JOUR 201: Culture of Journalism: Past, Present and Future 4 Units
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JOUR 201: Culture of Journalism: Past, Present and Future 4 Units Fall 2020 – Mon. & Wed. – 12-1:40 p.m. Section: 21012R Location: Online Instructor: Bill Celis Office: ASC 326-B Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, by Zoom or telephone. 1-3 p.m. or by appointment Contact Information: [email protected], Teaching Assistants: Melvin Dilanchian [email protected] Jonathan Horwitz [email protected] Course Description Knowledge of American history is key for journalists for one simple reason: the past informs the present and gives context to our work. In this multi-layered course that speaks to both history and the media, we will revisit historical events and social justice campaigns in the last century and examine how journalists covered them. We will also learn about some of the giants of the profession, the advances by women and journalists of color, as well as some of the villains. And we will explore the media’s impact on the country by reading, viewing and listening to the actual work of previous generations of journalists. We’ll also review the advances in technology that made newsgathering easier and more accessible to the public. By peeling back the layers of events in the last century and reviewing the caliber of journalism, we will be reminded once more of the immense power – and responsibility – we hold in our hands as journalists. As we travel through the last 100 years by way of readings, documentaries and photographic archives, we will visit a nation often in tumult. From the suffrage movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to the golden age of magazines and their impact of social issues, to the Progressive movement and the rise of investigative journalism, the profession has documented the nation’s growth and evolution – even as the profession itself changed to adequately cover the unrest of a nation. You will also discover in your research and in class discussions the importance of sources for news coverage. Who made news, who covered it, and why were certain communities, events and movements covered? Why were others not the object of media coverage? Who packaged the news and what impact did that have on the way information was relayed? Who is quoted in news stories and who is not? We will explore these and other questions in our quest to produce stronger journalism across multiple platforms in the 21st century. Understanding the triumphs and failures of the profession over the last century will make you a better journalist and a more educated consumer of news. Overall Learning Objectives and Assessment When you complete this course – a required class in the undergraduate journalism major – you will: • Understand the role and influence of a journalist, both historically and in contemporary times, and how that role has changed over the last century and continues to change. • Comprehend the role journalists played in social justice movements, including suffrage, immigration, civil rights, LGBTQ and other seminal moments and movements in U.S. history. • Understand the role of journalism and its practitioners in the U.S. and overseas, through the lens of foreign correspondents. • Recognize the important role that diversity – both in sources and in newsrooms – plays in the creation of accurate and inclusive coverage of multicultural America and beyond. • Assess the role of technology – from radio to television to digital platforms – in the gathering and dissemination of the news. • Define emerging trends in journalism, from evolving revenue sources to the impact of citizen journalists to the growing mistrust of the media by the American public. Description of Assignments There are two exams and two short research papers, including the final, administered roughly at the end of each month in the semester. The exams and research papers will gauge your understanding of the content through a combination of short essay questions and will be given during class. We will review material in the class preceding each exam. Academic accommodations will be provided for students who produce the required paperwork. There are no make-up exams and no late research papers will be accepted. Exceptions: illness, with a doctor’s note, and family emergencies. The exams will be graded on a 100-point basis. Essay responses will be graded for accuracy and depth and for grammar, spelling and punctuation. Each grammar, spelling and punctuation error will result in the loss of one point. Incomplete responses on the essay questions will result in up to a 10-point deduction. The research papers, three to five pages long, will require you to review news coverage from an era or an event of your choosing and critique the coverage using contemporary standards. Most coverage, sometimes even contemporary content, will fall short of “best practices” and these short papers will remind you of the impact of both exemplary journalism and news coverage that falls short. USC Libraries has created a site for historical and contemporary newspapers; you will use this site to glean articles on which to base your research papers. https://libguides.usc.edu/c.php?g=235118 Attendance You are granted up to three absences in this class. Absences beyond the three class meetings will require a note from your doctor, if the absence is the result of illness, or other evidence to document your absence, whether it is for purposes of an athletic event [if you’re an athlete] or if there is an emergency in your family [a death or series accident.] No exceptions. Attendance will be taken every class meeting via Blackboard. Students will receive a code at the start of class to mark their presence in Blackboard. If you miss more than 25 percent of the class – or a quarter of the classes – you will not receive the 10 percent for class participation. Losing this percentage could affect your final grade by a full letter, depending on your performance on the exams and research papers. Required Email News Services: Please subscribe to the two websites; they are free. Both cover the state of the media and will prove helpful in assessing news coverage for your two research papers and will expose you to broad issues affecting the news industry. Ground News: reviews the disparate coverage of media, depending on political orientation https://web.ground.news/?utm_source=blindspot&utm_medium=Aug11 Journal-isms: reports on news affecting women and people of color in the news industry. https://www.journal-isms.com/ Grading: Breakdown of Grade Assignment % of Grade First exam 20% Research paper 20% Research paper 20% Final exam 40% TOTAL 100% Grading Scale 95% to 100%: A 80% to 83%: B- 67% to 69%: D+ 90% to 94%: A- 77% to 79%: C+ 64% to 66%: D 87% to 89%: B+ 74% to 76%: C 60% to 63%: D- 84% to 86%: B 70% to 73%: C- 0% to 59%: F Grading Standards Journalism All assignments will be edited on a professional basis and you will be judged first on the accuracy, fairness and objectivity of your stories. You will then be evaluated for broadcast style, editing, production value, originality and the ability to meet deadlines. “A” stories are accurate, clear, comprehensive stories that are well written and require only minor copyediting (i.e., they would be aired or published). Video work must also be shot and edited creatively, be well paced and include good sound bites and natural sound that add flavor, color or emotion to the story. “B” stories require more than minor editing and have a few style or spelling errors or one significant error of omission. For video, there may be minor flaws in the composition of some shots or in the editing. Good use of available sound bites is required. “C” stories need considerable editing or rewriting and/or have many spelling, style or omission errors. Camera work and editing techniques in video stories are mediocre or unimaginative, but passable. Sound bites add little or no color - only information that could be better told in the reporter’s narration. “D” stories require excessive rewriting, have numerous errors and should not have been submitted. Camera work is unsatisfactory or fails to show important elements. “F” stories have failed to meet the major criteria of the assignment, are late, have numerous errors or both. Your copy should not contain any errors in spelling, style, grammar and facts. Any misspelled or mispronounced proper noun will result in an automatic “F” on that assignment. Any factual error will also result in an automatic “F” on the assignment. Accuracy is the first law of journalism. The following are some other circumstances that would warrant a grade of “F” and potential USC/Annenberg disciplinary action: • Fabricating a story or making up quotes or information. • Plagiarizing a script/article, part of a script/article or information from any source. • Staging video or telling interview subjects what to say. • Using video shot by someone else and presenting it as original work. • Shooting video in one location and presenting it as another location. • Using the camcorder to intentionally intimidate, provoke or incite a person or a group of people to elicit more “dramatic” video. • Promising, paying or giving someone something in exchange for doing an interview either on or off camera. • Missing a deadline. Assignment Submission Policy The exams will be administered via Blackboard and Zoom and will be submitted to the instructor at [email protected]. The instructor and the course’s two teaching assistants will return your work in two weeks. Required Readings and Supplementary Materials Required readings are listed in the syllabus. Other readings will be posted on the J201 Blackboard site. Laptop Policy All undergraduate and graduate Annenberg majors and minors are required to have a PC or Apple laptop that can be used in Annenberg classes.