JOUR 3121:
Intermediate Reporting
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Basic Information
Prerequisites
Course Description
Expected Competencies
Competency Goals
Assignments and Activities
Workload
JOUR 3121: Intermediate Reporting (3 credits)
- Lecture twice a week
- One or two sections per semester
Prerequisites
- Major status
- JOUR 3004W and JOUR 3101
Course Description
Jour 3121 (Intermediate Reporting) is a skills-based course designed to teach journalism students how to report and write the types of stories that are central to the basic beats in most newsrooms. The course expands upon the competencies learned in Jour 3101, but requires more in-depth records searches, interviewing and writing. Students also learn the basics of such subjects as libel law, computer-assisted reporting and media ethics.
Expected Competencies
Students should have taken Jour 3101. All students should have the following skills:
- The ability to determine what makes an event or issue newsworthy and to identify newsworthy information in events, speeches, public records and policy-making.
- The ability to focus on facts rather than opinion, find appropriate sources and conduct effective interviews, and attribute appropriately.
- The ability to write clearly, with concise sentences and paragraphs, and with proper grammar and sentence construction; to write concise leads in a variety of forms; to use Associated Press style. Students should have a basic understanding of different story-telling techniques, such as the use of anecdotal leads, nut graphs and narrative form.
- An understanding of the role of objectivity and impartiality, conflict of interest, fairness and balance in stories and coverage.
Competency goals for 3121
Jour 3121 is designed to teach students skills and understanding in five general areas:
How and why news organizations select coverage areas, including:
- public safety
- courts
- local and state government
- politics
- business
- social issues
- science, health and the environment
- the arts
- popular culture
Basic reporting techniques, including:
- Making use of meetings, speeches, hearings and other public forums to find news stories, profiles and features
- Identifying useful sources
- Conducting in-depth interviews
- Finding and analyzing public records and other documents
- Using newspapers, television news, the internet and other media to find stories
- Critically assessing sources of information to ensure thoroughness, accuracy and balance
News writing techniques:
- Writing hard-news leads and inverted-pyramid news stories
- Using other appropriate story forms, including anecdotal leads with “nut graphs,” and graphic devices to convey information
- Organizing information from human sources, public records, historical data and other sources into clear, interesting, relevant and thorough news stories
- Revising and self-editing to improve story drafts and ensure accuracy, precision and smooth writing
An introduction to advanced reporting and writing methods:
- Computer-assisted reporting methods and purpose
- Investigative project reporting and writing
- Column writing
- Narrative writing
Journalism ethics and law:
- State and federal public records, open meetings and shield laws
- Conflict of interest
- Use of unnamed sources
- Libel law (introductory only)
- Principles of sound news judgment
Assignments and activities
Reporting and writing assignments:
Students produce five to seven medium-length news stories per semester, in addition to shorter stories, exercises and quizzes. Story assignments may include:
- A crime story, using police and court records, and sources including police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses and crime experts
- A civil court story, reporting on a lawsuit and using sources such as civil court records, lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants and experts
- A local government story, by attending a city council or county board meeting to find stories, obtaining records and interviewing public officials and residents
- A state government story, by following the progress of a bill at the state legislature or reporting on an ongoing issue
- A profile of a newsworthy subject, such as a public official, a celebrity, or someone involved in a recent news issue
- A speech story, requiring research on the subject of the speech, interviews with the speaker, audience members and other experts on the subject
- A story of the student’s choosing, which can include such topics as health, science, religion, education, popular culture, sports, etc.
Other exercises:
- Writing brief stories based on guest lecturers
- Critiquing news stories in newspaper and television to assess news value, thoroughness, balance, etc.
- Taking quizzes on lecture topics, current affairs and Associated Press style
- Writing essays based on books, news stories or other readings
- In-class editing and critiquing of students’ completed news stories
Workload
Students work an average of nine hours per week in and outside of the class. Work outside the class focuses on three basic tasks:
- Reading, including newspapers, the course text, class notes and some other articles or books
- Reporting, including gathering records and conducting interviews in the community
- Writing stories
The percentage of time spent on each task will vary depending upon each student’s skills, but students can expect:
- About 40 percent reporting time
- About 30 percent writing time
- About 30 percent reading time