Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media – Jl MC 201, Section 5

Spring Semester 2006 Syllabus

Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University

Mondays and Wednesdays: 8 a.m. - 10:25 a.m.

Hamilton Hall 10B

 

Welcome to Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media, an introductory journalism course in the Greenlee School. This course is designed to help you develop professional reporting and writing skills and practice writing publishable assignments on deadline. It will provide instruction of media writing as a basis for upper-level courses in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. This includes the development of fundamental reporting skills. Jl MC 201 also will offer a broad overview of media-writing careers and will help you develop an approach to starting your professional life. If you are a major in this school, you must earn no lower than a “C+” in the course – or a 76.5 (77). A grade lower than this will require you to re-take the course in the future before you can move onto Jl MC 202.

 

Office hours are below. I’m available after lab for quick questions. For more involved questions or to discuss your career plans or grades, please come by during office hours or schedule an appointment. Contact me at least 48 hours in advance to set up an individual conference.

 

Professor: Dr. David Bulla

E-mail: dbulla@iastate.edu

Office: Hamilton Hall 116

Office phone: (515) 294-0658

Office hours: 10:30 a.m. -noon on Mondays and Wednesdays

Class Web site: http://www.oocities.org/d_bulla/David_Bulla/201.html

 

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General requirements for enrollment in Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media

* You must have completed ENGL 105 or tested out.

* You need to be able to type a minimum of 20 words per minute.

* You must have one of the following: (a) a 26 or higher on the ACT English Exam; a 590 or higher of the SAT Verbal Exam; or a passing score on the Greenlee School’s English Usage Test.

* You must have a strong command of written English. If you have significant grammatical or spelling problems, it is your responsibility to remedy your problems.

* Failure to meet all of these requirements will affect your grade in the course.

 

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Required Textbooks and Materials

·       Norm Goldstein, ed., The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, Associated Press, 2004.

·       Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald, When Words Collide, 5th ed., Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2000.

·       Carole Rich, Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method, 5th ed., Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2004.

I will supply you a list/schedule of weekly readings on the first day of class.

Recommended Materials

·       Tape recorder – Would be helpful for interviewing assignments

·       Dictionary or other word/spelling guide

·       Reporter’s notebook

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Creating a Good Learning Environment

Let’s work together to have a good learning experience. I will:

·       Start and end class on time.

·       Make every lecture relevant to learning media writing style, preparing for a specific lab and/or helping you learn about media careers.

·       Create exams that include some questions that can be answered only by having attended lecture.

·       Work with the lab instructors to make sure that all labs have comparable instruction and the same grading criteria.

 

Please do your part by:

·       Attending every class. The course is designed so lecture material from the first part of each class will help you prepare for lab assignments.

·       Being seated by the start of class.

·       Not visiting with classmates during class. Your conversations are distracting to those seated around you and to me.

·       Being active learners – listening, taking notes and participating.

·       Turning off cell phones and audible pagers.

·       Not bringing food, drink and tobacco products into the lab.

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Seeking Help

I want to help you be successful in this course. If you need individual assistance beyond the help you receive in lab, it is your responsibility to meet with me during office hours or set up an appointment for another time. If you are serious about wanting to improve your performance in the course, the time to seek help is as soon as you are aware of a problem – whether the problem is low grades in lab work or an illness.

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Computer Expectations

During the course you will be expected to e-mail homework assignments to your lab instructor and conduct research through the Internet. You will need your own e-mail account. As an Iowa State student, you can obtain an iastate.edu account. To set up your ISU e-mail account, go to the following Web site: https://asw.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/acropolis/register.

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Lectures

Grade for lecture portion of course – Before every class, I will spend about a half hour or so introducing the goals of the week. Each week, we will be doing one major assignment, from now until mid-December. The lecture portion of the class grade counts 25 percent of your overall grade in the course. The lecture grade is based on the average of two exams, your midterm and final. No make-up exams will be given unless you make arrangements with me in advance and can provide documentation for the absence. Exams will be based on your note-taking in class, readings and general information imparted in both the lecture and lab.

Attendance – Be here. It’s as simple as that, or, as Woody Allen says, 90 percent of success is being where you are supposed to be. If you don’t show up for work at a newspaper, you will receive a pink slip.

Absences – If you are absent from class, check with a classmate to determine what you missed. Don’t ask me what you missed. You are responsible for getting notes from the lecture portion of class that you missed from a classmate. If you miss a lecture that is the basis of a lab assignment, such as an in-lecture interview, you should get notes from a classmate. But be aware that using someone else’s notes for an article is not as effective as writing from your own notes. See me if you missed getting handouts distributed in class.

Posting of lecture grades - Exam scores will be posted on WEB CT. It is your responsibility to check WEB CT to learn your scores and to keep a record of your scores. If you think your posted grade is incorrect, you must notify me so the grade can be checked.

Going over exams - We will not go over exams during lecture. If you want to go over an exam, you may do so for one week following the posting of the grades. See me during office hours.

Excused Absences from Class

Excused absences include university-sanctioned field trips, a religious observance, illness, or a serious illness or death in your family. We require documentation, such as a letter from your doctor or a letter from the university. We are in sympathy with people who can’t find a parking place, who oversleep or who don’t feel well but don’t seek medical treatment. However, none of those reasons will count as excused absences.

Labs

Grade for lab portion of the course - The lab grade counts 75 percent of your overall grade. The grade is the average of your scores for assignments in Labs 2-15. No lab grades are dropped. Lab grades are not curved.  I will give you three extra-credit options: (1) publish you environment-health-science story in the Daily or some other commercial newspaper; (2) create a personal portfolio; or (3) write a Web long on a single journalistic topic. Individual conferences for the portfolio will be held after the final exam. Based on your performance in the individual conference (a mock job interview), you can earn up to 20 points, which will be added to your lowest lab grade. A set of guidelines and a scoring rubric will be provided to help you prepare your portfolio. It will include a resume, cover letter and at least three articles re-purposed for publication (placed in a two-column, newspaper-style format).

Grading of Your Articles, Convergence Assignments, P.R. Work and Ads - For the sake of consistency among labs, all instructors use the same grading standards. Your grade on each writing assignment will consist of the points earned for content minus the points deducted for errors and mechanics. Specific information about the grading of lab assignments is included in your lab syllabus.

Grading Scale (for writing assignments and the course overall)

A          90-100   C+        77-79    D          60-66                Formula for calculating your grade:

B+        87-89    C          70-76    F          59 and below      Lecture grade (average of two exams)

B          80-86    D+        67-69                                        + Lab grade multiplied by 3

Total divided by 4 = overall grade

Scores of .5 or higher are rounded to the next whole number (84.6 becomes 85). Hence, 76.5 is the cutoff for advancing to Jl MC 202.

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Academic Honesty

● Each of you should be aware of your commitment to academic honesty. This commitment is part of the registration process, and, as an ISU student, you sign a statement each term agreeing to adhere to the Iowa State University’s rules and regulations concerning academic honesty.

● When you are given out-of-lab time to work on a lab assignment, you are expected to do your own work. Friends may proofread your work, but the reporting and writing must be your own.

● Plagiarism is a serious offense – in this course, in this college and in media-writing careers. You must attribute information to a source. If you use information from a publication, you must credit that publication. Using someone else’s work as your own will result in a zero for the assignment.

● If you are aware of a climate – in lecture or lab – that promotes academic dishonesty, please notify me, your lab instructor or contact the Dean of Students Office, 1010 Student Services Building, or visit the following Web page: http://www.vpundergraduate.iastate.edu/advising/handbook/misconduct.html.

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Notes and Taping of Course Lectures

● In a media career (whether in journalism or public relations), you will attend meetings where you must listen carefully, select key points and take notes. One of the goals for you in this course is to become more effective in taking notes. 

● You should attend the lectures and take your own notes. Classmates’ notes or commercially produced notes do not replace being in lecture and doing your own listening, thinking and note-taking.

● Taping in-lecture interviews to help you prepare to write a lab assignment is OK.

 

 

Special Situations

Please address any special needs or special accommodations with me at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you become aware. Those seeking accommodations based on disabilities should obtain a Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) from the Disability Resources (DR) office (515-294-6624). DR is located in Room 1076 of the Student Services Building.

 

Extra-Credit Opportunities

These points are added to an individual lab score (not to your overall lab average).

·       25 points – Get your environmental/health/science article published in a publication approved by me no later than the last Friday of the regular semester. The Iowa State Daily or the Ames Tribune are the most likely accredited publications.

·       20 points (maximum) – Schedule and then attend a portfolio review and interview with me after the final exam.

·       20 points (maximum) – Write a Web log about a single journalistic topic. Written in first person. Due by the end of the class for Lab 15.

·       Current events quiz – given occasionally. Points gained in CEQ will be added to that week’s main assignment. CEQ will be five questions about news from ISU, Ames, Iowa, U.S. and the world. You are encouraged to read the Iowa Daily Student, Ames Tribune, Des Moines Register, and a regional or national newspaper or major news Web site on a daily basis. You also encouraged to watch/listen to major news shows – television network news, BBC, NPR, cable, etc. ...

 

How I Grade Lab Assignments

Your grade on each writing assignment consists of the points earned for content minus the points deducted for errors and mechanics. To ensure consistency among labs, all instructors use the same grading standards.

 

Step One: Content

The content grade is based on criteria for each specific writing assignment. A rubric (a listing of grading criteria) will be provided for most assignments.  The criteria vary depending on the particular lab assignment -- news stories, news releases or advertising copy. To be “A” work, a writing assignment, with minor editing, should be publishable in the Iowa State Daily. General criteria for all assignments include writing style, organization, clarity and appropriateness for topic and audience.

 

Step Two: Mechanics

After determining the content grade, the points will be deducted for grammatical errors, spelling errors, factual errors and AP style errors. The points are deducted as follows:

· - 5 points = Grammar and punctuation errors.

· - 5 points = AP style errors.

· - 5 points = Improper copy symbols or copy sloppily marked.

· - 5 points = Failure to prepare copy correctly.

· - 15 points = Spelling error. Deducted both for misspelled words and typos. If the same word is misspelled more than once in a story, 15 points will be subtracted only once.

· - 10 points = Failure to make a deadline, which means turning in anything late. Additional points will be deducted for assignments turned in more than one day late.

· - 50 points = Factual error. This includes errors and typos in proper nouns, numbers, addresses, dates and quotes, and inaccurate information. (In Lab 2, a fact error = - 10. In Labs 3-4, a fact error =  - 25. Beginning in Lab 5, a fact error = - 50).

 

See the lecture syllabus for the grading scale as well as an explanation of how to calculate your overall grade.

 

Office Hours

I will be in my office during the hours listed above, and I can be available at other hours if you make arrangements with me in advance. During office hours we can discuss specific problems you are having, go over past assignments to see how to improve them, and discuss activities you can do to improve your skills. I want to encourage you to take advantage of office hours to speak with me one-on-one.

 

I will not discuss individual lab grades in lab. If you have a question about how I’ve evaluated your writing, please come in to see me during office hours or at another time we work out. If you do have a question about a specific grading issue in a lab assignment, you must talk to me within two weeks of the lab when you wrote the assignment.

 

Please Note

·    I will start class on time and expect you to be on time. Often a quiz will be given or directions presented in the first part of class.

·    I will end lab on time. Even if you don’t have a class following the end of lab, I won’t allow extra time to finish an assignment. If you do not turn in your assignment on time, I will deduct 10 points for failure to meet a deadline.

·       Please use the computers only for our lab activities. Do not check your e-mail, view Web sites

or do instant messaging during lab.

·       No guests are allowed in class.

·    After the initial assignment of proofreaders’ marks and AP style, you are responsible for using correct AP style and proofreaders’ marks on all assignments for the rest of the semester.

·    Every student must meet with me at least once during my office hours (or at a time we schedule) before Lab 6.

 

Jl MC 201, Section 5

Spring 2006 Class Schedule

 

Lab 1               Monday, Jan. 9 – Wednesday, Jan. 11

Orientation to Jl MC 201 and computer training. Syllabus and other class handouts. Goals of the course. The First Amendment.

Assignment: Practice writing assignment. No grade for this lab.

 

 

 

 

Lab 2               Monday, Jan. 16 – Wednesday, Jan. 18

No class Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. University closed. Homework due at beginning of lab on Wednesday: Completed resume. Assignment: Write cover letter based on directions provided in lecture and the textbook. Begin Lab grades.

 

 

Lab 3               Monday, Jan. 23 – Wednesday, Jan. 25

Assignment: Write two news stories based on information provided. You will write one story outside of class and complete it prior to lab. You will write the other story on deadline in lab.

 

Lab 4               Monday, Jan. 30 – Wednesday, Feb. 1

Assignment: Write one longer news story from information provided in lab. [More than one source of info]

 

Lab 5               On Monday bring a memorandum explaining your environmental/health/science topic and focus, target publication, two background (documentary) sources, and listing five questions you need to answer in order to write the article. [The first draft of the environmental/health/science article is due in Lab 9.]Monday, Feb. 6 – Wednesday, Feb. 8

Homework due at the beginning of lab: Write a memo – using the correct format – about yourself to be used as background information for a personality profile.

Assignment: Write a news story with a feature lead from information provided. [Multiple sources and direct quotes] You will use a soft lead and a nut graph in this story.

 

Lab 6               Monday, Feb. 13 – Wednesday, Feb. 15

Homework due at beginning of lab:

GSJC Librarian Dru Frykberg will visit Monday to discuss your environment-health-science article.

A typed draft of a news feature story on based on an in-class interview of journalist Chuck Offenburger. The notes you took during the interview will make provide you with the information for this story.

Assignment: Revise the news-feature story.

In lab, you will be matched with a classmate for the personality profile assignment (due Lab 7).

 

Lab 7               Monday, Feb. 20 – Wednesday, Feb. 22

Homework: 1) Turn in memorandum on your environment, health or science article. Also complete Rick Bragg reading and answer questions about the reading. Finally, complete mechanics practice.

2) On Wednesday, bring a typed draft of personality profile based on interview you conducted with a classmate. Also bring interview notes to lab.

3) On Monday, we will have a review for the midterm exam.

 

Major Class Assignment for Wednesday, Feb. 22: Midterm. Fifty multiple-choices based on the lectures, your readings and the labs. Midterm will be on Wednesday. No food, drink or tobacco products. Please turn cell phones and pagers off. Do not wear a hat in class. Bring a No. 2 pencil.

 

Lab 8               Monday, Feb. 27 – Wednesday, March 1

Homework: 1) At least 48 hours before lab, send me an e-mail on your environmental/health/science article. Update me on your progress, provide the names of at least two people you are interviewing, and list five interview questions you will ask each person.

2) NO CLASS MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2006. WE WILL HAVE INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES INSTEAD.

3) On Wednesday, Chad Harms will be our in-class interviewee. Students will then write a story by 10:15 a.m. based on the interview. Assignment: In lab, write and revise news-feature story on in-lecture interview.

 

Lab 9               Monday, March 6 – Wednesday, March 8

Homework and Assignment: Bring two typed copies of completed environmental/health/science draft to one-on-one meeting with lab instructor. Meetings will be held during lab time. You will receive a zero if you do not keep your scheduled appointment and do not have two typed rough drafts, one to turn in and one to use for taking notes.

 

Monday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 14 – No Class. Spring Break

 

Lab 10             Monday, March 20 – Wednesday, March 22

Assignment: Write a news release based on information provided in fact sheet distributed in lab.

Environmental/health/science article draft returned to you.

 

Lab 11             Monday, March 27 – Wednesday, March 29

Assignment: Environmental/health/science article due at beginning of lab. Turn in notes on background research, interview questions and notes, drafts and list of people you interviewed (including their phone numbers).

 

Lab 12             Monday, April 3 – Wednesday, April 5

Assignment: Writing for broadcast. We will re-purpose a print story for radio broadcast, using the conventions of writing for the air. 

 

Lab 13             Monday, April 10 – Wednesday, April 12

Assignment: Write a human-interest feature. Use interviews, document-based research, and observation.

 

Lab 14             Monday, April 17 – Wednesday, April 19

Assignment: Write ad copy for an athletic shoe.

 

Lab 15             Monday, April 24 – Wednesday, April 26

Writing for the Web. Will purpose your science-health-environment story for publication on the Web and for broadcast. You will edit it down to 400 words and provide relevant links and graphic information. You will also write me a memorandum explaining how you re-purposed your article for the Web. The second part of the assignment will be writing a Web log – notebook – about something interesting you have experienced in journalism this semester. Finally, evaluations. Bring a No. 2 pencil.

                                                                     

Extra credit – For up to 20 points, you may write a 400-word Web long on some aspect of journalism that you have learned this semester. It should be focused, concise and personal.

 

Note: Friday, April 28 is the deadline for turning in published environmental/health/science articles for extra credit. Please bring your tear sheet as proof of publication.

 

FINAL EXAM will be the week of May 1-5. It will be 75 multiple-choice questions on reporting, writing, grammar, AP style, law and ethics. It is cumulative (all 15 weeks). No food, drink or tobacco products. Please turn cell phones and pagers off. Do not wear a hat in class. Bring a No. 2 pencil.