Journalism 311 Spring 2012

Journalism 311 Schedule of Classes

January 17 Class overview (students not attending first class may be dropped)
January 18 First writing assignment in Lab Bring your AP Stylebook be sure that your computer sign-on works and you have a balance to allow you to print (50 cents should do)
January 19 AP Style – Bring your Stylebook

January 24 AP Style –Bring your Stylebook
January 25 AP Style Test – Bring your Stylebook—Punctuation quiz.
January 26 Interview Techniques

January 31 Interview techniques read Chap. 15
February 1 Lab. Practice interview, story due at end of lab.
February 2 City Government

February 7 City Government, read Chap. 24
(Cover City Council meeting 7 p.m.)
February 8 Return first story & Interview story. Write Council Story.
February 9 Story structure, weather and disasters, read Chap. 18

February 14 Covering Courts Read Chap. 21
February 15 Lab exercise. Select mid-term project. Interview and First story rewrite due (with original).
February 16 Covering Courts (Continued)

February 21 Covering speeches and press conferences, read Chap. 16
(Cover City Council 7 p.m.)
February 22 Finding ideas and facts on the Internet
February 23 Sports coverage, read Chap. 22

February 28 Police and fire coverage, have read Chap. 20
February 29 Grammar Tips bring WYW Book
March 1 More on police and fire coverage

March 6 Prep Sports have read Chap. 22 (Cover City Council 7 p.m.)
March 7 Time to work on Midterm
March 8 Journalism Law (Midterm Due) Read Chap. 25

March 20 News releases, read Chap. 16 & 10
(Cover City Council 7 p.m.)
March 21 Lab Select final project, and discuss it in class, written proposal due
March 22 Story organization, read Chap. 6 & 7

March 26 MONDAY Charlie Cook speech Student Center Save Date 7 p.m.
March 27 Guest Speaker
March 28 Grammar exercises bring WYW Book
March 29 Specialty reporting, read Chap. 23

April 3 Investigative reporting, read Chap. 8
(LAST CHANCE! Cover City Council 7 p.m.)
April 4 Lab 10:10 a.m. or 1:10 p.m.
April 5 Qualities of Good Writing

April 10 Consumer Reporting, read Chap. 23
April 11 TBA
April 12 Organizing your story, read Chap. 2

April 17 Multicultural Reporting
April 18 TBA
April 19 Broadcast and Internet, read Chap. 9

April 24 Grammar assessment test
April 25 Covering Courts, read Chap. 21
April 26 Semester Review

May 1 Ethics, Fairness and Taste, read Chap. 26 & 27
May 2 Final lab, time to FINISH (Not Start) Final Project
May 3 Final projects are due, printed on paper, at end of class
Week of May 6 Time TBA Final Quiz

Three unexcused absences will result in a failing grade.
Be late three times and your final grade will be dropped one grade point.
If you are late and have extenuating circumstances talk to the instructor immediately after class, those who are habitually late may be denied entry and marked absent.





Instructor: William Recktenwald Office: Communications Building 1224
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9 to 10 a.m. 1 to 2 p.m. and Wednesday 9 to 10 a.m.
E-mail: teacherofnews@aol.com (put 311 in subject line) J-School Mailbox # 11
Office Telephone 536-3361 Mobile 618-559-0058 (prefer calls to mobile, leave message)
Teaching Assistant: Bob Katende bobkatende@yahoo.com (put 311 in subject line)
Required readings A major Daily newspaper (can be read online)
TEXTBOOK News Reporting and Writing, Melvin Mencher, McGraw-Hill, 12th edition, you may also use the 11th edition ISBN 978-0-07-351193-1 --The AP Stylebook (2005 or newer, you should already have this, it is for sale at the journalism office) Also required is WATCH YOUR WORDS, 3rd Edition, ISBN 978-1-422-1465-1
(The textbook is very expensive, I have six to loan out and students can share the book. You need to read the reading assignments. Everyone needs a Style Book and ‘Watch Your Words’)

Objectives
This course will continue development of news reporting skills for all media. Emphasize personal interviews, development and use of news sources, analysis of public records, news beats and specialized reporting structures, and the professional working relationship between the writer and other news personnel. During the semester you should improve your ability to conduct interviews, and find direction on how to research the subjects you are reporting. The immediate goals include learning to cover a beat, conduct interviews, examining the values and ethics that guide journalists as well as gathering and writing quality news stories. The fundamental goal is to prepare you to become media professional, meet deadlines, be accurate, write well and to have the required new media skills needed for the future job market.

Attendance
On time attendance at every class and at every lab session is mandatory. Attendance is taken; if you miss a class or lab for any reason it will be factored into your final grade. If you are unable to attend a class or lab, you must inform the instructor before the class or lab is scheduled to end; this can be done by e-mail or telephone message. Notification will not assure an excused absence, but failing to inform the instructor will result in an unexcused absence. Class starts on time; do not be late. To be counted present students must sign the attendance sheet. Telephones will be silenced, put away, and not used for any purpose, if you leave class to answer a call, do not return, you will be marked as absent. No I-Pods or similar devices, if you use a laptop to take notes, you agree to show the notes, if requested. (This means-no texting, surfing or updating Face Book during class)


Three unexcused absences will result in a failing grade.
Be late three times and your final grade will be dropped one grade point.
If you are late and have extenuating circumstances talk to the instructor immediately after class, those who are habitually late may be denied entry and marked absent.

Conduct of the Class
You will be expected to complete some general assignment stories as well as cover speeches, press conferences and write police, fire and government stories that will require attending events outside of class time. While preparing stories, you are not to interview your parents, friends acquaintances or roommates. An important objective of the class is to prepare you to interview news sources; conducting interviews of people that you know will not provide this experience. You must read a major daily newspaper, not the local or college newspapers, and be prepared to discuss stories that are particularly well researched and well written. You should be reading the news columns for this purpose not the sports page. You must read the assigned textbook material before class and be prepared to enter into discussion. There will be regular unannounced quizzes to assure that you are reading the text. If you sleep in class, carry on unrelated conversations, you will be marked absent, or told to leave the classroom. You should not expect to pass.
Grading
About 40 percent of your grade will be based on the stories you write; in addition, your mid-term and final story projects will count for 15 and 25 percent respectively. Quizzes, written and oral, count for 10 percent of your grade. Your participation in class discussions represents 10 percent of your grade.
Grading of assignments: An excellent story (needs little or no rewriting, has an outstanding lead, good grammar, good quotes, and accurately presents all sides of an issue in a logical and fair manner) will get +4 points. A good story (one that can become an excellent story with a minimal rewrite) will receive +3 points; a satisfactory story (one that can be made into an excellent story with some rewrite but little or no additional reporting) will receive +2 points; a poor story (one that needs extensive rewriting and additional reporting) will receive +1 point. A paper submitted with an error of fact that would require a clarification or correction be published, or without reporting and presenting all sides of an issue may receive zero points. Journalism is a business built around deadlines; assignments that are late will be downgraded one full grade point. Assignments more than 24-hours late will be graded as an F. (0 points) Plus grades add .25 points minus lower by .25 points.
No story will be written in the first person; such stories will be graded as an F.
Cheating and Plagiarism
All work must be original, individually completed and done solely for this class. With ADVANCE permission stories written for this class may be published. Taking the ideas or writings of others and passing them off as your own work is cheating and is grounds for failure in this course. Fabricating stories, quotes or events is also cheating and will result in a failing grade. Cheating cheapens you and the profession. Don’t do it.
Assignments skipped altogether receive minus two points. Every story must be rewritten and turned in along with the original version by the end of the laboratory period following the return of the paper. These papers are to be returned to the Graduate Assistant! A story that is not rewritten will be graded at a point lower than the original grade. If an error appeared in the story; a separate, publishable correction must accompany the re-write. Generally, the rewrite will not change the grade. If no rewrite is needed, turn in the original story after you have looked at the comments. Turn the rewritten story and the original in and initial the assignment sheet. You must retain your story notes and electronic copies of all stories and assignments until the end of the semester and your grade posted.

You will receive two assignments that will require you to attend public meetings, one is a city council meeting on a Tuesday evening the second is a speaker, while we will try and accommodate those with scheduling conflicts; these are required components of this class.
**Prepared now to plan to cover ONE Carbondale City Council meeting and write a story the next day. Meetings start at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center
The story is due at the end of the lab period following the meeting.

Read the section of the syllabus on attendance again, Believe it!
Changes in this syllabus may be announced in class and students are responsible for noting the changes.
All stories for this class are to be written in AP Style as news stories for morning editions; to understand how news stories are structured you must read a newspaper every day.
Dumb questions. In reality the only truly dumb question is one you have, but never ask. Our job is to help you learn more about journalism, feel free to talk to us. Your tuition pays us to help you, please let us.

William Recktenwald, Bob Katende

University’s Emergency Procedures:

Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on BERT’s website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Public Safety’s website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in the Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency.

Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency affecting your location. It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency. The Building Emergency Response Team will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility.