Prof. Mary W. Quigley
Reporting New York, summer 2017
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m
20 Cooper Square, room 655
Syllabus
The only way to learn journalism is by doing journalism and that’s what we will do in this course. The goal is to give you as much research, reporting and writing as we can pack into a 6-week session. You will learn how to produce journalism—tell stories—in a number of different forms: as hard news stories, as feature articles, as blog posts, and as a Tweet or an Instagram or a Snapchat. You will be writing at least one and often two pieces a week.
Using New York City as the classroom, you’ll have an adventure in the process. You will interview strangers, travel unknown city streets, attend media events, meet newsmakers, encounter some only-in-New York characters.
You will be required to set up your own website to publish your work and use social media accounts to share with a wider audience. The class will have a Twitter hashtag, an Instagram account and a YouTube channel. By July you will have a professional online portfolio with news stories and features, audio, photos and video to help launch your personal journalism brand.
Requirements:
- You will have an outside assignment every week that involves going out to interview someone, cover an event, or write some other form of news/feature story.
- In-class assignments. We will be writing almost every class, mostly working on deadline. Sometimes it will be an in-class exercise; other time you will be sent out during class.
- You will have a news quiz every Thursday to assure that you are keeping up with important news events happening around the city and the nation.
- If you must miss class, please notify me by email or text before the class begins. More than two absences will affect your performance in class, and therefore your grade.
- Deadlines are crucial to good journalism. Failure to meet your deadlines with assignments will result in deductions from your grade.
- In lieu of a final examination, you will write a 750-word feature story that has a news hook.
Assignments
All assignments are listed on the syllabus. They are usually due Wednesdays at 9 a.m. as an email attachment.
If your assignment is late, even by an hour, you will be downgraded. You will be graded for research, reporting and writing, as well as spelling and grammar. Fact-checking: On the last page of every assignment, list the names and phone or email contact information for your sources and cite the articles or books quoted (writer, publication, date published, headline or title.)
When you e-mail your work please name the attachment with your last name first followed by the name of the assignment. EG: Quigley-summer
You are expected to use AP style for all your assignments.
You are required to take a photo to accompany each assignment. Please post your photos on the class Instagram account with a caption and your name on the class account at Instagram: user name: coopsq20, pw: bowery.
In addition to the format there are several other requirements. Every story needs a headline: in fact two. One clever for a print publication, and the other designed for optimal SEO on the web.
Weekly schedule:
This is an tentative outline; a detailed syllabus will follow for enrolled students.
Tuesday 5/23
What is news; news judgment
In class: Observation assignment, iconic New York
Thursday, 5/25
Interviewing, sourcing
Out-of-class assignment: tourism feature due 5/31
Tuesday, 5/30
Writing hard news stories; in-class exercises
Leads: news and feature; nut grafs
Thursday, 6/1
In-class: Writing on deadline and cover AP daybook event
Out-of-class assignment: Profile a local establishment due 6/7
Tuesday, 6/6
Research
Social media; website
Covering crime
Thursday, 6/8
Visit criminal courts
Out-of-class assignment: Cover night court due 6/14
Tuesday, 6/13
Writing for the web; iPhone photo techniques
Thursday 6/16
In class deadline assignment: Flag day MOS; 9/11 Memorial or Union Square Trump presidency using Instagram and Humans-of-New York style captions)
Out-of-class: seasonal web page due 6/21
Tuesday, 6/20
Multimedia training: audio and snapchat
Thursday, 6/22
Pitch final piece
In-class assignment: multimedia
Out-of-class assignment: draft one final piece due 6/28
Tuesday, 6/27
Editing and workshopping
Out-of-class assignment: Draft 2 final piece due June 30
Thursday, 6/29
Website and multimedia presentations
Final workshop
1