View Descriptor

• Information gathering, including live interviews
• Journalistic writing forms, including inverted pyramid
• Writing for multiple platforms, including print, online, broadcast and social media
• News gathering strategies
• News gathering practice, including covering speeches, meetings and other events
• Writing under deadline
• Introduction to Associated Press Style
• Introduction to Search Engine Optimization
• Writing leads
• Writing simple and complex/long form articles
• Legal and ethical issues in reporting

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

• Define and execute newsgathering strategies
• Develop interview questions and conduct interviews
• Write simple leads
• Write simple and complex/long form news articles using the inverted pyramid and other formats
• Write articles under deadline
• Apply Associated Press style to articles
• Edit own and others’ articles for proper spelling, grammar and AP Style
• Define writing differences for different platforms

Writing assignments
Style quizzes
Exams
Critiques; peer critiques
Professional protocols (meeting deadlines, attendance, adherence to ethics)

Rich, Carol. Writing and Reporting the News: A Coaching Method. Wadsworth Publishing

Missouri Group. News Reporting and Writing. Bedford/St. Martin’s

Mencher, Melvin. Melvin Mencher’s News Reporting and Writing. McGraw-Hill

Harrower, Tim. Inside Reporting. McGraw-Hill

Associated Press. Associate Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Basic Books

Kessler, Lauren. When Words Collide. Wadsworth Publishing.

Strunk, William. The Elements of Style. Tribecka Books

News U (Poynter News University) offers many free or low cost resources and materials for teachers and students for this course.