Syllabus for

Basic Media Writing

JOU 113 / Sec. 1

Credit: 3 Hours / FEBC 132

Spring 1996/ Tues.-Thurs.

Time: 8:40 - 10:10

Instructor: Dr. Anderson M. Rearick III

Dr. Rearick's Office: Founders Hall 214

(Within 219: Lit., Lang., & Comm. Dept.)

Office Hours: MWF 8:00-9:00 / 1:50-2:50 & T-Th. 11:30-12:30 / 1:50-2:50

or by appointment

Home Phone 392-3738 (but please do not call after 8:00--Lil' Andy hopefully in Bed)

Office Ext. 3508

email: arearick@mvnc.edu

Course Description:

The purpose of JOU 113, Basic Media Writing, is to expose students to the unique style and challenges connected with writing for today's modern media as well as examining the ethical and moral questions which face today's Christian reporters.

Required Texts:

• Mencher, Melvin. Basic Media Writing (5th Edition) Madison: Brown and Benchmarch, 1996.
• Mencher, Melvin. Workbook for Basic Media Writing (5th Edition) Madison: Brown and Benchmarch, 1996.
• Mencher, Melvin. Reporter's Checklist and Notebook Dubuque: Times-Mirror, 1996.
• Goldstein, Norm Ed. The Associated Press: Styplebook and Libel Manual. Boston: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1994.
• Mount Vernon News for fourteen weeks.

Class Procedure:

JOU 113, Basic Media Writing, will meet twice a week to assimilate lectures about and discuss the unique nature of writing for the media. We will be emphasizing the medium of the newspaper; however, some time will be spent discussing and practicing writing copy for television and radio.. On top of this part of class time will be spent discussing current stories in the news-both the events themselves and the way they are being handled by the media. There will be four tests, a mid-term and a final on readings and class discussion. Also there will be five articles assigned during the semester which will be incorporated on the "Cyber-Lakeholm" web site.

There will also be opportunities for extra credit either in the form of extra articles, photos of school events or artistic graphics.

Other Necessities:

• You will need to become acquainted with the vast resources for news on the Internet
• You will need an IBM high density disk.
• You should learn to be comfortable with "Microsoft Word"
• You should look over the Columbus Dispatch Tuesday and Thursday and the Christian Science Monitor every Monday and Wednesday.

Class Objectives:

1. To understand the importance of creating deadlines and keeping them.
2. To be able to produce quality text under deadline pressure.
3. To understand the rights and responsibilities of a media reporter under the law.
4. To understand the importance of Christian ethics in the morality of writing.
5. To understand the various roles a writer may serve in the journalist world.
6. To expand the imagination and creativity of the student faced with the challenge of news writing.
7. To obtain knowledge regarding. . .

A. the numerous duties of the modern reporter in the media.

B. techniques of news gathering.

C. developing writing skills:

i. accuracy and clarity.

ii. proof rereading and re-writing.

Articles:

Each student will submit five articles in a variety of formats: hard news story, feature. and editorial. Articles will be typed and will be handed in both as hard copy and in disk format. These articles will be graded on several factors:

How I grade an article:

Intent How well does the article fulfill the purpose of the assignment, does it

inform, persuade, or entertain?

Hook How will does the writer gain the reader's interest?

Information Is there solid information in the work and is it accurate?

Grammar Have the rules of grammar been followed? (Also, has the AP style-book

been followed?) Just because this is the last item do not think that it is

unimportant-more readers have approached me about grammatical mistakes in the Lakeholm Viewer than any other complaint. I will be looking at this very closely.

All articles written for this class are intended for public reading and will be (after editing) incorporated into issues of "Cyber-Lakeholm."

Lateness: Articles will loose three points for each day they are late. An article which is ten days fails but should still be handed in. If no article is handed in a zero is averaged into the grade which is devastating to any average.

Examinations:

There will be four tests given throughout the semester on the readings lectures and class discussion. The exams will be "scan-tron" and will be made up of true or false, multiple choice, matching and identify the passage. There will be a mid-term and a final strongly based on the tests. The final will be accumulative but will lean heavily on the second half of the semester.

Workbooks:

Students will be expected to complete weekly assignments in workbooks which will be covered in class.

Extra Credit:

A student may earn extra credit which will be applied to the overall grade if handed in by April 20th and to the test grade if handed in by

• Articles will be worth about three extra points (depending on quality)
• Drawings will be worth be worth two points
• Photos will be worth a point.

An Overview:

Articles 30%

Tests (4) 20%

Home work &W, book 10%

Mid-term 20%

Final 20%

Some Internet Resources to help you stay News-Wise:

• Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/

• Columbus Dispatch

http://www.cd.columbus.oh.us/

• USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/

• The New York Times (This site requires a special program for full effect)

http://nytimesfax.com/

http://nytsyn.com:80/live/website.html

• Electric Library // Newspapers (General Listing)

http://www2.elibrary.com/id/61/127/viewsrcs.cgi?source=news

• Newspapers on the Net (Another General listing)

http://www.give.com/papers.html

Basic Media Writing in the Spring Semester

Week One Feb 05-07

Thurs. Feb. 6 Introduction

Week Two Feb. 10- 14

Tues. Feb. 11

Thurs. Feb. 13 Article #1 Due

Week Three Feb. 17- 21

Tues. Feb. 18

Thurs. Feb. 20 TEST #1

Week Four Feb. 24- 28

Tues. Feb. 25

Thurs. Feb. 26

Week Five March 03- 07 Spring Revival

Tues. March 4 Article # 2 Due

Thurs. March 6

Week Six March 10- 14

Tues. March 11 TEST #2

Thurs. March 13

Week Seven March 17- 21

Tues. March 18

Thurs. March 20 MIDTERM & Last Day to hand in Extra Credit for 1st half.

Spring Break

Week Eight March 24- 28

Tues.. March 25 Spring Break

Thurs. March 27 Spring Break

Week Nine March 31- April 04

Tues. April 1

Thurs. April 3

Week Ten April 07- 11

Tues. April 8 Article # 3 Due

Thurs. April 10 TEST #3

Week Eleven April 14- 18

Tues. April 15

Thurs. April 17

Week Twelve April 21- 25

Tues. April 22

Thurs. April 24 Article # 4 Due

Week Thirteen April 28- May 02

Mon. April 29

Thurs. May 1 TEST #4

Week Fourteen May 05- 09

Tues. May 6 Article # 5 Due

Thurs. May 8 Last Day for 2nd Half Extra Credit to be handed in

Week Fifteen May 12- 16

Tues. May 13

Thurs. May 15

Week Sixteen May 19- 23 FINAL EXAM WEEK

Mon. May 19

Tues. May 20

Thurs. May 21

Thurs. May 22 Final Exam for Basic Media Writing 8:00 - 9:50

Fri. May 23

Jou. Thurs. May 22 8-9:50