Journalism Reporting and Writing

Cabrini College :: Fall - Spring  :: M 1:55-3:10 :: Dr. Jerry Zurek :: 2 credits Fall + 2 credits Spring

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Welcome to Journalism! I hope that this course will be a highlight for you in college. This is more than a course because you are also a member of the college newspaper staff. The experiential learning in this course is based on this saying of Confucius:

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

Most students find in this experience the power of the written word. What you write will be read not by just your instructor but, more importantly, by a wide range of people on and off campus. If you do your job well, your words can and will make a difference. You will receive praise and criticism for what you have written.

This experience is as real a communication experience as you can get in college! With the power of the media at your disposal comes great responsibility. In this course, you will not just learn journalism; you will actually be a journalist.

In this course you will be learning a broad range of knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for journalism and communication. They are the basic equipment of many communication careers in addition to journalism, such as public relations, broadcasting, advertising, corporate communication, and others. Journalism is regarded by all in the communication field as essential preparation, no matter the specialty. In this course, you will develop these skills, which will be demonstrated in your behavior and your writing:

1. Analytical ability: You will show in your stories a sense of what is news, of what is important.
2. Initiative: You will show energy and initiative by proposing story assignments.
3. Fairness: Your stories will treat your sources fairly and ethically.
4. Professional conduct: Feedback from your sources and other members of the staff should attest to your professionalism.
5. Teamwork: Your behavior should enhance the smooth functioning of the newspaper staff.
6. Inquiry skills: Your stories should exhibit thorough interviewing skills and the ability to find suitable information from other sources.
7. Strong writing skills: Your writing will show

• Clarity.
• Focus--your stories will exhibit an effective lead paragraph.
• Precision--your stories will show mastery of punctuation, mechanics, spelling, and grammar.
• A concern for your reader--you will learn to write with your reader’s needs in mind.

8. Ethical responsibility and an understanding of the need for press freedom. You will learn the important role of journalism in society.

In this course, you will develop a portfolio of professional communication work that can rival and exceed the best produced by your peers across the country.

HOW WILL YOU ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES AND BE EVALUATED? 

You will achieve these objectives by your writing and conduct in the course. The expectation is that you will write 20 stories--10 per semester--and show the above qualities in your stories and conduct. Full credit for a story is five points. Points are deducted for lateness, errors, incompleteness, etc. Your grade for COM 250 will be an evaluation of how well your reporting and writing exhibits the characteristics listed above.

You will submit your story to me for grading. You also submit a copy of your story to your editors. The editors and I operate separately. They have complete editorial independence about assigning, editing, and printing. My grading is based on your meeting the course criteria for this intermediate writing course, criteria normally used in a writing course: unity, coherence, emphasis, focus, mechanical details, attention to audience, etc. I don't assign your stories, edit them for publication, or have any say in their publication. I am always available as a writing coach to you. I am also available as the newspaper adviser to help you and your editors think through journalistic problems. But I must emphasize that I am the adviser, not the decision maker. You will achieve growth as a journalist by making those decisions yourself--and having to stand by those decisions! 

TEXTS

AP Stylebook.

Elements of Newswriting

In addition to these, you are expected to read national newspapers and news websites. I will expect you to start by reading a top national paper, the Christian Science Monitor, on line. You will then graduate to the premiere newspaper of record, The New York Times. In addition, you should get story ideas from The Chronicle of Higher Education (chronicle.com) and other news web sites.

 COURSE PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS

We will meet as a class just once a week on Mondays for the entire year. You receive 2 credits each semester for Reporting and Writing and 2 credits each semester for Editing and Production.

Of equal or greater importance to the classes is your participation in the news-gathering and writing aspects of the college newspaper. You will have an assignment generally every week, but some weeks you may have more: the criterion to remember is that everyone does whatever necessary to get out a top-notch newspaper every week on deadline.

The fuller your participation in the production of the paper, the greater will be your learning. I'd like to see you make the newsroom your home away from home. If you were on a sports team, it would be really strange if all you did was show up for games. Same here. The newsroom is your gym and practice field. The more time you put in here, the stronger you'll be.

To continue the metaphor, I am the coach. I am here to give advice and guidance. But the editors and you run the paper. The editors and you make ALL editorial decisions--selecting stories, writing, revising, designing, etc. I am here to offer my advice WHEN ASKED, but this paper is and has always had complete freedom and independence.

The editors even appoint the assistant editors and select next year's editors. The editors also discipline themselves and the staff and even remove editors, according to an established disciplinary procedure. I am not even involved in those decisions but provide advice if asked.

 PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR:

It is of the utmost importance that you learn professional procedures right from the start. To the readers and your sources, YOU ARE THE LOQUITUR. How you act and what you write is the impression the readers have of the entire staff. Therefore, everyone must follow high ethical standards.

Everyone on this staff also must remember that this is a team. What one person does affects everyone. If you are late, someone else has to do your job. If one person talks about someone behind his back, that affects the team spirit of everyone. Therefore, how professionally you behave with each other is exceedingly important.

It is of the utmost importance that you learn professional procedures right from the start. Absence, except for illness, and lateness–for class or story deadline–are never allowed on any publication, and they are not allowed here. Absence and lateness will definitely hurt your grades. Actions that hinder or undermine the professional working and learning environment of the newsroom must be avoided.

(Although I am not excessively anal, I do get annoyed if you frequently show up late for class, leave class to talk on your cell phone, go to the toilet a lot, sleep during class, whisper to others during class, or do some new annoying practice.)