Writing
for the Electronic Media
School of Journalism
and Mass Communication
JOMC-121.1, Spring 2009
Monday, Wednesday 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., Carroll Hall
132
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Professor: Tom Linden, M.D. 328 Carroll Hall 919-962-4078 e-mail: linden at unc dot edu
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Office Hours: Wednesday, 3:00 p.m.
- 3:50 p.m., or by appointment
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Teaching Assistant: Audrey Hill Electronic Communication suite email:
audreyh at email dot unc dot edu
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Office Hours:
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JOMC-121 cannot be taken
concurrently with any course in which the lab or group meeting conflicts with
JOMC-121 time periods.
Be sure your registration
is up to date. If you are not officially registered for JOMC-121 by Wed.,
Jan. 21, 2009, you will not be permitted to continue to attend class.
National Standards:
The standard expected of
every student enrolled in the School's JOMC-121 sections is at the level of
national excellence. By the time you complete JOMC-121 you will be a competent
broadcast news writer.
The Discipline and The
Course:
The study of broadcast
journalism combines the skills of news writing, reporting and radio production. To succeed in the course, you'll need
to achieve competence in all three areas. JOMC-121 is the first course in the broadcast journalism sequence
which consists of JOMC-120, JOMC-121, JOMC-421 and JOMC-422. All four courses
are required to complete the Electronic Communication Sequence in the School.
If you're an electronic communication major, you should take JOMC-121 concurrently
with JOMC-120.
Oral Communication Component:
No prerequisite exists
for oral communication skills. Unlike many courses in the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication, this course includes an oral communication component. You cannot receive a passing grade in
this course if your oral communication skills are deficient. If you have any doubts about your ability
to achieve competency in this area before completing the course, check now
with the instructor.
Basic Objectives:
Basic objectives of JOMC-121
include the following:
Equipment:
Digital Recorder:
You will need to purchase
a
Rewritable CDs:
You will need a supply
of CDs for submission of your audio stories.
Attendance/Punctuality:
As in the broadcast industry,
punctuality and meeting deadlines are not just important, they are essential.
For our purposes, being late is the same as being absent. If
you are late for class, please do not come. You can count that as one of your
two absences. Three unexcused absences will result in your not receiving
a passing grade in the course. If you accumulate three unexcused absences,
you can be dropped from the course at the instructor's discretion.
I do understand that there are real emergencies (like the death of a family
member or hospitalization). However, if you won't be in class, please
notify me in advance
of class by telephone or e-mail. I also expect that you'll stay for the entire
class period. If you need to
leave early, please let me know in advance. (Just a reminder: this class is
designed to give you the fundamental skills that you'll need for a job in
broadcasting. One of those skills
is the ability to hit a deadline. Consider
the start of this class as your first deadline.)
Inclement Weather:
In the event of inclement
weather, please check your e-mail and/or the UNC
Web site to see if class has been canceled.
Stories and Assignments:
Stories and assignments
are due at the start of class.
Submitted Assignments:
All assignments must be
word-processed. No assignment will be accepted in longhand, and no longhand
marks are to appear on the front of any submission. Please be sure to double space your script which should be written
in a sans serif font, either Arial or Geneva. On the back of each assignment,
please write (longhand permissible) the name and phone number of each source
whom you interview for your story. Failure
to list your sources and their phone numbers on the back of your assignment
will result in a 20-point deduction. You can expect at least one written and/or
audio assignment every other week.
Your E-mail Address:
Every enrolled student
in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication is required to have a UNC e-mail address. Check your e-mail
often, and always within 24 hours before class.
Syllabus:
Please check your syllabus
before each class. The schedule and/or assignments may change without your
being notified by e-mail. All
changes will be reflected in the online syllabus accessible
via Blackboard at
http://blackboard.unc.edu/ and also at:
http://www.unc.edu/~trl/syllabi/121.html
In-class Computer Use:
In class, computers are
to remain off at all times unless you are asked by the instructor to turn
them on.
Readings:
Students are responsible
for being informed at all times about national and international news events.
You can succeed in the
news profession only if you have an insatiable appetite for information and
are intelligently informed about major current events at all times.
Many classroom sessions
will start with a current events discussion gleaned from your reading of that
day’s or the previous day’s New York Times. Do
get in the habit of reading the New York Times each morning before class.
Daily
Newspaper Subscription:
The New York Times (Monday through Friday) is required reading. You can either subscribe to the print edition of the New York Times or read the newspaper online at www.nytimes.com. However, be advised that questions on quizzes will be taken from news stories on the front page of the print edition and from stories listed in the national and international news summaries on page 2 of the print edition. To subscribe at a reduced rate, please go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/student
You can request either home or lock box delivery of the paper at one of several
locations on campus. If you want to get the paper delivered M-F in a lock
box, enter the zip code of 27599 and be sure to choose the University of North
Carolina as your university. If the site asks for course number, just put
in the course number 121 and my name as professor. The site will request a credit card number if you want delivery either off-campus or on-campus at a lock
box. If you have problems with ordering the NYT, you can call 1-888-NYTCOLL
(1-888-698-2655).
Please keep your daily issue of the NYT for one week as questions for pop quizzes will come from recent issues as far back as a week.
Texts:
Kalbfeld, Brad, AP Broadcast News Handbook, The Associated Press, ©2001, ISBN #0-071-363882.
Bliss Jr., Edward and James L. Hoyt, Writing
News for Broadcast, Third Edition, Columbia University Press, New York,
©1994, ISBN #0-231-07973.
Supplementary
Text:
Tuggle,
C.A., Forrest Carr and Suzanne Huffman, Broadcast news Handbook,
Second Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, ©2003, ISBN
#0-07-285351-4.
In
addition to the assigned readings, supplementary reading materials may be
distributed in class.
Radio Newscasts:
Award-winning local and
national radio newscasts are heard on WUNC
(91.5 FM). The quality of your work in JOMC-121 is expected to be at the level
of National Public Radio. You’re
also encouraged to listen to This American
Life, an award-winning radio documentary series that airs
Friday at 7:00 p.m. on WUNC-FM and is repeated Saturday afternoon at 1:00
p.m.
Also, you should listen to the School's student radio newscast, Carolina Connection, broadcast Saturday mornings at 7:30 a.m. on WCHL 1360 AM. Throughout the semester you'll have an opportunity to pitch some of your best work to the Carolina Connection producers.
Missed Quizzes & Exams:
Grading Breakdown:
To receive a passing grade
in the course, you must receive a passing grade in all of the following graded
components:
1. Textbook exam.
2. Writing/reporting assignments.
3. Pop quizzes/current
events discussions.
4. Oral communication competency
(P/F).
You cannot receive a passing
grade in the course unless all assignments in the course are completed.
A test on the two text
books and other assigned reading will count for 20% of your final grade. A major feature assignment will count for 30% of your final
grade. Current events quizzes from the New York Times will count for
15% of your final grade. Reporting
assignments will count for 25% of your final grade. Classroom participation
will count for 10% of your final grade.
A numerical grade scale
will be used on all papers and tests.
Here are the letter equivalents:
FINAL GRADES
98 - 100 A+
94 - 97 A
91 - 93 A-
88 - 90 B+
84 - 87 B
81 - 83 B-
78 - 80 C+
74 - 77 C
71 - 73 C-
68 - 70 D+
64 - 67 D
61 - 63 D-
60 and below F
Late Assignments:
Late assignments (defined
as assignments not turned in at the beginning of class on the date due) will
be assessed a penalty of 10 points per day until the assignment is turned
in. An assignment that’s not turned
in within a week of its deadline will result in a zero grade for that assignment.
Notifying Sources:
Every source whom you contact
must be told at the outset of your conversation that she/he is being
interviewed for a story that may be used on the air. In interviews you must have the source's permission
to be quoted and/or recorded. It's the law, along with being an Honor
Code violation, if you do not follow this procedure. Also, as noted above, on the back page of each assignment,
please write the name and phone number of each source whom you interview for
any assignment.
Additional Considerations:
Stories receiving the highest
grades are ones displaying considerable intellectual depth, originality, creativity,
news value, and flawless writing and production.
All work must be original
and solely for this class. No assignment may be submitted for credit which
was prepared as part of any other class assignment.
Broadcasting is different
from print. A misspelled word among millions of words in a daily newspaper
may not be too serious. But in television broadcasting, a misspelled, character-generated,
on-screen word identifying a newsmaker or location, or a misspelled word on
a teleprompter script is far more significant. Remember, when you start working
in television news, you are often writing for three people -- yourself, the
anchor, and an individual in the listening or viewing audience. Therefore,
a misspelling of any word will result in a two-point deduction. Misspelling
of a proper name or a factual error will result in a 10-point deduction.
Under
no circumstances can a journalist fabricate a source, quote or sound bite.
Also, do not ask a source to stage a sound bite or have that source read a
bite from prepared text. A trained broadcast journalist will be able to
spot a canned sound bite. Be aware that staging is a form of fabrication.
The other major journalistic ethical violation is plagiarism, the act of passing
off another's words or ideas as your own.
Story Assignments:
(Assignments and CDs not
retrieved by the last day of class become the property of the School and may
be discarded.)
The instructor in the course
serves as a news director/executive producer with final determination over
the acceptability and quality of any story.
Weekly Schedule:
The following schedule
will change during the semester, depending on the time necessary to critique
individual writing assignments, production schedules, studio availability,
the coverage of current events, schedules of guest speakers and other factors.
- -- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Week #1 – Course expectations & ethics of broadcast journalism
Jan. 12: Introduction to the course
Assignment for next
class:
Listen to NPR WUNC 91.5.
Subscribe to the New
York Times.
Read the syllabus.
Jan. 14: Tips on
Buying Your Voice Recorder (Guest speaker: Dylan Field, UNC School of JOMC A-V Specialist)
& Ethics of Broadcast Journalism
v
Review
ethics readings and critique radio case studies from RTNDF, time permitting.
Assignment for next
class:
Week #2 – Ethics
of broadcast journalism
Jan. 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No Class)
Assignment for next
class:
Read "Leaps of Faith, and the Trouble That Followed," by Clark Hoyt, New York Times, published January 18, 2009.
Jan. 21: Ethics
of Broadcast Journalism (cont.)
v Review assigned articles.
v
Listen to Edward R. Murrow's CBS News radio
report, "Visit to West Somerset" in "A Reporter Remembers the
War Years" (AV 90015).
Assignment for next
class:
Read AP Broadcast News Handbook, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4.
At the First
Amendment Center web site,
Week #3 – Writing
for broadcast news
Jan. 26: Writing
for Broadcast News (cont.)
v
Review
ethics and First Amendment articles.
Assignment for next
class:
Read AP Broadcast News
Handbook, Chapters 5, 6, 7.
Read Bliss & Hoyt,
pp. 1 - 97.
Read “Loosening Lips”
by Eric Nalder.
Jan. 28: How to Get Great Sound
v Learn how to operate your digital recorder and microphone.
Assignment for next
class:
Read Bliss & Hoyt,
pp. 98
Review "Converting
.wma files" and "Final Cut Pro audio editing guide," both available
in Documents folder of Blackboard in either .doc or .docx formats.
Week #4 – Recording
& editing sound
Feb. 2: Tour of
Final Cut Pro & Audacity
Feb. 4:
v Review Bliss & Hoyt test and AP Broadcast News Handbook.
Assignment for next
class:
Week #5 – Writing
for broadcast news (cont.)
Feb. 9:
v
Review Bliss and Hoyt text.
Assignment for next
class:
Feb. 11: Guest lecture (Professor Ahmed Fadaam, former NY Times correspondent in Iraq and radio commentator for "The Story" on WUNC-FM and American Public Radio).
Assignment for next
class:
Radio field assignment #1 due Monday, Feb. 23.
Week #6 – How
to write a radio script
Feb. 16: How to write a radio script (use of natural sound & sound bites)
v Life's a Bike: Tour de Bronx.
Assignment:
Feb. 18: View "Dying
to Tell The Story,"
Assignment for next
class:
Read the pdf
file
Week #7 - Trauma
in journalism
Feb. 23: Conclude viewing of
v Discuss "Tragedies & Journalists" and dealing with covering traumatic events.
Study for exam.
Feb. 25: Final review
Radio field
assignment #2 due Wed., March 4.
Study for exam.
Week #8 – Reporting
March 2: Documentary
Production (Guest speaker: Corey
Ford, MBA; PBS FRONTLINE field producer; Stanford Institute of Design
Fellow; Head of Journalism Entrepreneurship Incubator)
Assignment for next
class:
Radio field
assignment #2 due Wed., March 4.
Study for exam.
March 4: Test over Bliss & Hoyt text, AP Broadcast News Handbook
(Chapters 1 through 7), Web readings and current events from the New York
Times.
v
Radio field assignment #2 due today.
v Listen to NPR report about Hurricane Floyd survivor, Anne Howell.
v "On the School Bus with Miss Fannion" by Noah Adams, NPR.
Assignment for next
class:
Enjoy spring break.
SPRING BREAK
(March 7 - 15)
Week #9 – Reporting
(cont.)
March 16: Guest speaker (Richard Griffiths, CNN Editorial Director)
Radio field
assignment #3 due Monday, March 23.
March 18: Class critique of assignment #2
Assignment for next
class:
Radio field
assignment #3 due Monday, March 23.
Week #10 – Feature stories
March 23: The basics of feature stories
v Radio field assignment #3 due today.
v Listen to NPR report about Nudging killer asteroids off course, A Father's Last Days, Mastodons in Manhattan.
Assignment for next class:
Radio field assignment #4 due Monday, March 30.
March 25: The basics of feature stories
v Watch "On The Road with Charles Kuralt" reports (only available on School of JOMC computers):Gandy Dancers (1973), Black Diamond Railcar (1983), Bicycle Man (1983).
v
Watch Holy
Hostel.
Assignment for next
class:
Radio field assignment #4 due Monday, March 30.
Three proposals for final project due Monday, March 30.
Read "Five Million Dead and Counting" by Michael J. Kavanagh in Slate.
Listen to Michael Kavanagh's story, "A Call to Rebels," NPR's On The Media.
Browse "Crisis in Congo" on World Focus and specifically watch the video "Pascal and Vestine are alive in Congo, but still not home" halfway down the page.
Week #11 – Feature
stories (cont.)
March 30: Crisis
reporting (Guest speaker: Michael
Kavanagh, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting)
v Radio field assignment #4 due today.
v Proposal for final project due today.
Assignment:
First 60 seconds of final project script (no CD) due
April 1: Essentials
of radio documentary
v
Listen to NPR reports: Witness
to an Execution and My
Lobotomy.
Assignment for next
class:
First 60 seconds of final project script (no CD) due
April 6:
Assignment for next
class:
Work on final project.
April 8: How to
put together a television script
Assignment for next
class:
Read Tuggle et al. Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10.
Week #13 –
April 13: How to
put together a television script
v
Writing for local television news
Assignment
for next class:
April 15: Presentation
of final class projects
v
Final class project due at beginning
of class.
Week #14 – Final
project presentations
April 20: Presentation
of final class projects
April 22: Presentation
of final class projects
Week #15 –
April 27: Class wrap-up & evaluation
Remember the following
points when preparing stories:
* The lead is critical.
* Make sure the announcer
intro contains sufficient content and is flawlessly written.
* Writing: Correct spelling,
grammar, structure, leads, etc.
* Writing flow: Mastering
the art of a good sounding story. Does the story flow well? Does it read well?
Always practice reading your story before you submit it to the instructor.
You'll catch many mistakes and improve the flow of the story.
* Audio quality: Are the
cuts clear and of professional quality?
* Production: Does the
natural sound fit well into the story?
* Delivery: Is your voice
quality the level of a professional-sounding announcer?
* News Value: Is the story
significant?
* On-air quality: Is the
story ready for airing?
All copy must be printed
on a laser or high-contrast printer and double-spaced.
Longhand marks of any kind
cannot appear on the copy of a story. (Your name and sources can be in longhand
on the back of the story.)
The CD with your assignment
should be labeled with the name of the reporter/student and the title of the
story written both on the CD and the CD box.
Take advantage of every
scholarship and award opportunity afforded to you in the School (and announced
weekly in the School's online newsletter). It takes initiative, but without
initiative you will not succeed. Winning any award/scholarship will enhance
your credentials.
Regardless of your proficiency
in oral communication skills, you are urged to take a course in voice and
diction (please see Prof. Cupp). Good oral communication skills and good writing
skills are the sine qua non of the industry. You can rarely get past
an interview, no matter what job you are applying for, unless you possess
strong oral and written communication skills. Unlike print journalism, where
writing alone can sometimes support your credentials, broadcast journalism
demands--in every job--extremely strong oral communication skills.
News is global and becoming
more so every day. While not
a requirement for this course, proficiency in a foreign language is an enhancement
to your credentials when competing with other graduates for jobs in the industry
(in many sections of the country, a knowledge of Spanish is very important).
Outside course concentrations and proficiency in a foreign language are recommended
for any student seriously interested in a long-term career in broadcast journalism.
The
Honor Code
The Honor Code is in effect in this class and all others at the University. I am committed to treating Honor Code violations seriously and urge all students to become familiar with its terms set out at http://instrument.unc.edu. If you have questions, it is your responsibility to ask me about the Code’s application. All exams, written work, and other projects must be submitted with a statement that you have complied with the requirements of the Honor Code in all aspects of the submitted work.
(In
this course, fabricating a source,fabricating purported statements of fact
and/or plagiarism will result in a reportable Honor Code violation.)
--syllabus revised April 1 , 2009