SAMPLE SYLLABUS

NEWS WRITING

Instructor: Dr. James Simon www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jsimon

CNS304

My office: Donnarumma 106

My office phone: 203 254 4000, x2792

E-mail: jsimon@mail.fairfield.edu

Welcome to News Writing. This course has three goals:

· To introduce you to a different kind of writing and information presentation that emphasizes clarity, timeliness and accuracy. You will learn how to structure and write a news story in a variety of ways. You will write stories based on in-class press conferences, deadline stories involving speakers on campus, and in-depth, original stories of your own choosing.

· To strengthen your information gathering skills. You will learn how to gather information through interviews, eyewitness accounts, and written and electronic sources. You will collect and present information in a way that is consistent with journalistic ethics, academic honesty and rules on plagiarism.

· To introduce you to the way a journalist thinks and operates. You will talk to working journalists and to sources who deal with journalists on a regular basis. You will better understand how news organizations decide whether a story is newsworthy, how to deal with editors and the editing process, and whether you want to pursue a career in journalism.

While many of the lessons will be set in a newspaper environment, the skills you learn also will benefit you if you are interested in magazine writing, publishing, writing for the Internet, broadcast journalism, public relations, corporate communication, the law, government and politics, and many related areas. This course also will result in improved writing skills (and improved usage of spelling, grammar, punctuation and style) that will aid you in virtually every other class you take in college, especially other English Department writing courses.

As part of your course work, you will be encouraged to submit class stories to The Mirror for publication. Many students emerge from this class with a portfolio of stories that they can use to improve their job-hunting prospects.

Prerequisites: college-level skills in spelling, punctuation, grammar, writing and typing (projected 40 wpm). Familiarity with computer word processing.

Required Materials:

v Itule, B. D. & Anderson, D. A. (2003). News writing and reporting for today's media. (6th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

v Itule, B. D. & Anderson, D. A. (2003). Workbook for news writing and reporting for today's media. (6th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

v Goldstein, N. (Ed.) AP Stylebook & Libel Manual.

v 2” three-ring binder with formal, tabbed section dividers (your portfolio)

v one ream of inexpensive paper for downloading web pages and making copies of your draft stories

Recommended: any pocket dictionary

Class format. This class will teach you about News Writing in several different ways. They include:

q Reading in the textbook about journalism theory and how to acquire specific skills such as interviewing and packaging a story. It is important that you learn from the experience of the textbook authors and journalists, not just from personal trial and error. You must bring to class in writing the answers to the Review Questions for each chapter in the workbook. You also must become familiar with the basic writing style used by journalists. That's why we use the AP Stylebook.

q Meeting and talking to journalists through guest lectures, in-class press conferences and through a trip to The Connecticut Post, where you will sit in on the daily news meeting.

q Conceptualizing story ideas yourself, gathering information on the topics, writing and rewriting stories, and finally seeing them emerge in a polished form.

We will go back and forth, examining some journalism theory and then applying it to writing, more theory leading to more writing, for the entire semester. It might make more sense to wait until you learn all the theory before you start writing, but by that point the semester will be over.

Much of the course will focus on eight stories you will write for class.

STORIES 1 to 3 are in-class Press Conference stories, designed to get you used to the journalism format. The hope is you will both learn from the information delivered by the speaker and learn how to select the most newsworthy information and turn it into a story. It’s also a chance to sharpen interviewing skills.

I will bring in guest lecturers who will speak and then entertain questions. You will do a 400 word story on their appearance and e-mail it to me. You also need to attach a reflective essay; details to follow. Your grade will drop two points if you forget the essay.

After I grade and return the story, you will rewrite it once more and create a separate section for it in your portfolio. Place the rewritten version on top, then my graded version, then earlier drafts you have.

STORIES 4, 5 and 6 are Deadline Stories of your own choosing. They should be events -- lectures, meetings, speeches, celebrity appearances -- that you can cover in a single day or night, immediately write up a story (without additional reporting) and submit it (via e-mail) for a grade by 9 a.m. the next day.

The experience is designed to give you a taste of writing under deadline pressure, while allowing you to pick a topic you will enjoy writing about. You also will interview several participants or audience members and include comments from at least two of them in the story. I encourage you to bounce the story idea off me ahead of time. You can cover additional deadline stories; I will use the highest three grades and give you extra credit. You also need to attach a reflective essay (details to follow). Your grade will drop two points if you forget the essay.

After receiving the graded version from me, rewrite it once more and create a separate section for it in your portfolio. Include the rewritten version on top, then my graded version, then any drafts you have

You must complete at least one Deadline Story before our mid-semester portfolio meeting; the grade on your first deadline story will drop by 20 points if you do not meet the deadline.

STORIES 7 and 8 are Original Stories. You will:

a. Generate a story idea and bounce it off me for feedback. To do so, bring a typewritten Budget Line to class. It consists of a focus sentence on the topic, then a brief explanation of “who cares,” and a list of sources (people and on-line). Example:

My first Original Story will look at changes in the number of Fairfield students who study abroad. Due to increased threats of terrorism, students may be less likely to go and may go to safer countries.

Sources: I’ll talk to students who have studied abroad, those considering it now, the University College officials who run the program, and check the Chronicle of Higher Education and U-Wire for information on the subject from other schools

b Spend about 10 days in doing a complete draft version of the story. Save all drafts for the portfolio (details later). Penalty for no draft: 10 points off on final grade.

c. Bring 8 copies of the draft story to class so your peers and the professor can comment. Bring one copy of the reflective essay and give it to me along with one copy of your draft.

d. After receiving class feedback, rewrite the story and submit it to me for a grade. On this version, you also need to revise the reflective essay. Your grade will drop two points if you forget the essay.

e. After I return this rewritten version of the story with a grade, you must rewrite it yet once more and place it in your portfolio, putting the most recent rewritten version on top.

I will look at the portfolio during our two individual meetings, held mid-semester and at the end of the semester, and help you gauge your progress.

This grid may help you follow the process:

Story 1 Story 2

Budget line/sources March 14 April 7

Draft March 24 April 17

Graded version March 31 April 24

Reflective Essays. This cover memo gives you a chance to step back from the story and discuss your intent. In three to four paragraphs, discuss:

ü The names of specific classmates, friends, others who have read this story and what they contributed to this version

ü What textbook/classroom lessons have been relevant (or misleading).

ü How the story compared to others you may have done.

ü What went right, what went wrong. What was easy, challenging, surprising.

ü What lessons you learned. What skills you still need to sharpen.

ü Were my comments on the draft useful?

Grading Summary.

Three Press Conference stories @ 3 pts 9%

Three Deadline Stories @ 9 points each 27%

Two Original Stories @ 17 points each 34%

Two tests @ 7 points each 14%

Two AP Stylebook quizzes @ 3 points 6%

Class participation 10%

TOTAL 100%

There is no formal mid-term exam, final exam or term paper. Most students like this arrangement. But in return, you are expected to put extra time into this course throughout the 14 weeks of class.

Late assignments. Deadlines are important in News Writing. Students will suffer a loss of 10 points for each day a story is late, up to a maximum 20 points. After two days, the professor has the right not to accept a late story.

Grading guide. Here is the standard I use in grading your writing:

“A” – Outstanding achievement. Publishable as is. No significant style errors. Shows superior command of facts, judgment, organization and writing. On some level, extra-ordinary.

“B” – Superior; better than average. Handled assignment very well. Very few style errors. Copy only needs a bit of rewriting and polishing before it could be published.

“C” – Acceptable; average job. Not a story someone would read unless the information was really needed. Several style errors. Some basic organizational or writing problems. Needs significant rewriting.

“D” – Minimal achievement but passing. Poor piece. Lacks fundamental judgment and/or writing skills. Frequent style errors. Important facts omitted.

“F” – Failure of news writing assignment. This rarely occurs because constant rewriting and revision will catch most grievous errors.

Academic Honesty. Academic honesty is the foundation of academic life. You must do all of the work that you submit as your own and for which you receive credit. Anything less constitutes academic dishonesty. As the Fairfield Student Handbook states: “Any violation of academic integrity wounds the entire community and undermines the trust upon which the discovery and communication of knowledge depends.”

Examples of academic dishonesty in this class include, but are not limited to,:

• Stealing answers off a classmate’s test or quiz
• Submitting someone else’s writing or reporting as your own. Such plagiarism may consist of a single word, a block of background from an Internet source, or an entire story. We will discuss the ground rules in class.
• Fabricating an interview or eyewitness account or failing to observe journalism conventions for handling quoted material (to be discussed in class).
• Destruction or alteration of another student’s work.
• Libeling an individual or committing an indefensible ethical violation.
• Failing to tell a source that you are using their information for a class story that has the potential to be published
• Providing so much assistance to a classmate that the classmate’s work reflects your effort as much as his/her work.