BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY

Department of Communication COURSE SYLLABUS SPRING SEMESTER 2019

Newswriting and Reporting: COM 210 MWF 9:00-9:50 a.m. Fitzhugh Hall 102

Instructor	Office Hours	Contact
Sunny Fridge, Ph.D.	By Appointment	Mobile: 601-454-2008
		sfridge@belhaven.edu

GUIDING VERSE

“The Lord has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praises to our God. Psalm 40:3

TEXTBOOK

      Bender, J. R., Davenport, L., Drager, M. W., & Fedler, F., (2015). Writing and reporting for the media (11th edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Students will also need to purchase a copy of the Associated Press Stylebook.

      Sign up for Mobile Journalism: How to use your phone to produce great videos and build a social audience.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Newswriting and Reporting is an introductory course within the field of Communication. This course will introduce students to the basic principles of journalism and news writing. The course will help students understand the basics of journalism, while giving them practical skills in writing news for public consumption.

COURSE  OBJECTIVES 

• To help students understand the role of journalism in our society.
• To train students on the basics of investigating news, gathering notes and information, writing the news story, responding to editing, and following up on news stories.
• To have students understand the concepts of balance and fairness in reporting.
• To help students understand ethical concerns surrounding the gathering and reporting of news.
• To expose students to real-world news outlets, and to enhance their understanding of how news outlets serve their audiences.
• To familiarize the student with the basics of Associated Press style.
• To build awareness of how to apply a Christian worldview to the practice of journalism.

COURSE METHODS

This course material will be delivered in lecture and discussion formats. Students should complete the week’s assignment before the first class in a given week in order to facilitate discussion during the course.

When writing content for assignments, students should use the Associated Press (AP) Style.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Class attendance is expected and required. The professor for this class will permit eight absences as outlined in the student handbook. All reasons for absences (for example, illness and representation for school activities, emergencies, and late registration) are included in the maximum number of absences. All students will be expected to take quizzes and exams on the date the exam or quiz is given. No make-up exams will be given.

EVALUATION

Examinations consist of material discussed and covered in class and in the textbook. Class activities will allow the student to achieve a maximum of 1,000 points, broken down as follows:

• Homework: 150 potential points.
• AP Style Quizzes: 200 potential points (total for all). These focus on AP style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, quotations, accuracy, reading assignments, and current events.
• Current Event Quizzes: 100 potential points (total for all). Every Monday. A good journalist knows what is going on in the world.
• Final Project: 200 potential points.
• Final Exam: 300 potential points.
• Class participation: 50 potential points.

GRADE DETERMINATION

Grades will be determined on a points scale as follows: A: 900-1,000 points

B: 800-899 points

C: 700-799 points

D: 600-699 points F: Below 600 points

CLASS POLICIES

Class Attendance

The attendance policy assumes that students will be present for all classes. Belhaven’s policy requires that students attend at least 80% of class meetings during a semester in order to receive credit. Remember that in order to receive maximum available points for class participation, you must attend and make

meaningful contributions. Please see the Student Handbook (The Kilt) for specifics regarding attendance.

Class Behavior

• Cheating (either in-class or out of class) will not be tolerated. Any known instances of cheating will be reported to the appropriate college personnel.
• Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. In all work submitted for academic credit, students are expected to represent themselves honestly. The presence of a student’s name on any work submitted in completion of an academic assignment is considered to be an assurance that the work and ideas are the results of the student’s own intellectual effort, stated in his or her own words, and produced independently, unless clear, explicit and APA Style-appropriate acknowledgment of the sources for the work and ideas is included (with the use of quotation marks when quoting someone else’s words). This principle applies to papers, tests, homework assignments, artistic productions, reports, computer programs, and other assignments. Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the instructor and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion).
• Rudeness or Vulgarity will not be tolerated. Implied Rudeness: A student who refuses to listen attentively to a classmate’s speech is being passively rude. The same is true of a student who interrupts a speaker, who gives purposefully negative feedback to a speaker, or who fails to be in class the day other students are delivering presentations.  Points will be deducted from your grade at the instructor’s discretion.
• The use of cellular phones, music players and similar devices is prohibited during class.
• If you must leave class early, please do so in a non-disruptive manner.

Honor Code

Please understand and be aware of the Honor Code as outlined in the Kilt. If any student is found in violation, they will be reported to the Vice President of Student Life and dealt with appropriately.

Rubric for Writing Assignments

Writing assignments can present issues when being evaluated, due to differences in style, voice and the reviewer’s opinion of the magnitude of errors. Since the Department of Communication strives to prepare students for the professional world, it is our view that student coursework must be as professional as possible.

Therefore, the following criteria will be used when evaluating student work.

To ensure fairness and as much objectivity as possible, percentage points will be awarded based on the following criteria, when grading student assignments. The following percentages represent the maximum percentage points that may be awarded. The instructor reserves the right to award fewer points for partial credit at his or her discretion.

20% – Timeliness – Student met posted deadlines.

30% – Accuracy – Student followed instructions accurately.

50% – Analytics – Projects will be graded based on grammar, sentence structure, formatting, use of citations, originality and other criteria, including — but not limited to — misspelled words, improper grammar, sentence structure problems, improper or missing citations, poor formatting, and plagiarism.

Analytics points are awarded as follows:

• 0% – Project had more than eight issues.
  • 25% – Project had 6-8 issues.
  • 35% – Project had 3-5 issues.
  • 45% – Project had 1-2 issues.
  • 50% – Project had no issues.

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Please note: The class schedule is an attempt to give students an outline for class content and coverage, which will vary. Changes to planned topics may occur. Students are responsible for preparing for class by reading the assigned material (in italics) for the day as noted. Homework assignments must be turned in the day they are due.