JRN 2201 schedule

COURSE SCHEDULE for JRN 2201 — Reporting
Dates, readings, assignments and deadlines for spring semester 2017

Watch this page throughout the semester for changes and additional assignments. Some items referenced may not be available until the weeks for which they are assigned.

Current events, a standing assignment: Throughout the semester, follow the news by reading newspapers, magazines and the internet, and by watching and listening to broadcast news. As you read the news, analyze where and how the reporters and editors obtained their information. Suggested news sources include nytimes.com, CNN, Fox, AL.com, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Dothan Eagle, the Troy Messenger, TropNews.com, Montgomery's Channel 8 and Channel 12, the Tropolitan, TrojanVision, Troy University Public Radio, and npr.org. You are required to follow the #jlabnews Twitter feed (at right) and to contribute at least two stories to it per week.

Technical notes: If a link does not work, try right-clicking (or, on a Mac, Control-clicking) on the link. Select the option to open the file in a new browser window or a new browser tab. You may find that Firefox is a better browser to use than Safari. You may also need software that can play .mp3 and .mp4 files of audio and video. Many computers already have such software installed; if yours doesn't, look for a free download such as RealPlayer. To read .pdf files, you may need to install Adobe Reader or another free download. On a Mac, Preview.app is an excellent tool for viewing and marking .pdfs.

You should bring your Associated Press Stylebook to every class and use it constantly for reference. You will be expected to know and use AP style.

Early in the semester, read the JRN 2201 teacher's blog. Continue to follow it for updates and tips throughout the semester. Also watch your Troy University email.

If you have questions or need help, contact the instructor: Steve Stewart, 103-E Wallace Hall, 334-672-3192, sstewart71298@troy.edu. Use this cellphone number instead of his office telephone.

Tweets about "#jlabnews"

Week No.	Week of	Outside class (you must complete readings and assignments prior to the week’s first class unless other deadlines are specified)	Tuesday’s class	Thursday’s class
1	Jan. 8	*Before Thursday’s class:* Read the course syllabus (in Blackboard). Read "How to fail this class." Watch the video on how to use the #jlabnews Twitter feed. Sign up for a Twitter account if you do not already have one. Read about how to give an oral report on current events. Read Submitting assignments electronically. Read about setting paragraph indentions and line spacing. (The second page illustrates exactly what you are expected to do.) If you are using the Pages word processor, Apple's instructions for setting indentions and spacing are here. But be sure you submit your assignment in one of the file formats listed under "Submitting assignments electronically," linked above. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least once this week to #jlabnews. *By 8 p.m. on Sunday at the end of the week:* Submit your example of a published lede through Blackboard. Details of this assignment are in the Assignments section of Blackboard.	No class	Introduction Prerequisites for this course Using the J-Lab computers Passwords Using Blackboard Complete Student Information Form (in Blackboard). Class attendance Taking notes in class (including why and how you can use your smartphone or another device) Discuss oral reports on current events, and assign the first one to a student. Discuss Twitter and blogging assignments. Discuss submitting drafts — optional and required. This ain’t texting (why the Stylebook, dictionary, Google and grammar references should be your BFFs). Assignment: Submit an example of a lede (through Blackboard). Complete the Pretest (Exercise 1). Find it in Blackboard under Assessments. You must make at least 90 to receive credit, but you may take it as many times as necessary, in class or outside.
2	Jan. 15	*Before Tuesday’s class:* Complete the Twitter setup assignment. Read Chapter 1, Inside Reporting ("The story of journalism"). Read Chapter 2, Inside Reporting ("How newsrooms work"). Watch the two-minute YouTube video on inserting a hyperlink into a Microsoft Word file. Listen to the professor's advice on Story 1 (4 minutes). Read about AP’s 2014 change in style for state names used after city names. Watch the 13-minute video on what a lede must accomplish. Watch the 9-minute video about do's and don'ts for writing a lede. Read about ledes on pp. 42-47 of Inside Reporting. Read Writing Effective Leads. *Before Thursday's class:* Take the Syllabus Test on class logistics (syllabus, schedule, #jlabnews, current events, submitting assignments electronically, setting paragraph indentions and line spacing, etc.). This test will be in Blackboard. Read What's a News Story? Read about covering a meeting. Read Punctuation and attribution of direct quotes. (Print this sheet out for reference; you will need to know every detail for multiple assignments.) *During the week:* Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details).	Sign up for accountability partners. Discuss Pretest (Exercise 1). Do you have any questions about blogging assignments? Discuss "How Users Read on the Web" by usability expert Jakob Nielsen (news you can use in your blogging and online writing). Discuss lede examples submitted by students. Discuss putting hyperlinks in stories and blogs. Introduce the JRN 2201 teacher's blog. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 1. Why do we study vocabulary words? Complete Exercise 2 (in Blackboard). Discuss Thursday’s Quiz 1 and Exercise 3.	Assign Story 1 (meeting story — in Blackboard). Look at Troy Messenger's story about a council meeting. Complete Quiz 1 (in Blackboard). Complete Exercise 3 (ledes to write — in Blackboard).
3	Jan. 22	Read “Separating fact from fiction and opinion in a news story.” (The first paragraph contains a typographical error. Be prepared to discuss the article and identify the typo in class.) Read “What is fake news? How to spot it and what you can do to stop it” from The Guardian. Read Chapter 3, Inside Reporting ("Newswriting basics"). Read about blogging on pp. 162-163 of Inside Reporting. Read class notes on covering events. Read class notes on writing a story. Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-E. Read the JRN 2201 teacher's blog if you have not done so already. Check it for new information from time to time. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. Story 1 deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Thursday *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details). *Other events this week:* Friday, Jan. 27, noon to 12:50 p.m.: Pike Piddlers free Storytelling performance by Josh Goforth in the Trojan Center Theatre. Saturday, Jan. 28: Storytelling festival (all day, charge for admission)	Discuss recent changes in AP style, including state names and the following words: internet, email, website, webpage, backyard, underway and dumpster. Discuss quotations. Discuss Exercise 3 (written comments here). Review vocabulary list for Quiz 2. Work on Story 1 in class. (Bring your lede and whatever else you've written to class in electronic form so you can show it to the teacher on your computer.)	Bring to class a story that you consider to be fake news. In class, tell us why you think it's fake. Discuss YouTube, SoundCloud and other platforms to post blog video and audio. Complete Quiz 2 (in Blackboard).
4	Jan. 29	Read about quotations in Inside Reporting, pp. 82-85. Study Punctuation and attribution of direct quotes. (You printed this sheet out during Week 2; we will review it.) Read "One Small Misstep," snopes.com's account of the confusion surrounding Neil Armstrong's exact words when he stepped onto the moon — and the dilemma it presented for journalists, who wanted to get this historic quotation right. Read the Story 2 assignment (interview a student leader — in Blackboard), and get started on it. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *Optional exercises:* The following exercises are recommended but not graded. You can find them in Blackboard. You do not have to be in the J-Lab to complete optional exercises. _ AP Style Section A Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section B Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section C Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section D Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section E Optional Exercise No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Discuss direct quotations, their punctuation and their attribution. Discuss how to organize a story. Discuss important points of newswriting, such as short sentences and paragraphs and simple language. Discuss the importance of using live (long "i") sources — people whom you speak with, either face to face, on the phone or on the internet. (Emailing is not enough; quoting something the person has written is not enough for a main source in your story.) Assign Story 2 (interview a leader — in Blackboard). Review vocabulary list for First Exam. Complete the First Exam Review Exercise (in Blackboard).	Complete First Exam (in Blackboard). Complete first quotations exit exercise.
5	Feb. 5	Read Chapter 4, Inside Reporting ("Reporting basics"). Read class notes on interviewing. Read JRN 2201 Attribution Notes. Read the email exchange between Troy University student Caleb Odom and ESPN reporter Kevin Van Valkenburg about a magazine story on NFL player Andrew Luck. You can find the story that Van Valkenburg wrote here. Reminder: Did you read Tips about Story 2? This was part of the Story 2 assignment. Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-J. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *By Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.:* Complete the Andrew Luck readings exercise (in Blackboard under Assessments). You must get at least seven out of eight answers right. Read "The Final Barrier: 50 years later, segregation still exists" from The Crimson White, the University of Alabama student newspaper. Make a list of all the sources that the writers apparently used. Identify each source as named or anonymous; upload your list of sources in Blackboard under Assignments. *Thursday:* Complete Quiz 3 (in Blackboard). The password will be given in Tuesday's class. Story 2 deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Friday (optional drafts are due 48 hours earlier, on Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.) *Optional exercises:* The following exercises are recommended but not graded. You can find them in Blackboard. You do not have to be in the J-Lab to complete optional exercises. _ AP Style Section F Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section G Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section H Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section I Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section J Optional Exercise *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details).	Learn how to lower your grade. Discuss email exchange between Caleb Odom and Kevin Van Valkenburg as an example of how to get details and write about them. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 3. Discuss this: Almost every story needs one or more nonstudent sources. Discuss the importance of details and anecdotes (storytelling). Assign Story 3 (multiple sources — in Blackboard). Complete first quotations exit exercise if you did not do so in Thursday's class.	No class Thursday (but you must take Quiz 3 online)
6	Feb. 12	Read Chapter 5, Inside Reporting ("Covering the news"). Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-P. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *By Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.:* Complete identification of Story 3 (in Blackboard under Assignments). No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Discuss how The Crimson White covered the sorority segregation story (link is in Week 5). We will use your list of sources in the discussion. Discuss Story 3. Complete Exercise 4. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 4.	Discuss writing obituaries. Assign Story 4 (your own obituary). Complete Quiz 4.
7	Feb. 19	Read class notes on writing obits. Read “When Death Comes, and the Obituary Quickly Follows” from The New York Times. Read at least two of the following New York Times obituaries: _ Leonard Nimoy (Spock of “Star Trek”) _ The inventor of the bar code _ Reporter Helen Thomas _ Dear Abby (Pauline Phillips) _ Media columnist David Carr _ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-T. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. Deadline for optional drafts of Story 3: 11:59 p.m. on Monday Story 3 deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday *Optional items:* For a recent discussion of journalistic obituary writing, listen to "The Obit Beat," an 11-minute report aired in September 2014 on the public radio program "On the Media." The following exercises are recommended but not graded. You can find them in Blackboard. You do not have to be in the J-Lab to complete optional exercises. _ AP Style Section K Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section L Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section M Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section N Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section O Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section P Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section Q Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section R Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section S Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section T Optional Exercise *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details).	Assign final project (in Blackboard under Assignments). Discuss brites. Discuss anecdotal ledes. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 5. Complete second quotations exit exercise.	Each student brings a published anecdotal lede to class and explains it to the group: (1) Read the lede. (2) Tell us what the main point of the story is and how the lede ties into it. Which of these is the better news story? —A woman had a baby ... —Father says Utah hospital ... Complete Quiz 5 (in Blackboard).
8	Feb. 26	Read Chapter 6, Inside Reporting ("Beyond breaking news"). Read class notes on Writing Features and Brites. Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-Z. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. Deadline for drafts of Story 4: 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday Story 4 deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Friday *By 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28:* Complete the final project identification (in Blackboard under Assignments). *By 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 3:* Submit an example of an anecdotal lede, following the instructions given under Assignments in Blackboard. *Optional exercises:* The following exercises are recommended but not graded. You can find them in Blackboard. You do not have to be in the J-Lab to complete optional exercises. _ AP Style Section U Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section V Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section W Optional Exercise _ AP Style Section XYZ Optional Exercise _ Optional Working with Verbs Exercise *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details).	Class will not meet either Tuesday or Thursday because the professor will be teaching for Troy in Malaysia. Use this time to do the following: —Complete all assignments, including those in the column to the left. —Submit optional drafts through Blackboard. —Do assigned readings, and catch up with any readings that you missed. —Get a good start on your final project. Make your plans; start doing interviews; adjust your plans based on what you learned from your interviews. —Prepare for what we’ll do after spring break, including Story 5, which will be written in class on Tuesday, March 14. —Watch your email and Blackboard for news and assignments from the professor. The professor may not be available by cellphone, but you can reach him through email. He will be monitoring your progress and grading papers through Blackboard.
9	March 5	SPRING BREAK (no classes)
10	March 12	Read "Covering a speech." Read “A lament for Gary Dickey” and “Freedom of speech for all?” — Tropolitan stories published in 2014 about Troy State College’s effort in 1967 to expel Dickey, a Tropolitan editor, regarding an editorial he wanted to publish. A federal judge sided with the student. Dickey’s lawyer, Morris Dees, will speak on campus next week, and you will cover it. Read the description of the Southern Poverty Law Center from its website. Also read about our speaker, Morris Dees, SPLC’s co-founder and chief trial attorney. Read The Associated Press Stylebook, A-Z plus Sports section. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *Optional exercises:* Do you know what makes a good tweet? Take The New York Times' quiz. No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Discuss what we can learn from Story 4. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 6. Write Story 5 in class (brite — in Blackboard). For tips about writing this story, click here.	In class discussion, each student will share his or her ideas for the final project with the teacher and class. Be prepared to describe briefly (1) your idea, (2) possible sources of information and comments and (3) what you’ve learned from your interviewees so far. Discuss how to cover a speech. In many ways, a speech story resembles a meeting story. Assign Story 7 (covering Morris Dees’ speech on Wednesday, March 22). Complete Quiz 6 (in Blackboard).
11	March 19 (Morris Dees: March 22)	Work on your final project. Read Chapter 8, Inside Reporting ("Online reporting"). Read What GateHouse Media expects from multimedia journalists. Read Twitter writing tips for mobile news reporting. Read the Social Media Guidelines in the back of The Associated Press Stylebook. Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *Wednesday, March 22:* Cover Morris Dees’ speech on campus, and write Story 7. Start your story, writing at least the lede. Bring what you’ve written to class Thursday as a Microsoft Word file. Story 7 deadline: 11:59 p.m. on Friday. *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details). Morris Dees	Discuss digital journalism, including social media. Professor gives his observations from visiting AL.com and the Montgomery Advertiser and reports on what Associated Press reporter Jay Reeves told an earlier JRN 2201 class. Discuss instructions for Wednesday’s speech story (Story 7). Review two vocabulary lists for Quiz 7. Complete Exercise 5.	Discuss Morris Dees’ Wednesday speech. Work on Story 7 in class. Complete Quiz 7 (in Blackboard). Review vocabulary list for Quiz 8.
12	March 26	Work on your final project. Read Chapter 7, Inside Reporting ("Law and Ethics"). Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Read covering corporate earnings reports. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	First individual story conferences on final projects: Class will not meet in the classroom, but each student will meet with the teacher in his office at a specified time during the class period. To find your time, click here. You must speak with at least two of your sources before meeting with the teacher.	Discuss law and ethics. Discuss how to prepare multimedia sections of final projects, including cutlines and other text. Complete Quiz 8 (in Blackboard).
13	April 2	Work on your final project. Read Chapter 9, Inside Reporting ("Broadcast journalism"). Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *By 11:59 p.m. on Friday:* Submit mandatory drafts for final project. You must submit drafts of two stories through Blackboard. (There is a special portal for these drafts; do not use SUBMIT DRAFTS HERE.) No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Write Story 8 in class (writing on a deadline — in Blackboard).	Discuss broadcast journalism. Review vocabulary list for Quiz 9. Work on final projects in class.
14	April 9	Work on your final project. Read Chapter 10, Inside Reporting ("Public relations"). Read The one thing you should never ask a reporter prior to an interview (from Muck Rack Daily, Oct. 11, 2016). Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Second individual story conferences on final projects: Class will not meet in the classroom, but each student will meet with the teacher in his office at a specified time during the class period. To find your time, click here. Bring paper copies of both your main story and your sidebar, as marked by the teacher.	Discuss writing for public relations. Complete Quiz 9 (in Blackboard).
15	April 16	Work on your final project. Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. Deadline for final project: Friday, April 21, 11:59 p.m. You must submit final versions of two stories and a multimedia element. Submit these three items through Blackboard. No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Review two vocabulary lists for final exam.	No class Thursday (work on your final project)
16	April 23	Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *Before Thursday’s class:* Read at pulitzer.org and elsewhere about the 2017 Pulitzer Prizes for journalism (not the ones for letters, drama and music), which were announced April 10. Read the winning story or stories in at least one category of your choice, and be prepared to answer these questions concisely in class Thursday: 1. Describe the story or stories briefly, and tell where they were published. 2. What was the main point? 3. Where did the journalists get their information, and how did they present it to the readers? 4. What did you learn from the story or stories that will be useful to journalists who want to produce work that makes a difference and wins recognition? *By Sunday at the end of the week:* Complete your blogging assignment for this week (see Blackboard for details). *Another event this week:* Thursday, April 27: HSJC annual forensics tournament, Trojan Center Theatre (informative speech, persuasive speech, prose, poetry, storytelling, Spanish prose, Spanish poetry)	Students report orally in class on what they learned from final projects about (1) the subjects of their stories and (2) how to research and write stories. Discuss exercises from textbook on sources, quotations and ledes.	Students report orally on 2016 Pulitzer Prizes (see directions at left). Work on the final exam writing practice exercise.
17	April 30	Review for final exam. Read The Associated Press Stylebook. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, and contribute at least twice this week to #jlabnews. *By Tuesday, May 2:* Report on your #jlabnews tweets during the semester (in Blackboard under Assignments). No blogging assignment is due at the end of this week.	Review for final exam. (Professor's notes are here.) (Last class day of semester)	No class
Final exam		Review for final exam. Follow current events, including #jlabnews, in preparation for your final exam.	Final exam will be in the journalism lab: _ For the class section that normally meets at 11:30 a.m., the exam will be Tuesday, May 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. _ For the class section that normally meets at 1 p.m., the exam will be Thursday, May 4, from 5 to 7 p.m.

RESOURCES

Top 10 ways to lower your grade on a story

Starting & writing a story

New York Times

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