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- THE COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE
OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Penn State McKeesport

SYLLABUS
Spring 2005

Communications 260 W

NEWSPAPER REPORTING AND WRITING
Tuesday and Thursday: 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m.
Classroom: PHYS LAB 223 Frable
January 11- May 6

Dr. Kathleen Taylor Brown

Office phone: 412- 675-9495
Fax: 412-675-9166
Email: ktb2@psu.edu

Office location: 109 Main
Office hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
5:00 p.m.. –5:45 p.m.

Other times by appointment

QUOTES ON NEWSPAPER REPORTING AND WRITING

“I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who”

Kipling (1865-1936)

“Newspapers work best when there is a sense of drive, spirit and support, a culture that is aggressive yet accurate, fair and confident of what is put in front of readers”

Michael Getler, (July 22, 2001)
Ombudsman, Washington Post

COURSE PURPOSE AND MISSION

Communication 260 W, Newspaper Reporting and Writing serves as a specialized course in reporting and writing news for print and Internet mass media. This includes print, broadcast journalism, and public relations. Communication 260 W is also a writing-intensive course, which will cover the basics of newsgathering and writing. Students should expect to write a significant amount and be ready to accept feedback from their peers, professor and outside sources. The course will also focus on the definition of news and the role of journalism in our society.

The student should be able to write commercially acceptable copy within all venues of print media; a portfolio of writing samples should be maintained throughout the course. This is a writing intensive course making use of the tutorial process which optimally will result in a workable, individualized style for each student.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To develop your capacity to think strategically about the criteria used by professional journalists.
2. To build your skills in determining “what’s news” this will be summed up in three words: Relevance, Usefulness, and Interest.
3. To give you hands-on experience in crafting and understanding the full process of making judgments, reasoning carefully about choices, using what if-analysis to evaluate action alternatives, and making sound journalistic decisions.
4. To acquaint you with the journalists tasks associated with implementing and executing a publication or broadcast, to drill you in the range of actions journalists can take to promote competent reporting-writing, and give you some confidence in being able to function effectively as part of a company’s news room, print, broadcast, and/or public-relations-team.
5. To integrate the knowledge gained in earlier journalism/communication courses, show you how the various pieces of the writing/reporting puzzle fits together, and to demonstrate why the different parts of a public relations plan need to be managed in strategic harmony for a company to operate in a winning fashion.
6. To develop your powers of journalistic judgment, help you learn how to assess risk, and improve your ability to create results-oriented action plan…meet deadlines.
7. To make you more conscious about the importance of ethical principles, personal and universal values, and socially responsible journalism practices.

STRATERGY FOR LEARNING

The learning process for this course will include studying key concepts, reviewing relevant case histories, newspapers, print media and broadcasting and applying your expertise to real-world reporting. In the beginning of the term, we will start with broad concepts moving on to more detailed strategies and concepts to achieve growth and competitive advantage.

Throughout this course, I will employ Problem Based Learning (PBL) techniques to reinforce communication, journalism and advertising concepts and principles. This applied approach was chosen as it will increase your learning and improve your opportunities for a successful career as professional journalists. Experience has shown that writers who have been educated in this manner achieve greater success.

PBL shares attributes of discovery learning but in its purest forms is more unstructured than discovery learning approach. It uses “real world” problems as a context for students to learn critical thinking and problem solving skills and to acquire knowledge of the essential concepts of the course. In the typical PBL process, the instructor poses a problem for students to solve. Although students may have some prior knowledge related to the problem, it is not sufficient to solve the problem. After organizing what they know, students then identify “learning issues” that guide further research and investigation. Students share the information from (group) investigations and bring it to bear on the problem at hand, working towards resolution.

COURSE ADMINISTRATION

Communications 160 is a one-credit course for students enrolled in Communications 260W - News Writing and Reporting.
Students are required to complete grammar, punctuation, spelling and word usage exercises while they are in the Learning Center. Students must also take the weekly quiz and fulfill the attendance requirements as stated below.
Attendance
Attendance for this course is MANDATORY! You MUST attend class for at least two hours each week. Any exceptions to this policy will be decided on a case by case basis. You will be expected to contact me in advance if you have to miss a week of school. You must provide documentation proving that you were unable to fulfill your class requirements. If your absence is approved, you will be required to make up your class time before the end of the semester.
Text
Please acquire the following textbooks and newspapers.

Cappon, Rene J. The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation New York: Perseus
Books Group, 2003

The Missouri Group, News Reporting and Writing 8th edition. Bedford/St.
Martin’s Boston: School of Journalism University of Missouri at Columbia, 2005

• The New York Times
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• U.S.A. Today. (All three newspapers are available through the student readership program).

- Writing assignments must be completed using a word processing program, follow a specified format, and be submitted on the specified due date. Save all your work and keep back up copies on CD-R disk. Also plan to save all notes from interviews you do for this class for one year, which is the accepted practice in journalism.

-You will be expected to read all assignments before you come to class. With only rare exceptions, we will not spend inordinate amounts of time in a class discussing the reading for that day. You are adults, and I will treat you like adults. That means you are responsible for each day’s assignments. If you have any questions about the material, please ask. I will occasionally bring miscellaneous materials to class. Please find a partner to collect these materials for you in the event you are forced to miss class.

This is a “process” course, and such requires your active, regular participation.

Attendance Policy: You are expected to attend all classes. The majority of the work will be done in class and missing a class could adversely affect your grade. However, I do understand that you may become ill or have emergencies from time to time. Therefore, I allow some absences for those cases only. If you must miss class, please call my office or home to let me know.
In-class Applications – periodically your group will participate in classroom exercises that are designed to help you further understand communication concepts and link these concepts to practice. These exercises will be submitted at the end of class for a grade.
Assignment Policy: Any assignment or report that is submitted after the class period in which it is due will receive a 25% reduction in grade. NO EXCEPTIONS.

1. Assignment Type: In-class Participation
Points Possible: 200 (20% of your total grade)
Project Duration: 15-30 minutes
Deliverable Length: 1-2 paragraphs

As part of Class participation, you should also be prepared to share questions and ideas formulated to springboard discussion with fellow classmates. Toward facilitating this goal, I would like everyone to EMAIL me by noon on Monday of each week, one or two brief questions, comments, or ideas stemming from the assigned readings and/or current events of that week.

Grades for e-mail participation, will be based on class attendance, quality and quantity of contributions to class discussions and activities (i.e., emails, and in-class activities), and when required, the presentation of material for class discussion. Quantity does not substitute for quality. Quality of contribution is judged on three (3) criteria: evidence of having read and understood the major points made in assigned readings often through recitation of the material. (“This is what the authors were saying…”); ability to integrate different concepts (Here is how I think this article is related to what we read/discussed last week”); and ability to apply the material or make it personally relevant (“I think it might be useful to take…idea and use it to achieve…objective”).
date, the maximum grade that can be earned is a “D” -unless prior arrangements have been made with the professor.

2. Assignment Type: You will have a total of four (4) reporting and writing assignments, “Not Fiction.” Each assignment is required to be three to four pages in length. This includes at least two (2) stories to be published in either the Penn State McKeesport Collegian, (PSM’s student-run newspaper) and/or in a local, national or international newspaper (i.e.) The McKeesport Daily, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times or U.S.A. Today.
Points Possible: 400 (40 % of your total grade)
Project Duration: 35-40 hours
Deliverable Length: total of four (4) reporting and writing assignments:
Grade Break Down

1. Local feature story “Your Campus as Community”…. 90pts.
2. National feature story ………………………………… 90pts.
3. International feature story “Africa”. …………………. 90pts.
4. PSM Alumni feature story…………………………….. 90pts.
5. Two feature stories to be published at the local, national
and/or international level within the spring 2005 semester… 40pts

1. Local feature story called “Your Campus as a Community.” Based on interviews with a diverse group of your fellow students. You should report on issues and topics of interest or concerns to that individual.
2. National feature story, current event on the national level about a person or group of people in the USA
3. International feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual, a group, or an organization in Africa
4. Penn State McKeesport Alumni/Alumnus feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual or group of individuals in Corporate Communications or Journalism.
3. Assignment Type: (Paper, 5-8 pages in length)
For this project you will collect each week New York Times articles dealing with Africa. The purpose of this assignment is to learn about current international events in an important, but often neglected part of the world.

Points Possible: 200 (20% of your total grade)
Project Duration: 15-30 minutes per week
Deliverable Length: 1-2 paragraphs per week

1. Place the New York Times articles in a folder. You can either save the clippings or print the articles from the online version of the paper. A log of dates must accompany your folder.
2. Identify three of four categories to classify the articles. For example: health, violence, gender, poverty, and environment.
3. Select a topic that you find particularly interesting. The issue you may select may overlap two or more of your categories. For example: women and the environment (i.e., women and forestation projects in Kenya), poverty and violence (i.e., land scarcity and ethnic wars in Western Africa), health and environment (i.e., malaria and water pollution in Malawi).
4. You will analyze the topic from a critical writing perspective. Critical writing depends on critical reading. In order to write your own analysis of this subject, you will need to do significant reading of articles within the New Times and then use your writing skills to make your own argument. This is important because the judgments and interpretations you make of the news story you read are the first steps towards formulating your own writing approach/style.
a) Don’t read looking only or primarily for information
b) Do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter.
c) When you are reading, highlighting, or taking notes, avoid extracting and compiling lists of evidence, lists of facts and examples. Avoid approaching a news story by asking; what information can I get out of it? Rather ask “How does this text work? How is it argued? How is the evidence (the facts, examples, etc.) used and interpreted? How does the text reach its conclusions?
d) Research the issue you selected in greater depth. What exactly are you trying to find out? You will data using sources such as the U.N. agencies and other international organizations, scholarly journals, books, government data, non-governmental organizations, scholarly journals, books, government data, non-governmental organizations (Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, etc.).
5. Prepare an outline of your paper: Introduction, Evidence, and Conclusion. What is the relevance of what you have learned?
6. You will present your paper to the entire class at the end of the semester. Include your entire Portfolio (Resume and Cover Letter). Prepare a power point presentation.

4. Midterm/Final Exam: Two (2) assessments stemming from your
assigned readings, journal assignments, and weekly current events discussion.
Points Possible: 200 (20 % of your total grade)
Exam Duration: in class 60-90 minutes

Please see Paul Schneider, editor of the McKeesport Collegian on or before January 17.

Your duty, as members of this elite club, is to publish The PSM Collegian. The paper is scheduled to be published three times this semester, and all class members who participate in some aspect of the newspaper will receive extra credit which will be based upon your efforts on behalf of the paper.
Collegian Requirements
- At least…TWO- published articles
- Participation in two service activities
- Participation on one Collegian committee and/or assistant editor position

Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open honest and responsible manner and a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University. As journalists, it is your duty not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the university and journalistic communities, and compromise the worth of work completed by others. To illustrate the seriousness of the issue, any student found guilty of violating this academic policy will automatically fail the assignment, and may, at the instructor’s discretion, fail the course.

Disability Statement: Students with disabilities who require accommodations should consult with the instructor within the first two weeks of class to address modifications needed to complete course requirements. Consistent with the university policy, any student requesting an accommodation must provide documentation from the Office for Disability Services.

In-class Participation/lab/emails 200 points (20%)
New York Times Articles/paper on Africa 200 points (20%)
Writing reporting Projects 400 points (40%)
Midterm/Final 200 points (20%)
__________
Total 1,000 points

Grading Scale:
1,000 - 930 A 930 – 900 A-
899 – 875 B+ 874 – 800 B
799 – 700 C 699 – 650 D less than 650 F

In class lab assignment # 1:
- Log on and examine PSU newspaper hint: PSU newswire http://newswires.psu.edu/?cmd=manage
- Write two pages comparing the content of University Park newspaper with PSM’s Collegian newspaper.
- List three sources where you might find information on the number of newspapers owned by the major newspaper companies in the United States. Using one of them, list the number of newspapers owned by the three largest companies.
- Using online databases or the Internet as sources of information, list at least five media operations owned by Time Warner Inc.

Writing Assignment: Exercise # 1 Local feature story called “Your Campus as a Community.” Based on interviews with a diverse group of your fellow students. You should report on issues and topics of interest or concerns to that individual.

In class lab assignment # 2:
A. Often the best interviews are determined by the amount of preparation the reporter does before the interview. One way to prepare is a memo format. Write a memo of up to two pages to prepare for each of the following interviews.

1. Your state’s governor. Indicate the sources of your information. Concentrate on details that will allow you to focus on the topic of how the governor regards higher education. List five-open-ended questions you would ask the governor. List five closed-ended questions you would ask.
2. Your United State Senator. Concentrate on details that will allow you to focus on his or her stand on gun control. List five-open-ended questions you would ask the senator. List five closed-ended questions you would ask.
3. Your congressional representative. Concentrate on details that will allow you to focus on his or her stand on abortion. List five-open-ended questions you would ask the congressional representative. List five closed-ended questions you would ask.
B. Find three stories by three different authors or wire services covering a speech or a news conference by the president of the United States. Compare and analyze the use of direct and indirect quotations. Write 200 words about your findings.

Prepare a memo describing likely sources and list three story ideas
Chapter 5: Gathering Information

In class lab assignment # 3:
Using reference materials available online or those located in our college library, write a half-page biographical sketch of each of the following people as if you were preparing a story for an impending visit of that person to our campus.
1. Katherine Graham
2. William Safire
3. Sandra Day O’Connor
4. Peter Coors
5. Pete Sampras
6. Richard Petty
7. Venus Williams
8. Barbara Boxer
9. Colin Powell
10. Bill Bradley

How much money will you need to retire? Justify your answer with research from USA Today’s database. Write at least a 200 word report on your findings

Read three newspapers from the same day, to find three news stories on the same subject from different sources, such as a staff reporter, an Associated Press version, a New York Times version. Count the number of words in each of the first three paragraphs. Which version is easiest to understand? Which answers the seven questions? Identify what is answered and what is not answered. And finally what are the differences in news judgment among them?

Due: Assignment # 1 Campus Report
Exercise # 1 Local feature story called “Your Campus as a Community.” Based on interviews with a diverse group of your fellow students. You should report on issues and topics of interest or concerns to that individual.

Chapter 8 : Writing to be Read

In class lab assignment # 6:
Read three newspapers from the same day, to find three news stories on the same subject from different sources, and compare the sentence lengths. Look for transitions. Find figures of speech and analogies. Which in your opinion, is the most readable? The least readable? Why?

Writing Assignment: Exercise # 2 National feature story, current event on the national level about a person or group of people in the USA

In class lab assignment # 7:
Write two pages of an event of your life. Try to include as many parts of the set-up as you can: scenes, dialogue, foreshadowing and the so what statement.

In class lab assignment 8 # : Please compose your own advanced obituary. Article must be at least two hundred and fifty words.

In class lab assignment # 9:
Read each of the following news releases found on page 243 under exercise 1A, 1B, and 1C. First, correct all departures from Associated Press style rules. Second, indicate the type of news release it is. Third, list questions you would have if you were to rewrite it., including the facts you would check and the sources you would turn to for the answers.

Prepare a memo describing likely sources and list three story ideas.
Chapter 12: Speeches, News Conferences and Meetings

Journalist Juan Williams is coming to town to speak on President Bush’s relationship with the press. Prepare to cover the speech. Record the steps you will take to prepare for the speech and the information you have gathered on Williams.

Due
Monday, February 14:
Email Prof. Brown

February 15:
MIDTERM
Email NOT- required this week

Research the 1954 murder trail of Dr. Sam Sheppard in Cleveland, Ohio. Compare the free-press, free-trail issues raised in that case to those raised in the case of O.J. Simpson. Describe both the similarities and differences.

In class lab assignment # 12:
Read three national or international stories about a religious issue. Write a memo explaining how you would localize each story for your city newspaper.

February 24:
Due: Assign: Exercise # 2 National feature story, current event on the national level about a person or group of people in the USA

In class lab assignment # 13:
Find five stories in the local newspaper that ran outside the business section and explain how they could have been turned into business stories.

Writing Assignment: Exercise # 3 International feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual, a group, or an organization in Africa

In class lab assignment # 14:
Read three newspapers from the same day, to find three sports stories on the same subject from different sources, then compare the coverage. Which seems better written? Why?

Find a newspaper story that reports on the results of a public opinion survey. Analyze the story using the guidelines discussed in chapter 17

Peer Workshop: International feature story
Prepare a memo describing likely sources and list three story ideas.
Chapter 18: Investigative Reporting

In class lab assignment # 16:
1. Despite vigorous opposition from neighboring homeowners, a piece of land in your city is rezoned for construction of a New Wal Mart Super Store. Soon afterward, you hear that the chairman of the zoning board, a Penn State Professor has bought a home in Vail. Your suspicions are aroused. How will you begin to investigate?
2. Suddenly, you have an unexpected problem: Your publisher calls you in. She knows the professor to be an honest person, she says “This appears to be a wild goose chase. Why don’t you just drop it?” How do you respond? What arguments might you use and what approaches might you suggest to try to win permission to investigate? Suppose she won’t budge? What would you do then?
3. Use one or more of the computer databases described in Chapter 5 to learn as much as you can about your representative in congress. Write the most complete investigative profile you can from the databases. In a memo, explain what additional information you’d need to complete your story and where it might be found.

Please pick up a copy of today’s newspaper the Pittsburgh Post Gazette . Write a five-minute radio news broadcast for the Pittsburgh market. Devote one minute of the time to sports.

Choose a major breaking story in today’s news. Visit and list five newspaper web sites and compare their coverage. Choose the one you think provided the best online coverage. Specifically, why did you choose the one you did?

Due: Writing Assignment # 3
International feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual, a group, or an organization in Africa

Chapter 21: Writing for Public Relations
In class lab assignment # 19:
Look at the PSM calendar of upcoming events. Select an event and write a news release about it for the McKeesport Daily News.
Writing Assignment: Exercise # 4 Penn State McKeesport Alumni/Alumnus feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual or group of individuals in Corporate Communications or Journalism.

March 29:
Peer Workshop: Alumni/Alumnus feature story
Prepare a memo describing likely sources and list three story ideas
Chapter 22: Media Law

In class lab assignment # 21:
Do a computer search for codes of ethics for journalists. After studying them, compose the major points of your own code of ethics.

Due: Writing Assignment: Exercise # 4 Penn State McKeesport Alumni/Alumnus feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual or group of individuals in Corporate Communications or Journalism.

Conclusion of “All The Presidents Men”

April 12:
Watch the movie the “Dead Poets Society”
Handout
Discussion Questions

Due Writing Assignment # 4 Penn State McKeesport Alumni/Alumnus feature story, an in-depth profile focusing on an individual or group of individuals in Corporate Communications or Journalism.

Conclusion “Dead Poets Society”

Due: Your final portfolio, consisting of a cover letter and resume, with clippings of your published work attached as you would do if you were applying for an internship or job in journalism and your final paper on Africa.

Presentation to the class
Portfolio and paper

April 26:

Presentation to the class
Portfolio and paper
April 28:

Review for Final

Email: WORD DOCUMENT- Write a 2 page reflective narrative about how you expanded and developed your news reporting and writing skills. How did you feel when you published your first story?
What course revisions or commentary can you share with us? Please be specific.

Due: On or before your final
Assign: Word Document- Write a 2 page reflective narrative about how you expanded and developed your news reporting and writing skills. How did you feel when you published your first story?
What course revisions or commentary can you share with us? Please be specific.

Final Chapter 13-23, journal assignments and current events discussions and movies.