English 621

Writing and Reporting The News I

Fall 2013

Syllabus

Instructor: Andrew V. Marsters

Office: Hamilton Smith 51C, basement just inside doors on Thompson Hall side

Office hours: Monday 2-4

Email: marsters@unh.edu

Cell phone (please use this for all phone contact): 207-831-4726

Please, before you do anything else for this course, study and bookmark the UNH Journalism Program web site, www.unh.edu/journalism/. Also visit and bookmark the class  blog at www.unhnewswriting.blogspot.com.

Required reading:

“Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism,” third edition, by Tim Harrower. Available at the Durham Book Exchange.

“The Associated Press Stylebook,” the bible of the industry and an essential reference for any journalist. Available at the Durham Book Exchange. Bring to every class. Buy the most recent edition you can find, at least 2011.

Course objectives:

To master the basic skills of reporting, verifying and writing the news. Among other things, you will gain an understanding of the need for deep sourcing and meticulous verification; learn how to interview sources; study research techniques; explore newswriting styles; learn how news flows from idea to story; explore beat reporting; become accustomed to writing on deadline; learn how to own a story; become a blogger.

Course outline:

This class combines classroom discussion, in-class writing exercises, visits by professional journalists, and regularly scheduled one-on-one conferences with me in my office. We'll deal with the nuts and bolts of writing and reporting for various news platforms. In addition, each week you will conceive, report and write on your own a news story, due at the beginning of each class. Deadlines are key to getting the newspaper out on time. Honor them.

Grades:

For basic parameters, see the Journalism Program’s grading outline on our Web site. Additionally, I have developed a checklist that you can use as you write your stories and which I will then use as I grade your work. I will begin grading with the stories due Sept. 30 (Monday section) and Sept. 25 (Wednesday section.) Prior to that, I will mark up the stories but you will not receive a letter grade on them. The grading system can be seen on the class blog. The average of these graded stories will constitute 75 percent of your final grade; the rest will reflect your classroom participation and any quiz grades. You will need to receive a B or better in this course to move on in the Journalism Program. 

Conferences:

I will meet with each of you for 15 minutes at least eight times during the semester to give you individual feedback on your work. These sessions are a key to success in 621, and they are mandatory. There will be a sign-up sheet – please be sure to pick a time that will work for you throughout the semester.

Remember: You must get a B or better in this course in order to move on in the Journalism Program at UNH. This should not be a problem as long as you:

• Meet all deadlines.
• Attend class and get there (HamSmith 103) on time.
• Attend your conferences with me. You will have a regular time during the semester.
• Notify me beforehand if you can't make it to conference due to illness or other valid emergency.
• Pay attention to the grading guidelines.
• Stay abreast of news and current events. I will monitor your knowledge of current events with frequent quizzes.
• Keep up with your blogging duties.
• Publish at least one story during the semester in a general circulation publication. That will most likely be The New Hampshire. The editors of The New Hampshire are happy to help you satisfy this requirement, but they are not going to come and find you. You must go to them. Don’t phone them. Don’t email them. Physically go to them. The TNH newsroom is on the bottom floor of the MUB, next door to the game room. WARNING: Don't wait until the end of the semester to publish. As soon as you feel vaguely comfortable with writing news, attend a writers’ meeting at TNH (time and place on the board in the classroom.) If you do not publish at some point in the semester your grade will drop by a half-point. For most of you, that will mean a B-, in which case you would not be able to move on in the Journalism Program unless you take the class over again and receive a B or better. No exceptions.

The bottom line: Three misses (a class, an assignment, a conference or any combination of the three) and you are on probation (latenesses are the same as a missed class.) One more and you will fail. Believe it or not, students have failed this class before and had to take it over again after testing this policy. Bad idea.

Plagiarism: All work in this course must be original. Plagiarism will be dealt with severely and will most likely result in failing the class, or worse. Please review the University Academic Honesty Policy section on plagiarism. The tutorial on that site is very instructive. Never, ever, cut and paste from a Web site without full attribution.

Blogs: You will have weekly blogging responsibilities.

Fabrication: Do not under any condition or for any reason whatsoever fabricate your stories in part or whole. That includes quotes. Fabrication of anything will earn you a failing grade and will most likely end your journalism studies at UNH.

Portfolio: Keep a folder containing all your work, neatly organized, with my marks and comments intact, through the semester. Unless otherwise instructed, we will not do revisions.

Finally: This course is unlike any you have ever taken at UNH. It is heavy on practice and light on theory. The course involves lots of work and lots of fun. If it's not fun, or if you have any complaints or suggestions about the class, I want to hear them. Stick with it, and by the end of the course you should know enough to jump into the middle of any newsroom and not feel completely lost.