Journalism 207 Newswriting 3 credits

Instructor: Shearlean Duke  650-3269  dukes@cc.wwu.edu College Hall 209

Required texts: The News Formula by Catherine C. Mitchell and Mark D. West, When Words Collide by Kessler & McDonald, The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, a dictionary.
Helpful reading: A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker. On Writing Well  by William Zinsser and Strunk and White's Elements of Style.
Supplies: A Zip disk. (Be sure and put your name on it.)
Copy preparation: Class exercises and assignments must be written on a computer. Copy should be double-spaced, with paragraphs indented and the word "more" at the bottom on every page but the final page. Use the number "30" or the symbol ### at the end of your story. Each printed page must contain your name, the date and the story's "slug" (title). Assignments will be graded on their accuracy, completeness, leads, organization, clarity, grammar, spelling, transitions, lack of wordiness, AP style. The first few assignments will not be graded although they will be evaluated and marked.
Grading Key = 12 point scale
  • 11-12 = Publishable. Story is solidly reported, is free of fact or name errors, has a strong lead, flows logically, uses good grammar and AP style.
  • 9-10= Needs Editing. Story has no fact errors, but needs editing to make it read clearly.
  • 7-8= Needs Substantial Editing. Story has grammatical or style errors and/or lacks some basic facts or includes errors that interfere with clarity, completeness, fairness or balance.
  • 5-6= Marginal Quality. The story is missing substantial amounts of pertinent information and requires additional research and rewriting to make it publishable.
  • 0-4=The work contains factual errors, or is incomplete and/or poorly written.
    • Grades for the quarter will be based on:   Possible Points
    Four in-class writing exercises at 12 points each:   48
    One grammar quiz at 12 points     12
    Two quizzes at 25 points each     50
    One AP Quiz at 15 points      15
    Three outside stories at 20 points each    60
    Attendance, participation, misc. assignments    15
    Total:         200
    Grades are figured as:
    185-200=A  160-164=B-  134-139=D+
    180-184=A-  154-159=C+  125-133=D
    174-179=B+  145-153=C  120-124=D-
    165-173=B  140-144=C-  below 120=F
  • Week 1 Introduction to course. What is news? Read Ch. 1, 2, 3.
  • Week 2 Leads and the inverted pyramid. Read Ch. 4, 5, 6 & 7.
  • Week 3 Finding the focus of your story. Story ideas, news value, AP style. First in-class writing assignment April 11 (12 points).
  • Week 4 Research & handling quotations. Quiz #1 covers Ch. 1-7 April 20.
  • Week 5 Covering speeches. Outside story # 1 (Speech coverage) due April 27.
  • Week 6 Gathering the news. Research, interviewing and note-taking.  Read Ch. 8, 9, 10. Second in-class writing assignment May 4 (12 points).
  • Week 7  More on leads. Features & profiles. Third in-class writing assignment (12 points). Read Ch. 11, 12, 13.
  • Week 8 Advance stories & press releases. Outside story # 2 (Profile) due Nov. 11. Read. Ch. 14, 15, 16. (Grammar Quiz 12 points).
  • Week 9  The news business, professionalism and libel. Quiz 2 covers Ch. 8-16
  • Week 10  Rewriting and editing. Fourth in-class writing assignment (12 points). Read Ch. 17 & 21. Journalistic ethics and codes.