Text Box: Instructor Information Dr. Amy Miller Email: amy.miller@bellevuecollege.edu Phone: 425.564.2235’ Office Hours: 2:45-3:30 M-Th or by apt. Office: C-206 Required Material • Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide by Tim Harrower • Associated Press Stylebook 2010-2012 Article Due Dates 10/18: Introductory Article 10/23: Final Introductory Article 10/20: News Article 11/8: Feature Article 11/15: Online Article 11/20: Opinion Article 11/27: PR Portfolio 12/4: Broadcasts Grading Scale 93-100%: A 90-92.9%: A- 87-89.9%: B+ 83-86.9%: B 80-82.9%: B- 77-79.9%: C+ 73-76.9%: C 70-72.9%: C- 67-69.9: D+ 63-66.9%: D 60-62.9%: D- 59.9 and below: F CMST 141:

Introduction to Media Writing

Fall 2012

 

Course Description:  This course emphasizes observation skills and choice of language, structure, and source material to communicate events and ideas to selected audiences. Students learn interviewing, basic research, effective expression, and editing through note taking, interviewing, drafting, and revision. CMST 141 meets a written communication course requirement at BC.

Course Outcomes:

·        Describe and practice the journalistic process.

·        Gather data from various sources.

·        Write a coherent and accurate news story.

·        Understand and synthesize ideas for others

·        Refine punctuation, grammar, spelling and proofreading skills to achieve error-free text.

·        Demonstrate an understanding of the ethics involved in interview methods, the history of journalism and audience awareness.

·        Analyze and evaluate professional journalistic writing.

·        Demonstrate an understanding of the advertising and business components of news publications.

·        Collaborate and communicate as a professional team to meet deadlines

 

Classroom Behavior: Comments or behavior disparaging another based on race, ethnicity, religion, abilities, beliefs, appearance, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated. Articles, including opinion pieces, must meet this standard. Cell phones should be set to silent and laptops should be used only for note taking and coursework. Mp3 players should not be used during class.

 

Special Needs: Any student with disabilities or other special needs who needs additional accommodation in this course is invited to share these concerns or requests with the instructor as soon as possible. Disability Resource Center, Room B132, Telephone 425.564.2498

Articles for Publication: Articles handed in as course assignments may be submitted for publication to the BC student newspaper or other publications. All articles must be handed in for course credit prior to submission for publication.

 

Attendance Policy:

1. Work handed in after class ends on the due date will lose one letter grade for every day late. Assignments will not be accepted after they are four days late.

2. In-class assignments and quizzes cannot be made up except in the cases of university-sanctioned absences. Students who show up late to class are not eligible to make up missed in-class work or quizzes once they have begun.

3. Students may receive one free pass to hand an assignment in one day late with no penalty. This free pass will only be given once during the quarter and covers papers late due to illnesses, forgotten assignments, and missing class. This does not apply to class work, quizzes, or exams.

4. Students must notify the instructor of university-sanctioned absences ahead of time and make arrangements for a new due date prior to the absence in order to make up in-class work.

5. In the case of extreme circumstances (hospitalization, family tragedy), students may make a written request for an extension within one week of the assignment including reason for request, extensions requested, and proposed new due date.

6. Students who miss more than 10 class sessions will not be eligible for a passing grade, per Arts & Humanities policy. Students who routinely show up late for class may also see a grade penalty following a warning from the instructor.

 

Academic Honesty: “One kind of academic dishonesty is plagiarism […]including, but not limited to, using a paper written by someone else, using printed sources word-for-word without proper documentation, and paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas of others without acknowledging the source. […]Participating in academic dishonesty in any way, including writing a paper or taking a test for someone else, may result in severe penalties. Dishonestly produced papers automatically receive a grade of "F" without the possibility of make-up. --- BC Student Procedures and Expectations Self-plagiarism is considered plagiarism and will be subject to the same procedures and punishments.

 

Important Links:

1.     Class Site: www.bc.instructure.com

2.     Enrollment Calendar: bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/deadlines/

3.     College Calendar: bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/holidays/0910.asp

4.     BC Public Safety Department: bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/

5.     BC Email Enrollment: bellevuecollege.edu/sam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Assignments:

1.     Exercises (pt. values vary): Throughout the semester, different writing, group participation, discussion, etc. assignments will be given to be completed during class or online. These exercises cannot be made up unless for an excused absence. (See Attendance Policy)

2.     Articles (25/100 pts per article): You will be expected to produce four publication-worthy articles throughout this semester.

3.     Quizzes (10 pts per quiz): Quizzes may cover the current chapter or AP style/ grammar

4.     Recent News (15 pts per article): Four times during the quarter, you will be asked to post a current news article from an online news site related to what we are discussing in class. Attached to the article should be a detailed explanation of why you chose the article and how it meets or fails to meet the standards discussed in class

5.     Public Relations Project (100 pts): You will asked to create all necessary PR documents for an organization to head off an organizational crisis, manage a time of organizational change, or promote an upcoming event.  Documents will be graded on adherence to PR principles discussed in class.

6.     Broadcast Group Assignment (100 pts): You will be expected to participate in a group to produce a news broadcast, including news, sports, and weather components. You will be graded on individual performance, performance as a team, and peer evaluation.

7.     Portfolio (100 pts): You will be required to revise all your articles from the quarter and submit the original, corrected version and the revised version in a portfolio during the final exam period

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Today

Assignments

Due Today

18-Sep

Syllabus & Course Intro

For 9/20: Skim Ch. 1

N/A

20-Sep

Overview of Journalism

For 9/25: Skim Ch. 2

N/A

25-Sep

Overview of Newsrooms

 

N/A

27-Sep

News vs Features

For 10/2: Read Ch. 4 68-69; 88-89

N/A

 

 

For 10/18: Introductory Article Due

 

2-Oct

Story Generation

For 10/4: Read Ch. 4 70-85; 90-91

N/A

 

 

For 10/4: Story Ideas Due

 

4-Oct

Interviewing & Attributions

N/A

Story Ideas (O)

9-Oct

NO SCHOOL

N/A

Sources (O)

11-Oct

 Source Evaluation

For 10/16: Sources Due

N/A

 

 

For 10/16: Read Ch. 3 36-51

 

16-Oct

Structure & Leads

For 10/18: Recent News Leads Due

Sources (O)

 

 

For 10/18: Read Ch. 3 52-61

 

18-Oct

Copyediting & Rewriting

For 10/23: Read Ch. 5

Introductory Article

 

 

 

Recent News-- Leads (O)

 

 

 

Proofing Quizzes (O)

23-Oct

Covering the News

For 10/30: News Article

Final Introductory Article

 

 

For 10/25: Recent News- News Due

Ch. 5 Quiz

25-Oct

Covering the News

For 10/30: Read Ch. 6

Recent News-- News

30-Oct

Features

For 11/8: Feature Article

News Article

 

 

for 11/6: Recent News- Features Due

Ch. 6 Quiz

1-Nov

Investigative

N/A

N/A

6-Nov

Profiles

For 11/8: Read Ch. 7

Recent News-- Features (O)

8-Nov

Media Law & Ethics

For 11/13: Read Ch. 8

Feature Article

13-Nov

Online Reporting

For 11/15: Online Article

Ch. 8 Quiz

15-Nov

Opinion Writing

For 11/20: Opinion Article

Online Article

 

 

For 11/20: Recent News-- Opinions Due

 

 

 

for 11/20: Read Ch. 10

 

20-Nov

Public Relations

For 11/27: PR Portfolio

Opinion Article

 

 

For 11/27: Read Ch. 9

Recent News-- Opinions (O)

 

 

 

Ch. 10 Quiz

22-Nov

NO SCHOOL

N/A

N/A

27-Nov

Broadcast

For 12/4: Broadcast

PR Portfolio

 

 

 

Ch. 9 Quiz

29-Nov

Broadcast Workday 

For 12/6: Final Portfolio

N/A

4-Dec

Broadcast Presentations

N/A

Broadcast Presentations

6-Dec

Finals

N/A

Portfolio NO LATER than11:20 am