This course is an introduction to the basics of news gathering and news writing, as well as the principles underlying high-quality journalism. Students will come away with a clear sense of how news is covered: how to collect facts, find sources, conduct interviews, cover beats, respect sources and subjects, make choices about daily coverage and conceive and execute longer projects.
Students will learn how to write a conventional news story and get the chance to experiment with different forms – narratives, profiles, non-deadline features, explanatory writing, trend stories and point-of-view writing. Students will edit and critique each other. We’ll read some of the best examples of these and hear from prominent practitioners and stellar writers.
While the news ecosystem has changed dramatically over the past several years, the values and methods of responsible journalism remain constant. We’ll study traditional journalistic values and practices including fairness, accuracy, balance, transparency and objectivity. We will look at how the concept of “objectivity” is being re-evaluated.
Throughout, we’ll discuss ethical issues, such as weighing the right to privacy against the public’s right to know, and avoiding exploitation of people while writing about them.
We will also look at the role of the professional journalist in an age when almost anyone can produce and disseminate “news,” and when the whole idea of a free press – and fact-based, fair-minded journalism – has taken a battering.
We will analyze news coverage of issues big and small and explore questions such as: What is ‘fake news?’ What is ‘false equivalence?’ Are reporters and news organizations inherently biased? What does that mean?
While we reflect on the role of the press in these turbulent times, the meat of the course remains students’ own reporting and writing. Students will cover events, trends, and issues on and off campus. Grist for the reporting mill will include the college itself, Chester and, if students so choose, Philadelphia.
The ultimate goal of the course is to produce better writers. Good storytelling and concise writing are important in every communications medium and in most careers.
Students will learn how to write a conventional news story and get the chance to experiment with different forms – narratives, profiles, non-deadline features, explanatory writing, trend stories and point-of-view writing. Students will edit and critique each other. We’ll read some of the best examples of these and hear from prominent practitioners and stellar writers.
While the news ecosystem has changed dramatically over the past several years, the values and methods of responsible journalism remain constant. We’ll study traditional journalistic values and practices including fairness, accuracy, balance, transparency and objectivity. We will look at how the concept of “objectivity” is being re-evaluated.
Throughout, we’ll discuss ethical issues, such as weighing the right to privacy against the public’s right to know, and avoiding exploitation of people while writing about them.
We will also look at the role of the professional journalist in an age when almost anyone can produce and disseminate “news,” and when the whole idea of a free press – and fact-based, fair-minded journalism – has taken a battering.
We will analyze news coverage of issues big and small and explore questions such as: What is ‘fake news?’ What is ‘false equivalence?’ Are reporters and news organizations inherently biased? What does that mean?
While we reflect on the role of the press in these turbulent times, the meat of the course remains students’ own reporting and writing. Students will cover events, trends, and issues on and off campus. Grist for the reporting mill will include the college itself, Chester and, if students so choose, Philadelphia.
The ultimate goal of the course is to produce better writers. Good storytelling and concise writing are important in every communications medium and in most careers.
- Teacher: Dale Mezzacappa