News Reporting
Syllabus for COMS 204
Welcome
News reporting is the first of three courses designed to help you embark on a professional journalism career. We will be getting out of the classroom a lot, working on projects together and covering news stories around the campus.
Undergraduate Catalog entry: Prerequisites: COMS 104 or permission of instructor.
Practice in advanced-level reporting and feature writing. The course requires submission of all stories for possible media distribution (e.g., The Tartan and NRV News). Advanced discussion of ethics, morality, law and responsibility, as well as an examination of national and international media issues.
Course Format
Regular class meeting time 3:30 – 4:45 CHBS 1005
Expect reading, exercises, in-class quizzes, online quizzes, reporting assignments
Class web page: https://revolutionsincommunication.com/journalism
Class schedule is posted on D2L / Brightspace
Textbooks & Resources
Textbooks & Resources
- AP Stylebook (any edition)
- Required: Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark ISBN 978-0316014991
- Required: Camera (phone camera will be OK), reporters notebooks, audio recorder
- Required: Your own personal portfolio web site (free or low cost)
- Subscribe to CJR newsletter https://www.cjr.org/ (free or low cost)
- Recommended Inside Reporting by Tim Harrower; (recommended)
- Recommended Inside Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism
- Recommended Society Professional Journalists membership
- https://www.spj.org/join.asp
- Join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1256534577697202/
Instructor and office hours: William (Bill) Kovarik, PhD
- Email: wkovarik@radford.edu
- Office hours: T-Th 2-3:30, or by appointment, CHBS 2129
- Appoints by email only.
POLICIES
- Academic integrity, as pointed out in the Standards of Student Conduct, prohibits falsification, cheating, forgery, plagiarism and other dishonest academic practices. Penalties for major infractions may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the university.
- Honor Code: By accepting admission to Radford University, each students makes a commitment to understand, support and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception.
- Attendance: Attendance counts towards your final score. Absence of more than 10 percent of classes will result in a reduction of your grade.
- Story deadlines: Professional standards are expected. Late completion of projects will result in reduction of grade by one letter grade per week. Problems need to be discussed and negotiated with the instructor. You will not pass the class if you fall too far behind.
- Disabilities policy: If you are seeking academic accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act at Radford University, you are required to register with the Disability Resource Office (DRO). To receive academic accommodations for this class, please submit your documentation to the DRO in the lower level of Tyler Hall Suites 54-69, by fax to 540-831-6525, by email to dro@radford.edu. After submitting documentation to our office, you will set up an interview with a Disability Services Specialist to discuss accommodations. You will be notified via email once your accommodation package is complete and ready to be picked up. Once you have picked up your accommodation package, you will need to meet with each course professor during their office hours to review and discuss your package. For more information and/or for documentation guidelines, visit www.radford.edu/dro or call 540-831-6350.
- Incomplete grade — This is generally for students with serious unexpected medical or family problems.
- Withdrawal without penalty — Last day for Spring, 2019, is April 5.
- Confidentiality — Discussions about your scores, your performance and / or other aspects of your life at RU are kept in strict confidence by the instructor under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99).
- Open critiques — FERPA confidentiality notwithstanding, your public work as a journalist will be subjected to fair comment and criticism both inside the classroom and also when published in general.
- Other issues — Please be sure to consult with the instructor about any problems you may have early in the semester. Do not wait for the last minute.