Jour 288, Print Practicum
Instructor: Tom Mullen
Section 1, Friday, 9:20-10:10 649-6108/270-2499
Section 2, Friday, 10:25-11:15
Ryland Hall Room 421
tmullen@timesdispatch.com, tmullen@richmond.edu
This course will help you get a job.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
Let's get right to the point: this
may be one of the most important classes you will take while you're
in the journalism program at the University of Richmond. This
is where some of you will publish your first stories and others
of you will build your clip files. Good clips mean a good job.
In almost every case, your clips will mean as much as your GPA
to any prospective employer in the news business. In some cases,
your clips will mean more.
It should be obvious, then, that your best effort and best work is required. It is in your best interest to do well in this course.
Most of you will write one story each week. You can write more if you have the time and inclination to build a good clip file. Unless you are a regular Collegian staff member, you must write at least nine stories this semester. Because of demands of the newspaper, section editors of The Collegian are required to write seven stories this semester; assistant section editors are required to write eight. There is also a copy editing option you may select, which is discussed elsewhere in this syllabus.
I will spend time carefully evaluating your stories, and I will always encourage you to do well. I want you to do well. The stories you write in this course will be published in The Collegian with your names on them. Readers - fellow students, teachers, administrators, future employers - will form impressions of you and your skills based on these stories.
We will meet every Friday to discuss story
assignments, to talk about improving reporting and writing, and
for quizzes on usage, style and grammar. Attendance in class
is mandatory. Collegian editors, this includes you.
You must pick up your story assignments by 6 p.m. each Thursday
in The Collegian office, 327 Commons. You need to have an idea
of how you want to approach your story by the time you come to
class on Friday.
Grades:
Your grades are based on the quality
of your stories in the same way that a reporter's compensation
is based on his or her performance in the newsroom.
What gets good grades: sharp leads; solid reporting; logical organization; obvious effort in producing first-rate work.
The grades you earn in this class are not related to how editors at The Collegian use your stories or how they may edit your work. In other words, an A in class doesn't always mean you've scored a front-page story in the paper. Likewise, a front-page story doesn't always mean an A.
It's your job to follow up with me about any
stories that you've turned in for class that didn't receive a
grade for one reason or another. If you don't get your story back
within a week, let me know right away.
Grades for the course are: 100+ - 90s, A+, A or A-; 80s, B+, B
or B-; 70s, C+, C or C-; 60s, D+, D or D-; below 60, F.
Assignments:
You must begin working on your story
as soon as you pick up your assignment on Thursday. You don't
want to take a chance that key people you need for the story will
be unavailable. Make the initial contact, find out where people
are or how they can be reached, and get to work.
Always identify yourself as a Collegian reporter immediately and explain briefly what your story is about. If there is some reason that you cannot complete the assignment, immediately contact Collegian editors Brian Pagels or Preston Knight. You may not swap stories with other reporters unless Pagels or Knight approve, so you must get a new assignment quickly to meet your deadline. If you fail to get a new assignment, you fail for the week.
Deadlines:
The deadline for turning in stories
is 10 a.m. Friday, a week and a day after it is assigned, unless
Collegian editors give you another deadline. A late story gets
an F. Do not ask me for an extension - you must check with the
Collegian editors, and I've asked them not to allow extensions
unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
If you have not completed research on your story, write a story from what you have, so that I can consider giving you some credit. If your story is in by deadline but not complete, write at the top of the story: "Story incomplete. I expect to have it complete by (date and hour)."
You should write your stories on computers in The Collegian office or during open hours in Room 500 of Ryland Hall. Collegian computers are accessible until 11 p.m. each day. Don't wait until the last minute to do your story. Don't bring friends with you to The Collegian office when you have a story to write. There will be a disk on which you are to write your story in The Collegian office with your name on it.
Keep track of your story slug, so that the Collegian editors can find your story in the computer. Also, no matter which computer in The Collegian office you use to write your story, be sure to transfer it to the appropriate computer when completed, to either "news," "sports" or "accents." Note carefully: Do not send your story to The Collegian by e-mail.
On all stories, you must:
1. Always write your full name at the
top of your story just as you would want it to appear in a byline.
Include the date at the top of the story.
2. Always list at the end of the story the names and phone numbers of sources quoted in the story. That enables editors to call them if there are questions or deadline developments. Failure to do so will cost you 15 points. When you list sources and phone numbers at the bottom of your stories, also indicate how you made contact with that person. If by phone, write (tel) after the name. If by personal interview, write (per) after the name. Follow this example: Jim Reid (tel) 289 8373 Leonard Goldberg (per) 289 8032 Max Vest (per) 289 8507. It will cost you 15 points if you don't do this.
Note: Whenever possible, it is better to interview someone in person than on the phone. For grading purposes, I look favorably on personal interviews.
3. Always "cq" each proper name, number or statistic that can be checked to show editors that you have carefully checked these things. Example: Officer Joseph (cq) Groome (cq) said the driver was Jason (cq) Creech, 24.(cq) Creech(cq) stopped near Arby's (cq) on Quioccasin Road (cq) and shot at four stray dogs, Groome (cq) said. Failure to use "cq" marks will cost you 10 points.
Tips, suggestions, words to the wise, etc:
Count on losing points for misspellings and factual errors, since these are the kinds of things that directly affect your credibility and the credibility of your newspaper. Minor misspellings and minor errors will cost you to a certain degree - perhaps a letter grade - but misspellings of proper names (capitalized ones) or major factual errors mean an automatic F. Yes, that means otherwise outstanding stories will flunk.
Don't interview friends and roommates: Do not choose roommates, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers or fellow members of some athletic team as contacts for a story you're assigned. If you are assigned a story in which you have a conflict of interest, ask for a new assignment right away. You must develop the skills needed to obtain information from people you don't know. Fair warning: There are no one-source stories. Ever.
Photos, graphics: Newspapers need art to accompany most stories. Find out if a Collegian photographer is assigned to your story. Encourage the photographer to accompany you on assignment. You'll get better pictures that way because the photographer will have a better sense of what the story is about.
Editing at The Collegian:
You are required to work two copyediting shifts at The Collegian. The hours are either from 6 to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays or 7 to 11 p.m. on Wednesdays. You can also do this one other time, if you like, instead of turning in a story. Don't look at this as an easy A - I'll get good feedback about how you perform on this shift and I'll grade accordingly.
Story ideas:
The best story assignments are generated
by reporters. I expect you to be the eyes and ears of The Collegian.
You must turn in one solid story idea every
Wednesday by 10 a.m. You need to write this idea as if you were
an editor giving an assignment to a reporter. In essence, you
need to tell the reporter what the story idea is, why it is important,
what angle should be explored and what contacts should be pursued.
These story ideas need to be thorough, which means they should
be at least a half page. Do not turn in a lazy, undeveloped idea
such as this: "Food in D-hall is rotten. Let's do story on
it." Here's a good quick way to turn that into something
solid: "Food in D-hall is rotten, according to a number of
students. Have there been any changes in cooking or selection
of meals? Any change in personnel - are there too many or too
few cooks spoiling the broth? Interview food services people,
UR administration officials; interview as many students as possible;
check nexus and other databases for similar stories on the same
subject; what's the food like over at VCU?" etc, etc.
You need to email your story ideas to me and to the Collegian
editors by 2 p.m.
Thursday. Don't wait until the last minute. Under extraordinary circumstances you may occasionally get a deadline extension for a story, but there are no extensions for story ideas. Failure to submit a story idea will cost you 15 points off your writing grade that week. To be sure you'll get credit, write just above it "Tom Mullen's (your name) story idea for week of Feb. 9," or whatever date it is. If you do not clearly identify your story idea and date this way, you won't get credit for it.
MORE WAYS TO GET GOOD GRADES
Keep this check off list with you when
you write your Collegian story; remember you start each week with
a raw score of 100 points, which is an A. I want to help you keep
those points. Here are some tips to help you:
1. Write well researched stories. Use the Internet
and Lexis-Nexis for
background research as needed.
2. Come to class.
3. Put (cq) behind all names.
4. List sources, including how the interview was conducted, and
the
telephone numbers of all people interviewed or researched that
appear in the story.
5. Submit story ideas on time
6. Meet your deadlines.
MORE WAYS TO GET HELP
Ask for help, and you shall receive.
You can call or e-mail me by 6 p.m. Wednesday before the Friday
deadline if you want me to take a peek at a rough draft and send
it back with ideas.
If you try, you will do well in this course.