This course prepares students to report and craft journalism in a highly competitive and complex media environment. Collaboration, research, and other design strategies will be used to develop reporting processes as students cover a beat, with a particular focus on interviewing and article writing.
Course Policies
RESPECT, TRUST, GOODWILL, & PRIVACY
We should consider this course’s learning environment a “brave space”, one where we may have to interact with difficult issues, controversial points of view, and sometimes even upsetting language or imagery. That is the nature of journalism because that is the nature of the world in which we report. Journalism is an intrinsically uncomfortable profession, even as it is rewarding and adventurous and wildly stimulating!
Though we may potentially have to have to ponder, report on, read, or debate uncomfortable and even triggering stuff in this course and in the media, there is no room for identity-based aggression, abuse, or discrimination in our classroom.
It is fine for me to call our learning environment a “brave space”, but none of us can feel truly brave in this learning environment if we don’t feel safe. Trust is a big part of helping each other feel safe. Trust is, as you already know, earned by trustworthy speech and behavior. Examples of trustworthy speech and behavior include, but are not limited to, adopting your peers’ correct pronouns, not interrupting others when they speak, criticizing ideas rather than individuals, and taking a moment to consider other people’s points of view before you argue against them.
During this course, every student will pursue writing projects. Writing is, at all stages of the process, a vulnerable pursuit. That means we need to know that everyone in the room is approaching our work and our conversations with the best intentions. We also need to know that our colleagues will not judge us as we sometimes make mistakes or mis-judgements during the reporting or draft process. Risk-taking and missteps are essential to learning and growth. This is another reason why we all need to work together to build a trusting environment inside our virtual classroom. In order to create a “brave space” for risk-taking and for learning from mistakes, I do hope that we can respect the privacy of our conversation spaces and of each other’s reporterly work and learning journeys.
We will talk more in class about trust, and how to build a trustworthy learning community. Figuring out what trustful behavior looks like in our course should not be dictated only by me; it should be a group agreement.
Learning Outcomes
By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- More confidently interview sources over video and phone.
- Pitch story ideas to editors.
- Report and write Q&As and articles.
- Run a reporting newsletter.
- Gain expertise on a reporting topic of their choosing, and be able to write about it authoritatively.
Assignment Options
Beat Presentations
At the beginning of the semester, each student will pick a beat topic they’re interested in exploring. On their assigned presentation date, they will be expected to present, along with the other members of their beat group, the research and reporting you have thus far conducted on their topic. They should present this information in the form of a Google Slides presentation. Below are the slide requirements.
Each presentation should be no longer than 20 minutes.
- Slide 1: Introduce your beat
- What is your beat about?
- What are the sub-beats within this beat? Sub-beats are the individual topics each group member will focus on as you pursue this beat this semester. For example, if my group’s beat is “Music”, our sub-beats might be Rap, Country, and Techno.
- This is the only slide that your group will create together.
- After your present Slide 1, each individual member of the beat group should take turns presenting all of their slides about their sub-beat. Their sub-beat slides should address or include the following:
- What is your sub-beat?
- Who does this sub-beat affect?
- Who is your imagined audience for this sub-beat? Who will it interest? ○ Why does this sub-beat matter?
- Present 5 data points that relate to your sub-beat. Be sure to cite your sources.
- What questions do you have about those 5 data points?
- What has already been written about this sub-beat in the form of news articles or journalistic longform articles?
- How might you approach this sub-beat differently than it has been approached before? How could you move this topic forward?
- Has past reporting on this topic caused harm to other people? How so?
- Which perspectives does past reporting on this topic feature, and which perspectives does it leave out?
- Find 3 newsletters that relate to your sub-beat.
- Tell us a little about the person/people who write each newsletter.
- How do each of these newsletters approach this sub-beat? Are they analysis-driven? Are they more curatorial? Do they feature original reporting?
- Read/view/listen to 5 other research sources that relate to your topic. This could be a podcast, a book, a scholarly article, a documentary, a study, etc.
- What were some key takeaways from each of these sources? What did you learn?
- Interview one person who is involved with your sub-beat in any way. The purpose of this interview is to help you think more deeply about your beat, so this interview can literally be with anyone who has any connection to the topic. For example, if my sub-beat is Rap, I might interview my friend who is a DJ and deeply involved with the rap community. Or I might interview a New School professor who studies rap music. Or I might interview an up-and-coming rapper I reached out to on Instagram.
- One thing your interview should touch on is what your interviewee thinks the media gets wrong about your topic. The rest of the interview’s focus is up to you.
- What surprised you the most during this conversation? What did you learn?
- What was challenging about this interview?
- Make sure you ask this person to suggest 3 people they think you should interview as you pursue your sub-beat.
- Looking ahead, what challenges do you think you will encounter as you attempt to report on this topic?
- What reporting and research do you think you still need to conduct in order to better understand your sub-beat? Be specific.
- Now that you have learned a bit more about your sub-beat, list three people you would love to interview for your Q&A assignment/newsletter issue next month. These people can be archetypes, they don’t have to be actual people (but they can be actual people, too)!
- Why do these people interest you as interview subjects?
Read + Respond
Each student should read these pieces:
- Searching for Ground Truth in the Kunduz Hospital Bombing (The Intercept)
- Robert Kraft, a Massage Parlor, and an Unbelievable Story (Vanity Fair)
And then answer these questions:
- Create a list of every act of reporting you can identify in the Vanity Fair piece. Who did the May Jeong talk to? Where did she go? What research did she conduct?
- Do the same for The Intercept piece.
- What do you think might have been the three biggest challenges Jeong faced as she reported the Vanity Fair story? Reference specific acts of reporting in the story.
- Do the same for The Intercept piece.
- How does Jeong fact check her sources in these stories? Point to specific examples.
Reporting Diary
Throughout the semester, students can keep a reporting diary. This is a way for them to asynchronously practice journalism on their own.
Diary prompts:
- What is your sub-beat?
- Which aspect of your sub-beat interests you the most? That is the aspect you should focus on in your assignments this semester.
- For this diary, you need to conduct at least 8 interviews, NOT including the interview you conducted for the beat presentation.
A few things to include when you reach out to sources:
- Who you are! I suggest you identify yourselves as freelance journalists at your institution.
- Where you will publish — tell them you are launching a newsletter about [your topic].
- Clips to your previous work, if you have any. It’s okay if you don’t. That’s what this class is for.
- The general topics you want to discuss, not the exact questions. I like to add, at the end of my list of topics, “and anything else that may come up during the conversation”, so the interviewee isn’t surprised if I ask about a topic that wasn’t on the list.
- Your deadline for the interview!
- Some potential times and dates for the interview. Make sure you are aware of time zone differences!
- How will you conduct the interview: Phone? Zoom?
- An explanation of why you reached out to this interviewee. Did you read a research paper they wrote? Is it because they are a resident of a small town you are reporting on? Because they are active in a protest movement you are covering? Show them you have done your homework about them already.
You will ask your interviewees many questions! But before you conduct your interviews, you should come up with one central question you hope all your interviewees will help answer. What is that one central question, for you?
A few things to keep in mind when you conduct your interviews: - Let the interviewee know you are recording the interview. In some states, this is common courtesy; in other states, it’s a legal requirement. Personally, I use Tape A Call for non-sensitive
interviews: https://www.tapeacall.com . The company claims that if you download the recordings, then delete them they are safer from subpoena: https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/apps-that-record-phone-calls-are-convenient-but-can-present-confidentiality-risks/ - Take your time and listen carefully to what the interviewee says. It’s okay if it takes you a second to respond after they speak.
- As the interviewee speaks, take notes on things that they say that interest you. Before you move on to the next question, follow up and ask them to say more about the stuff you jotted down! You don’t have to rush to the next question on your list — in fact, you’ll get a better
interview if you take the time to ask follow-up questions after some of their answers. - At the end of the interview, ask yourself: did my one central question get addressed adequately in this interview? If not, try asking them to address that question one last time. Sometimes I’ll say, “Before I let you go, I just want to ask you one more time about [central question topic]”, and then I’ll ask them a question about something they said when they answered that question the first time. Don’t worry about sounding “weird” or “awkward” by asking it again — the interviewee knows you are doing a job.
- Finally, ask them to suggest some other people they think you should talk to as you report on your sub-beat.
Below, please list everyone you have interviewed so far, and include a Google Docs link to the written transcript of each interview, as well. (120 points) Your interviews will not be counted toward your
grade unless you include a transcript for each one.
- For this diary, you need to come up with at least 8 data sources. These 8 data sources CAN include the data sources you listed in your beat presentation. Below, you need to list the 8 data sources, cite their sources, and explain how these data sources help address your one central question (the one you listed above). (20 points)
- For this diary, you need to include at least 8 research sources. These can be reports, original articles, books, podcasts, documentaries, etc. AT LEAST 4 OF THESE SOURCES NEED TO BE DIFFERENT THAN THE SOURCES YOU CITED IN YOUR BEAT PRESENTATION. Below, you need to list the 8 research materials, cite their sources, and explain IN DETAIL how these research sources help address your one central question (the one you listed above). (30 points)
- Once you have completed steps 1-5, it is time to think about some potential story angles. What did you learn during your interviews that gave you some ideas for articles you might write? In at least 2 paragraphs, tell me about one of those story ideas below — and be sure to directly cite your interviews as you explain your idea for your story. (15 points)
Interview Practice
Throughout the semester, students can use this assignment to practice Q & A’s. Here are the guidelines:
- Your draft should include two potential headlines.
- Your draft should include a two-paragraph (minimum) introduction to the Q&A. The Q&A should help the reader understand the interview. For example, the introduction may include biographical information about the interviewee or information about the interviewee’s latest project. Your introduction can be longer than two paragraphs, if you want.
- Your draft should include a Q&A (including your questions and your interviewee’s answers) that is no shorter than 800 words. There is no maximum length limit. You can edit your interview however you like — we will discuss your editing decisions when we workshop your work.
- You should paste the full, un-edited transcript of your conversation with the interviewee at the end of your Q&A.