Admission requirements
There are no requirements for this course.
Description
This is an introductory course seeking to give students a basic understanding of the essential elements of journalism. There will be lectures on “what is news”, news judgement and how to get a story, with some discussion of what the changes journalism has undergone over the past thirty years. There will be further lectures on the specifics of reporting, news writing, interviewing and questioning, sourcing, feature writing and investigative reporting. Students will be given articles by a variety of journalists to study. The emphasis will be on print journalism and students will be required to write their own news stories or features every week, and that will also include in-class writing assignments within a limited time frame.
Course objectives
To give a clear insight and understanding of what print journalism entails
To give basic skills in reporting and writing both news stories and news features
To give an understanding of the different techniques of reporting, interviewing and writing that journalists have used and developed over the past 150 years
Timetable
Please see the LUC website: www.lucthehague.nl
Mode of instruction
Most of the classes will be in the form of lectures, with time for discussion. There will also be several in-class assignments (with time limitations) and interviewing exercises. Every week students will be given writing assignments – at times based on articles handed out, at others on reporting each of them have personally done in the Hague – either in the form of news stories (for instance by visiting the Yugoslav Tribunal or the ICC) or of a news feature. The news stories will be relatively short (300 to 500 words), the news feature longer (800 words). Students will be graded both on the quality of their stories and on their participation in the class discussions. I will be available every week for individual meetings with students and will try to arrange to show two films during evenings.
Assessment method
- Interactive engagement with course material: assessed through In-class participation (10% of final grade): Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
- Individual engagement with and understanding of course readings: assessed through 6 Weekly news stories + 2 in class assignments (7.5% of final grade each
Yielding 60 %): Weeks 2 – 7 Mondays at 12:00 - Review of In Cold Blood: assessed through 500 word review (10% of final grade): Due Week 6, Monday at 12:00
- Expression of holistic understanding of the course: assessed through Final news feature (800 words; 20% of final grade): Due Week 8, Thursday at 17:00
Blackboard
This course is supported by a BlackBoard site
Reading list
The Elements of Journalism – Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel (Three Rivers Press 2001 – ISBN 0-609-80691-2)
Blur: How to know what’s true in the age of information overload – Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Registration
This course is only open for LUC The Hague students.
Contact information
Aernout van Lynden – avlynden@yahoo.co.uk
Weekly Overview
Week 1: Introductory lecture “what is news” + lecture on news judgement
Week 2: Reaction to 1st assignment/lecture on how to get a story + in-class assignment/lecture on reporting
Week 3: Reaction to 2nd assignment/lecture on interviewing + lecture on interviewing and in-class interviewing exercise
Week 4: Reaction to 3rd assignment/lecture on sourcing + lecture on research
Week 5: Reaction to 4th assignment/lecture feature writing + lecture on new journalism
Week 6: Reaction to 5th assignment and review/lecture on investigative journalism + lecture on journalism on the web
Week 7: Reaction to 6th assignment/lecture on ethics + final lecture
Preparation for first session
All students should have read The Elements of Journalism.