Schedule

Class: Mon., Wed., Fri., C, 10:10 - 11:05 a.m., Reid 302

Labs: Tues., Thu., F-H, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Reid 315-317 (check individual schedules)

 Texts: AP Stylebook; Print (J253). Reading will be assigned weekly, available on Blackboard, as handouts, or in Green Room.

Read regularly: The Roanoke Times (or another major Virginia daily), http://www.roanoketimes.com/; Al's Morning Meeting (a daily website from Poynter Institute, with fresh story ideas; go to link down left column to subscribe as email newsletter http://www.poynter.org )

The News-Gazette and The Rockbridge Weekly http://www.thenews-gazette.com/  and http://www.rockbridgeweekly.com/  (weeklies); The Rockbridge Advocate (monthly)

Introduction: Working out of a newsroom is the best way to learn reporting. This class will capitalize on that, but with the advantage of classroom discussion, a few take-home exercises and supplemental readings. You will cover a piece of Lexington, Buena Vista or Rockbridge County. The piece of the public world you will report on will be defined by your own beat. Your beat is a territory and a topic – as “cops and courts” entails the jurisdictions of Lexington and Rockbridge and the subject of “crime & society.” You will be assigned a beat, develop your sources on this beat, and become an expert-generalist on the issues. You will learn to work on deadline, to sweat the details of facts and clarity. With your instructors as your editors, you will learn the give-and-take of the editing process.

Your stories and video packages will run in Rockbridge Report weekly -- (See "Schedule" link, above.)

Learning objectives:
·        To be able to apply the principles and laws of free press through the experience of covering a beat in real time.
·        To understand the importance of ethnic, class and global diversity in practicing journalism for a general public.
·        To understand concepts and apply theories behind images and information by producing the content of a weekly online news site and weekly news broadcast.
·        To use this same experience to apply ethics and work ethically in pursuing truth, fairness and diversity.
·        To think creatively, critically and independently as a working journalist.
·        Know how to conduct research and evaluate information in reporting the news.
·        To significantly improve your skills at writing correctly and clearly for a given audience.
·        To learn about information technology and how to apply it in daily news coverage.

Possible beats: Cops and courts; politics and government (the previous beats can be subdivided by Lexington, Rockbridge County, Buena Vista; taking these geographic beats gives you more freedom to cover anything newsworthy within the territory); K-12 and higher education; social welfare and religion (including non-profits); ; business/economic development; arts & culture; transportation/utilities.

Expectations: We will adhere to the expectations of a news operation as much as possible. We are your city editors. You will meet deadlines as would a professional, as if the work of other professionals depended on it. Prof. Artwick's students in J362 and J202 will work with you on producing the Rockbridge Report web and TV broadcast. You must not miss a deadline without getting an OK from your editor-instructor ahead of time. 

This course will take a good chunk of your time – making phone calls, getting fresh video tape, attending meetings, running off to interviews, keeping up with news, reading what is assigned for classroom work. Class time is also an important part of keeping up with this routine and is the key to getting better at your reporting and writing. The instructors will make sure that the classroom is worth your time by staying focused on your reporting and writing, and on practical ways to make it better. On Monday and Wednesday we will cover the topics you need the most help on, when you need it most, based on your performance. Thus, the schedule will vary. Watch it carefully.

You must keep up with local news not only on your beat, but in general. This is the way to join in the news meetings on Fridays. You are expected to know what’s going on in the news and to make suggestions to reporters on other beats. You will attend public meetings and events on your beat and come up with two story ideas a week. After discussion of these story ideas in the Friday news meeting, your instructors will select one of them for you to complete. The territory you cover is within the county limits, but outside of W&L. There will be some obvious exceptions to the no-W&L rule, such as when W&L becomes newsworthy. But in general, the Rockbridge Report is designed to push you out of the naturally familiar into the world of Other People (think “mass audience”). On Tuesday afternoons, print students will meet with Prof. Cumming for copy editing.  

Thursday labs are for producing Rockbridge Report on deadline. Every two or three weeks, you will be required to help with this production of Rockbridge Report by being the general assignment (g.a.)  reporter. The rest of you may use the period as your own time to work on your stories, do interviews, report, and develop story ideas.

You will deal with sources on your beat -- officials and citizens alike -- with professional courtesy, punctuality, and fairness. At the same time, we will balance this with being in an academic setting where learning, not publication or broadcast, is our ultimate goal. So the course blends these two elements -- real-time experience in beat coverage and thoughtful reflection about what we are doing. Classroom time, then, is just as important as the work you do covering your beat. If you can't be in class on time, please let us know why  ahead of time. You are expected to do the assigned readings and to participate in class discussions. 

News requirements: Your stories will take three forms, each with a deadline:

•  “Weekaheads,” consisting of two budget lines (story ideas), due Thursdays by 4 p.m.;

• For print, the assigned story is due a week later, Thursdays by noon; for broadcast, draft of script is due Tuesday by 4 p.m.

• For broadcast, final package due Thursday at noon for Rockbridge Report; for print, if needed, a re-write based on instructor’s editing of your draft is due the following Tuesday by noon.

Newsmaker interview: There is no mid-term exam. Instead, you will select a newsmaker on your beat and record a 12-minute broadcast interview with him or her, in the TV studio on the third floor. These must be scheduled throughout the term, starting by the third week. You will need to make arrangements for students and a couple of staffers to work the cameras and control room.  You will need to work ahead to select your subject, prepare questions, etc. You will schedule interview time in the studio. You will be assessed based primarily on your questions, your mastery of the interview topic and your ability to draw meaningful information from your source. You are not expected to be an on-air star; the on-camera experience is worth whatever brief nervousness it might cause some of you. 

Other requirements: Updating part of the department's online Community Contact List. A take-home AP Style exam. A public records search. Your own personalized "Beat Directory."

[Your Beat Directory lists contacts that you develop in your weekly reporting, from experts and officials to ordinary or activist citizens. The list must be diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, and age, even if that means finding residents who are not like the officials who dominate your beat. Also, include useful websites, national experts, and descriptions of how useful each contact has been. Find your own way to organize it, but another reporter or editor ought to be able to use your Beat Directory when news breaks on your day off.]

A  typical week: By 4 p.m. every Thursday, you will email your Weekahead to both instructors (this consists of two budget lines).

We will compile the Weekaheads into a news "Budget," which will be distributed in class Friday. Student-producers from J362 will also be present at these news meetings. You will present your ideas in a professional manner during the Friday morning meetings.  By the end of the meeting, we will agree on at least one story for each student to work on. Be prepared to talk about your story ideas and how you might develop them. Don't depend on us to give you story ideas. That is your responsibility, though we might make assignments, especially at first. All class members are encouraged to offer suggestions on the story ideas presented by others.  Most newsrooms have a collegial atmosphere with everyone working toward a common goal; we will try to replicate that atmosphere in our class. If your idea encroaches on someone else's beat, you are expected to coordinate with them BEFORE the news meeting. [A rotating student "assignment editor" from J362 will put the master Budget, consisting of all assigned stories for the next Rockbridge Report, into Interplay, the new production program. If anything changes with your story, such as a delay, that must be reflected in this master Budget.] 

Print students: Your story will typically be due the following Thursday at noon.  Its timeliness and quality may be suitable for the RR Web that very afternoon. Otherwise, I will return it to you, usually within two days (by Saturday, Sunday at the latest, via e-mail), with comments. You will be required to revise this story -- based on the editing you receive -- by the next Tuesday at noon.

In addition, print students must do one of their stories this term as a broadcast story, instead of a written article. We'd like these broadcast stories to be spread out evenly over the term, for use in Rockbridge Report TV program each Thursday. But we would also like for print students to think about when a story would work better in video, so we will let you choose as we go, to some extent.

Broadcast students: Your video script will be due the following Tuesday by 4 p.m.  Raw footage is also welcome early. The complete package will be ready for Rockbridge Report on Thursday.

Monday and Wednesday classes will generally be devoted to an exercise, discussion or quiz based on assigned reading.

During Tuesday and Thursday lab time, you will generally be free to report on your stories and your beat. 

You will also be given “general assignment” duty on the Rockbridge Report on several Thursdays during the term. When your time comes, plan to be there from 1:25 to 4:30 p.m.  Do not schedule any other interviews during your Rockbridge Report time. (More on that below.)  

To summarize, a story cycle in your weekly schedule will look like this:

Thursday:  4 p.m., Weekahead (two story ideas). 

Friday:  10:10 a.m., news meeting to discuss your story ideas, beginning Jan. 12. You will receive assignments during class.

Monday:  Once into the cycle, print students will have Prof. Cumming's editing comments on their story drafts by Monday (maybe by the previous Thursday night; check pickup box by his office). Readings will sometimes be basis for class exercise, discussion or quiz. 

Tuesday: Noon, print revisions due. 30-minute copyediting session in the afternoon, as scheduled.  Broadcast scripts due by 4 p.m.

Wednesday: Discussion, lecture, or exercise. Check Schedule.

Thursday: Noon, draft print stories due. 1-4 p.m., lab time to work on your beat and/or Rockbridge Report. Final video packages due for RR. noon; next week-ahead note due at 4 p.m..  

Rockbridge Report: Every three or four weeks, you will be assigned to work on the Rockbridge Report cable TV broadcast or Web during the Thursday lab slot.  You will report to the lab promptly at 1:25 p.m. You may be doing a deadline story. Broadcast students will be anchoring and/or reporting for the broadcast programs. Note that these assignments are IN ADDITION  to your regular weekly story. You will need to plan and pace yourself especially well during your Rockbridge Report weeks.