MC3202
- Newsgathering II
Instructor: Jay Perkins
Office Phone: 388-2381
E-Mail: jrperk@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu
Webpage: http://www.jour.lsu.edu/perkins
Office Location: 203B Journalism Bldg
Office Hours: Tuesday: 9 a.m.- 12
noon, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Also by appointment
Course Objective
This lecture/lab course is designed to
improve the ability of students to handle detailed
stories in the feature and hard news formats and to give
them a basic understanding of computer assisted
reporting techniques. As such, you could think of the
course as having three parts --a component on feature
techniques, a component on investigative techniques and
a component on database techniques.
You will write two stories in this class
and have two exams. GBecause detailed stories rely
heavily on the quality of research done, the focus of
all writing done in this course will be on finding and
using good journalistic research resources from people
and from documents.
You will be expected to know basic
AP style and to turn in neatly typed assignments.
Incorrectly spelled words and grammatical mistakes will
result in a lowering of your grade.
Your first writing assignment will be
graded on the quality of your writing and on how well
you did in using good interviewing techniques to find
points of view that go beyond those used in daily
reporting. For example, a personality profile that is
heavily dependant on what one person tells you will not
be considered as valid as a personality profile that
uses multiple sources such as the person profiled, the
wife of the person, the children of the person, the
neighbors and business acquaintances of the person, etc.
Your second writing assignment will be
graded on how well you did in collecting information
from human sources, from government and academic
documents and on how well you did in formatting the
story in a logical consistent way by using a series of
pyramids organized by subject matter. In short, on this
assignment, details and logical thought matter more than
the writing ability.
In both types of stories, the goal will
be to write stories that go beyond the day-to-day coverage,
put a human face on a complex issue, and present an overall picture of an issue.
We will use standard feature writing
techniques for the portion of the course that deals with
human interest stories. We will use the nut graf
approach for the portion of the course that is focused
more on hard news.
Materials Needed:
Look for the big picture stories in
these newspapers. The LA Times has a feature called
Column One which uses the formats we will use in this
class. Also, the Wall Street Journal is the pioneer of
this format and is a good reference source. Look for the
left hand column stories in the Journal if you are
confused about the format or requirements.
You also will be given handouts by the
instructor which will be of use in this class. And, of
course, the links in this syllabus will be considered
part of the instructional component and a subject for
testing.
Grading
Your grade will be determined as
follows:
-
20 percent will come from a midterm
examination dealing on using the Internet for
journalistic research.
-
20 percent will come from a final
examination on using Access and SQL commands to
query a database and to draw patterns from the data.
-
25 percent will come from a complex
feature. You will discuss your story idea for this
feature (or personality profile) with the instructor
before beginning.
-
35 percent will come from a
detailed, in-depth hard news story written in a Wall
Street Journal (or nut graf) format. You will
discuss your story idea for this depth story with
the instructor before proceeding.
You will be given a numerical grade on each
assignment and your grades will be posted to PAWS.
Pay close attention to deadlines. If you
do not turn in your story before the assigned deadline,
you will lose 10 points from your numerical grade for
the first day it is late, 20 points for the second day,
30 points on the third and 40 points on the fourth day.
If your story is more than four days late, it is
worthless. Do not bother me by asking if you can turn in
your story a day or two late. You can -- but you will be
assessed the penalties.
There will be no
exceptions to these grading
rules.
Class
attendance
I will not take roll in this class.
However, it is almost impossible for you to pass the
class if you do not attend. If you miss an examination
or a deadline, tough. There will be no makeup exams or
assignments given unless you have the documentation
necessary to convince LSU your absence meets the
requirements for excused absences.
Classes will begin on time. If you are
late, take a seat quietly. I will not repeat
information already presented in class simply because
you were late to class.
Unethical
behavior
Plagiarism can get
you expelled from LSU. Don't do it. Do not take
information from another source, including your
classmates and portray it as your own. Do not quote
anyone as having told you something if they did not. Do
not interview friends, roommates or others and portray
them as experts when they are not. Do not take the words
of other reporters or information collected from media
outlets as portray it as your own research. If you must
quote another reporter's work, attribute the information
to that reporter.
In cases of apparent plagiarism, LSU
policy requires the instructor to turn the matter over
to the Dean of Students for potential disciplinary
action. The instructor cannot handle the infraction by
simply giving you a bad grade.
Bottom line: If in doubt, attribute it.
That's a basic rule of journalism anyway.
Basic Course Requirements
Each student will be responsible for
coming up with story ideas. Obviously, selection of a poor topic -- i.e.,
one that is either too shallow or which is too complex
or beyond the ability of the student to do - can have a
major impact on your grade.
The first story you do will be an
in-depth feature of an interesting occurrence in Baton
Rouge or a personality profile of an interesting person
in Baton Rouge. By in-depth, I mean the length likely
will be 8 to 10 pages per story, typed and
double-spaced. This story will rely heavily on human
sources -- lots of human sources. The quality of writing
and the quantity of sources will be major factors in the
grade given for this story.
The second story you do will be an
in-depth look at an economic, social or political
problem that has affected a Baton Rouge resident. This
story will use the Wall Street Journal format. This
means that while it will have a human angle (one section
will focus on the resident who has the problem), it will
rely more on documents and statistical sources. It also
will be 8 to 10 pages in length. It should explore the
problem from a local angle and a national angle. The
quality of written sources and your ability to organize
these sources in a series of pyramids will be major
factors in the grade given for this story.
All assignments are due on the assigned
date unless the instructor specifies an alternate date.
3202
Week by Week
Jan.
23, Week 1
Getting
started, outline of requirements, discussion of story
ideas, basics of Project Reporting.
Jan.
28, Week 2
Monday
-- Writing the Complex Feature Story
Wednesday- The Big Picture Story. A guide
to writing the story that goes beyond daily news and
explores a subject in detail.
Warning:
By now, you should have come up with an idea for your
feature story and should have received approval from
your instructor.
Feb.
4, Week 3
Monday-
The descriptive and narrative formats.
Wednesday: Writing personality
profiles
Feb.
11, Week 4
Monday--Mardi Gras holiday
Wednesday -- Mardi Gras holiday
Feb.
18, Week 5
Monday--The Craft of Writing
Wednesday--Work
by previous students.
Feb. 25, Week
6 Monday--Lab
Day Wednesday--
Assignment Due. Turn in your feature or personality
profile at the start of class. This assignment is worth
25 percent of your grade in this class. Warning:
By now, you should have decided on the topic for your
second story, discussed it with the instructor and
worked out with him an outline for how you plan to
organize this story.March
4, Week 7 Monday-- Online Searches
Wednesday--Some good web sites
March 11, Week
8
Monday -- The Federal Government -- A
quick look at some important web sites for gathering
information, reports, data and other stuff collected by
the federal government.
Executive
Wednesday-Business
and Statistical Sources
March 18, Week 9
Monday--Exam
on using the internet to find governmental
documents. This exam is worth 20 percent of your
grade in this class.
Wednesday ==
Bring your story to a conference with the
instructor. Be prepared to discuss your lead, your
organization, your findings, and where you think you
still have problems. This is your first chance to
save yourself from a disastrous grade on this
assignment.
March 25, Week
10
Wednesday
-- Assignment
due Wednesday:
Turn in the complete rough draft of your story.
This should be a complete story, with a solid, Wall
Street Journal lead, and with your story broken into
sections and organized around the subjects you laid
out in your outline. It should be ready (in your
opinion) to be printed in a newspaper. This
assignment will be worth 25 percent of your grade in
this class.
April 1,
Week 11
April 8, Week 12
Monday--Spreadsheets
Introduced
Wednesday- SQL, the language of
databases
April 15,
Week 13
Monday--Downloading and Importing
Commonly Used Databases
Wednesday--Databases
Assignment
due Wednesday:
Turn in the final draft of your story. By this time,
you should have fixed the problems found in your
rough draft. This
assignment is worth 10 percent of your grade in this
class.
April 22 -- Week 14
Monday --Databases
Wednesday --Databases
April 29 -- Week 15
Monday: Databases
Wednesday: Databases
May 6- Week 16
Monday --Review of course
Wednesday --
Final Exam
on databases. This exam is worth 20 percent of your
grade in this class.
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