The School of Humanities and Graduate Studies

COURSE PROPOSAL, March 17, 2006

Department of English and Mass Communications
Lincoln University, PA

COM 416—TV News and Convergent Media Production 

Instructor: To be announced
Office Hours: To be announced
Office Telephone: To be announced 
E-mail:  To be announced 

PREREQUISITE: ENG 330 (News Writing)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course covers advanced principles of reporting, producing, scripting, news gathering, anchoring, and editing of television news. It builds on the concepts students have learned in lower-level journalism courses, especially ENG 330 (News Writing).

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS

Carroll, Victoria McCullough (2006). Writing News for Television,  2nd Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Company.
Zettle, Herbert (2005).  Television Production Handbook. 4th Edition, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.
Students will need to supply at least two quality VHS videotapes and one audiotape.

COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, the student will be able to accomplish the following news related tasks:

• Identify and cultivate local news sources
• Use correct broadcast writing format and style
• Develop interviewing skills for use in broadcast media
• Critically analyze broadcast material
• Develop an awareness of how the unique composition of broadcast media affects the news process
• Apply appropriate broadcast writing and production techniques to a variety of story types and formats
• Understand the underlying functions and organizational structures of broadcast media, and be able to perform various jobs in the broadcast news industry including writer, reporter, videographer, video editor, anchor, producer and assignment editor
• Understand the unique role of broadcast media in society
• Develop and maintain an awareness of current events, including developing an historical perspective on contemporary issues
• Understand and maintain professional journalistic standards and responsibilities
• Develop an awareness and understanding of ethical, economic, social and personal issues that affect broadcast news professionals

Students will produce television news packages and anchor and produce "cut-in" newscast segments. The projects will be critiqued both on a one-to-one basis and in class. It is essential for students to address both practical and theoretical components to the profession which they are preparing to enter. Therefore, students will complete a research paper in which they explore a specific issue faced by broadcast journalists.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Class participation
• Various production assignments/exercises 
• Current quizzes
• Midterm and final exam

ATTENDANCE POLICY
A professional classroom environment assumes that students will attend every class and participate fully in classroom activities. University Policy allows for three hours of unexcused class absence for a three credit course.  Absences in excess of this policy will affect the grade.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Lincoln University’s policies regarding academic dishonesty are outlined in the Catalog and are available on the Web. With regard to this course, acts of dishonesty include, but are not necessarily limited to, cheating on tests, plagiarizing material from other sources, making up material or sources of information, and/or submitting work for this course originally completed for other courses without the permissions of the instructors involved.

GRADING
The student's course grade will be computed as follows:
Production Assignment (6)                        30%
These assignemnts consist of writing, shooting and editing a VO, a VO-SOT, a "short package and two conventional packages.
Anchoring Assignment (1)                        10%
            Students will deliver "on-air" one five-minute "cut-in" news program.
Critiquing Assignment (1)                        5%
Students will critique one of their classmates' packages, providing a written report that includes constructive thoughts and observations.
Current Events Quizzes (4)                        10%
            Students will be given at least five current events quizzes.
Final Project (1)                               10%
Students will produce a five-minute "cut-in" news program, to include news, sports and weather segments. Also expected are a news capsule practice exercise and a self-critique

Midterm exam                         15%
Final Exam                             20%
 The grading scale is as follows. There is no curve. Extra-credit assignments can improve the grade if a student is in a borderline situation. 
 

Superior     Excellent     Average   Poor       Unthinkable! F

A   94-100 A-  90-93 B+  87-89 B    84-86 B-   80-83 C+  77-79  C    74-76  C-   70-73 D+  67-69  D    64-66  F    59 and below

COURSE   SCHEDULE                

Week 1:           Intro & Overview, Writing to Visuals - Hand-Out
Week 2:           In Class Assignment, Writing is Writing? Assignment#1 due
Week 3:           Script Formats, Chapters 1 & 2, Assignment #2 due, Current Events Quiz #1
Week 4:            Television News Stories, Chapters 3 & 4 Assignment #3 due
Week 5:            Review & 2nd Assignment, Current Events Quiz #2, Chapters 6 & 7
Week 6:            Hearing and Seeing and GFX, Current Events Quiz #3,  Chapters 8 & 9
Week 7:           VO‚s SOT‚s PKG, Chapter 10, Assignment #4 due
Week 8:            Midterm exam,  Chapter 11,
Week 9:            Critiquing Assignment, Chapters 12 
Week 10:         Guest Speaker, Chapters 13, Assignment #5 DUE
Week 11:         Guest Speaker, Chapter 14
Week 11:            Chapter 15, Assignment #6, Current Events Quiz #4
Week 12:         Codes of Ethics & Ethical Dilemmas, Anchoring Assignment #1 DUE           
Week 13:            Critiquing Assignment, Chapter 16       
Week 14:         Guest speaker, review of the course                   
Week 15:            FINAL PROJECTS DUE
Week 16:            FINAL EXAM