J310: Writing, Reporting & Ethics III

Syllabus
Fall 2015
** EMAILED ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

ONLINE RESOURCES
MOODLE: https://moodle.csun.edu
JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT: http://www.csun.edu/journalism

THE COURSE:
This class is designed to introduce you to the basics of feature writing and specialty journalism.
You will also learn in-depth reporting skills and review the various ethical issues pertaining to
long-form journalism.
PREREQUISITES:

A C or better in Journalism 210

Basic English/grammar and computer

TEXTS/SUPPLIES:
1. Feature and Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes, 3rd Edition,
by David E. Sumner, Holly G. Miller
2. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefs on Media Law, latest edition
3. Dreamers: An Immigrant Generations Fight for Their American Dream by
Eileen Truax
(For Required Class Assignment)
4. Selected magazine articles made available during the semester.
5. A means of saving a copy of your in-class work.
6. Student Response Apps Nearpod, Socrative, Remind (others may be added); all are free for
iPhone, iPad and Android devices
Optional (But strongly recommended):
1. Writers Market, recent edition

2. The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White; or similar grammar book
3. A recent edition dictionary

CLASS STRUCTURE:
BEFORE CLASS: Reading Assignments and PowerPoints will be posted in advance. It is YOUR
responsibility to complete the required reading and Powerpoint Summaries BEFORE class.
DURING CLASS: During the first 45 minutes of class, you will complete your Journal entries
plus an AP Style Quiz. Most weeks we will do a quiz-style review of the assigned reading. Then,
there will be a related in-class writing assignment
OUT OF CLASS: You will report and write the three main stories for this class.

COPY PREPARATION & SUBMISSION:

1. All writing exercises must be uploaded to your designated folder on Moodle by the designated
due date in a basic text or Adobe .pdf format.
2. All assignments must be typed and double-spaced with paragraphs indented at least five
spaces. Stories that dont meet these criteria will NOT be graded.
3. All spelling/typing errors must be corrected and you must adhere to AP Style and standard
Proofreading Symbols. Your grade on each assignment will be lowered significantly if the article
contains spelling and/or news style errors. (Also see grades section.)
4. Stories and other assignments MUST be uploaded to the designated eCompanion folder by the
assigned Deadline. Stories/Assignments submitted AFTER the deadline risk not being graded at
all or having points subtracted.

ATTENDANCE:

Attendance will be monitored by keeping tabs on your weekly in-class assignments since
you will have one every week.
Three or more unexcused absences, missed assignments and/or underdeveloped writing skills
due to absenteeism will significantly lower your grade. For example, an "A" student's grade
could drop to a "B" or lower due to excessive absences.
University policy defines an excused absence as illness/injury, family death/emergency,
religious holiday, jury duty/other government obligation or a CSUN- sanctioned activity.
You must submit verifiable proof to have an absence excused.
You will NOT be able to make up missed in-class assignments.

CLASS CONDUCT:

Students who are DISTRACTED/PRE-OCCUPIED by mobile devices and social media

risk not knowing what is going on. BE WARNED: Class will proceed whether you are
paying attention or not.
No exceptions.
There should not be ANY private conversations during lectures.
Cell phones and pagers must be on silent alert.
Questions are strongly encouraged, but please be courteous to your fellow students by
raising your hand.

WORKLOAD
Weekly Journal:

Each week you will be required to post 100 to 150 words about anything that is of interest to
you: how your week was, an unusual experience you've had, something you're excited
about, frustrations, etc.
The goal is to simply write.
You will not be graded on what you say. You will get credit for turning in a printout of each
weeks Journal entry. This must be printed directly from your Journal, and include the
date stamp and your name.

AP Style Exercises/In-Class Quizzes:

Quizzes / AP Style Exercises: Before each class, you MUST complete ONE of the AP
Style exercises posted on the Class Webpage. These are self-graded but must be printed and
turned in each week with your Blog entry. There will also be periodic quizzes about the
required reading assignments: Feature & Magazine Writing and the book for the semester,
Why Americans Hate the Media .

Three 1,500-word (about six (6) pages) feature-style, publishable articles are required for
this class:

Special Interest: A story on a specialty topic such as fitness, culture, travel, business,
religion, fashion, music. This article must include at least two live sources (interviews).

Profile: An in-depth word portrait of an interesting person. At least two other people
besides the person being profiled must be interviewed. In addition, you MUST submit one
of the following, which will be posted online: audio recording of the main interview; photos
or video. (Discussed in more detail on the class Webpage and lecture/demonstration.)

News-Trend Feature: A story with a clearly defined news peg about an aspect of
community or society that has changes or evolved over time. This story must include at
least four live sources (interviews). In addition, you will need to submit a Query Letter (to
be discussed later) with both the draft and the completed version of this article.

GRADES:
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Breakdown

Feature Story #1 =
Feature Story (Profile + Multimedia) =
In-class assignments =
Weekly Journals =
Maintain Journal =
AP Quizzes =
MidFinal =
Book Review =
Final story/Project =

150
150
140 (10 each)
140 (10 each)
06
14 (1 each)
100
100
200
1000 Points

ERROR - POINT DEDUCTIONS

(Writing Assignments)

AP Style/Spelling -Lack of Originality --Failure to Follow Directions -Inaccuracy -Awkward Writing/Sentence Structure --

10
10
20
50
50

EXTRA CREDIT = There will be limited to no opportunities for Extra Credit.

If such opportunities DO arise, you STILL CAN NOT earn more than 1000
points for the semester.
GRADE SCALE
Points
A

Percentage
940 -1000 points

Performance
Excellent Work

A-

900 - 939

Nearly Excellent Work

B+

870 - 899

Very Good Work

830 -869

Good Work

B-

800 - 829

Mostly Good Work

C+

770 - 799

Above Average Work

730 - 769

Average Work
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GRADE SCALE
Points
C-

Percentage
700 - 729

Performance
Mostly Average Work

D+

670 - 699

Below Average Work

630 - 669

Poor Work

D-

600 - 629

Very Poor Work

less than 600

Failing Work

COURSE OUTCOME:
After completing this course, students will have gained competency in three areas:
Writing skills
Ability to organize and write a longer story for multiple sources
Understanding of explanatory or narrative writing, advocacy writing and featuring
writing, including slice of life, profiles, etc.
A working knowledge of how to submit feature ideas and articles to various media
outlets
A basic understanding of the Associated Press Stylebook
Reporting skills
Ability to locate and interview multiple sources on and off campus for a single story
Ability to collect and analyze documents from both and online sources
Ability to generate story ideas
Understanding of ethics
New Media skills
Understanding of Social Media
Ability to create and use a basic Blogging platform
Ability to use modern technical devices to gather information

OTHER POLICIES:
Honesty The Journalism Department of California State University, Northridge is committed
to the highest standards of academic excellence and integrity. Plagiarism and other forms of
cheating will not be tolerated. Anyone caught cheating will be reported to the Dean of Students
possible action and will receive a failing grade in the class. For a further explanation of the
behavior defined as academic dishonesty, and a more detailed discussion of disciplinary
procedures, consult the section of the CSUN University Catalog on Academic Dishonesty:
http://www.csun.edu/catalog/policies/academic-dishonesty/
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Also, please remember that most the information posted on the Internet is protected by
U.S. copyright laws. Passing this information off as your own is a violation of CSUN's plagiarism
policy and carries the penalties outlined above.
PUT ANOTHER WAY: All of your written work for this class should be in your own words,
not copied from a book/magazine/newspaper or the Internet. When words/work from other
sources are used, the information should be credited to the proper source.
Diversity Students in this course are strongly encouraged to broaden their journalistic
experiences, with the instructor's help, by including sources and subjects from a variety of ethnic,
racial and religious backgrounds; senior citizens; the disabled and poor; gay men and lesbians; and
similar groups. The intent is to ensure that your work reflects the diversity of the community.
A stated commitment to cultural diversity in journalistic work is as relevant in a
photography or graphics course as it is in a reporting class. In addition, the statement applies to the
practicum courses and their related publications and or broadcasts, and should be adapted to
accommodate other courses and special offerings not mentioned here.
DEPARTMENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
The Department of Journalism strives to prepare its students to become well-educated,
principled citizens who are capable of initiating careers as skilled journalists, public relations
practitioners and other related communication professionals.
Students will be able to write for a diverse audience, using proper grammar and
punctuation, word usage and spelling, sentence and storytelling structures across multiple
journalistic formats.

Students will be able to gather and analyze information, including basic numerical
concepts, using journalistic storytelling techniques, such as interviewing, observation, and
researching primary and secondary sources.

Students will be able to think critically, creatively and independently.

Students will demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work

ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness, and diversity.

Students will apply tools and technologies appropriate for the news media professions in
which they work to communicate for and with diverse audiences.
Students will be able to understand and apply the historical, theoretical, legal and societal contexts
for producing news media for consumers, ranging from local to global.

YOUR CONTRACT

This syllabus clearly outlines the conditions and parameters of this class. Please review it
carefully and keep a copy for reference. Acknowledgement of its contents implies an
agreement by you to abide by the standards set forth within.

COURSE OUTLINE:
All reading assignments are from Feature & Magazine Writing unless otherwise
noted. Schedule may be changed/adjusted to accommodate unforeseen
circumstances.
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Overview
Week 1 /Aug. 22

Introduction/Review Syllabus; class survey

Create online journal; first journal entry = personal essay
Homework Chapters 6 & 15; Bring a magazine for class

Week 2/Aug. 29

Weekly Journal #1/AP Quiz

Class discussion: Magazines
Class Exercise: Magazine Analysis
Homework Chapters 1, 3 & 7

Week 3/Sept. 5

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Week4/Sept. 12

Week 5/Sept. 19

Skills Building

Weekly Journal#2/AP Quiz

Story ideas; Query letters
Class Exercise
Homework Chapter 14 & 16
Weekly Journal #3/AP Quiz
Writing Special Interests; Review assignment guidelines
Learning to lead; exploring options for writing feature leads.
Class Exercise
Homework Chapters 8, 10

Week 6/Sept. 26

Weekly Journal #4/AP Quiz

Organizing your story; Class Exercise
Homework Chapter 5; Online Story Review

Week 7/Oct. 3

Weekly Journal #5/AP Quiz

(Draft) Article No. 1 Due: Special Interest w/ Query Letter
Interviewing: getting great information for your feature story.
Class Exercise
Homework Chapters 2 & 4

Week 8/Oct. 10

Weekly Journal #6/AP Quiz

Keeping it legal: legal, copyright and ethical issues.
Class Exercise.
Homework Chapters 10 & 12

Feature Stories
Week 9/Oct. 17

Weekly Journal #7/AP Quiz

(Final) Article No. 1 Due: Special Interest w/ Query Letter
People Profiling: creating a memorable portrait of a person.
Class Exercise.
Homework Chapter 19
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Week 10/Oct. 24

Weekly Journal #8/AP Quiz

Grammar; Style
Class Exercise
Homework Chapters 9 & 13

Week 11/Oct. 31

Weekly Journal #9/AP Quiz

Finding your Nut Graph; Finding Place
Class Exercise
Homework: - Online Story Review

Week 12/Nov. 7

Weekly Journal #10/AP Quiz

(Draft) Article No. 2 Due: Profile w/ Query Letter
Using Language to bring your story to life;
Class Exercise
Homework Study for MidFinal

Week 13/Nov. 14

MidFinal Exam
Homework Finish Profile

Week 14/Nov. 21

Weekly Journal #11/AP Quiz

(Final) Article No.2 Due: Profile w/ Query Letter
Express Yourself; Writing opinion pieces
Homework Finish reading Dreamers

Nov. 28

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Week 15/Dec. 5

Weekly Journal #12/AP Quiz

You be the judge: reviewing books, plays, films, etc.
In Class Book Review: "Dreamers"
Homework Finish Final Article
LAST CLASS

Finals Week/Dec. 12

No Final Exam,
(Your Final Article (the news feature) is due on Moodle)

FYI: Final Grades Due by Dec. 22

* Email responses only