington Post codes of ethics: Should anything be stricken? Should anything be added?

One student from each group will post a summary to the Elms Discussion thread. Counts toward discussion grade.

ETHICS BLOG POST due at start of next class.

 

Session 16: Writing stories about speeches. 

ZOOM at start of class: We discuss writing about speeches. Then I will turn you loose to write a story about one. You will start an assignment in class, and finish it for homework. Deadline before start of next class. About 320 words, double-spaced, written in inverted pyramid format. Include a concise lead focused on a main point, and a second paragraph that amplifies that lead (this might be a strong quote). Subsequent paragraphs should elaborate on key points, weaving in quotes from the speech and brief background/context.

 

WEEK 9: HEADLINES AND SEO: 

Read before Session 17: TBD.

ZOOM discussion and practice:  Writing headlines for print and web, with a discussion of similarities and differences and Search Engine Optimization. 

Classwork: Headline writing together. Practice.

Please bookmark: ACES: The Society for Editing and Journalist’s Toolbox Copy Editing Resources from the Society for Professional Journalists.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNED: AP style exercise on Elms Quizzes on covering the government beat. Due before the start of class in one week.

 

Session 18: 

On ZOOM: Writing headlines for print and Web/mobile: a discussion of similarities and differences and Search Engine Optimization on digital formats. 

With a class exercise/. Deadlines TBD.


WEEK 10: COPYRIGHT / FAIR USE / CORRECTIONS/ LIBEL & WRITING FOR RADIO:

Session 19: Read before class: Chapter 19, “Media Law.”

HOMEWORK DUE before start of class: AP style exercise.

Zoom discussion at 9:30 a.m. 

Class assignment done independently. Deadline 9 p.m.

Session 20: Readings before class, posted to Elms Files: Chapter 11, Broadcast News Writing, Carole Rich book, pages 206 through top of 208 and 215 “30-Second Script” through 226.

ZOOM IN CLASS: Tips for writing for radio (Powerpoint) and some AP style differences.

In-class assignment: Write a radio story: a 30- to 40-second reader. Deadline TBA.

WEEK 11: COVERING CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Session 21: Readings before class: “The High-Stress Police Beat,” published in AJR, July-August 1995, by Chris Harvey (uploaded to Files Folder). And Tips for covering cops,” by Chip Scanlan, on poynter.org Oct. 3, 2002.

ZOOM at start of class: We’ll begin talking about covering the crime beat with our GUEST, TBD. You will live tweet this discussion for a class grade. (Five tweets required, including a welcome tweet and a thank you. Be sure to include the required @ and #  in all your tweets.) Deadline: End of Zoom session.

Homework assigned: AP Style Exercise on the criminal justice beat in Elms Quizzes. Deadline at start of class in one week.

Session 22:  Read before class: Chapter 15, “Other types of local stories,” pages 332 to end of chapter. 

ZOOM at start of class: More on covering the criminal justice beat, and calculating crime rates using crime data. We’ll review some terminology, and we’ll take a look at the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, and talk about campus data. (We’ll review calculating percents, percent changes, averages and discuss the formula for crime per capita.)

Classwork: You’ll take a math quiz, using spreadsheets.  You will be calculating averages, percentage changes and crime rates per 1,000 people using UMD crime report data. Deadline: 9 p.m. 

Homework due before the start of next class: You will take a look at FBI Uniform Crime Report data for UMD, to think about possible story threads. You will post three to five potential questions to a thread on a Discussion page thread for our interview. 

WEEK 12: CRIMINAL JUSTICE 

Session 23:  

ZOOM Session:  interview for crime statistics story with GUEST Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas, a spokeswoman for the University of Maryland Police Department, on trends in campus crime stats (as reported to the FBI in the Uniform Crime Report). 

HOMEWORK ASSIGNED: A 320- to 450-word story for print or web will be due at start of the next class (after Thanksgiving). Assume your audience are students/staff/faculty of the campus. Your story will likely include some of her comments as well as data. With the text story, please include a relevant headline at the top of the story, written S-V-O, present tense, active voice. At the bottom of the story, in italics, include text for one possible tweet that could be used to publicize the story (if your story was published), up to 280 characters. Be sure to include a potential hashtag. Due in one week.

Homework due before start of class: AP style exercise on criminal justice terms. 

Session 24: Read before class:  “How to cover a court trial: 6 tips for journalists,” published on poynter.org Oct. 21, 2013, by Saul Sugarman.

ZOOM at 9:30: Court reporting: A discussion of terms. Review of past assignments.  

CLASS ASSIGNMENT: A civil suit. Deadline 9 p.m.

Homework assigned: Final AP Style Exercise, due in one week.

WEEK 13: INTRO TO OBITS AND THANKSGIVING!

Session 25:  Read before the start of class: Chapter 15, just pages 346 through 350, “Obituaries and Life Stories.” PLUS: Please watch this, from CBS News: “Obit Writers Deadly Serious About Their Craft,” and read: “The art of writing an obituary,” from The Economist June 5, 2017. 

Class at 9:30 a.m. A discussion on do’s and don’ts of writing basic obituaries. And a reminder: How to avoid plagiarism when writing stories/obituaries that rely heavily on research. To kick-start the discussion of what to do and not to do when writing obituaries, we’ll compare these in class: The New York Times’ obit on author Colleen McCullough, from Jan. 30, 2015, and The Australian’s.(If you’re not sure which is better (!), read The Guardian’s take on The Australian’s piece.) AND class will vote on a celebrity advance obit subject. Majority rules! I will audio-record this session for anyone who can’t make it to campus.

CLASS ASSIGNMENT: Brief obituary. Deadline: 9 p.m.

HOMEWORK DUE: before start of class: Crime stats story, written for print or web, 320 to 450 words. Double space and put word count at top. Please include a headline at the top of the story, written S-V-O, present tense, active voice. At the bottom of the story, in italics, include one possible tweet to promote your story (if it was published), up to 280 characters.   Story must be turned in to teacher and  uploaded as a .pdf to the college’s assessment site, at https://jassessment.umd.edu/ .

IN PLACE OF SESSION 26: THANKSGIVING!

WEEK 14: MORE OBITS / FEATURE STRUCTURES:

Session 27: Feature leads and story structures, word craft and self-editing. Read before class: Chapter 9: “Writing to Be Read.”   

ZOOM at 9:30: Word choices matter in your writing.  How can strong verbs/ concrete nouns / transitional words and sentences / and parallel constructions in sentences and phrases help with readability? How should attribution work in an obituary? What should go in the top third, the middle and the bottom of the story? How are quotes worked in? Let’s read this Oct. 17, 2019, New York Times obituary on Rep. Elijah Cummings, and analyze what works well. (See 10 questions to answer on our Elms Discussion page thread.) 

Possible in class: An assignment on the Discussions page that examines June 2016 obituaries of Muhammad Ali from Time magazine and The New York Times.  Word choices matter in your writing. How can strong verbs/ concrete nouns / transitional words and sentences / and parallel constructions in sentences and phrases help with readability? How can mini-chronologies be used in obituaries to describe events from a life? How should quotes from published articles be attributed, to prevent plagiarism?

Session 28: Due at the start of class: Celebrity advance obit. 500 to 700 words, double-spaced, in google docs, shared with the instructor and one classmate that the teacher assigned to work with you. A minimum of six sources should be consulted for background; a minimum of three sources should be attributed in the story. (Attach a list of links at the end of your story to all published sources that you consulted for background.) For more info, consult the assignment sheet uploaded to the Elms files folder. 

9:30 ZOOM IN CLASS BREAKOUT ROOMS: Students will fact-check a partner’s work by COMMENTING in google docs. Writers will have until 11:59 p.m. to REVIEW comments/edit their own work for a final turn-in.

WEEK 15: JOURNALISM JOBS AND FINAL STORY

Session 29:  Applying for internships and jobs and your future in journalism. 

ZOOM: Possible Guest.

Session 30: Final story assignment during last class.  THIS GRADE DOES NOT DROP AND CANNOT BE MADE UP. It is given in lieu of a final. This means there is no final during finals week. 

Also due at start of class: Extra Credit Clips.

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