Electronic News Gathering
MSTD 304-01 Fall 2007
Course Description
Instruction and practice in news reporting primarily for electronic media (television/radio/web).
Introduction to various formats and professional standards. Includes news gathering from participants,
experts, libraries and on-line sources. Emphasis placed on campus news and beat coverage.
Monday and Wednesday 11-11:50am, Porterfield 173
Friday Lab 10-11:50am, Porterfield 232
Instructor:
Joe Staniunas, Jr.
Office:
Porterfield 178
Phone:
831-6043
Email
jstaniuna8@radford.edu
Office Hours
Monday, 1-3pm, in Madison Hall
Text and Required Materials
Broadcast News Handbook, 3rd Edition, Tuggle, Carr and Huffman (BNH)
DV cassettes and VHS tapes as needed to save your work and as requested by MSTD 346/347 team
members and instructor.
Objectives
You will be introduced to the trade of news reporting, primarily for broadcast, by working through the steps
of gathering information and organizing it into accurate, clear and simple stories. This course will focus on
meeting deadlines, covering beats and understanding the ethical responsibilities of journalism.
You will be assigned to production teams with the students from Dr. Clayland Waite’s MSTD 346 course
Electronic Field Production and Dr. Joe Flickinger’s MSTD 347 course in Video Editing and Effects.
Your partners from the production department will be responsible for shooting, recording and editing the
news scripts you provide. All productions must receive final approval from all three professors to be
considered acceptable. If a professor rejects a production for any reason, no one on the team will receive
credit for it until the problems have been fixed or a similar production is turned in and approved. This
means a reporter in MSTD 304 will not receive credit for the production if the MSTD 346 videographer or
MSTD 347 editor does not receive credit, and vice versa.
Grades and Assignments
Your final grade will be determined by the successful completion of your reports, along with grades on
tradecraft exercises, quizzes and the online book discussion. Each assignment will be worth a certain
number of points. It is your responsibility to make sure you understand the requirements prior to taking on
an assignment. If the instructions are not clear, ask questions. Claiming that you do not understand the
production requirements after your project is evaluated is not a valid argument.
Reports
The bulk of the assignments for this class will be a series of broadcast news stories: the RUSO and Life a
RU exercises, two television packages, two as-live interviews. These are required projects; you MUST
complete them to pass the course. The points breakdown is as follows:
RUSO 1.0 and RUSO 2.0/100 points each
Life at RU/50 points
TV Package/150 points each
As-Live Interview/50 points each
Beat Exercises
One of your jobs in this class will be to develop and maintain some tools of the trade related to developing
and maintaining a beat, such as record searches, a Freedom of Information Act request and a source list. All
are common practice in broadcast newsrooms and students should be familiar with them. They’ll be
checked now and then to make sure you’re keeping up with them. Total points available in this category:
200.
Assignments and Assessments
Expect at least 5 quizzes on the required reading material. Each quiz will be worth 20 points, for a
maximum total of 100 points. Other in-class assignments and homework will be worth up to another 100
points.
Newscast Production
You will be taking part in the production of two newscasts this semester. Some of the roles will require
auditions. Each role is worth the following number of points:
Anchor/20 points
Producer/40 points
Writer/10
Production Assistant (doing 346-347 assignments as needed)/10 points
Grading Scale
850-800 points—A
799-750 points—B
749-700 points—C
699-600 points—D
599 or fewer points—F
Work Habit Expectations
Attendance is required.
Any assignment with a factual error will automatically be worth half the total points. Check, double check
and then triple check your information on every assignment. Bad or misleading news stories may cost you
your job when you’re a reporter. Accuracy is an essential habit in this course and a minimum standard of
acceptability for your reports.
Scheduling complications with interviews or production staff are not acceptable excuses for missed
deadlines. It is your responsibility to be vigilant in insuring your work is submitted by the due date. You
will find that perseverance is required of all journalists, regardless of medium or market size.
You must check your email daily. I will make frequent updates to our schedule and location and will also
provide notice of upcoming quizzes.
Story submissions which are not up to the content, production and ethical standards of NRV News will not
be accepted. An “F” will result if a submission is not deemed airworthy.
You must conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times, while working in teams and in all settings
where you are representing Radford University’s Media Studies department. Failure to do so will result in
an “F” for the semester.
A course such as this requires ORGANIZATION and FLEXIBILITY. Your production partners will be
counting on you to line-up interviews and “cover” shoots, communicate before and during the assignment,
and have a back-up plan if something falls through. If you doubt you can do this DROP THE COURSE;
trying to “wing it” just won’t work.
Plagiarism is the act of taking credit for the work or ideas of someone else. This is also called cheating. A
copyright violation is an example of plagiarism. Incidents of plagiarism, cheating or copyright violation
will be dealt with according to department and university policies. Staging or manipulating news or
coaching interview subjects as to content will also be considered cheating.
So, to receive a passing grade in this course you must at all times conduct yourself as a professional, meet
all deadlines, adhere to all policies and actively participate in all of the assigned course production.
Students with Disabilities
If you are seeking classroom accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are required
to register with the Disability Resource Office (DRO). The DRO is located in Room 32, Tyler Hall. The
phone number is 831-6350. To receive academic accommodation for this class, please obtain the proper
DRO forms and meet with me at the beginning of the semester.
Weather Problems
Winter weather can play havoc with our calendar. If the university decides to cancel classes because of a
winter storm, the announcement will be made on local broadcast stations, the university website and the
college switchboard system. Be sure to check WebCT for schedule updates and make-up assignments.
Days like these are perfect for catching up on your beat development!
Production Schedule
August 24
August 27
Project Overview/Meeting with 346-347
Shooting begins on RUSO 1.0
September 3
September 14
Begin Editing RUSO 1.0
First Submission of Edited RUSO 1.0
September 17
September 21
Shooting begins for “Life at RU”
Second Submission of Edited RUSO 1.0
September 28
First Submission of Edited “Life at RU”
October 1
October 5
October 12
October 15
October 19
Shooting begins on RUSO 2.0
As Live Interview 1 Recorded in TV Studio
Second Submission of Edited “Life at RU”
First Submission of Edited RUSO 2.0
Shooting begins on News Package #1
Second Submission of RUSO 2.0
October 26
November 2
First Submission of News Package #1
Second Submission of News Package #1
November 5
November 7
November 9
Shooting begins on News Package #2
Rehearsal for Newscast #1
Rehearsal for Newscast #1
Tape Newscast #1 (As-Live)
November 16
First Submission of News Package #2
November 17
THANKSGIVING BREAK-LABS CLOSED
November 30
November 30
Second Submission of Package #2
As Live Interview 2 Recorded
December 3
Newscast 2 Rehearsal
December 5
December 7
Newscast 2 Rehearsal
Newscast 2 Recorded
Reading and Classwork Schedule (Subject to Change)
Date
Topic
Reading
Key Points
August 20
August 22
August 24
Introduction
Finding Stories
First Project
Syllabus
Course Policies
BNH Chapter 2 Story Idea Sources
BNH Chapter 5 RUSO 1.0 Overview/Production Partners Assigned
RUSO 1.0 Ideas Submitted
August 27
August 29
August 31
Interviewing
Sound Bites
Sound Bites
BNH Chapter 5 RUSO 1.0 Idea Approved
BNH Chapter 8 Selecting Sound Bites
BNH Chapter 8 Scripting Sound Bites, Teamwork
September 3
September 5
September 7
Writing
Writing
Writing
BNH Chapter 1 Basic Broadcast Writing
BNH Chapter 7 Writing Voiceovers
BNH Chapter 7 Writing Voiceovers
September 10
September 12
September 14
Packages
Packages
P ackages
BNH Chapter 9 Elements of Packages
BNH Chapter 9 Elements of Packages
BNH Chapter 9 Scripting Packages
RUSO 2.0 Ideas Submitted
September 17
September 19
September 21
Packages
Live Shots
Live Shots
BNH Chapter 9 RUSO 2.0 Idea Approved
BNH Chapter 12 Live Shot Uses
BNH Chapter 12 Live Shot Practice and Scripting
September 24
September 26
September 28
As Lives
As Lives
As Lives
October 1
Packages
October 3
October 5
Packages/Leads BNH Chapter 3 Writing Good Leads
As Lives
As Live Interviews Recorded in TV Studio
October 8
October 10
October 12
As Lives
Graphics
Graphics
October 15
October 17
October 19
Convergence
Convergence
Convergence
BNH Chapter 14 Convergence Overview
BNH Chapter 14
BNH Chapter 14
October 22
October 24
October 26
Anchoring
Anchoring
Anchoring
BNH Chapter 11
BNH Chapter 11
BNH Chapter 11
Date
Topic
Reading
As Live Interviewing
As Live Scripting
As Live Interview Practice
Package 1 Ideas Due
BNH Chapter 3 Package Idea Discussion
Package 1 Idea Approved
As Lives Review
Key Points
October 29
October 31
November 2
Producing
Producing
Producing
BNH Chapter 11 Newscast Development
BNH Chapter 11 Newscast Development
BNH Chapter 11 Newscast Development
Package 2 Ideas Submitted
November 5
Newscasts
November 7
November 9
Newscasts
Newscasts
Newscast Rehearsal/Studio
Package 2 Idea Approved
Newscast Rehearsal/Studio
Newscast Taping/Studio
November 12
November 14
November 16
Newscasts
Ethics
Ethics
November 19
November 21
November 23
Thanksgiving Break
Thanksgiving Break
Thanksgiving Break
November 26
November 28
November 30
TV Careers
TV Careers
As Lives
December 3
December 5
December 7
Newscasts
Newscasts
Newscasts
December 10
Exam Week
Newscast Review
BNH Chapter 13 Ethics Issues
BNH Chapter 13 Ethics Exercises
BNH Chapter 15 Resumes
BNH Chapter 15 Resumes
As Live Interview 2 Taped
Newscast Rehearsal/Studio
Newscast Rehearsal/Studio
Newscast Taping/Studio
NO FINAL EXAM IN MSTD 304/346/347