Department of Journalism

JRN 100. Special Topics in Journalism.3 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 106. Multimedia Production Techniques.3 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 199. Journalism Independent Study.1-6 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 200. Special Topics in Journalism.3 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 205. Photojournalism Fundamentals.3 Credits.

This hands-on course focuses on creating compelling, original news photography using the latest DSLR and Mirrorless cameras that journalists in the field are using today. Students learn about the basics of photography in this course and how to shape those technical skills into competent photojournalism.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every other year, Spring
UC: Fine Arts

JRN 260. News Writing.3 Credits.

This course teaches the principles and practices of news writing for digital platforms and print. Journalists must acquire skills to identify a news story and its essential elements, gather information efficiently, place it in a meaningful context, and write concise and compelling accounts. The readings, discussions, exercises and assignments for this course are designed to help students acquire such skills and understand how to utilize them wisely.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 263. Broadcast News Writing.3 Credits.

Students are introduced to the fundamentals of writing for the broadcast media in a professional environment. Topics include writing for radio and television, as well as integrating sound and video into news stories. The course also provides a basic understanding of primary journalistic values such as accuracy and fairness as they apply to broadcast news.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 275. News Reporting.3 Credits.

This course is focused on news reporting. Students learn how to gather, analyze and use information for journalistic stories. They learn to identify and use digital databases and resources, conduct thought-provoking interviews, and search and locate public documents in ethical and legal manners.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 260 or JRN 263.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 280. The Art of the Podcast (SPS 280).3 Credits.

This hands-on course explores creative audio storytelling via the podcast. Students learn how to research, write, record, edit and self-publish creative nonfiction and fictional stories that are both original, and emulate some of the most popular podcasts on the market. Special emphasis is placed on audio gathering techniques, storytelling techniques and interviewing for live and recorded shows.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed, Spring

JRN 285. Mobile Journalism: The Future of News.3 Credits.

News consumption on smartphones and tablets has surpassed that of desktops and newspapers, making mobile devices key to the future of news. Students examine the impact of this trend on the future of journalism, learn about the technologies necessary to produce news on these devices, critique the user experience provided by various apps and mobile websites, and produce a news app of their own. They also learn how to cover news events using mobile technology, how to produce mobile news stories and how to work in a mobile newsroom.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140.
Offered: As needed, Spring

JRN 291. Reporting for Television 1.3 Credits.

Students learn the principles of producing television news packages, which they shoot and edit using HD non-linear equipment. All students cover news and sports primarily off campus. The focus is on writing, news judgment, content, interviewing, use of voice and doing stand-ups. Stories can air on the TV newscast that is broadcast live weekly.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 106 or SPS 106; and JRN 260 or JRN 263.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 300. Special Topics in Journalism.3 Credits.

Students engage in a detailed examination of current issues in journalism in a format that may incorporate academic research, journalistic writing and multimedia presentations. Students should consult the School of Communications course bulletin for information about each semester's offerings.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140.
Offered: As needed, All

JRN 301. Special Topics.4 Credits.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 306. SEO, Social Media, and Third-Party Platforms.3 Credits.

With a fresh take on audience engagement, students are introduced to the critical concepts of search engine optimization for social and digital news platforms while they learn and use industry recognized best practices for writing headlines, leads, URLs and social posts. Students will explore social algorithms and learn to use the knowledge to ensure strong storytelling reaches targeted audiences.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Summer

JRN 311. Reporting for Television II.3 Credits.

In this course, students produce in-depth television stories. Pieces are longer to allow the student to explore issues in greater detail. Stories can air on the TV newscast that is broadcast live weekly.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 291.
Offered: As needed

JRN 315. The Art of Journalistic Interviewing.3 Credits.

Compelling stories don't just happen. They come from strong interviewing skills that tell stories people care about. Students learn how to ask questions that elicit pithy responses, emotion and expertise, using in-class and out-of-class exercises. Students also analyze and critique the interviewing styles used by professional journalists, as well as the work of their classmates.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 106 or SPS 106; and COM 140.
Offered: As needed

JRN 325. Telling Global Stories.3 Credits.

Using multimedia to gather and present facts lets journalists expand the scope of their storytelling. Students in this course examine current international journalism trends and socioeconomic and political issues specific to a developing country, learn fact-gathering techniques, and travel to that country during spring break to put into practice what they have learned. After spring break, students work on an interdisciplinary multimedia project.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed, Spring

JRN 341. Sporting Culture Through Nonfiction.3 Credits.

It has often been said that sport is a microcosm of society, but many rhetoric scholars have begun to suggest that sport plays a role in constituting society and is "defined by a range of political practices, including allocations of resources, representations of identity, projections of nationalism and globalization, activism and change." This directed readings course examines American culture, as well as comparative values, through nonfictional accounts of sport.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed, Summer Online

JRN 343. Literary Journalism in the '60s.3 Credits.

The 1960s stand out as an era of change and turbulence in 20th-century America. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, these nonfiction writers and journalists wrote in a personal style that became known as "Literary Journalism," or "The New Journalism." This directed reading course requires students to analyze the historical and contemporary views of major literary journalists.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed, Summer Online
UC: University Curriculum Ele

JRN 359. Journalism Elective.3 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 360. Watchdog Reporting.3 Credits.

In this course, students learn and practice watchdog journalism, helping to inform our communities and keeping public figures and institutions in check. Students cover in-depth news off campus, on topics such as crime, public health, politics, education and the environment. In conversations with working journalists, students learn both innovative and proven strategies for reporting. Students also work individually and in teams to publish stories and multimedia projects based on public data, documents and interviews.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 260 or JRN 263.
Offered: As needed, Spring

JRN 361. Sports Reporting (SPS 361).3 Credits.

This course introduces students to coverage of sports for the news media and includes writing game stories and sports profiles.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 260 or JRN 263.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 362. The Story of Football (SPS 362).3 Credits.

This course traces the historical trajectory of American football and the coaches, players and media portrayals that transformed the game from a 19th-century collegiate test of manliness to what it is today: a spectator sport of immense appeal whose popularity endures despite more than a century of concerns over the game's debilitating and sometimes lethal violence.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 364. Sports Broadcasting.3 Credits.

This course introduces students to the concepts and content of what makes a good sports broadcaster. Aspects of sports broadcasting, both from inside the studio and outside on the field of play are explored. Students will learn and take on all the roles involved in sports broadcasting: that of a studio host, play by play, analyst, sideline reporter, interviewer and more.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 263
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 365. Effective Editing.3 Credits.

Students learn the basics of editing online text, magazines and newspapers, with an emphasis on copyediting, headline writing, composition and story packaging.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 275.
Offered: As needed

JRN 372. Entrepreneurial Media (The MIC Project).3 Credits.

This course addresses the fiscal and distribution challenges faced by journalists and media professionals and empowers student teams to construct sustainable business models. Students experiment with the latest technology, exchange ideas with some of the industry's most prominent thinkers and developers, and create content or products for viable media business ventures. Open to all School of Communications students.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 375. Cultural and Entertainment Journalism.3 Credits.

Students learn how to write about arts and culture by reporting on local events and developing a theoretical framework for cultural reviewing. Topics include television, music, theater and film. In addition to hands-on reporting assignments, coursework includes readings, screenings and fieldwork.

Prerequisites: Take COM 140 or permission of instructor.
Offered: Every other year, Fall

JRN 380. Fundamentals of Digital Journalism.3 Credits.

This course covers the principles and practices associated with researching and producing stories for digital media. Students are required to produce stories that include textual, audio, video and interactive elements.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 106 or SPS 106; and JRN 260 or JRN 263.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 388. Billionaires, Game-Changers and Grifters: The Stories of Business.3 Credits.

Students learn methods and tactics of writing about businesses for mass communication. The course covers why and how companies operate and how to write stories about corporate news from public records and other sources.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every other year, Spring

JRN 395. Broadcast Performance.3 Credits.

This course explores the variety of skills required to communicate effectively through broadcasting. Students learn and practice on-air presentation techniques for effective delivery and interpretation. The course focuses on voice, voice control and the phrasing interpretation of copy and body language. Study focuses on performance techniques, creativity, writing and analytical skills needed to communicate effectively. Open to broadcast and print students.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 106 or SPS 106; and JRN 263.
Offered: As needed

JRN 399. Journalism Independent Study.3 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 400. Special Topics in Journalism.3 Credits.

Students should consult the School of Communications course bulletin for information regarding each semester's offerings.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 450. Senior Seminar.3 Credits.

This seminar entails an in-depth examination of issues and research perspectives in journalism. Seminar titles vary each term and may include topics such as ethics in journalism, diversity in the newsroom, and international journalism practices. Students should consult the School of Communications course bulletin for information about each semester's offerings.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 470. Narrative Journalism.3 Credits.

Students in this class learn to report and write long-form articles suitable for publication in online and print magazines. Over a series of major writing assignments, students apply their research and interviewing skills to produce exhaustively reported and elegantly written articles. Topics in the course include: lead writing, article structure, interviewing, the use of statistics and the application of narrative techniques to journalistic writing.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 275.
Offered: As needed

JRN 480. Advanced Digital Journalism.3 Credits.

Many newsrooms now combine multiple types of media to immerse readers and make complex stories more digestible. This course covers the reporting and production skills needed to build many of these new forms, including interactive graphics and maps, and advanced audio and video projects. Students also study past and present interactive journalism projects and meet with some of the professionals who designed them.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 380.
Offered: As needed

JRN 488. The International Money Trail.3 Credits.

Business and investment, regulation and corruption, fraud and philanthropy are often global, making students who can track money across borders especially valuable. This course is designed to teach journalists, financiers, investigators, and strategic communicators to use financial analysis and digging skills on the international money trail. This course builds on JRN 388 and serves as the capstone for the minor is Financial Communications and Business Journalism.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 260 or JRN 263 or take FIN 201 and AC 211.
Offered: As needed, All

JRN 495. Advanced Reporting.3 Credits.

This course stresses individual enterprise reporting, in which students plan, report, write and produce stories suitable for print or multimedia that demonstrate their command of skills acquired during the course of study. Emphasis is placed on the role of the professional journalist as an ethical practitioner who represents and reflects the wider public in its economic, ethnic and racial diversity.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 380.
Offered: As needed

JRN 496. The QNN Newscast.3 Credits.

In this course students act as producers, news and sports reporters, writers, editors and anchors as they put on a live weekly newscast. Newscasts are recorded and critiqued for student portfolios.

Prerequisites: Take JRN 291.
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 498. Journalism Capstone.4 Credits.

In this capstone course for the journalism major, students work on long, in-depth pieces of journalism across platforms. The stories include numerical or statistical information, multiple interviews from a variety of diverse sources, and show the students' command of the techniques used to produce and present news in print, broadcast and digital environments. Senior status required.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 499. Independent Study.1-6 Credits.

Prerequisites: None

JRN 500. Special Topics in Journalism.3 Credits.

This course consists of seminar-based classes that consider emerging areas of scholarly research or industry developments in journalism, with a particular focus on how a specific research activity or industry development illustrates issues regarding economic, gender and social groups.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 501. Reporting and Fact-Checking.3 Credits.

Students are introduced to the basic practices and tools of journalism, which include interviewing, identifying and accessing public documents, writing leads and constructing organized, balanced stories.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 504. Digital Essentials.3 Credits.

The capacity to gather information and report the news remains at the core of the journalism profession. This course focuses on the fundamentals of news writing while also engaging students in emerging social media and other tools to present comprehensive news stories to all audiences.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 506. SEO, Social Media, and Third Party Platforms.3 Credits.

With a fresh take on audience engagement, students are introduced to the critical concepts of search engine optimization for social and digital news platforms while they learn and use industry recognized best practices for writing headlines, leads, URLs and social posts. Students will explore social algorithms and learn to use the knowledge to ensure strong storytelling reaches targeted audiences.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Summer

JRN 521. Audio Storytelling.3 Credits.

Writing for the ear requires skills in preparing scripts, natural sound and audio recording and editing. This course prepares students to compose stories for radio news and podcasts, with a focus on developing the style of conversational broadcast writing common to National Public Radio.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 524. TV Reporting.3 Credits.

Visual news stories as broadcast by networks, affiliates and cable news channels and in evolving digital formats require skills in both storytelling and technology for shooting and editing video. This course covers the essentials of shooting video, editing and field reporting and producing.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 528. Data Journalism.3 Credits.

Information graphics are now an integral component of news, conveying big data into readily understood formats such as diagrams and charts. This course teaches students how to visually organize information and apply it to news stories for broadcast or online presentation.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 530. Independent Study (ICM530).3 Credits.

This is a special course offered to accommodate students who seek advanced practical training or advanced research in an area not directly included in the curriculum. The topic and scope of the course is developed by the student in consultation with a faculty adviser, subject to approval by the dean.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 531. Graduate Internship.3 Credits.

Experience in association with working professionals is essential to securing career opportunities. Students completing an elective internship to secure such experience are required to work in a supervised environment, approved by the graduate program director.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 541. Sporting Culture Through Nonfiction.3 Credits.

It has often been said that sport is a microcosm of society, but many rhetoric scholars have begun to suggest that sport plays a role in constituting society and is "defined by a range of political practices, including allocations of resources, representations of identity, projections of nationalism and globalization, activism and change." This directed readings course examines American culture, as well as comparative values, through nonfictional accounts of sport.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Summer Online

JRN 543. Literary Journalism in the '60s.3 Credits.

The 1960s stand out as an era of change and turbulence in 20th-century America. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, these nonfiction writers and journalists wrote in a personal style that became known as "Literary Journalism," or "the New Journalism." This directed reading course requires students to analyze the historical and contemporary views of major literary journalists.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Summer Online

JRN 545. TV Production.3 Credits.

This course introduces students to the technical production skills that go into a daily news telecast. Newsroom organization, story development (from idea to the air) and the principles and practices of professional producers are studied.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 546. Digital News Production.3 Credits.

This course explores topics related to social media, such as the viral video clip from a Tweet or the verified source through social media. Students learn the skills, tools and best practices of digital and video content production, as well as social coordination in the news arena. They also explore logistical and ethical concerns in the social medium.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 552. Media Law and Ethics.3 Credits.

A thorough knowledge of laws and ethical behavior is essential to the professional practice of journalism. As such, this course covers the legal and ethical dimensions of media communications across platforms, with an emphasis on First Amendment, privacy and copyright issues.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 562. Sports Law and Ethics.3 Credits.

Federal antitrust law and regulations show that college and professional sports are treated as special components of American culture. This course examines the legal structure that grants special privileges to sports and to the ethical challenges sports journalists confront in going beyond the games to find the story.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 563. Sports Analytics.3 Credits.

Deciphering the volumes of data produced by high school, college and professional sports teams is an essential part of sports reporting. This course introduces students to the ever-growing volumes of statistics across major sports and shows how to transform such data into useful information.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 564. Presenting and Producing Radio Sports.3 Credits.

Radio remains an essential and effective medium for listening to games and for engaging the audience with live talk shows that discuss teams, players, sports and the action of the competition. This course presents students with the principles and practices of radio sports.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 565. Presenting and Producing Television Sports: Remote.3 Credits.

Students in this course write, produce and distribute a 30-minute sports program for broadcast featuring stories that illustrate intriguing and inspiring stories of a Division I college athletic department. Every student engages in shooting, editing, writing, interviewing, presenting and distributing the final product. Additionally, students originate and perform local and national style sports highlight segments along with live in-depth interviews.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 566. Presenting and Producing Television Sports: Studio.3 Credits.

Pre-game, post-game and intermission reports are among the most important aspects of televised sports, as each reveals and promotes the storylines through which games are covered. This course introduces students to the concepts and content behind the production of studio shows.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 572. Researching and Writing the News Documentary.3 Credits.

The complexities of producing the news documentary range from finding the right story to pursue to uncovering the proper visuals to help tell it. This course provides students with the skills to research, write, and produce visual nonfiction, long-form projects rooted in history or current events.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 573. Sports Literature.3 Credits.

Sports serve as a critical metaphor for American life in nonfiction works such as "Friday Night Lights," in novels such as "End Zone," in plays such as "Death of a Salesman" and in films such as "Raging Bull." This course examines why sports are prominent in cultural works that attempt to reveal the meaning of America.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: As needed

JRN 574. Crafting the Sports Feature.3 Credits.

Feature writers capture athletes when they are most noble, frail or otherwise vulnerable or heroic. They also capture the moment when a game means more than that. This course teaches students to apply creative vitality to their ideas and writing on sports outside of game stories.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Fall

JRN 588. Business Reporting:Following the Money.3 Credits.

Students learn methods and tactics of writing about businesses for mass communication. The course covers why and how companies operate and how to write stories about corporate news from public records and other sources.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every other year, Spring

JRN 589. Critical Issues in Sports.3 Credits.

From health concerns to labor conflicts, the workaday world often intrudes on the bubble that protects the mythology of sport. Through reason, analysis and writing, students interact with vital issues that emerge from the seemingly routine day-to-day coverage of games.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 595. Sports Clinical.3 Credits.

Students completing the sports journalism program must participate in the Sports Clinical. This course focuses on advanced broadcast, multimedia, documentary and long-form reporting and to deepen the experience and training in a given area of specialization in terms of platform and subject matter.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, Spring

JRN 600. Capstone Proposal.3 Credits.

Students completing the journalism program conduct research and do preliminary reporting to write a capstone project proposal based on their area of inquiry. The faculty adviser and graduate program director must approve the topic. This course is graded on a pass/fail basis.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All

JRN 601. Capstone Project.3 Credits.

Students completing the journalism program must complete a capstone project. Under the guidance of the their faculty adviser, students create an original, in-depth, professional-quality journalism project. This course is graded on a pass/fail basis.

Prerequisites: None
Offered: Every year, All