Journalism 111: College Newspaper Reporting and Editing
Spring Quarter 2012
Instructor: Teresa Josten
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-12:50 p.m. in room C218 or by appointment
E-mail: tjosten@pierce.ctc.edu
Office Phone: (253) 964-7326 ext. 3093 or (253) 840-8496
Angel website: http://angel.pcd.edu
Textbook: America's Best Newspaper Writing-A Collection of ASNE Prizewinners by Roy Peter
Clark and Christopher Scanlan
Course
This one- to five-credit class allows students to pursue special interests in newspaper production
and writing. The special projects may be initiated by students in such areas as page design,
feature or news writing, review writing or commentary writing.
It may be a combination of projects, but the projects will be graded on completion of projects and
the amount of time spent.
Course description
Practical experience in producing the college newspaper. Students may pursue specialty areas of
interest such as writing, copyediting, desktop publishing, market research, or advertising.
Course objectives/intended learning outcomes
Develop a newspaper story idea that is newsworthy to the campus market.
Conduct interviews with appropriate sources to gather information for a story.
Conduct additional research as needed to gather information for the story idea.
Write an effective lead for the story.
Write the body of the story in an organized, articulate, and effective manner.
Identify and execute basic news writing tasks (such as typing up news briefs, publishing campus
calendar, writing student spotlights, publishing scholarship information).
Design sections or subsections of the paper through desktop publishing.
Identify and execute basic newspaper production tasks (such as copyediting, market research,
advertising, distribution, and other office duties.
Design and complete an individual contract for special projects.
Course topics
Newspaper story researching
Newspaper story writing
Other elements of newspaper production, including copyediting, desktop publishing, market
research, advertising, distribution
Course requirements
Four news or feature stories (150 points each)
Four discussion papers (50 points each)
Class participation
Total
600 points
200 points
200 points
1,000 points
Textbook reading
One-page to two-page (double-spaced) discussion papers will be due:
April 13
April 27
May 11
June 1
The idea behind reading these prize-winning newspaper stories is that good writers will often read
other good writing in an effort to improve their own writing style. The discussion papers will focus
on elements in the stories that interest you and could be applied to your own stories.
Read chapters 10 and 11 during the first week of classes.
For students taking Journalism 111 for five credits, please read all the news stories. For students
taking three to four credits, please read two news stories for each discussion paper. For students
taking one to two credits, please read one news story for each discussion paper. The discussion
paper can cover all of the stories read or focus on one story that might have been particularly
interesting. These papers must be submitted to the dropbox on the Angel website. Do not e-mail
discussion papers to the instructor.
Discussion papers:
Writing about people (due April 13)
Shiva for a Child Slain in a Palestinian Raid, page 8
In Belfast, Death, Too, Is Diminished by Death, page 24
Ah, What a Day!, page 213
Crime and local/business reporting (due April 27)
Metal to Bone, Day 1: Click, page 98
All She Has, $150,000, Is Going to a University, page 31
Making It Fly: Designing the 757, page 123
Profiles and feature (due May 11)
For Lerro, Skyway Nightmare Never Ends, page 188
Dr. Seuss, page 167
A Beautiful Find, page 197
Final Salute story (June 1)
Details to come on Angel.
REQUIREMENTS
Students should plan to meet with the instructor often to discuss the progress of the projects. The
projects must be approved by the instructor and turned in by the established deadline.
Student should average a minimum of one hour per week per credit. For example, if a student is
taking Journalism 111 for five credits, he or she should be spending at least five hours per week
working on projects for the class.
Satisfactory completion of the tasks will result in a 4.0 grade. A grade based on less than
satisfactory performance will be determined by the instructor on an individual basis. A less than
satisfactory performance can include not completing the projects, turning in incomplete work, not
maintaining and submitting time logs, or working on projects not approved by the instructor.
Attendance
Weekly meeting attendance is required. If a student misses more than three weekly meetings
without prior notification, he or she will receive a failing grade for the class.
News or feature story requirements
 Save the story in as a .doc in Microsoft Word.
 Submit the first draft and final draft of the story assignment electronically to drop the story
in the appropriate drop box on the Angel website.
 Label the story assignment with an appropriate name when submitting the story
electronically. Put your name in parenthesis. Example: Reptile man (Teresa Josten)
 In the electronic Word file, suggest a headline or two. The headline is first.
 Type your name.
 Type “contributing writer.”
 Type your story. No tabs for paragraphs. One space after punctuation. Single space. No
space between paragraphs.
 If you misspell a name or make a mistake with a major factual error, you might not earn
points for that assignment.
Academic honesty
If you use another person’s ideas, artwork, music or words in such a manner as to imply that the
item you used was your own; or if you used unauthorized notes, texts or memory aids during
tests; or if you steal or knowingly use test master copies to gain information prior to an
examination; or knowingly allow another person to use your work as if it were that other person’s
work; or otherwise act in such a manner as to gain for yourself or another an unfair advantage
over other students, you will fail the assignment or the class.
This is from the American Historical Association's Statement on Standards of Professional
Conduct.
Identifying Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes the limited borrowing, without attribution, of another person's distinctive and
significant research findings, hypotheses, theories, rhetorical strategies, or interpretations, or an
extended borrowing even with attribution. Of course, historical knowledge is cumulative, and thus
in some contexts—such as textbooks, encyclopedia articles, or broad syntheses—the form of
attribution, and the permissible extent of dependence on prior scholarship, citation and other
forms of attribution will differ from what is expected in more limited monographs. As knowledge is
disseminated to a wide public, it loses some of its personal reference. What belongs to whom
becomes less distinct. But even in textbooks a historian should acknowledge the sources of
recent or distinctive findings and interpretations, those not yet a part of the common
understanding of the profession, and should never simply borrow and rephrase the findings of
other scholars.
Plagiarism, then, takes many forms. The clearest abuse is the use of another's language without
quotation marks and citation. More subtle abuses include the appropriation of concepts, data, or
notes all disguised in newly crafted sentences, or reference to a borrowed work in an early note
and then extensive further use without attribution. All such tactics reflect an unworthy disregard
for the contributions of others.
Withdrawal
Students who do not withdraw before the established deadline will receive the grade they’ve
earned for the entire quarter. If you simply stop attending after the deadline, you probably will not
receive a passing grade. To be eligible for a refund, a student must officially withdraw from the
class. The percentage of refund depends on the date a student withdraws. See the class bulletin
for the current quarter's refund dates. The student must initiate the paperwork for all refunds. To
request a refund, obtain a Schedule Change Form from the registration office, complete the form,
and return it to the registration office.
Special needs and tutoring
Students with disabilities who believe they may need academic adjustments, auxiliary aids or
services to fully participate in course activities or meet course requirements are encouraged to
register with the Access and Disability Services (ADS) Office, Room 102A in the Administration
Building. You may also call the ADS Office to make an appointment to meet with the ADS
Coordinator at (253) 840-8335 or (253) 864-3301.Students requesting accommodations must
obtain the “Approved Quarterly Academic Adjustments, Auxiliary Aids or Services” (green) form
provided by ADS.
Story deadlines
First draft: April 17
First draft: May 1
First draft: May 15
First draft: June 5
Final draft: April 20,
Final draft: May 4
Final draft: May 18
Final draft: June 8
Emergency Procedures for Classrooms
Call 911 and then Campus Safety in response to an imminent threat to persons or property. In the
event of an evacuation (intermittent horns & strobes), gather all personal belongings and leave
the building using the nearest available safe exit. Be prepared to be outside for one hour and stay
a minimum of 200 feet from any building or structure. So long as it is safe to do so students are
expected to stay on campus and return to class after evacuations that last less than 15 minutes.
Do not attempt to re-enter the building until instructed by an Evacuation Director (identified by
orange vests) or by three horn blasts or bell rings. Please notify the nearest Campus Safety
Officer or Evacuation Director of any one left in the building or in need of assistance. The
Puyallup Campus Safety can be reached at (253) 840-8481.
Grades
Grades for the class are based upon the percentage accumulated for the quarter.
Percent
100-97 percent
96-95 percent
94-93 percent
92 percent
91 percent
90 percent
89 percent
88 percent
87 percent
86 percent
85-84 percent
83 percent
82 percent
81 percent
80 percent
79 percent
78 percent
77 percent
76 percent
75 percent
74 percent
73 percent
72 percent
71 percent
70 percent
69 percent
68 percent
67 percent
66 percent
65 percent
64 percent
63 percent
62 percent
61 percent
60 percent
Letter grade
A
A
A
AAAB+
B+
B
B
B
B
BBBC+
C+
C
C
C
C
C
CCCD+
D+
D
D
D
D
D
DDD-
Students who receive below 60 percent will receive a 0.0 for the final grade.
Final grade
4.0
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.7