This course will consider public affairs through coverage of events such as school board and city council meetings. Additional emphasis will be placed on beat reporting, including but not limited to in-depth coverage of issues emerging from areas such as government, science, and health, the economy, religion, and the legal system. Emphasis will be given to creating and using multi-media components to deliver information. Students will advance their philosophy of freedom of the press through the study of various philosophical orientations.

Prerequisites

Conducted as a workshop, this course emphasizes a step-by-step approach to the business of freelance writing. Students will learn how to select topics and study potential markets in an effort to sell research articles and first-person essays. Students will read, analyze, and study a wide range of articles and writers as they develop their writing style.

Conducted as a workshop, this course considers the theory and practice of writing reviews and opinion pieces. Students will review a variety of popular art forms, and will develop skills in writing editorial and opinion pieces. The study and critique of local and national reviewers and opinion writers will also be included.

An examination of the development of American journalism from colonial times to the present. Using primary source readings and films, in addition to textbooks, the course will examine changes within the journalism industry itself, the response of that industry to changes in American society and culture, and the effects journalism has had on American life.

Students in this course will study freedom of the press through the examination of significant court cases, particularly those that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Issues to be studied include libel, privacy, prior restraint and free press v. fair trial. In addition, students will study ethical issues, most of which are inseparable from the legal matters to be considered.

Students will work in a professional setting in the journalistic area of the student's choice, usually involving full- or part-time employment by a cooperating newspaper or magazine, radio or television station, advertising agency or public relations office. Open only to majors and minors. Arranged on an individual basis.  Additional fees may apply.

Special Topics in Journalism.