Reading

Readings for the course include a text about medical statistics, a classic book on writing well, a case study by a master of medical journalism, a best-selling book about cancer, research and racism and an anthology and primer about medical and health news writing.  Please complete the readings before the appropriate classroom discussions.  In addition to the list below, I'll supply additional source materials and articles from various publications.  The following books are all available at the UNC student store (and on Amazon) and copies of most of the books below should be on reserve in the Park Library (second floor) in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication.

1) Blum, Deborah, Mary Knudson & Robin Marantz Henig, editors. A Field Guide for Science Writers (Second Edition), Oxford University Press (paperback), 2005, $19.95, ISBN: 0-19-5174992.

2) Cohn, Victor and Lewis Cope. News & Numbers: A Guide to Reporting Statistical Claims and Controversies in Health and Other Fields, Iowa State University Press (paperback), Second Edition, 2001, 211 pp., ISBN: 0-8138-14243.

3) Linden, Tom & the Writers of The New York Times, The New York Times Reader: Health & Medicine, © 2011, $24.95, 292 pp., ISBN: 978-1604264821.

4) Sacks, Oliver, Awakenings, Vintage, 1999, 464 pp., ISBN: 978-0375704055.

5) Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Broadway Paperbacks, © 2010, $16.00, 381 pp., ISBN: 978-1400052189.

6) Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (30th Anniversary Edition), Collins, © 2006, 336 pp., ISBN: 978-0-06-089154-1.

Also starting with the class for Wednesday, September 14, students should begin reading the print version of the Tuesday Science Times section of the New York Times. On the assigned dates, students should bring the Science Times section to class. Please consult the course schedule below for the exact dates for which the section should be read. Please note that the online version of the New York Times is not an acceptable substitute since the online version lacks some graphics and other key layout features of the print edition. The New York Times is available in the UNC Student Store and is also available at a reduced rate by subscription. To subscribe, you can call 1-800-NYTIMES and ask for college subscriptions. Receiving the print edition by subscription also gives you unlimited online access.

Participation

A working medical journalist typically talks and discusses relevant issues with colleagues and others before preparing his or her report.  This class will be no different.  I'll expect you to share your thoughts with your peers and with me. Classroom discussion will help clarify your ideas and sharpen your focus.

Each student will be responsible for at least two 15- to 20-minute presentation on assigned reading. I'll assign the presentations at the beginning of the second class meeting. As critical thinking and discussion with peers is such an integral part of being a journalist, I'll count the presentation(s) as 15% of your final grade, with an additional 10% of your final grade based on your classroom participation throughout the semester.  I'll base the grade on the quality (not necessarily the quantity) of your discussion.  I'll judge quality on principally the following two criteria:

1) Whether it's clear that you've read and thought about the readings.

2) Your ability to integrate ideas gleaned from both readings and from contributions of your classmates.

After one unexcused absence, each absence will result in a drop of one letter grade. This is a mostly graduate-level seminar, and your presence and contribution are essential. You cannot pass the course with more than two unexcused absences.

Assignments

To succeed in medical journalism, you must write well.  Good writing requires an understanding of the material and the ability to communicate your ideas simply and clearly.

To sharpen your writing skills, you'll write a series of stories in various journalistic genres. The writing assignments will count for 75% of your final grade.

All assignments are due at the start of class on the dates indicated.  Late papers will not be accepted without prior permission.  Even with prior permission, submission of late papers will result in a 10-point deduction per day.  Not turning in a paper within two days of the due date will result in a zero grade.  Misspelling of proper names will result in a 10-point deduction per misspelling.  Misspelling of other words will result in a two-point deduction for each word misspelled. We'll follow the print style guidelines of the AP Style Guidebook. If you intend to pursue journalism as a career, I strongly encourage you to purchase a copy of the style book. As per the usual practice in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, a major factual error will result in a failing grade for that particular assignment. Fabricating sources or quotations or engaging in plagiarism will constitute a violation of the Honor Code (for more information about the UNC Honor Code, go to http://instrument.unc.edu).

Exams

There will be no midterm or final exam.

Grading Scale (for undergraduates)

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

Grading Scale (for graduate students)

93 - 100 Honors
74 - 92 Pass
61 - 73 Low Pass
60 and below F

How To Succeed in This Course

• Attend classes consistently.

• Complete readings before the appropriate classroom discussions.

• Participate actively in class.

• Ask the Professor questions either during class or during office hours if you're unclear about any aspect of this course.

• Turn in stories on time.

• Check online syllabus frequently throughout the semester (preferably before each class) as assignments and topics may change without e-mail notice.

 

Course Schedule

WEEK 1:

AUG. 24: INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL JOURNALISM

Reading:

Linden, Thomas, "Learning To Be a Medical Journalist," Nieman Reports, Vol. 57, No. 2, Summer 2003, pp.66-67.

Linden, Tom, "The New York Times Reader: Health & Medicine," foreword, preface and introduction.

WEEK 2:

Aug. 29: A GUIDE TO WRITING NON-FICTION (Scott)

* Learn the basics of writing non-fiction.

Reading:

Zinsser, William, On Writing Well, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Aug. 31: ETHICS OF MEDICAL JOURNALISM (Nadya)

Reading:

Fink, Sheri, "Investigations -- The Deadly Choices at Memorial," http://www.propublica.org/feature/the-deadly-choices-at-memorial-826/P1, published Aug. 27, 2009.

Kirby, Kathleen, RTNDA'S Guide to Health Coverage Under HIPAA: http://www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/rtndas-guide-to-health-coverage-under-hipaa427.php.

Mar, Andrew M. & Alison Page Howard, "Freedom of the Press: HIPAA & Newsgathering,"http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org//press/topic.aspx?topic=hipaa_news&SearchString=hipaa.

Scanlan, Chip, "The First Peril: Fabrication," Poynteronline, (Adapted from Reporting and Writing: Basics for the 21st Century, Oxford University Press, 2000).

SPJ Code of Ethics: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp?

Statement of Principles of the Association of Health Care Journalists: http://healthjournalism.org/secondarypage-details.php?id=56

"Aiding Those in Distress," Association of Health Care Journalists, http://www.healthjournalism.org/secondarypage-details.php?id=898

Zinsser, William, On Writing Well, Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

WEEK 3:

Reading:

Cohn & Cope, News  & Numbers: A Guide to Reporting Statistical Claims and Controversies in Health and Other Fields, pp. 107-181.

Kolata, Gina, online at "Forty Years' War -- Advances Elusive in the Drive to Cure Cancer," also in New York Times Reader, pp. 156-162.

de Lorgeril, Michel et al., "Cholesterol Lowering, Cardiovascular Diseases and the Rosuvastatin-JUPITER Controversy," Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(12):1032-1036.

Ridker, Paul et al., "Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein," N Engl J Med 2008;359:2195­207.

SEPT. 14: NEWS STORIES (Andrew); Guest speaker: Stephanie Brown, Director, Park Library

Reading:

"Science Times" section from Tuesday, Sept. 13 New York Times.

Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapter 1, pp. 7-24.

Blum et al., editors. A Field Guide for Science Writers, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.

Assignment #1: News story due Wednesday, Sept. 21.

WEEK 5:

OCT. 5: PROFILES - REPORTING FROM THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT - Medical Journalism Program Guest Lecturer: Judith E. Tintinalli, MD, MS, Professor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine, UNC-CH. Please meet in waiting room of the UNC Emergency Department (Neurosciences Building).

Assignment #3: 900-word profile from the UNC Emergency Department due Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Reading:

Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapters 5 & 6, pp. 92-119.

Assignment #2 (Rewrite of Assignment #1) due today.

WEEK 8:

OCT. 10: POPULAR NON-FICTION - guest speaker - Rob Dunn, author of "The Wild Life of Our Bodies"

Reading:

The following three blog posts all found at http://www.robrdunn.com/writing/ and originally posted on the Scientific American blog site:

"Biologist Spending Way Too Much Time Thinking about Discovery He Made on Jon Stewart's Body," posted August 15, 2011.

"How Probiotics May Save Your Life," posted July 18, 2011.

"Scientists Discover That Antimicrobial Wipes and Soaps May Be Making You (and Society) Sick," posted July 5, 2011.

"Fly on Wall Sees Things It Wishes It Hadn't," Scientific American blogs.

 

OCT. 12: No class (University Day)

WEEK 9:

OCT. 17: OBITUARIES, PROFILES, HISTORICAL STORIES & NARRATIVES (Lydia)

Reading:

Butler, Katy,"What Broke My Father's Heart," New York Times, June 18, 2010.

Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapters 9 & 11, pp. 183-197, 222-243.

Also, review Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapters 5 & 6, pp. 92-119.

OCT. 19: COMMENTARY: COLUMNS & ESSAYS (Sarah)

Reading:

"Science Times" section from Tuesday, Oct. 18 New York Times.

Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapters 12 & 13.

WEEK 10:

OCT. 24: COMMENTARY: BLOGS - Medical Journalism Program Guest Lecturer: David J. Kroll, Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences/BRITE, North Carolina Central University

Reading:

Linden, New York Times Reader, Chapter 14.

Browse David Kroll's Terra Sigillata blog.

Browse David Kroll's other blog, Take As Directed on PLoS blogs.

Read Kroll's July 16, 2011 post: "iAroma synthetic marijuana and the loss of Max Dobner," from "Terra Sigillata."

Read Kroll's post on PLoS blogs: http://blogs.plos.org/takeasdirected/2011/09/19/trine-tsouderos-on-this-week-in-virology-when-do-you-fact-check-article-content-with-sources

Read Bora Zivkovic's, July 27, 2010 post: "Science Blogging Networks: What, Why and How," from "A Blog Around the Clock."

OCT. 26: IN-CLASS CRITIQUE OF ASSIGNMENT #3

Assignment #3 due today.

Assignment #4: Rewrite of assignment #3 due Monday, Nov. 7.

WEEK 11:

OCT. 31: NARRATIVE NON-FICTION (Nadya)

NOV. 2: NARRATIVE NON-FICTION (cont.) (Rachel) & Guest speaker: John Rennie, visiting lecturer from City University London (10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.)

Reading:

Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, pp. 152-310.

WEEK 12:

NOV. 7: CRITIQUE OF ASSIGNMENT #4

Assignment #4 (rewrite of assignment #3) due today.

NOV. 9: MEDICAL AND HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS AS A CAREER - Guest Speaker: Anton Zuiker, co-founder of ScienceOnline

Reading:

Take 15-20 minutes to browse http://news.medicine.duke.edu/, the site that Anton has developed to reflect the activities of the Duke Department of Medicine. Think about the opportunities and challenges faced by a department with 700 faculty physicians and 1000 staff members.

Read two of Anton's blog posts:

http://mistersugar.com/article/4214/when-blogging-face-the-conversation

http://mistersugar.com/article/4611/thinking-places-or-i-am-before-i-am

Read Atul Gawande's commencement speech:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/05/atul-gawande-harvard-medical-school-commencement-address.html

WEEK 13:

NOV. 14: REPORTING FOR THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Reading:

Linden, Tom, "Medical Reporting for the Electronic Media," in Barbara Gastel's Health Writer's Handbook (Second Edition), chapter on Blackboard.

Assignment #5: Next story assignment due Wednesday, Nov. 30.

NOV. 16: WRITING THE TELEVISION SCRIPT - Medical Journalism Program Guest Lecturer: Helen Chickering, Medical Reporter, NBC Newschannel

Reading:

TBA.

WEEK 14:  

NOV. 21: WRITING THE TELEVISION SCRIPT (cont.)

Reading:

Handout on television script writing tips (in Documents folder of Blackboard)

Blum, Deborah & Mary Knudson, editors, A Field Guide for Science Writers, pp. 35-38, 39-44, 73-78.

NOV. 23: No Class (Happy Thanksgiving)

WEEK 15:

NOV. 28: MEDICAL TELEVISION DOCUMENTARIES ("THE AGE OF AIDS") & REVIEW OF THE MEDICAL ESSAY

Reading:

Berger, Marilyn, "Lewis Thomas, Whose Essays Clarified the Mysteries of Biology, Is Dead at 80," New York Times, Dec. 4, 1993.

NOV. 30: IN-CLASS CRITIQUE OF ASSIGNMENT #5

Assignment #5 due today.

WEEK 16:

Dec. 5: MEDICAL REPORTING FOR RADIO

Listen to "My Lobotomy."

Dec. 7: Class wrap-up and evaluation

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's your responsibility to ask me about the Code’s application. All work for this class must be submitted with a statement that you have complied with the requirements of the Honor Code.

--syllabus revised Nov. 27, 2011