News Reporting II Course JRN 02311-1 Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 p.m. 301 High St., Glassboro, Room 205 Rowan University Spring 2016 Professor: Dianne Garyantes, Ph.D. Office: 6 High St., Glassboro 856-256-4069 Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Email: [email protected] Course Description This course stresses government, education, event and deadline news reporting. Students learn how to write in journalistic style on deadline and how to deal with sources. They write stories about governing bodies, school boards, budgets, crime, weather, breaking news and events. A class WordPress site will contain much of the course content. Students also will be required to link their blogs to this site: http://newsreportingblog.wordpress.com/ Goals of the Course 1. Learn advanced news reporting and writing skills. 2. Study newspaper and Internet news style. 3. Become proficient in research skills, including interviewing. 4. Become proficient in writing and reporting about government, education, event and deadline news reporting. 5. Demonstrate advanced knowledge on news style and current events. 6. Develop advanced understanding of the flow and context of current events. Required Texts 1. Introduction to News Writing: The Real Scoop. By Kathryn Quigley Must be SECOND edition. 2012. Kendall-Hunt. ISBN: 978-1-4652-0393-9 2. News Writing and Reporting. By Melvin Mencher. (12th Edition). McGraw Hill 3. The Associated Press Stylebook, 2014 or 2015 edition. Edited by Norm Goldstein. Perseus Publishing. The Mencher textbook is available at the bookstore and online. If you buy a used copy, buy the most recent edition. The same goes for the AP Stylebook. Course Format and Expectations This course includes quizzes, lectures, discussions and hands-on work in journalism. You will be required to read the two textbooks, take bi-weekly quizzes, complete in-class assignments on deadline and submit five reporting and writing assignments. You are expected to read one local and national newspaper or newspaper website EVERY DAY (The New York Times, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier Post, the South Jersey Times, Atlantic City Press, etc.) plus view one national website or channel (CNN, FOX, MSNBC) every day and be ready for discussion. Attendance is important and will be counted towards your grade. Many assignments occur outside of class time so plan accordingly. Journalism education happens both in AND out of the classroom, so set aside time for the assignments in News II. NOTE: You are required to attach a list of your sources (both interviewees and other online or written material you consulted to your submitted articles). Please do not exceed the assigned word length by more than 5 percent either above or below the required word count. Rowan Writing Center The Rowan Writing Center is a space where all writers can find support at any stage of their writing process. Whether it be invention strategies in the beginning to determine their topic, organizing ideas or revising drafts, the center and its tutors provide a comfortable environment for students to improve and succeed as writers. To make an appointment, students must go to www.rowan.mywconline.com and register for a free account. Once this account has been created, students will have access to a complete list of tutors and their available hours. Then they can simply click on an open timeslot and fill out the form that requests the type of session that they prefer. Limited walk-in appointments are also available. For help with scheduling or any other questions, call 856-256-4376 or email [email protected]. ACCOMMODATION POLICY Your academic success is important. If you have a documented disability that may have an impact upon your work in this class, please contact me. Students must provide documentation of their disability to the Academic Success Center in order to receive official University services and accommodations. The Academic Success Center can be reached at 856-256-4234. The Center is located on the 3rd floor of Savitz Hall. The staff is available to answer questions regarding accommodations or assist you in your pursuit of accommodations. We look forward to working with you to meet your learning goals. ACADEMIC HONESTY Plagiarism is a serious offense. Do not use words, phrases, or ideas without proper attribution. This includes copying content from the Internet. When in doubt, ask if it is ok to use something or how to attribute it accurately. For the university’s complete academic honesty policy, see the Rowan University Student Information Guide. The university Web site also features a tutorial on how to avoid plagiarism at http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/documents/academic_integrity_policy_04- 12.pdf Essentially, plagiarism means trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. It does not necessarily mean copying an entire paper, although that would clearly be plagiarism. For example, you plagiarize if you: ▪ Use an interview someone else did or use a quote someone else obtained and don’t credit the source. ▪ Cut and paste a variety of sources and cobble them together without proper citation and with no evident thought on your part as to the thrust of the piece. ▪ Lift a segment verbatim without citation. A few words here are there are permissible – there are only so many ways to say, “Edward R. Murrow died of lung cancer” – but you can’t drop a whole paragraph of somebody else’s work into your piece if you don’t credit it. Just listing the title of a source in a bibliography is not sufficient. You must be very clear about the source of words that are not yours, and cite the source in the text of your paper. You may refer to a works cited page at the end, but there must be a clear indication in the text of the paper about the words’ source. ▪ Use facts and figures that are not common knowledge without citing the source, creating the impression you gathered the information yourself. ▪ Try to pass off something you have done for another class as an original work for this class. All assignments must be completed for this class only. Submitting work from another class, in part or in full, is considered academic dishonesty. In addition, students are expected to abide by the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp TURNITIN Rowan University has a licensing agreement with Turnitin, an online service to help prevent student plagiarism. As part of this course I will be using Turnitin at my discretion to determine the originality of your work. If your work is submitted to Turnitin, it will be stored in the Turnitin database. You have the right to refuse either to submit your work to Turnitin or have the university do so; availing yourself of this right will not negatively impact your success in the course. If you do not wish to use Turnitin you must notify me by e-mail within two weeks of today’s date. If you object to the use of Turnitin, I will use other procedures to assess originality. For more information about Turnitin and the University’s policy in relation to it, visit: http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/documents/Turnitin.comPolicy.04.12_000.pd f OTHER UNIVERSITY POLICIES You can find information on policies such as those governing classroom behavior, academic integrity, student accommodation, laptop computer use the classroom, and university attendance requirements at http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/main_office/publications/Handbook_Planner.cfm GRADING RUBRIC NAME: COURSE: News Reporting II ASSIGNMENT: Grade: Poor Fair Average Above Excellent 12 14 16 Average 20 18 Focus on Topic (Content) There is one clear, well-focused story and story angle. The story angle represents current news values and provides relevant and important information for the audience. Reporting (Content) All of the information in the article reflects original reporting conducted by the student. Information from other news organizations is properly attributed and not used as the basis for the article. All of the information in the article is accurate and was verified by the student. All sources are properly attributed. At least two sources are attributed in the article and the article includes at least one or two quotes from sources. Writing (Content) The first several paragraphs attempt to hook the reader with compelling and important information or with creative, or surprising statements. Clearly states the five W's. All information is accurate and properly attributed. Subsequent paragraphs give the reader details to support the lead and follow the inverted pyramid structure. The information flows logically and answers all of readers' potential questions. Written in third person and the student’s opinion is not expressed. All sentences are complete and all facts have been verified. Capitalization, Punctuation, Grammar & Spelling (Conventions) Writer makes no errors in format, capitalization or punctuation; the article is exceptionally easy to comprehend. Writer makes no errors in grammar, spelling or conventions that distract the reader from the content. Appropriate AP style is used and the story is the required length. Deadline Piece was handed in on deadline. COMMENTS: Attendance Policy: This class meets twice a week, therefore you are allowed two excused or unexcused absences (no questions asked or explanations needed). This includes illness, car trouble, weather, family issues and general ennui. If you miss up to two classes, then you will automatically earn 100 points in attendance. If you miss MORE than two classes – even with an excuse – you will earn less than 100 points for ATTENDANCE. This grade is separate from your PARTICIPATION grade, which means I expect you to be prepared, do the reading and talk in class.