Public Affairs Journalism
Required texts:
You are also required to subscribe to The New York Times (hard copy, not online! You'll have to bring the newspaper to class for analysis and discussion)
Week 1
Monday, September 2: course introduction, discussion of syllabus; what is news?
Wednesday, September 4: News Reporting, "Preface for Students," chapter 1; do exercise 1 for class discussion and to hand in; Lule, introduction and chapter 1
Week 2
Monday, September 9: News Reporting, chapter 3; discussion of interview exercise 4
Wednesday, September 11: News Reporting, chapters 4 & 5
Friday, September 13: interview exercise due
Week 3
Monday, September 16: News Reporting, chapters 7 & 8; do exercise 2 in chapter 7 for class discussion and to hand in
Wednesday, September 18: News Reporting, chapter 9; do exercise 3 for class discussion and to hand in; Lule, chapter 2
Week 4
Monday, September 23: class visit: Evan Smith, Texas Monthly, and Cam McWhirter, Detroit News
Wednesday, September 25: Lule, chapters 3 & 4
Week 5
Monday, September 30: News Reporting, chapters 17 & 18; Ehrenreich, introduction, chapters 1 & 2
Wednesday, October 2: Ehrenreich
Week 6
Monday, October 7: class visit: Barbara Ehrenreich
Wednesday, October 9: News Reporting, chapters 6 & 15
Friday, October 11: first campus news story due
Week 7
Monday, October 14: News Reporting, chapters 16; Lule, chapters 5 & 7
Wednesday, October 16: News Reporting, chapters 12, 13, & 14
Week 8
Wednesday, October 23: Lule, chapters 6, 8, 9 & conclusion
Week 9
Monday, October 28: News Reporting, chapters 2 & 19
Wednesday, October 30: News Reporting, chapter 20; do exercise 1 for class discussion and to hand in
Friday, November 1: op-ed piece due
Week 10
Monday, November 4: News Reporting, chapter 22
Wednesday, November 6: News Reporting, chapter 23; do exercises 3 & 5 for class discussion and to hand in. Also read appendix 3.
Week 11
Monday, November 11: Jungle, chapters 1-10
Wednesday, November 13: Jungle, chapters 11-19
Week 12
Monday, November 18: Jungle, chapters 20-25
Wednesday, November 20: Jungle, chapters 26-conclusion
Friday, November 22: second campus news story due
Week 13
Monday, November 25: Fast Food Nation, introduction & section I (chapters 1-4)
Week 14
Monday, December 2: Fast Food Nation, chapters 5-8
Wednesday, December 4: Fast Food Nation, chapters 9-epilogue
Week 15
Monday, December 9: Elements, introduction 1-6
Wednesday, December 11: Elements, 7-conclusion
Friday, December 13: news analysis due
Public Affairs Journalism is designed to serve as an introduction to the basic skills of the profession and to the larger philosophical and ethical problems undergirding the contemporary practice of journalism in the United States. You will be required to write news stories and to demonstrate a solid grasp of basic reporting skills, but you will also be expected to read the news with a critical eye.
To that end, we will spend a certain amount of class time analyzing two newspapers: The Spectator and The New York Times. On Mondays we will look at the Spec; on Wednesdays, we will examine The Times. You must not only bring these papers to class; you must have read them before class and be prepared to discuss their content.
About the textbook exercises:
The assigned exercises in your textbook are meant both to provide material for class discussion and to give you extra practice in particular aspects of journalistic technique. Exercises must be typed. I will not accept hand-written exercises.
A word on the papers:
All papers except for the interview exercise and the final news analysis should be 3-5 pages long and written in accordance with the "Wire Service Style" summary in News Reporting and Writing. The interview exercise should be written in accordance with the guidelines for the assignment.
For your final paper, you will write an analysis of the coverage of a major news story that you have been following throughout the semester. The paper should be 5-7 pages long; you will be quoting material from outside sources, and you should document it. I prefer the MLA method of documentation.
How you will be graded:
