PPS 367S, Spring 2018
Tuesdays, 3:05 – 5:35 p.m.
Weekly Story Assignments and Readings
(Subject to change)

Week 1 (January 16)

Introductions and Overview; Style; Writing; Special Assignments, What is Newswriting?

Duke Reader Project intro

Week 2 (January 23)Journalism History and Why it Matters

Readings:

  • Harrower, Chap. 1 and 2, Chap. 5, pp. 96-97.
  • “The Press” by Peter Andrews. Available on Sakai under Weekly Readings.
  • Chap. 5 on “Covering Speeches,” pp. 106-107

Assignment:

  • Write an obituary (due Monday, January 22 at 3 p.m.)

Group A

Week 3 (January 30) Writing News Stories – the Structure

Readings:

  • Harrower, Chap. 3 and 4

Assignments:

  • Write story on any public lecture, use additional sources (due Monday, January 29 at 3 p.m.)
  • Find any journalist’s blog and come to class prepared to analyze it

Group B

Week 4 (February 6) Finding Stories

Readings:

  • Harrower, Chap. 6, Chap. 10
  • “Not Quite a Reporter” Tim Stelloh, New York Times, January 23, 2011.
  • Bloggers as journalists:

Not required, but interesting:

Re-thinking Objectivity by Brent Cunningham, Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2003 (on Sakai under Weekly Readings)

Assignment:

  • Enterprise Campus Story; find a story about anything on campus. It cannot be another lecture, but could be about the person, research or controversy surrounding an event.NOTE: Duke Reader Project Assignment (Due to Duke Reader by class time on February 6; if you are not taking part in the program, you will have extra time to complete the assignment). Write it as if you were submitting it for an online publication. Include links and a visual element (graphic, photo, video)

Week 5 (February 13)Interviews

Visit by General Martin Dempsey

Readings:

  • Harrower, Chap. 4, pp. 78-85
  • Quotes:

Assignments:

  • Enterprise story with Duke Reader comments integrated (due Monday, February 12, at 3 p.m.)
  • Blog assignment; Prepare a blog post [sidebar] for your interview story
  • Listen to Teri Gross interview (on Sakai under Weekly Readings). Be prepared to comment on it in class. Come to class with 3 interview questions you heard during the program. At least one should be a good question and another a bad question and explain why you thought they were good or bad.

Group A

Week 6 (February 20) Journalistic Writing & Journalists and New Technologies

Readings:

  • (Article about Remapping the Debate)
  • Readings: Harrower, Chap. 4, pp. 72-73 and Chap. 8
  • Read “The State of the News Media” at Read essays under Newspapers and Digital Developments.
  • Online harassment

Assignment:

  • Do a story based on the group interview we do with Gen. Dempsey; use additional sources, (due Monday, February 19, at 3 p.m.)

Group B

Week 7 (February 27) Localizing News

Covering Social Issues

Readings:

  • iPod listening: Kenya Report, International High School Report (we’ll do this in class).
  • NYTimes Series on "How Race is Lived in America" (Read one or two of the stories and be prepared to comment on them)
  • "Too Much Information" by SharynWizda

Assignments:

  • Write a story on a social issue and write it as if you were submitting it for an online publication. Include links and a visual element (graphic, photo, video). Use Harrower, Chap. 8 as a guideline (due Monday, February 26, at 3 p.m.)

Group A

Week 8 (March 6) Editing and Editors/Beats

Readings:

  • IPod Content: On the Media, November 10, 2006, “Journalists as People” (Start at 34:00) Available at down this page to link.

Covering Economics and Business

  • iPod listening: Iraqi Corruption (we’ll do this in class).
  • Daniel Okrent, "The Quote, the Whole Quote and Nothing but the Quote" January 4, 2004, The New York Times (on Sakai under Weekly Readings)

Assignment:

  • Write a story on an economics-related topic (not simply a business profile) and write it as if you were submitting it for an online publication. Include links and a visual element (graphic, photo, video). Due to your Duke Reader by class time. NOTE: Duke Reader Project Assignment
  • Read news articles in a newspaper or online and find five examples of AP Style Guide errors, due by class time Wednesday to Prof. Rogerson. You must find 5 different errors and list the AP style entry where you would find the correct usage.

Group B

Week 9 (March 13) NO CLASS -- SPRING BREAK

Week 10 (March 20)Deadlines

Assignment:

  • Press conference and story in class. Bring a recording device to class and way to listen after you have recorded the conference.

Week 11 (March 27)Covering Politics

Readings:

  • Yopp and Haller, Chapter 13, “Elections and Polls” (Available on Sakai under Weekly Readings)
  • “When the Government Tells Lies” by Anthony Marro, Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 1985, pp. 29-41 (Available on Sakai under Weekly Readings)
  • “Get Real,” by Sinead O’Brien,
  • David Mindich, “For Journalists Covering Trump, A Murrow Moment”,

Not Required, but interesting:

  • “Tales from the Trail,” by James McCartney

Covering Local Government

Readings:

  • iPod listening: Mexico Report (We’ll do this in class).
  • Readings: Harrower, Chap. 5 on “Covering Meetings” and “Covering Politics,” pp. 108-111.
  • "Anonymous Sources, Slippery Slopes" by Mike Hoyt (Available on Sakai in Weekly Readings)

Assignment:

  • Finish your story on an economics-related topic (not simply a business profile) and write it as if you were submitting it for an online publication. Include the Duke Reader comments. Include links and a visual element (graphic, photo, video) (due on Monday, March 26, at 3 p.m.)

Group A

Week 12 (April 3) Covering Courts and Crime

Readings:

  • iPod listening: On The Media, May 26, 2006, starting at minute 25:12, “Prime Number.”
  • Readings: Harrower, Chap. 5 on “Covering Accidents and Disasters,” “Covering Fires,” “Covering Crime” and “Covering Courts,” pp. 98-105.

Assignments:

  • Write a story on local politics or government. Attend a local public meeting (such as a city/county council meeting or a local school board meeting) (due Monday, April 2, at 3 p.m.)
  • Memo on Final story (short paragraph or outline with list of potential sources)

Week 13 (April 10) All the President’s Men

Reading:

Woodward and Bernstein: 40 years after Watergate, Nixon was far worse than we thought

Assignments:

  • Over the next week write a journalistic blog post about this movie

Group B

Week 14 (April 17)Investigative Reporting/ Media Law

Readings:

  • TBD

Assignments:

  • Write a story on crime or courts. Go to court or police station. Do some background work on the story (due Tuesday, April 18, at 3 p.m.) Include links and a graphic element that YOU create.
  • Write a blog post that is a sidebar story about the public meeting or your visit to the court/police station

Group A

Week 15 (April 24) Media Criticism and Media Ethics

Readings:

  • Harrower, Chap. 7
  • Ken Auletta, “Whom Do Journalists Work For?” Available on Sakai under Weekly Readings
  • Go to “On the Media” and listen to one program from the past couple of months.

Assignment:

  • Write an obituary (due Tuesday, April 25 at 3 p.m.)

GroupB

Final Paper due: Wednesday, May 3, 2017, 5 pm

1,500-word news article with at least 3 interviews (or more), other document sources and one visual element, photo, video or graphic (if you have not done video by this time, you must do video for this assignment).