BEAT REPORTING JOU 213/ENG 213 SPRING SEMESTER 2014 THE BASICS Instructor: David Swartzlander Class location:

130 Gaylord Hall Instructors office: 129 Gaylord Hall Office phone: 826-8269 Home phone: 643-5135 Instructors email address: david.swartzlander@doane.edu Online course address: davidswartzlander.com Office Hours: MW: 9-11 a.m.; 2-4 p.m. or by appointment REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER READING MATERIAL: Field Guide to Covering Local News: How to report on cops, courts, schools, emergencies and government, Fred Bayles, CQ Press, 2012 Americas Best Newspaper Writing, latest edition, Roy Peter Clark & Christopher Scanlan, Bedford St. Martins The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual A local daily newspaper (Lincoln Journal Star or Omaha World-Herald) Always bring your stylebook and textbooks to class. SUPPLIES: Two notebooks, one to take notes during class and another for interviewing and reporting. I strongly encourage you to use an audio recorder for interviews. A binder for class handouts, assignments, etc. RECOMMENDED: A dictionary and thesaurus An audio recorder A camera or a cell phone that shoots photos A grammar style guide. I recommend A Writers Resource, by Elaine P. Maimon and Janice H. Peritz, McGraw Hill, 2012 ONLINE COURSE: I will teach this class using my website, davidswartzlander.com. Your grades can be found in Blackboard. Please become familiar with the online course by visiting the site and touring it. There, you will find the class schedule, reading assignments, a mentor list and information on reporting projects. You should check it regularly. The syllabus for this class is included on the website. COURSE GOALS: This course is designed for students who have taken basic news writing and reporting and are ready to expand their journalistic education into a more in-

depth class about the process of reporting and writing the news, including the beat system of reporting. You will learn by reading, studying, questioning, discussing and practicing journalism. You will learn how to report, interview, write and revise news stories. You will cover a beat and write stories for The Doane Owl and/or Doaneline. You will learn how to use public documents to investigate a story. You also will learn how to write opinion pieces, including reviews, columns or editorials. You will post to Twitter, shoot photos and write blogs. You will, individually and as a team, produce investigative stories. You are expected to keep up with the textbook readings. Classes will consist of lectures, discussions, videos, field trips and in-class writing. All stories written for this class will not only be written for academic credit but also for possible publication in the student newspaper, The Doane Owl, or the student news Web site, Doaneline. This is not a guarantee that your stories will be used in either publication, only to make it clear for whom you are writing. The Owl and Doaneline editors make all decisions about the content of those two publications. They have the right to edit your work for their use and their editing may or may not match my editing and/or grading evaluation. I grade your work. Course objectives: Students will: Understand the intent and purpose of writing in-depth news stories and the investigative reporting process. Learn how to move beyond the inverted pyramid and produce longer, more substantive stories with greater impact. Improve research and interviewing skills. Learn how to use public records and documents. Improve overall writing skills by honing creative writing techniques that can be applied to and enhance nonfiction/journalistic work. Develop skills associated with team reporting, computer-assisted reporting and digital storytelling. Learn how the beat system works and examine issues associated with covering a beat. Learn how to write opinion pieces. MINIMUM COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students are required to: Cover a beat - an assigned area on which you will report - and write stories on which you will be graded. Be prepared to write more than one story a week if the news on your beat requires it. Your stories should be of interest to Doane students, faculty and staff. Stories also must include at least three sources and relevant links. You must submit your stories to the Owl and/or Doaneline as well as to me. Failure to do so will mean a letter-grade deduction. Complete an individual investigative project that focuses on the use of public documents.

Complete a team-oriented investigative journalism project. The project will involve working with other reporters so systems and processes must be strongly organized and efficiently executed. As a class, conduct a public records audit. Write a blog about your beat, making it clear that you have met most of the news sources on your beat and that you are developing an expertise for the subject matter. The blog should be updated regularly. More information about this requirement can be found on my website. Shoot and submit 10 photos to accompany stories. Post at least 10 tweets about your beat. Attend and actively participate in the weekly news planning session, 5 p.m. Mondays in Gaylord 213. Submit story ideas on your beat to The Doane Owl and Doaneline editors by noon Sunday. Attendance will be taken on Mondays. Write one opinion piece about a current event or issue. Write one review of a live or recorded performance. Complete Current Events quizzes. Read a daily newspaper, watch at least one television news program and spend some time reading news online. Assemble an online portfolio of your work.

Students also are expected to complete homework assignments, if any. Important note: You are to complete at least one story a week. Failure to submit at least one story/week will result in a 0 for the week. Three or more 0s in one semester will result in a failing grade for the class. Do not expect to receive credit for writing numerous stories during the last week of the semester. Think of the classroom as a newsroom. I am the city editor. You are the reporters. We can have strong opinions and disagreements as long as they're expressed with respect for others views. Reporters often challenge city editors and this class should be no different. Conversely, expect your colleagues and me to challenge you. You must be able to take and dish out constructive criticism. Deadlines must be met. I will be impatient with excuses. Stories are due immediately. Breaking news should be reported immediately via Twitter and/or Facebook and be updated continually. Stories of events, such as a speaker or sporting events, should be written and are due three hours after the event. The outcome of the event should be tweeted immediately and posted on Facebook. Failure to meet deadline results in a zero for the story. Only on rare occasions will deadlines be pushed back. There will be no penalty if you have a legitimate college-excused absence, such as a medical excuse, that can be supported with appropriate paperwork.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory, in class and at the weekly news planning session. If you miss a class or a planning session, you should email me why you were absent. You will be responsible for any missed classes or assignments. MENTOR: You have been assigned a mentor from the Owl or Doaneline staff who will help you get started, answer questions and cope with problems. To see the mentor list, go to the online site. Mentors will not write stories for you, but can answer questions, give you tips on covering a beat as well as writing and reporting and show you how to improve your storytelling ability. STORY SUBMISSION: Stories are to be submitted to me by email. I am not responsible for stories lost because of system failures in your computer, the email network or in my computer. Always save your story and print a hard copy of it before you send it electronically. You must have a hard copy in case there are questions about your electronically mailed story. Please type your story in Microsoft Word and send it as an attachment. If your computer is not equipped with Word, use one of the college's computers or cut and paste the story into the message portion of the e-mail that you send. Or share it as a Google document. Always place your slug at the top of the story and in the subject line of the e-mail message you send. GRADING POLICY: Stories are graded on a 30-point scale, based on the following rubric: Name: Scoring Criteria JOU 213, Beat Reporting Submitted: Skillful: Good: 5 points 4 points Adequate: Some 3 points flaws: 2 points Many flaws: 1 point Severe problem: 0 points

Lede: focused, compelling, draws reader into story, concise yet comprehensive Content and accuracy: Accurate, logical,

timely, relevant, researched Attribution: Enough sources; sources identified correctly; relevant, diverse sources Organization: Impact before details, update before background; coherent structure Sentence Fluency: active voice, coherent, past tense; good sentence flow AP Style/Grammar/Links

Name:

Grade:

Grading will be accomplished through a coaching conference system. Each week, I will post conference times on Google Drive. You are expected to meet with me for 15-30 minutes each week to discuss your storys strengths and weaknesses. The conferences are required. Failure to sign up for a conference will result in a 0 for the story. I will not reschedule conferences. The following are the point totals assigned to each letter grade: A = 27-30 points. Ready for publication with little or no editing. The story is newsworthy and interesting to read. It is complete. A news organization would be eager to publish it. B = 24-26 points. With editing and minor changes, the story would be publishable. It is well done but not exceptional. C = 21-23 points. Requires extensive changes and/or additional information for it to be publishable. This is adequate work. D = 18-20 points. This story has numerous errors, many of them serious, indicating the student has not grasped the journalistic lessons. F = 17 points or fewer. Story is unacceptable because it contains so many factual, writing, and/or reporting errors that it represents a total lack of professional skill. It is confusing to read, incomplete or contains a libelous statement or serious

factual error. It would not be published by any news organization nor easily rewritten. WARNING: Factual accuracy - beginning with correctly spelled names of people, places, organizations and institutions and ending with accurately calculated and reported quantitative and qualitative findings - is of the utmost importance in news writing. Factual errors will significantly affect a grade and the reputation of any news organization disseminating the report. Reporters must get the facts right. The first rule of journalism is to spell names correctly. Your semester grade will be computed from the beat stories you write, the investigative stories, the opinion pieces, quizzes, exams, photos, blogs, Tweets and any assigned homework. You can earn a total of 1,400 points. I reserve the right to add, delete or modify assignments according to time constraints and the availability of resources. The point breakdown is: Beat Stories: 360 points or 26 percent. Blog: 100 points or 7 percent Photos: 100 points or 7 percent Tweets: 100 points or 7 percent Reading quizzes: 100 points or 7 percent Public records audit: 100 points or 7 percent Opinion piece: 30 points or 2 percent Review: 30 points or 2 percent Individual investigative story: 140 points or 10 percent. Team investigative story: 140 points or 10 percent Current Events quizzes: 100 points or 7 percent. Online portfolio: 100 points or 7 percent. Students must adhere to professional standards - meet deadlines, follow rules of punctuation, grammar, spelling and style. Be forewarned - I am a tough grader. At the end of the semester, all points will be totaled and grades will be determined using the grading criteria. The following grading system will be used: A = 1,2601,400 points B = 1,120-1,259 C = 980-1,119 D = 840-979 F = 839 or lower BEAT ASSIGNMENTS: Each student will be given a beat during the first day of class. Your job will be to cover that beat and write stories based on your reporting from that beat. Getting

beat on a story by the competition - The Crete News, The Lincoln Journal Star, Omaha World-Herald, radio or TV news or an online news organization - will result in an F for that story. Getting beat twice by the competition in one semester means you will fail the course. PORTFOLIO Students are required to keep an online portfolio of their work and to submit it at the end of the semester. Portfolios are due at 4 p.m. May 9. You should have a portfolio of stories, edits, designs, audio and video that you can show to employers when you graduate from Doane. It will benefit you to create an online portfolio. REWRITES: Your stories can be rewritten to raise your grade. Rewrites must be turned in no later than one week after the story is returned to you with a grade. A rewrite submitted later than that will not be accepted. Rewrites will not be accepted the final week of class or during finals week. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Journalists have only one thing to offer: credibility. Making things up - quotes, people in stories, facts - and stealing the words of another writer or failing to give proper attribution to information obtained from other sources are deadly sins in journalism. If you engage in academic dishonesty - including plagiarism, fabrication and cheating - you will fail this course and I will report you to the college, using all the tools in my power to get you expelled from the institution. DISABILITY POLICY: Students with disabilities substantially limiting a major life activity are eligible for reasonable accommodations in college programs, including this course. Accommodations provide equal opportunity to obtain the same level of achievement while maintaining the standards of excellence of the college. If you have a disability that may interfere with your participation or performance in this course, please meet with me to discuss disability-related accommodations and other special learning needs. EXTRA CREDIT: Here's how you get extra credit: 1. Write extra stories. You can get a maximum of 30 points per story by writing extra stories. The maximum number of points earned through extra credit stories is 180. 2. Get your work published in a commercial newspaper. Turn in a clipping with your byline for 30 extra points. 3. Copy Edit the World. Earn two points for an error (typographical, incorrect word usage, ambiguous wording, incorrect grammar and punctuation or other) found in a publication intended for general public circulation, such as a newspaper, magazine or journalism Web site. You may hand in examples until the last day of class. You can earn an unlimited amount of points. I am the final

arbiter on what counts as an acceptable submission. Examples submitted must identify the error, say whats wrong and show how youd correct the error. This is not a group project. I reserve the right to change the rules as I deem necessary. Include the original clippings with date and page number when you turn in the corrections.