MCPHERSON COLLEGE FALL 2013 AN INTRODUCTION TO

JO URNA LI SM
course identification
CM 135 Journalism Hess 51 9:30 - 10:50 TTh 3 credit hours LMS: http://mcph.acck.edu/ics

course description
This course is a study of contemporary journalism with an emphasis on reporting and writing news. It introduces students to both the theory and the craft of journalism. It aims to teach the best practices for reporting and writing the news as well as the professions essential role in preserving and sustaining democracies.

instructor
Bruce Clary, Ph.D. Office: Mohler 201 Office Hours: TBA Office Ext: 2530 Cell: 620.755.2501 claryb@mcpherson.edu wwwi.mcpherson.edu/~claryb

course rationale
No skills are more important to communication professionals than the ability to write clearly and succinctly and the ability to find and assess relevant information. And no quality is more essential to enlightened citizenship than a critical awareness of the techniques and methods used to disseminate the crucial information we call news. This course will (1) give you the fundamental knowledge and skills you need to practice journalism in a variety of media, and (2) make you a betterinformed citizen and a more critical media consumer.

requirements met
This course (1) is a core requirement for the major in communication, (2) meets three of the four journalism hours required for the major in English, (3) can be used as an elective to meet the minimum-hour requirement for the minor in communications, and (4) can be used as an elective for the minor in transformative entrepreneurship.

course objectives
Objective #1: Students will understand the role and responsibilities of the press in a free society. They will explain how journalism and the press developed. discuss contemporary forces that threaten journalisms traditional function of creating free citizens and supporting democracy. discuss the pros and cons of todays rapidly expanding information network. discuss the need for policies and commonly accepted principles to guide the industry morally, legally and ethically. explain and illustrate the importance of accuracy in the media. define and discuss the principles of objectivity, balance, and fairness in news reporting.

Objective #2: Students will know the fundamentals of reporting and writing the news. They will identify the four basic types of coverage. define news values and apply them in making news judgments.

required texts

gather information through research, interpreting data, and interviewing subjects. produce publishable news and feature stories. use and attribute information from various sources. identify and produce a variety of leads. cover an event live using Twitter.

Objective #3: Students will sharpen their grammar and English usage. They will

identify and correct common errors in English usage. write clear, concise, accurate sentences. proofread and edit to produce correct copy. follow an assigned style guide.

Harrower. Inside Reporting. 3/e. Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.

course content
Journalism is a profession with a history and a theory; and at this moment in the professions history, it is especially important that you learn about its theory. Journalism is also a craft. You learn to do journalism by practicing it, not by reading about it. This class will attempt to do justice to these two demands. Material about the theory and democratic function of journalism will be interspersed with practice reporting, writing and producing a variety of news stories. You cannot pretend to be a skilled producer of news reports without being a regular consumer of them. You should read as many newspapers and news magazines as you can, and view/listen to as many newscasts as you can. To encourage us all to be news consumers, we will use Twitter to share the news we are reading and watching. These shared stories will be the basis for weekly current events quizzes.

Kovach and Rosenstiel. The Elements of Journalism. Revised. Three Rivers, 2007.

coursework
I classify the work you do in this course into four categories: daily work, major assignments, quizzes & exams and Twitter/current events. Daily Work (15 percent of final grade). You will often be assigned a writing activity or exercise to be completed during class or before the next class meeting. At times I may ask you to submit these online via eLearning. Daily work will be assigned point values that represent their importance or the amount of time or effort required to complete them. In-class exercises that are graded and collected as daily work cannot be made up except by prior arrangement. See the Policies Concerning Attendance and Late Work. Twitter/Current Events (15 percent of final grade). Early in the semester, everyone will create a unique Twitter account for this course and be assigned a beat. Before every class meeting, you will share a link to a news story from your beat. Tag the tweets you want to share with the class hashtag, #cm135. From these 40+ tweets posted for the week ending the previous Tuesday, I will compile a 10-point current events quiz, which we will take every Thursday. If you failed to share a story before either of the class meetings in the preceding week, you will receive half credit for your quiz score.

Christian, et al. Associated Press Stylebook 2013. Basic, 2013.

Major Assignments (50 percent of final grade). You will complete five major assignments in this class: two news stories, live Twitter coverage of the McPherson Scottish Festival, a feature, and your choice of a sports story, review, column or editorial. The four traditional print stories included in these assignments must be submitted to the McPherson College Spectator at the same time they are submitted to me. The Spectator is under no obligation to print any of our storiesbut it will be cool if some of them make the cut. Quizzes and exams (20 percent of final grade). You will have a 100-point mid-term and a 150-point final exam. In addition, I may give quizzes over some material. Most quizzes will range from 5-25 points.

evaluation of coursework and grades

I try to be as fair and transparent as possible in my grading. I will tell you the number of points for daily work assignments and will provide rubrics with evaluation criteria for major assignments. I will provide study guides for midterm and final exams and will probably be pretty forthcoming on what you will encounter on quizzes. Course Grades. Here again is the breakdown of the three principal components of the course: Daily work ..................... 15% Major assignmments ..................... 50% Quizzes & exams ..................... 20% Twitter/current events ..................... 15% Your course grade will be determined as follows: 91-100% ....................................... A 81-90% ....................................... B 71-80% ....................................... C 61-70% ....................................... D 60-below ....................................... F

Spectator Bonus Points. Everyone is encouraged to become full staff members of The Spectator, our campus student newspaper. You can earn 10 bonus points (added to your daily work total) for each issue of the Spectator in which you fully participate as a responsible staff member. The Spectator is published six times each semester, so your regular involvement could yield up to 60 bonus points by the end of the semester. (This offer is available to students enrolled for credit in a CM315 practicum only if accepted as an additional assignment, above and beyond what is required to meet the CM315 requirements.) For each 10 bonus points, you must fully participate as a responsible staff member for one issue. That means you need to (1) attend staff meeting, (2) submit your assignment by deadline, (3) meet all expectations of your editor, and (4) submit a story that is publishable with only minor editing or revising. (You will receive your bonus points, regardless of whether or not the Spec actually has room to publish the article.) Download the Bonus Point documentation form from eLearning if you are interested in this opportunity.

policies
About Late Daily Work. Given the ease of electronic communication, there is no excuse for late assignments. If you must be absent from class, submit your work before deadline through eLearning or by email if necessary). Students who make arrangements before an absence may make up in-class quizzes and exercises for up to three missed classes. Without prior notification and explanation, missed quizzes and class work cannot be made up. About Late Major Assignments. Professional journalists who miss a key deadline lose their jobs; student journalists who miss a deadline for one of the major assignments lose their points. In other words, late major assignments are NOT accepted for credit.

disability statement
Students who, because of disability, may require reasonable accommodations to meet course requirements should contact the instructor or access coordinator, Carole Barr (ext. 2506), as soon as possible.

academic services
The Royer Center for Academic Development (Miller Library, main level) is open to all students who need academic assistance in any class.

preliminary schedule of readings, assignments & topics

The following schedule provides a wide-angle view of the course landscape. I do not try to list daily work or exercises since many of those will be determined by the needs of the class. Check eLearning on a neardaily basis for the latest announcements and information about class activities and assignments. Readings are to be completed before class on the day indicated.

Th, Aug 22

Introduction to the course News attitude survey Baseline newswriting activity

Unit 1: The Purpose of Journalism T Aug 27 Th Aug 29 EJ, What Is Journalism For? (9-34) Getting started with Twitter EJ, Who Journalists Work For (51-77) The current state of journalism

Unit 2: The Fundamentals of the Craft T Sept 3 Th Sept 5 T Sept 10 Th Sept 12 T Sept 17 Th Sept 19 EJ, Truth: The First and Most Confusing Principle (35-50) IR, Newswriting Basics (35-51) What news is; the 5 Ws, the inverted pyramid, AP style Inverted pyramid, summary leads Leads (cont) Quoting, attributing information IR, Rewriting, Editing, News Style (52-57) Revising, AP style

Unit 3: Journalism in the Age of Twitter T, Sept 24 Th, Sept 26 Sept 27-29 T Oct 1 **Story #1 Due** Practicing live coverage with Twitter Final preparation for live coverage of Scottish Festival Class members work a two-hour shift covering the McPherson Scottish Festival live on Twitter **Twitter archive and reflection due

Unit 4: The Basics of Reporting Th Oct 3 T Oct 8 EJ, Journalism of Verification (78-112) Review for Midterm **Midterm Exam**

Unit 4: The Basics of Reporting T Oct 15 Th Oct 17 IR, How a story gets written (21-22) IR, Reporting Basics (67-89) Story ideas, sources, observing, interviewing Budget meeting Interviewing skills Quoting, attributing information **Story #2 due **

T Oct 22 Th Oct 24 T Oct 29

Unit 5: Beyond Breaking News Th Oct 31 T Nov 5 Th Nov 7 T Nov 12 Th Nov 14 T Nov 19 Th Nov 21 T Nov 26 T Dec 3 Th Dec 5 M Dec 9 IR, Beyond Breaking News (115-25), Covering speeches (106-07), sports (112-13) Features, generating ideas IR, Editorials, columns, reviews (134-37) Features (cont) Budget meeting Sports (cont) Opinions (cont) **Story #3 Due* Budget meeting IR, Law and Ethics (139-55) Law and ethics (cont) **Story #4 Due** **2 p.m., Final Exam**