Syllabus
ENVIRONMENTAL
REPORTING
ENW325
Spring 2004
|
Instructor: Class meets:
My office:
My office phone: E-mail:
Home page: Office hours: |
Dr. Monday 11a-1215p CNS304
Thursday 11a-1215p, DMH231
DMH 106
203 254 4000, x2792 jsimon@fair1.fairfield.edu
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jsimon MW 10-11. (I am here many additional hours; just call first.) |
Air and water pollution. Land use and zoning
disputes. Recycling and toxic waste concerns. Environmental issues touch our
lives in many ways, and this journalism course will give you experience in
reporting and writing about the environment and related science and health
concerns. You will visit environmental sites, learn from reporters working in
this field, and then choose issues at the local, state or national level to
write about. There is no prerequisite, but students are urged to have completed
some course work in journalism, mass communication, environmental science or environmental
ethics.
Dr. Simon covered environmental issues for 10 years
as a reporter with The Associated Press, then served as Assistant Secretary of
the Environment in
Required
Materials:
v Blum, D.
& Knudsdon, M. (1997). A field
guide for science writers.
v Friedman,
S.M., Dunwoody, S. & Rogers, C.L. (1999). Communicating uncertainty:
Media coverage of new and controversial science.
v Goldstein,
N. (Ed.) The Associated Press
Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law.
v Nelson, P.
(1995). Ten practical tips for environmental reporting.
v
2” three-ring binder with formal, tabbed section
dividers (for your portfolio)
Plus…
v
Itule, B. D. & Anderson, D. A. (1997). News
writing and reporting for today's media. (5th Ed.).
Free
from Dr. Simon:
v
Ward, B. (Ed.) (2003). Reporting on climate change:
Understanding the science. (3rd
Ed.).
v
Sachsman, D., Simon, J. & Valenti, J.
(2001). The environment reporters of
Recommended: Any pocket
dictionary
Class
format. Students will use a
triangulated approach to learn about environmental reporting:
v
You will revisit
the basics of reporting and news writing, then build on and expand those basics
as you learn the craft. You will write a variety of stories based on news
conferences, site visits, journal articles and your own personal interests.
v
You will meet
environmental reporters and perhaps model your efforts on their work. You will read my study about how they feel
about the environment and how they do their job. You will have an opportunity
to visit a newsroom and see how news stories get assigned, processed and
presented to the public.
v
There is a
strong hands-on component to the course. You will conduct field visits to on-campus
and off-campus environmental sites, then write about those sites. You will meet
scientists and discuss how they rely on environmental reporters to communicate
with the public. You will read scientific journal articles and science-oriented
congressional testimony and write stories on the issues presented. You will
pick a topic for a major environmental story, gather material on and off
campus, then write it up.
Here is the story lineup and a grading summary:
STORIES ONE AND TWO: In-class press
conf. stories @ 3 pts each 6
points
STORY THREE: Out of class press
conference story 5 points
STORY FOUR: Off campus site visit
and story 15
points
STORY FIVE: Individual campus or
town environmental story 15
points
STORY SIX: Individual, major package 30
points
Two AP quizzes @ 3 pts each 6 points
Reaction papers to the readings; in-class writing 13 points
Class participation 10
points
TOTAL 100%
Note: There is no test on the readings … no mid-term exam … no final
exam … and no 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.
Do
save graded copies of all stories for inclusion in your portfolio
Grade
breakdown of Story 6:
Item Date due % final project grade
Story idea, budget line April 1 5%
Cites April
8 5%
Outline April
15 10%
Full draft
Final version
Process
for Stories 5 and 6
a.
Generate
a story idea and bounce it off me for feedback. Classmates also will offer
advice. Most stories will call for Web research that will add depth to your
reporting and add context to the final story.
b.
Type
a two-sentence budget line. The first sentence describes the focus of the
project. The second sentence explains why the audience will care. Example:
I
will do an overview on recycling (or the lack of it) at
e. After I return this rewritten version of the story
with a grade, you must rewrite it once more and place it in your portfolio,
putting the most recent rewritten version on top. I often will encourage you to
run off another copy and submit it to the Mirror.
I will look at the portfolio during our two
individual meetings, held mid-semester and at the end of the semester.
Grading
Standard
Here is the standard I
use in grading writing assignments:
“A” – Excellent. Publishable as is. No significant style errors. Shows
superior command of facts, judgment, organization and writing. On some level,
extra-ordinary.
“B” –
“C” – Acceptable job. Not a story someone would
read unless the information was really needed. Several style errors. Some basic
organizational or writing problems. Still needs significant rewriting.
“D” --
Unsatisfactory. Poor piece. Lacks fundamental judgment and/or writing
skills. Frequent style errors. Important facts omitted.
“F” – Unacceptable level of achievement.
Reflective Essays
For each of the six papers, the final graded version
requires a cover sheet (3-4 paragraphs) that serves as a reflective essay.
It is a chance for you to step back from the story and to discuss:
ü
What
textbook/classroom lessons have been relevant (or misleading)
ü
How the story
compared to others you may have done
ü
What problems
you encountered
ü
What lessons you
learned
ü
What skills you
still need to sharpen
E-mail. Today’s journalists rely on
computer communication, and so will you. For this class, you need to have an
e-mail address and to get in the habit of checking your e-mail regularly,
preferably every day. Some class assignments may be made via e-mail. I check my
e-mail twice a day on average; it is the
best way to communicate with me. Don't
hesitate to call me in my office, though, if you have a more immediate need.
Writing
Format. All writing assignments must
be double-spaced and typed on 8˝ by 11" paper using a conventional
font. Writing a headline is optional. Place your name, the type of assignment
(e.g., Story 6) and your campus telephone number in upper right hand corner of
the first page. Be sure the pages are stapled.
Reaction Papers on the readings (Thank you, Fr. Mayzik)
When you have an assignment to read a
chapter, an article, a book for class, you have an opportunity to be informed,
enlightened, inspired, transformed, stimulated—even agitated or angered by the
information and ideas presented to you by the author. There is also the chance that you might also
be bored—which could be the author’s fault, or yours.
What you get out of your reading has a lot to
do with you, and with the attitude you bring to it. If it is merely an assignment, you will rush
through it, more intent on getting through it than letting it get to you. If
you see it as an opportunity to learn something, and you dive into even the
most convoluted, dense prose with a patient, open-minded attitude, you may be
delighted and surprised by what it has to offer to you (and to your life!).
For that to happen (for someone’s written
ideas and thoughts to touch your life) you need to do two things:
1.
You must read the material thoroughly and patiently, asking yourself at
various points along the way: ‘Do I understand
what this author is saying?’. Can
you explain the thoughts and ideas, the
major concepts and terms, in your own words?
The author probably spent a great deal of time working on that
chapter—so there must be something of substance in the contents.
2.
Once you know what the author is saying, you need to take a second (and
more important) step: you need to ask yourself what you
think about the author’s thoughts and ideas.
This is the time to wrestle with the truth of those ideas. It is a time of reflection, meditation, and
ultimately some judgment: you take those
ideas within and touch them to what you know, and make at least a temporary
judgment. Your reaction might be “Wow!
That’s amazing, I never saw the connections before.” Or, “Gosh and begolly, that’s phat, man!” Or, you may conclude that the author’s ideas
are false, or stupid, or wrong, or silly: “That’s crap, totally, what an
idiot!” Whatever your judgment, it’s the whole point of the reading.
The READING EVALUATIONS are meant to help you
take both steps in your approach to the assigned readings. Use a single sheet of paper.
I) The
FIRST part of the evaluation allows you to identify three MAIN THEMES, CONCEPTS, IDEAS and TERMS
of the reading, and to explain them.
(Although it is not the primary purpose of the evaluation, this helps me
to know if, at least, you have read the material.)
II) The SECOND
part of the evaluation asks you to write about your reaction to those themes,
concepts and terms: “WHAT DO YOU THINK?” These are your reflections, and I encourage
you to try to make connections within them.
DON’T simply write how amazed or impressed
you are, or how stupid or boring you thought it was: “Gosh, I can’t believe how
much goes into the process of making a movie.
It has really opened my eyes, wow.”
INSTEAD, try to make some comparisons to other knowledge, other
experiences: “
I will respond to your reflections, which you
can read when I return them to you.
Naturally, I will be most interested in this part of the reading
evaluation (“WHAT DO YOU THINK?”), and it will have a large part in evaluating
your understanding of the material.
You need not re-write the entire assignment,
trying to squeeze millions of lines onto the reading evaluation page.. Just a
little warning: I take these reading evaluations SERIOUSLY when it comes to
considering your grade. You can be sure
that your grade will be significantly downgraded if you do not hand in the
evaluations (on time!) or appear to be
treating them lightly with cursory comments and little thought or depth. (A
“good” on your work will be good for your final grade.) Your work should
reflect a thorough reading of the text, and a thoughtful reaction to its
contents. Feel free to use back side of
the summary sheets if you run out of space, but I recommend just filling one
side of a page, single spaced.
AP Stylebook.
Professional journalists are expected to follow a stylebook, and so are you. In
this class, you will follow The Associated Press Stylebook, which is
used in more news rooms than any other. There will be two stylebook quizzes
early in the semester; I will give you a study guide to the most important
terms. The quiz will be open-book, but you will have less than one minute per
question to complete it, giving you time only to double check some of your
answers. I encourage you to study in groups for the test. You will lose 1 point for each style error
made in subsequent stories.
Attendance. Skipping
class is like skipping a day of work. If you can’t manage your time and you
can’t handle deadline pressures, then journalism isn’t a good career choice for
you. Daily deadlines are a fact of life not only in newsrooms, but in all sorts
of media work.
I am very old-fashioned about attendance; I take it
every period based on the theory that you learn more when you are in class…. Your final grade in the course will drop
two percentage points starting with the third cut (e.g., a 90 will drop to
an 88). Save your cuts for when you are sick or have an emergency, medical or
academic. The only exceptions: lingering
illnesses or family emergencies that force you to miss consecutive classes.
For
your grade, I also take into account your being chronically late to class. For
my sake and the sake of your classmates, please be on time.
If you are
going to miss a class, I expect you to call or e-mail ahead of class and tell
me not to expect you there. We then can make arrangements for you to make up
the work missed.
Class participation. Participating in class is a given; you are expected
to come to class well prepared and to take an active part in discussions. If
you are unprepared for class repeatedly, I reserve the right to adjust your
final grade.
Getting Stories Published. Many students emerge from this course with a
portfolio of up to four stories that they do for class, then submit to the
Mirror and get published. On their resume, students can list themselves as a
contributing writer to the Mirror, then use their portfolio of published work
to improve their chances of getting a good internship or initial job out of
college. There is no requirement to submit your stories. But to encourage you to
do so, I will raise the final grade by two-thirds of a letter (a C becomes a B-; a B+ becomes an A) for
any class story that you
submit to the Mirror and get published.
When grading your papers, I will often note whether I
think it is a good candidate for publication, but you also can act on your own.
After you see my comments on your graded version, consider any suggested
changes, then send your story via e-mail to Mirror news editor Jess Holmberg at
03_jholmberg@stagweb. Write
on the top: I did this story for Dr. Simon’s Environmental Reporting class,
and I want to submit it to the Mirror for possible publication. You can reach
me at extension XXXX with any questions. Thank you. Add a byline, listing your name as you want
it to appear atop the story.
Keep
a copy of any stories appearing in the Mirror. Show them to me at our end of
the semester portfolio meeting to ensure I give you the grade boost.
Gathering Information. We will be discussing, at length, the ground rules
for gathering information and when you should go "off the record"
with a source. But until we do, you must introduce yourself to all sources by
saying you are working on a news story for class that may get printed in The Mirror. (My advice: say you are
"working on a story for The Mirror on Subject X.") Again, you must alert sources from the start
that their remarks may wind up in the paper. If the source is reluctant to talk
to you, use your persuasive skills (and tips we will learn) to get them to
cooperate. But under no circumstances
should you say the story is just for class; too many students make such a
statement, get the story published in the Mirror for extra credit, and then
face an angry source.
Sources routinely ask to see a story
before it is published. This is widely frowned upon in journalism. Do not
agree to show anyone the story before publication. Instead, offer to call
them back and double check their own quotes and any information they
gave you. This will result in a stronger, more accurate story and avoid any
ethical dilemma. Obviously, if you agree to call back a source and double check
the information, you must do so.
If you violate these rules -- by
telling sources their remarks won’t be used in the newspaper or by agreeing to
let them see a story before publication -- it is grounds for receiving a
failing grade on the story.
Deadly errors. News stories lose all credibility when the reader notices a glaring
error and starts to wonder how many other problems there are within the story.
Imagine a Mirror profile on your roommate that misspells her/his name in
the first sentence; would you believe the rest of the story? Accuracy is the
most important element in a news story.
Therefore, misspelling the name of a principal actor in story will
result in your receiving a failing grade on the story. THIS HAPPENS AT LEAST
TWICE A YEAR; DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!
Honor Code. It is a violation of the Honor Code to submit all or
part of someone else's work or ideas as one's own. If a student violates the
Honor Code, the faculty member may refer the matter to the Office of Student
Life. If found guilty, the student may be penalized with failure of the
assignment or failure of the course. The student also may be reprimanded or
suspended from the University.
Dr. Simon adds: Let me underscore: do not pass off someone else's work as your
own. It will be especially obvious in this class if you have a friend write
your major news stories, then find yourself unable to write in class on your
own. But I feel it is desirable to have
a roommate or friend read your news story and make suggestions for improving it
before you submit it to me. But they cannot do the actual writing.
Class Schedule (subject to change)
Part One: Reporting and Writing Tools
|
Date |
In-class activities |
Work due that day |
|
Th., Jan. 22 |
Introductions. Syllabus review |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Jan. 26 |
Ingredients of news; summary vs. special leads |
I/A, Chs 1,2, 4, 5 |
|
Th., Jan. 29 |
Beyond the lead; Quotes and interviews |
I/A Chs 6,7,8, 10 |
|
|
|
|
Part Two:
Environmental Reporting and Writing Tools
|
Mon., Feb. 2 |
Using the web for environmental stories |
I/A Ch 11 |
|
Th., Feb. 5 |
STORY 1: Press conference |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Feb. 9 |
Environmental Feature Writing |
Story 1 due before class Monday via e-mail; also bring a
disc copy to class I/A |
|
Th., Feb. 12 |
STORY 2: Press conference |
Story 2 due via e-mail, |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Feb. 16 |
NO CLASS |
|
|
Th., Feb. 19 |
Practical Tips for Env. Reporting AP Quiz 1 |
Entire Nelson Tips book; Five-item reaction paper on whole book, not individual tips |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Feb. 23 |
Discuss Field Guide for
Science Writers, I |
Chs 1-9, Field Guide; Reaction paper to each individual
chapter |
|
Th., Feb. 26 |
STORY 3: Out of class press
conference |
TBA |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Mar. 1 |
AP Quiz 2 Discuss Field Guide for
Science Writers, II |
Story 3 due before class Monday via e-mail; also bring a
disc copy to class; Chs 10-15, Field Guide; Reaction paper to each individual chapter |
Part Three:
Specialized environmental stories
|
Th., Mar. 4 |
NOTE: class meets at off campus
site for Story 4 |
TBA |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon., Mar. 8 |
Discuss ideas for Story 5, campus
or town environmental story |
Story 4 due; Ideas, Story 5 |
|
Th., Mar 11 |
Covering scientific conferences; writing on scientific papers |
Budget line, Story 5 |