This course is intended for students who desire to explore the art of reporting and the profession of journalism. Students receive instruction in all areas of journalism needed to pursue staff positions of the school newspaper. Among the areas covered are press law, interviewing, beat reporting, feature writing, news stories, editorials, layout design, and journalistic ethics. This course includes reading models of journalistic techniques and evaluates and analyzes journalistic writing through discussions and critiques.

Materials and resources used throughout this course may include but are not limited to the materials and resources listed here. Materials and resources used during this course are available to parents and students by using student login information on a district-issued iPad.

Section 1

Chapter 1 - Looking Back - The History of American Media

Chapter 2 - Meeting Ethical and Legal Responsibilities

Section 2

Chapter 3 - Deciding What is News

Chapter 4 - Organizing the Staff to Capture the News

Chapter 5 - Making the Interview Work

Section 3

Chapter 6 - Writing News Story Leads

Chapter 7 - Writing News Stories and Headlines

Chapter 8 - Handling Quotes Fairly and Accurately

Chapter 9 - Doing In-Depth Reporting

Chapter 10 - Design and Layout

Section 4

Chapter 11 - Writing Feature Stories

Chapter 12 - Writing Sports Stories

Chapter 13 - Writing for the Editorial Page

Section 5

Chapter 14 - Producing the Yearbook

Chapter 15 - Writing for Radio and Television

Chapter 16 - Understanding and Using Public Relations

Section 6

Chapter 17 - Handling Finances - Advertising and Business

Chapter 18 - Taking and Using Effective Photographs

Section 7

Chapter 20 - The Impact of Technology