MC 309 Reporting
Course Outline
Fall
2007
Department of Mass Communications
Prerequisites: MC 210
Media Writing and MC 220 Desktop Publishing
Professor:
Office: FR 255I
Office Hours: As
posted on my office door
Phone: 477-4035
Classroom: FR 258
E-mail:gunarats@mnstate.edu
Website: www.mstate.edu/gunarat/
Course description:
Reporting is designed to achieve the following outcomes: proficiency in writing both hard news and soft news; experience in integrating writing, editing and design through teamwork; competence in using Associated Press style, grammar and syntax; as well as on-line and off-line research sources; skill in interviewing; and acquire an understanding of the theory and contemporary practice of journalism (The Bulletin 2006-2007).
The goal is to enable students who already have basic reporting skills to reach an advanced level through furthering the knowledge and understanding of current American news practices, the skills associated with professional news reporting and writing, and the attitudes vital for professional success.
As a writing-intensive course, MC309 offers students the opportnity to:
· write approximately 16
pages (4,800 to 5,000 words) of formal, polished writing in multiple
assignments, which will include seven news
reports and features (each a minimum of about 500 words) that span the
semester, as well as a 1,000-word analytical
report of a superior NYT article
to be graded as the take-home component of the final examination. Students will
also write a handful of practice stories based on assignments supplied in the NRW Plus CD-ROM
disk that comes with the textbook. This disk includes informal
writing-to-learn assignments and activities.
·
work with at least one assignment that requires drafting and revision
(see example in the Appendix attached to this course outline). This exercise
will improve the student’s skills in organizing and analyzing news stories
enabling them to see the rank order of
major news points and determine whether each point has been adequately documented
Objectives:
1. To increase knowledge and understanding
of:
a. The expert views on news reporting and writing (laid down in the prescribed text)
b. The news
practices of the
c. The sources and types of local news stories
d. Legal and ethical implications for news writing
e. Racism, sexism and other prejudices that media may reflect
f. The implications of the Information Superhighway
g. Current affairs
2. To improve skills relating to:
a. Gathering information and writing all types of local news stories
b. Use of the Associated Press style: capitalization, abbreviations, numerals, and punctuation
c. Use of correct grammar and ability to use active voice
d. Use of the Internet research tools, as well as cyberspace publishing
e. Interviewing
f. Employing the narrative (storytelling) style of news presentation, as well as the inverted pyramid style
g. Writing stories that reflect, focus, organization, development, clarity, and voice
h. Experimentation with WEDiting
(Writing-Editing-Design in teams)
3. To develop professional attitudes
relating to:
a. Ethical behavior in news reporting and writing
b. Importance of
deadlines
Note: The projects associated with the second set of objectives are designed to extend the student learning competencies of the Dragon Core Foundation writing course:
editing to form an effective final
written product.
News reporting and
writing requires the creative selection of story ideas, which have a composite
of news values: impact/importance, timeliness, prominence, proximity, conflict,
the unusual, currency, and necessity. This requires reporting skills that go
well beyond Foundation-level writing. Students have to do background research
and interview at least two human sources to complete six
stories of 500-to-600 words each over the semester to meet
specific deadlines. They have to organize the material in inverted-pyramid
format requiring skills in organization, drafting, and revising. The selection
and revision of leads, direct or delayed, provides opportunities to develop
this competency in no small measure. They also follow narrative style for
writing feature stories.
The WED assignment in particular allows them to
consult effectively and appropriately with their team members to work on a publishable product that shows their
competence in writing, editing, and design. Groups of three students will work
as writer, editor and designer but each member is equally responsible for all
three aspects of the project.
and ideas from diverse sources or
points of view in their writing.
Reporting requires
consulting and interviewing a range of sources—both physical and human.
Single-sourced stories generally indicate source-originated material. Such
stories fall into Layer 1 of reporting. Spontaneous events and reportorial
enterprise represent Layer 2 reporting. Interpretation and explanation elevate
a story to Layer 3 of reporting. This competency is built into superior
reporting. Students learn the ethical aspects of objectivity, taste, and
source-attribution throughout the course.
electronic resources.
Source-attribution is
an extremely important aspect of reporting. The course teaches the students to
adhere to the rules of attribution—on the record, on background, on deep
background, and off the record. The hazards of plagiarism, direct quotes, and the identification of primary and
secondary sources receive ample emphasis.
purposes.
Students are required
to write the news stories appropriate to their target audience. Most students
submit their stories for publication in the Advocate. They write stories that
appeal to the MSUM community.
Reporting places immense emphasis on Associated Press
style on capitalization, use of abbreviations, use of numerals, and
punctuation. Weekly quizzes enable the students to improve the mechanics of
writing. The textbook comes with a “Brush-Up” diskette to practice grammar and
usage.
Students use the Friday class-period to
try out specified exercises, which they place in an individual folder
for informal comments by the instructor.
Textbooks:
Mencher, M.
(2006). News Reporting and Writing. 10th
ed.
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing
on Media Law with Internet Guide and Glossary. (2006).
Highly recommended:
Truss, Lynne
(2003). Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The
Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.
Supplementary
(on-line and other) references:
Brooks, B.S.,
Pinson, J. L., & Sissors J.C. (2005).
The Art of Editing, 8th ed.
Darling, C.
(2000). Guide to Grammar and Writing.
Garcia, M.
(1993). Contemporary Newspaper Design: A
Structural Approach. 3d ed.
Metzler, Ken.
(1997). Creative Interviewing: The
Writer's Guide to Gathering Information by Asking Questions. 3d ed.
News Researcher's Page, compiled by Barbara Gellis Shapiro
News University (Poynter Institute)
Strunk, W., &
White, E. B. (1979) The Elements of
Style. 3rd ed.
Appendices
Active Voice writing
Copy Preparation
Dow Jones Newspaper
Fund tests
NYT's Daily News Quiz
Standards for Writing Classes
Assessment of
objectives:
Evaluation standards:
The general criteria applicable to grading the written assignments are (a) focus, (b) organization, (c) development, (d) clarity, and (e) voice.
Does the story have a good direct lead or delayed lead? (Focus)
Are the news points and related facts organized in inverted pyramid format?
Has the writer documented/substantiated each news point with facts and relevant quotes?
Is the story written in clear (S-V-O) sentences, adhering to AP style and rules of grammar?
Does the story come alive with active voice and action verbs standing out?
In addition, the reporting skills will be evaluated by the number and quality of the sources interviewed, the layer of the story, meeting the deadlines, and absence of factual errors.
The final grade will be based on the total number of points scored on the following assignments:
1. Six stories--at least three hard news: 350 points
2. One WEDited narrative-(storytelling) style story: 100 points
3. Style, punctuation, grammar, news and Internet tests: 250 points
4. Midsemester examination: 100 points
5. Final examination (including analytical report on NYT): 200 points
6. Attendance [An incentive grade of up to 50 points]
Total: 1,000 points
Normally, A= 900+ B=800+ C=700+ D=600+ and F=<600. However, the overall class performance may determine the final distribution of grades. I may add bonus points for regular class attendance.
Note: This course
requires that you Laser-print all written assignments using the 12-point Times
font (except the W.E.D. assignment, which should follow the format of the
target publication). You may have to re-edit copy on-line when you transmit the
same by e-mail.
1. Six news stories (length = 500-to-600 words) at least three
of which must be hard news with summary (direct) leads in the inverted-pyramid
format. They are due before specified deadlines, viz., class time on Monday of Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, Week 10 and Week 14 respectively.
The deadline for event-oriented stories -- e.g., meetings, speeches and other
events -- is noon on the day after the event. That is to say, if an event
occurs on Monday in Week 3, your report
should reach me before noon on Tuesday, not at class time on Monday of Week 4.
You cannot skip the first deadline and make up the missed story during the next
deadline period. (Get it?)
* Plan your stories for a Tri-College publication--The Advocate, The Spectrum or The Concordian-- (because The Forum and other community newspapers do not normally publish student copy), and clearly state the name of that publication in the header of your story. (Follow the guidelines in the handout on copy preparation.) You must show your news sense by showing awareness of the deadlines of those publications. For instance, you cannot cover a speech on Tuesday and target it for publication in the following Thursday edition of The Advocate.
* Your stories should show balance by including interviews with two or more sources with different views. Anonymous sources are unacceptable.
* Use the campus directories and the local telephone directory to check spelling of names. Fact errors -- misspelled names, incorrect job titles, etc. -- will be returned to you with an F grade. (You can eliminate the F grade for an upgrade up to a C by resubmitting a revised copy within a week.) Spelling and grammatical errors will lower your grade.
* Use active voice in all your writing assignments.
* Read the MSUM mass communications department's handout on standards for writing classes for further details.
* Read the chapter on interviewing in the Mencher text (Chapter 15) quite early.
P.S.: Each story should reach me as an online document as well as hard copy. Your story must reach me not only before the deadline but also before it appears in print in your target publication. I shall not accept published articles for grading. However, I will raise the grade (up to one full grade) of the assignments you publish.
2. One WEDited narrative-(storytelling)
style story is due before class time on Friday in
Week 12 (with its plan submitted in Week 10). W.E.D. = writing, editing
and design. This assignment requires the production
of a collaboratively written,-designed and -edited feature story of 500-to-600
words with appropriate pictures, graphics, headlines and other entry points to
entice the reader.
* Teams of three students will do the project. Read the following:
The four principles of artistic design (elaborated in pp. 278-283 of Brooks & Sissors' The Art of Editing) that distinguishes traditional (sans design) layout from contemporary modular design/layout
* The six tips for better editing and design that elevates contemporary design to the W.E.D. level by attracting the audience to the story through multiple entry points (pp. 13-20) plus Don Fry's five tips for W.E.D. implementation (pp. 21-23) in Chapter 1 WED: the integration of writing, editing and design in Mario Garcia's 1993 book.
* Other tips on W.E.D. concept available from Poynter Institute Web site:
How W.E.D. works
W.E.D.: The integration of writing/editing/design
ATTENTION: After reading the above material, each student should be able to explain the differences between the traditional approach and the W.E.D. approach providing clear answers to the following:
1. What distinguishes traditional layout from contemporary layout/design?
2. What features elevate a story/page from mere contemporary design to the W.E.D. level?
3. How would your team follow Don Fry's five tips for W.E.D. implementation
Your W.E.D. story will reflect your ability to
implement the W.E.D. concept. Thus each team will have to brainstorm for story
ideas that will suit the editorial needs of the target publication, usually in
consultation with the editor of that publication. The team members should
designate the writer, editor and designer of the story before venturing into
each project. Each of them is equally responsible for the final output. Well
before you meet as a team to decide on the ideas for W.E.D. projects, each
student should have read the following three chapters from Mencher (2006):
"The Lead" (pp.99-119), "The Writer's Art" (pp.135-165) and
"Features, Long Stories and Series"(pp.166-190).
* The team's W.E.D. stories should be laser-printed and adhere to the usual format of the target publication in relation to column width, headline type, text type, byline style, paragraph indentation, etc. Use contemporary design to place the text, photos and graphics with appropriate headlines and cutlines. This should produce a rectangular format encompassing all the story elements. Caution: Do not lift pictures or illustrations from the Web without permission from copyright owners. Borrow the digital camera from the mass comm. department to take your own news photos.
* The W.E.D. story idea is due on Oct. 31 (Week 10). It must specify the role of each team member and the sources to be interviewed, in addition to the story idea. The Laser-printed story is due on Nov. 12 (Week 12)
Grading: Writing, editing and design components of each story will receive separate grades. The overall grade will be the average of the three. (The required reading in Garcia and Brooks and Sissors should help you to understand the significance of these three aspects.)
* The guidelines relating to story assignments, specified in the preceding section, apply to the W.E.D. story as well.
3. Style, punctuation, grammar, news and
Internet tests will be given regularly as specified in the schedule. Study
the grammar and style CD-ROM that comes with the Mencher text. Read The
Elements of Style for further help. Please study the Dow Jones
Newspaper Fund tests to get a sense of the skills in grammar and
usage and current affairs knowledge journalists ought to have. To answer
current affairs quizzes, students should regularly read national and
international news in an online newspaper like The New York Times (see NYT's
Daily News Quiz) and local news in The Forum. Please note that this course
requires you to read the national newspapers, available online, regularly. (You
will have to memorize the major AP guidelines relating to capitalization,
abbreviations, punctuation and use of numerals.)
4. The midsemester examination (Nov.
10) will include readings and lectures up to the scheduled week. It will also
contain a section on usage/grammar/style and sections on current
affairs/geography/newsmakers similar to those in the Dow Jones
Newspaper Fund tests. You will also have to supply short answers on
the W.E.D. approach.
5. The final examination will be a
comprehensive exam based on all your readings and class discussions. The
take-home component (see below) will account for about 25 percent of the exam.
NYT Story Critique (Length 1,000 words; due on Nov. 29 in Week 14): The final exam will include, as a take-home component, an analytical report of a story written by a New York Times reporter. Use the following guidelines:
* Cite the
article: Writer/Headline/Publication/Date/Section and page number. [e.g.,
Barbara Crosette,
* Type. Identify the type of news [soft news or hard news?] and the type of story [straight news, news feature, or feature?]. Give your reasons.
* Lead. Identify the type of lead [direct/summary or indirect/delayed?]. If it's a direct lead, is it single-element, two-element, or multiple-element? If it's not single-element, do the elements appear in order of newsworthiness? Is the lead complete [who, what. where, when, why, and how], and does it begin with the correct feature of the lead. What's the length of the lead. If it's an indirect lead, in which paragraph does the theme of the story appear, and does it follow the Zimmerman style [an anecdote preceding the theme]?
* Structure. In straight news stories, does the body of the story adequately document all elements in the order mentioned in the lead? Does it follow the inverted pyramid format? In soft news stories (features), does the body adequately elaborate on the theme? Does the writer present colorful quotes and anecdotes to document the main points of the theme?
* Sources. List the sources the writer has interviewed for the story. Do the sources represent all points of view? Are they authoritative from the audience's point of view? Are there more sources associated with one point of view than with others? Other than the sources cited in the story, what other background sources has the writer used?
* Writing
Skills. Particularly in the case of features, does the writer show rather than
tell? [Does he/she use the elements of drama--man v. man, man v. nature, man v.
self--to present the story graphically? Are the background details woven
skillfully into the moving narrative? What transitional devices has the writer
used to move from one point to another? Does the writing style [sentence
length, selection of verbs, use of voice, paragraphing, etc.] match the nature
of the story? Provide an abundance of examples to make your analysis clear.
6. Attendance is required (Up to 50 points added to final course grade to reward good attendance). Students are expected to attend all class meetings. In case of absence due to health, military obligations, emergencies or official university activities, students must provide satisfactory documentation. I shall not give make-up quizzes or tests for frivolous reasons such as hunting or car problems. Students should avoid committing themselves for activities on days scheduled for tests and quizzes.
Special Accommodations:
Students with disabilities who believe that they need an accommodation in
this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutes, coordinator of disability
services at 477-2652 (phone) or 477-2047 (TTY), CMU 222, as soon as possible.
Class Schedule
Week 1
Aug. 27
Lecture/Discussion:
Review: Appendix F Copy Editing Symbols in the CD NRW Plus
Read: standards for writing classes and copy preparation
Aug. 29
Lecture/Discussion:
Quiz 1 Preparation: Mencher, Stylebook: pp. 582-585 (Study these pages for Style Quiz #1);
Review: AP Stylebook--Capitalization.
Aug. 31
Quiz: Style Quiz 1(General)
Activity: Diagnostic Exercises 1-4 Brush Up CD-ROM
Week 2
Sept. 3 (Labor Day
Sept. 5
Lecture/Discussion:
Review: AP Stylebook--Abbreviations
Quiz 2 Preparation: Mencher, Stylebook: pp. 585-587 (Study these pages for Style Quiz #2)
Deadline: First story deadline
(earlier deadline for event-oriented stories)
Sept. 7
Quiz: Style Quiz 2 (General)
Activity: Grammar Exercises 1-4 in Brush Up CD-ROM:
(Please create a Practice Exercise Folder. When you complete
assigned and/or self-selected exercises from NRW Plus and Brush-Up CD-ROMs or
the
Week 3
Sept. 10
Lecture/Discussion:
Read:
Sept. 12
Lecture/Discussion:
Read:: AP Stylebook--Numerals
Quiz 3 Preparation: Mencher, Stylebook: pp. 587-590 (Study these pages for Style Quiz #3)
Sept. 14
Quiz: Style Quiz 3 (General)
Activity: Grammar Exercises 4-8 in Brush Up CD-ROM; and exploring EditTeach.org
Week 4
Sept. 17
Lecture/Discussion:
Deadline: Second story deadline (earlier deadline for event-oriented stories)
Sept. 19
Lecture/Discussion:
Quiz Preparation: Mencher, Grammar: Appendix A in the CD NRW Plus
Sept. 21
Activity: Grammar Exercises 9-11 in Brush Up CD-ROM; EditTeach.org
Quiz: Style Quiz 4 (Grammar)
Week 5
Sept. 24
Lecture/Discussion:
Activity: Group exploration of using the city directory and the Almanac as an investigative tool
Sept. 26
Lecture/Discussion:
Quiz Preparation: Mencher, Grammar: Appendix A in the CD NRW Plus
Read: The Elements of Style; Online Writing Lab; active voice
Sept. 28
Quiz: Style Quiz 5 (Grammar)
Activity: Punctuation Exercises 1-4 in Brush Up CD-ROM; EditTeach.org
Week 6
Oct.1
Lecture/Discussion:
Activity: Group exploration of the layers of reporting (Bring a copy of The Forum to class)
Revise: AP Stylebook--Punctuation
Deadline: Third story deadline (earlier deadline for event-oriented stories)
Oct. 3
Lecture/Discussion:
Quiz Preparation: Mencher, Punctuation: pp. 590-595 (Study these pages for Punctuation Quiz 1)
Oct. 5
Activity: Punctuation Exercises 5-9 in Brush Up CD-ROM: EditTeach.org
Quiz: Style Quiz 6 (Punctuation)
Week 7
Oct. 8
Lecture/Discussion:
Activity: Group exploration of "Show, don't tell" (Bring examples of exemplary newspaper features)
Oct. 10
Lecture/Discussion:
Activity: Group exploration of news features and long stories/series (Bring examples to class)
Oct. 12
Activity: Lab: Computer Assisted Research
Activity: Punctuation
Exercises 10-13 in Brush Up CD-ROM; EditTeach.org
Week 8
Oct. 15 (Fall Breather/In-Service Day)
[Registration advising begins]
Oct. 17
Lecture/Discussion:
Deadline: Fourth story deadline (earlier deadline for event-oriented stories)
Oct. 19
Lecture/Discussion:
News Quiz Preparation: Study daily NYT news quizzes and the weekly
(Tuesday) news quizzes in The Forum
Week 9
Oct. 22
Lecture/Discussion:
Read: Mencher, Appendix C: How to Use the FOI Act in the CD NRW Plus
Oct. 24
Read:
Read Poynter Institute's on-line articles on W.E.D: (a) W.E.D. (b) How W.E.D. works
Oct. 26
Quiz: News quiz 1
Activity: Spelling Exercises 1-2 in Brush Up CD-ROM; EditTeach.org
Week 10
Oct. 29
Lecture/Discussion:
(racism, sexism, stereotyping and other biases)
Deadline: Fifth story deadline (earlier deadline for event-oriented stories)
Oct. 31
Lecture/Discussion:
Submit: Plan for W.E.D. feature due (Group project)
Nov. 2
Activity: Style Exercises 1-4 in Brush Up CD-ROM;
EditTeach.org
Week 11
Nov. 5
Lecture/Discussion:
Midsemester Exam Preparation: Revise chapters 1-20 in Mencher; grammar, style, and current affairs.
Nov. 7
Lecture/Discussion:
Nov. 9
Midsemester Examination (including News Quiz 2)
Week 12
Nov. 12
Lecture/Discussion:
Deadline: Printed W.E.D. feature due
(Group project)
Nov. 14
Lecture/Discussion:
Nov. 16
Activity: Journalistic Practice Exercises 1-3 in Brush Up CD-ROM
Week 13
Nov. 19
Lecture/Discussion:
Reference: U.S. National Debt FAQ
Nov. 21 (Fall break)
Nov. 23 (Fall break)
Week 14
Nov. 26
Lecture/Discussion:
Deadline: Sixth story deadline (earlier deadline
for event-oriented stories)
Nov. 28
Lecture/Discussion: Local Government and Education (contd.)
Reference: MN Property Tax Calculator (Read Property Tax 101)
Deadline: NYT Newspaper Report due
Nov. 30
Activity: Math Exercises 1-3 in Brush Up CD-ROM
Week 15
Dec. 3
Lecture/Discussion:
Dec. 5
Lecture/Discussion:
Dec. 7
Quiz: Hands-on test (Show your Internet skills)
Week 16
Dec.10
Lecture/Discussion:
Read: Mencher, Appendix D: Code of Ethics in the CD NRW Plus
Read: Mencher, Appendix B: Public Opinion Polling Checklist in the CD NRW Plus
Dec. 12 (Study Day)
Dec. 14
Final Examination: 9
a.m.: MC309 Reporting
Send comments to Professor Shelton Gunaratne.
©2007. All rights reserved.
Last revised: 5 Aug. 2007