MEDP 20100: Reporting and Writing 1
Fall 2015-Section 01
Hunter North Room 470
Monday/Thursday 12:45 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Instructor: Professor Sissel McCarthy
E-mail: sisselmccarthy@gmail.com
Office hours: Mon/Th 2:30-3:30 p.m. or by appointment, Hunter North Room 525
“The work of writing can be easy only for those who have not learned
to write.” (James Gould Cozzens)
Objective:
This course is an intensive writing workshop designed to teach the basic elements of news writing and reporting. You will learn specific skills, including reporting and interviewing from a diverse and multicultural perspective, hard news and feature writing, as well as writing on deadline and using social media to research and report stories, reach a wider audience and promote your work. You will critique each other and learn through the process of writing and rewriting. You will also gain insight into the ethical and legal issues confronting today’s journalists.
Each of you will create your own online domain and set up social media accounts that you don’t have already to establish a digital identity and a personal cyber-infrastructure where you will publish your work. By creating your own website and social media identity, you will be preparing yourself for digital citizenship and learning about the best practices for digital publication. We will also have a class website at http://www.sisselmccarthy.com/hunter-medp-20100-reporting-and-writing-1.html , our own Twitter hashtag #hunterjournalism, an Instagram site (hunterjourpgm) and a snap chat account, which will help turn this course into an open, networked community.
Required Texts:
Inside Reporting, 3rd Edition, Tim Harrower (buy for about $95 or rent for $18.89 at Amazon.com: (http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Reporting-Tim-Harrower/dp/0073526177/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407719466&sr=1-3&keywords=harrower)
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2015 (46th edition), $13.76 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Associated-Press-Stylebook-Briefing-Media/dp/0465062946/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439222359&sr=1-1&keywords=ap+style+2015)
Reading Handouts:
The Elements of Journalism, by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
Online subscriptions:
The New York Times (for college student rate: www.nytimes.com/collegerate) You will be responsible for reading the front page stories of The New York Times every day and keeping up with the news in general. Students will take turns critiquing the NYT’s content and technique at the beginning of each class. You should also select a news organization as your home page and sign up for mobile alerts.
Assignments:
Reading: For class discussions, reading assignments must be completed by the date that they appear on the schedule.
Writing: Get ready to write… and rewrite! You will be writing news stories in class on a regular basis to learn how to write effectively on deadline. You will also have an assignment each weekend that will take you off campus. These reporting assignments will teach you that news and feature writing can take many forms from vignettes to breaking news stories to Q&A interviews. Our major assignments will include an obituary, a man-on-the-street survey story, a story covering a speech, and a final project profiling a faculty member or other noteworthy campus figure. All assignments (except for the obituary) must be published on your website and submitted in paper to me on the designated due date at the beginning of class even if you are absent. Deadlines are taken seriously in this course and late assignments will not be accepted except in the case of a documented personal or family emergency. If you miss class, it’s your responsibility to contact me, turn in your work that’s due that day before class, make up the work missed and hand in the next homework assignment on time.
Events: There will be two off-campus tours and at least one on-campus journalism-related speech event that you will be required to attend.
Grading:
Your grade will consist of six parts and will reflect all course requirements and material covered. Grading will conform to the Journalism Department’s policy:
A= publishable as is
B= publishable with light editing
C=publishable with a rewrite
D=major problems with facts, reporting, writing
F=missing key facts, containing gross misspellings, plagiarism or libel
1. News Quizzes: 5 percent
There will be weekly pop quizzes on the main news events of the week, reading assignments and lecture material.
2. In-Class Work and Homework: 20 percent
Your in-class work and homework will include an AP Style test, writing exercises, in-class deadline writing assignments, weekend reporting assignments, tweets, Instagram posts, snap chats and in-class news critiques.
3. Midterm Exam: 5 percent
This in-class exam on 11/2 will include an in-class deadline writing exercise.
4. Final Deadline Writing Assignment: 10 percent
This in-class writing assignment on 12/7 will involve writing a breaking news story on deadline.
5. Writing Assignments: 50 percent
You will have four formal reporting and writing assignments:
Obituary: 10 percent
MOS Story: 10 percent
Speech Story: 10 percent
Individual Profile: 20 percent
For the first three assignments (obituary, MOS and speech story), you have the option to rewrite these assignments to improve your grade. The revision is due one week after I hand it back and must include the original assignment. The new and the old grade will be averaged for a final grade. For the Individual Profile assignment, you will submit a first draft to me (minimum 1000 words) by the start of class on 11/19. Your work will be critiqued and graded, and then we will meet individually an 11/30 and 12/3 to discuss how to revise it. This is a mandatory meeting. You will then rewrite it, post the final version on your website and submit a final draft on the last day of class, 12/10.
6. Domain and Social Media: 10 percent
You will be creating your own website as part of this course and judged on the architecture, presentation, accessibility and content of your domain and social media posts.
Resources:
https://www.namecheap.com
http://www.namesilo.com
https://www.newsu.org/wordpress-tutorial
http://www.jtoolkit.com/wp/wordpress-basics/
http://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us/sections/200354313-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Weebly
Final Thoughts on Grading:
Your final grade in the course is not necessarily a strict mathematical average. I reserve the right to move your grade up or down based on your class participation and attendance. Attendance and participation in class discussions is expected. Exceptional engagement and participation will improve your final grade while a lack of participation will hurt your final grade. On-time attendance at every class is also expected and habitual tardiness will lower your grade. We will start promptly at 12:45 p.m. Students are allowed two absences, but any unexcused absences beyond those two will damage your grade. Absences for illness or personal emergencies need to be documented in writing. Any in-class assignment including news quizzes cannot be made up, but I offer at least one extra credit assignment to replace your lowest quiz grade.
Hunter College Reading/Writing Center:
The Hunter College Reading/Writing Center is located at Thomas Hunter, Room 416 just past the ICIT desks in the hallway. It offers students help with their writing at every stage of the writing process. You can make an appointment at: http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/
Counseling and Wellness Services:
Counseling and Wellness Services (CWS) is another campus resource and service center for all matriculated students in Room 1123, Hunter East. It offers counseling services at no cost to all Hunter students. You can make an appointment at: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/studentservices/counseling-and-wellness
Students with disabilities should contact the Office of Access and Accommodation at 1124 East Building to determine your disability status and obtain appropriate accommodations and services. For more information, go to: http://catalog.hunter.cuny.edu/content.php?catoid=22&navoid=3559
Accuracy:
Accuracy is the Holy Grail of journalism. All of your writing will be judged for factual accuracy as well as correctness in numbers and math, spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage and AP style. Your grade will reflect your command of these basics. The misspelling of any name or place or a significant factual error in an assignment, story or exam will result in a 5-point deduction. This policy reflects the belief that accuracy is the cornerstone of good journalism and that such errors cannot be tolerated.
Plagiarism:
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
Integrity and credibility are the two pillars of journalism. All work submitted in this class must be your original work. Any student presenting the work of someone else, whether off the Internet or from another publication or from a classmate will receive an F. All quotes must be authentic and reported by you alone. You will be required to turn in a contact sheet for all assignments and sources and quotes will be spot-checked. Please read the Journalism Program Plagiarism Statement attached to this syllabus carefully.
Tentative Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction and What is News?
Thursday, August 27: Class orientation, review of syllabus, and plagiarism policy. Class introductions. Homework: NYT subscription, Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat set-up.
Week 2: Who Decides What is News? and Newswriting Style
Monday, August 31: Harrower, chapters 1-2. Elements of Journalism handout on Blackboard Course Materials,
Thursday, September 3: Harrower, chapter 3, pages 299-303. Also read http://mashable.com/2012/05/29/instagram-for-beginners/
Off campus reporting: Labor Day instagram photos and tweet
Week 3: Domain Building Workshop and Writing Basic Leads
Monday, September 7: NO CLASS
Thursday, September 10: Basic Leads. “Why Everyone Should Register a Domain Name”, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/28/why-everyone-should-register-domain-name Off campus reporting: Notes, Quotes and Descriptions for 9/11 Commemoration
Week 4: Guest Speaker on Social Media Best Practices
Monday, September 14: NO CLASS
Thursday, September 17: Guest speaker: Daniel Victor, Social Media Editor, The New York Times. Off campus reporting: AP Daybook story.
Week 5: Writing Alternative Leads and Story Structure
Monday, September 21: Alternative Leads.
Thursday, September 24: Harrower, pages 50-51. Domain architecture due. Off campus reporting: Hunter College issue story
Week 6: Story Structure continued and The New York Times Newsroom Tour
Monday, September 28: Story Structure continued.
Thursday, October 1: Harrower, pages 74-75. NYT Newsroom Tour. Off campus reporting: NYT Newsroom Observation
Week 7: Writing Obituaries and Library Research Presentation
Tuesday, October 5: Harrower, pages 92-94. 228-229. Go over Obituary assignment due 10/15.
Thursday, October 8: Library Presentation with Tony Doyle, Hunter East Room 114. Off campus reporting: Obit story
Week 8: Quotations and Attribution
Monday, October 12: NO CLASS
Thursday, October 15: Harrower, chapters 4-5, plus pgs. 248-253. Obituary assignment due. Go over Speech assignment due 10/29. Off campus reporting: Q & A story.
Week 9: Guest speaker on Finding and Cultivating Sources and Speeches and Meetings and MANDATORY SPEECH EVENT
Monday, October 19: Individual Profile story guidelines announced. Rough draft due 11/19. Sign up for profile meetings 11/30 and 12/3. Guest Speaker: Dana Rubinstein, senior reporter, Politico New York on finding, evaluating and cultivating sources.
Thursday, October 22: Speeches and Meetings. Harrower, pages 106-110. Off-campus reporting: Speech assignment.
Week 10: Interviewing Workshop and Social Media and SEO Essentials
Monday, October 26: Profile subject’s name due. Interviewing Workshop. Interviewing Handouts.
Thursday, October 29: Speech assignment due. MOS assignment announced due 11/12. Harrower, chap. 8. Guest speaker: Rubina Fillion, Social Media Editor, Wall Street Journal. Off-campus reporting: MOS assignment.
Week 11: Midterm Exam and Features
Monday, November 2: Midterm Exam
Thursday, November 5: Harrower, chap. 6, pages 262-269. Reporting and writing feature stories. Off campus reporting: MOS assignment.
Week 12: Features continued and Profile Primer
Monday, November 9: MOS assignment due. Harrower, pages 270-275. Handouts on Profiles on Blackboard. Profile Primer.
Thursday, November 12: Profile Primer. Off campus reporting: Profile
Week 13: The Business of Journalism and First Amendment Law and Ethics Workshop
Monday, November 16: Harrower, chap. 8. Guest Speaker: Stacy Morrison, President and Editor-in-Chief, Wanderlust Media
Thursday, November 19: First draft of profile due. Harrower, chap. 7. First Amendment Law and Ethics workshop.
Week 14: CNN Tour and Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 23: CNN Tour Details TBD
Thursday, November 26: NO CLASS
Week 15: Critic’s Corner
Monday, November 30: In-class review of profile assignment. Individual Profile meetings 2:30-5p.
Thursday, December 3: In-class review of profile assignment. Individual Profile meetings 2:30-5p.
Week 16: Final Deadline Writing Exercise and Domain Presentations and Class Party
Monday, December 7: Final Deadline Writing Exercise.
Thursday, December 10: Class party and domain presentations. Profile assignment due.
JOURNALISM PROGRAM PLAGIARISM STATEMENT
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
Integrity and credibility are the journalist’s most important assets. If you plagiarize, you have compromised the two most important tools a journalist has. Journalism demands originality in writing, sourcing of information that is not common knowledge, attribution of others’ ideas and statements, and accurate representation of points of view. Plagiarism is professional theft. Any person who uses a writer’s ideas or phraseology without giving due credit is guilty of plagiarism.
Plagiarism has ended many journalism careers. The journalist who plagiarizes others’ work violates the very purpose of the profession and destroys his or her reputation. Any student found plagiarizing in a course or internship will be subject to investigation. If it is determined that a student has plagiarized, penalties include:
• F on the assignment
• F for the course
• Suspension
• Expulsion
• Written notation on the student performance record
A journalistic article differs from a research paper. Information in a research paper is credited in footnotes or other kinds of documentation. A journalist does not need to document information that is readily available through several sources and/or is considered common knowledge.
In journalism, source citations are included in the body of the story. The credit should include the name of the person or source, a person’s affiliation, and any other information that provides necessary context. The journalist provides attribution for all direct and indirect quotes and paraphrased information and statements. Quotation marks are used even if only a word or phrase of a statement is used. Journalists attribute to specific individuals, organizations or sources and do not create composite sources.
Both direct quotations and paraphrases require attribution. A good paraphrase expresses the ideas found in the source (for which credit is always given) but not in the same words. It preserves the sense, but not the form, of the original. It does not retain the sentence patterns and merely substitute synonyms for the original words, nor does it retain the original words and merely alter the sentence patterns. It is a genuine restatement. It is briefer than its source. (Floyd D. Watkins and William B. Dillingham, Practical English Handbook, 9th ed. (Boston, 1992), pp. 357-358.)
The principles of attribution apply equally to all forms of newsgathering. Information acquired from other news sources, whether print, broadcast or the Internet, should be attributed. Use of graphics, images, and audio or video material from the Internet or other sources requires full credit.
Plagiarism is a breach of public trust.
The Journalism Program expects students will comply with the policy as outlined above. If you have questions regarding documentation, citation or plagiarism, please contact your instructor or the director of the Journalism Program.
Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/619/
A paraphrase is... - your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
- one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
- a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because... -it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
-it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
-the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.
Six Steps to Effective Paraphrasing -Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
-Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
-Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
-Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all
the essential information in a new form.
-Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
-Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you
decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
Some examples to compare the original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a
desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary: Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the
amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
For more information on paraphrasing, as well as other ways to integrate sources into your stories, see the Purdue OWL handout https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
Fall 2015-Section 01
Hunter North Room 470
Monday/Thursday 12:45 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Instructor: Professor Sissel McCarthy
E-mail: sisselmccarthy@gmail.com
Office hours: Mon/Th 2:30-3:30 p.m. or by appointment, Hunter North Room 525
“The work of writing can be easy only for those who have not learned
to write.” (James Gould Cozzens)
Objective:
This course is an intensive writing workshop designed to teach the basic elements of news writing and reporting. You will learn specific skills, including reporting and interviewing from a diverse and multicultural perspective, hard news and feature writing, as well as writing on deadline and using social media to research and report stories, reach a wider audience and promote your work. You will critique each other and learn through the process of writing and rewriting. You will also gain insight into the ethical and legal issues confronting today’s journalists.
Each of you will create your own online domain and set up social media accounts that you don’t have already to establish a digital identity and a personal cyber-infrastructure where you will publish your work. By creating your own website and social media identity, you will be preparing yourself for digital citizenship and learning about the best practices for digital publication. We will also have a class website at http://www.sisselmccarthy.com/hunter-medp-20100-reporting-and-writing-1.html , our own Twitter hashtag #hunterjournalism, an Instagram site (hunterjourpgm) and a snap chat account, which will help turn this course into an open, networked community.
Required Texts:
Inside Reporting, 3rd Edition, Tim Harrower (buy for about $95 or rent for $18.89 at Amazon.com: (http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Reporting-Tim-Harrower/dp/0073526177/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407719466&sr=1-3&keywords=harrower)
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2015 (46th edition), $13.76 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Associated-Press-Stylebook-Briefing-Media/dp/0465062946/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439222359&sr=1-1&keywords=ap+style+2015)
Reading Handouts:
The Elements of Journalism, by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
Online subscriptions:
The New York Times (for college student rate: www.nytimes.com/collegerate) You will be responsible for reading the front page stories of The New York Times every day and keeping up with the news in general. Students will take turns critiquing the NYT’s content and technique at the beginning of each class. You should also select a news organization as your home page and sign up for mobile alerts.
Assignments:
Reading: For class discussions, reading assignments must be completed by the date that they appear on the schedule.
Writing: Get ready to write… and rewrite! You will be writing news stories in class on a regular basis to learn how to write effectively on deadline. You will also have an assignment each weekend that will take you off campus. These reporting assignments will teach you that news and feature writing can take many forms from vignettes to breaking news stories to Q&A interviews. Our major assignments will include an obituary, a man-on-the-street survey story, a story covering a speech, and a final project profiling a faculty member or other noteworthy campus figure. All assignments (except for the obituary) must be published on your website and submitted in paper to me on the designated due date at the beginning of class even if you are absent. Deadlines are taken seriously in this course and late assignments will not be accepted except in the case of a documented personal or family emergency. If you miss class, it’s your responsibility to contact me, turn in your work that’s due that day before class, make up the work missed and hand in the next homework assignment on time.
Events: There will be two off-campus tours and at least one on-campus journalism-related speech event that you will be required to attend.
Grading:
Your grade will consist of six parts and will reflect all course requirements and material covered. Grading will conform to the Journalism Department’s policy:
A= publishable as is
B= publishable with light editing
C=publishable with a rewrite
D=major problems with facts, reporting, writing
F=missing key facts, containing gross misspellings, plagiarism or libel
1. News Quizzes: 5 percent
There will be weekly pop quizzes on the main news events of the week, reading assignments and lecture material.
2. In-Class Work and Homework: 20 percent
Your in-class work and homework will include an AP Style test, writing exercises, in-class deadline writing assignments, weekend reporting assignments, tweets, Instagram posts, snap chats and in-class news critiques.
3. Midterm Exam: 5 percent
This in-class exam on 11/2 will include an in-class deadline writing exercise.
4. Final Deadline Writing Assignment: 10 percent
This in-class writing assignment on 12/7 will involve writing a breaking news story on deadline.
5. Writing Assignments: 50 percent
You will have four formal reporting and writing assignments:
Obituary: 10 percent
MOS Story: 10 percent
Speech Story: 10 percent
Individual Profile: 20 percent
For the first three assignments (obituary, MOS and speech story), you have the option to rewrite these assignments to improve your grade. The revision is due one week after I hand it back and must include the original assignment. The new and the old grade will be averaged for a final grade. For the Individual Profile assignment, you will submit a first draft to me (minimum 1000 words) by the start of class on 11/19. Your work will be critiqued and graded, and then we will meet individually an 11/30 and 12/3 to discuss how to revise it. This is a mandatory meeting. You will then rewrite it, post the final version on your website and submit a final draft on the last day of class, 12/10.
6. Domain and Social Media: 10 percent
You will be creating your own website as part of this course and judged on the architecture, presentation, accessibility and content of your domain and social media posts.
Resources:
https://www.namecheap.com
http://www.namesilo.com
https://www.newsu.org/wordpress-tutorial
http://www.jtoolkit.com/wp/wordpress-basics/
http://hc.weebly.com/hc/en-us/sections/200354313-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Weebly
Final Thoughts on Grading:
Your final grade in the course is not necessarily a strict mathematical average. I reserve the right to move your grade up or down based on your class participation and attendance. Attendance and participation in class discussions is expected. Exceptional engagement and participation will improve your final grade while a lack of participation will hurt your final grade. On-time attendance at every class is also expected and habitual tardiness will lower your grade. We will start promptly at 12:45 p.m. Students are allowed two absences, but any unexcused absences beyond those two will damage your grade. Absences for illness or personal emergencies need to be documented in writing. Any in-class assignment including news quizzes cannot be made up, but I offer at least one extra credit assignment to replace your lowest quiz grade.
Hunter College Reading/Writing Center:
The Hunter College Reading/Writing Center is located at Thomas Hunter, Room 416 just past the ICIT desks in the hallway. It offers students help with their writing at every stage of the writing process. You can make an appointment at: http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/
Counseling and Wellness Services:
Counseling and Wellness Services (CWS) is another campus resource and service center for all matriculated students in Room 1123, Hunter East. It offers counseling services at no cost to all Hunter students. You can make an appointment at: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/studentservices/counseling-and-wellness
Students with disabilities should contact the Office of Access and Accommodation at 1124 East Building to determine your disability status and obtain appropriate accommodations and services. For more information, go to: http://catalog.hunter.cuny.edu/content.php?catoid=22&navoid=3559
Accuracy:
Accuracy is the Holy Grail of journalism. All of your writing will be judged for factual accuracy as well as correctness in numbers and math, spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage and AP style. Your grade will reflect your command of these basics. The misspelling of any name or place or a significant factual error in an assignment, story or exam will result in a 5-point deduction. This policy reflects the belief that accuracy is the cornerstone of good journalism and that such errors cannot be tolerated.
Plagiarism:
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
Integrity and credibility are the two pillars of journalism. All work submitted in this class must be your original work. Any student presenting the work of someone else, whether off the Internet or from another publication or from a classmate will receive an F. All quotes must be authentic and reported by you alone. You will be required to turn in a contact sheet for all assignments and sources and quotes will be spot-checked. Please read the Journalism Program Plagiarism Statement attached to this syllabus carefully.
Tentative Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction and What is News?
Thursday, August 27: Class orientation, review of syllabus, and plagiarism policy. Class introductions. Homework: NYT subscription, Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat set-up.
Week 2: Who Decides What is News? and Newswriting Style
Monday, August 31: Harrower, chapters 1-2. Elements of Journalism handout on Blackboard Course Materials,
Thursday, September 3: Harrower, chapter 3, pages 299-303. Also read http://mashable.com/2012/05/29/instagram-for-beginners/
Off campus reporting: Labor Day instagram photos and tweet
Week 3: Domain Building Workshop and Writing Basic Leads
Monday, September 7: NO CLASS
Thursday, September 10: Basic Leads. “Why Everyone Should Register a Domain Name”, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/28/why-everyone-should-register-domain-name Off campus reporting: Notes, Quotes and Descriptions for 9/11 Commemoration
Week 4: Guest Speaker on Social Media Best Practices
Monday, September 14: NO CLASS
Thursday, September 17: Guest speaker: Daniel Victor, Social Media Editor, The New York Times. Off campus reporting: AP Daybook story.
Week 5: Writing Alternative Leads and Story Structure
Monday, September 21: Alternative Leads.
Thursday, September 24: Harrower, pages 50-51. Domain architecture due. Off campus reporting: Hunter College issue story
Week 6: Story Structure continued and The New York Times Newsroom Tour
Monday, September 28: Story Structure continued.
Thursday, October 1: Harrower, pages 74-75. NYT Newsroom Tour. Off campus reporting: NYT Newsroom Observation
Week 7: Writing Obituaries and Library Research Presentation
Tuesday, October 5: Harrower, pages 92-94. 228-229. Go over Obituary assignment due 10/15.
Thursday, October 8: Library Presentation with Tony Doyle, Hunter East Room 114. Off campus reporting: Obit story
Week 8: Quotations and Attribution
Monday, October 12: NO CLASS
Thursday, October 15: Harrower, chapters 4-5, plus pgs. 248-253. Obituary assignment due. Go over Speech assignment due 10/29. Off campus reporting: Q & A story.
Week 9: Guest speaker on Finding and Cultivating Sources and Speeches and Meetings and MANDATORY SPEECH EVENT
Monday, October 19: Individual Profile story guidelines announced. Rough draft due 11/19. Sign up for profile meetings 11/30 and 12/3. Guest Speaker: Dana Rubinstein, senior reporter, Politico New York on finding, evaluating and cultivating sources.
Thursday, October 22: Speeches and Meetings. Harrower, pages 106-110. Off-campus reporting: Speech assignment.
Week 10: Interviewing Workshop and Social Media and SEO Essentials
Monday, October 26: Profile subject’s name due. Interviewing Workshop. Interviewing Handouts.
Thursday, October 29: Speech assignment due. MOS assignment announced due 11/12. Harrower, chap. 8. Guest speaker: Rubina Fillion, Social Media Editor, Wall Street Journal. Off-campus reporting: MOS assignment.
Week 11: Midterm Exam and Features
Monday, November 2: Midterm Exam
Thursday, November 5: Harrower, chap. 6, pages 262-269. Reporting and writing feature stories. Off campus reporting: MOS assignment.
Week 12: Features continued and Profile Primer
Monday, November 9: MOS assignment due. Harrower, pages 270-275. Handouts on Profiles on Blackboard. Profile Primer.
Thursday, November 12: Profile Primer. Off campus reporting: Profile
Week 13: The Business of Journalism and First Amendment Law and Ethics Workshop
Monday, November 16: Harrower, chap. 8. Guest Speaker: Stacy Morrison, President and Editor-in-Chief, Wanderlust Media
Thursday, November 19: First draft of profile due. Harrower, chap. 7. First Amendment Law and Ethics workshop.
Week 14: CNN Tour and Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 23: CNN Tour Details TBD
Thursday, November 26: NO CLASS
Week 15: Critic’s Corner
Monday, November 30: In-class review of profile assignment. Individual Profile meetings 2:30-5p.
Thursday, December 3: In-class review of profile assignment. Individual Profile meetings 2:30-5p.
Week 16: Final Deadline Writing Exercise and Domain Presentations and Class Party
Monday, December 7: Final Deadline Writing Exercise.
Thursday, December 10: Class party and domain presentations. Profile assignment due.
JOURNALISM PROGRAM PLAGIARISM STATEMENT
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
Integrity and credibility are the journalist’s most important assets. If you plagiarize, you have compromised the two most important tools a journalist has. Journalism demands originality in writing, sourcing of information that is not common knowledge, attribution of others’ ideas and statements, and accurate representation of points of view. Plagiarism is professional theft. Any person who uses a writer’s ideas or phraseology without giving due credit is guilty of plagiarism.
Plagiarism has ended many journalism careers. The journalist who plagiarizes others’ work violates the very purpose of the profession and destroys his or her reputation. Any student found plagiarizing in a course or internship will be subject to investigation. If it is determined that a student has plagiarized, penalties include:
• F on the assignment
• F for the course
• Suspension
• Expulsion
• Written notation on the student performance record
A journalistic article differs from a research paper. Information in a research paper is credited in footnotes or other kinds of documentation. A journalist does not need to document information that is readily available through several sources and/or is considered common knowledge.
In journalism, source citations are included in the body of the story. The credit should include the name of the person or source, a person’s affiliation, and any other information that provides necessary context. The journalist provides attribution for all direct and indirect quotes and paraphrased information and statements. Quotation marks are used even if only a word or phrase of a statement is used. Journalists attribute to specific individuals, organizations or sources and do not create composite sources.
Both direct quotations and paraphrases require attribution. A good paraphrase expresses the ideas found in the source (for which credit is always given) but not in the same words. It preserves the sense, but not the form, of the original. It does not retain the sentence patterns and merely substitute synonyms for the original words, nor does it retain the original words and merely alter the sentence patterns. It is a genuine restatement. It is briefer than its source. (Floyd D. Watkins and William B. Dillingham, Practical English Handbook, 9th ed. (Boston, 1992), pp. 357-358.)
The principles of attribution apply equally to all forms of newsgathering. Information acquired from other news sources, whether print, broadcast or the Internet, should be attributed. Use of graphics, images, and audio or video material from the Internet or other sources requires full credit.
Plagiarism is a breach of public trust.
The Journalism Program expects students will comply with the policy as outlined above. If you have questions regarding documentation, citation or plagiarism, please contact your instructor or the director of the Journalism Program.
Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/619/
A paraphrase is... - your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
- one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
- a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because... -it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
-it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
-the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.
Six Steps to Effective Paraphrasing -Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
-Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
-Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
-Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all
the essential information in a new form.
-Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
-Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you
decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
Some examples to compare the original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a
desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary: Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the
amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
For more information on paraphrasing, as well as other ways to integrate sources into your stories, see the Purdue OWL handout https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/