JPW Course Descriptions Fall 2015

Gives students a history of broadcast news and an overview of how its role has evolved over the last 50 years, and introduces them to the basics of producing a news or talk program. Students will learn how to create a rundown, write news copy, select video images, and react to breaking news versus assigned reports. They will follow news stories throughout the course and discuss various news media coverage. Ultimately, the students will write a 30-minute news program.

Students will learn to report and present news related to health and environmental issues using both primary and secondary methods. This will include researching information in scientific journals, scraping public databases and collaborating on the creation of multimedia and/or interactive stories, graphics and public information systems. Students will also learn to interpret and responsibly communicate information about health risks from environmental contamination. Significant attention will be given to related social justice issues, including health disparities and environmental justice considerations. As this a community-engaged learning course, students will collaborate with community-based organizations on reporting projects that address community information needs.

Content creation today comes in many forms. In today’s media landscape storytellers need to be able to write online stories that have multimedia components. The objective of this course is to introduce students to the elements of effective multimedia storytelling. Students will learn how to research story ideas, interview sources, plan and design compelling stories and produce audio/visual slideshows and narratives videos that can be hosted on the web.

Students will use analytical skills to identify the newsworthiness of events in the sports world and apply writing skills needed to cover live events. They will make heavy use of social media and the internet as they compose articles of various styles such as features, game stories and columns. Students will leave the class with a firm grasp on their individual voice as it relates to journalism in a 2015 sports society and be able to apply that voice to various media with the written word.