J1100 Principles of American Journalism University of Missouri School of Journalism Spring 2015 Section 02 Updated Feb 16 2015 Time Location 3 to 4 15 p m MW GANNETT HALL 88 FISHER AUD Prof Mimi Perreault mediatingmimi Email mfp5g8 mail missouri edu Office hours Reynolds Journalism Institute RJI 220 by email and by appointment only Weeks before exams only Wednesday 2 3 p m and Thursday 9 30 to 10 30 a m location will be announced Prof Perreault is a third year PhD candidate in Journalism Her research concentrates on how local journalists cover natural disasters in their communities Perreault grew up in Texas but has also lived in South Florida and Washington DC Perreault has bachelors in Journalism from Baylor University in Waco Texas and a masters in Communication Culture and Technology from Georgetown University in Washington DC She has worked for news organizations including the Palm Beach Post PBS s Religion and Ethics News Weekly Agence France Presse and The United States Institute of Peace Her husband Greg is also an instructor and PhD student in the J School They have a three year old daughter Evangeline and five month old daughter Margery Teaching assistants Cosette Dwyer Last names A H Email chdkw9 mail missouri edu Office hours 10 a m 11 a m on Tuesday must confirm location by email Cosette is a journalism M A student from O Fallon IL She received her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha and the journalism student council She plans to work in marketing and public relations after completing her master s degree Allen Fennewald Last names I Po Email agft42 mail missouri edu Office hours 10 to 11 a m on Monday must confirm location by email Allen grew up on a small farm outside of Martinsburg Missouri and earned his B A in English creative writing at the University of Missouri in 2013 Allen has worked as the only full time reporter at The Mexico Ledger for a little more than a year now Allen would like to move on to a bigger media outlet as an investigative journalist as well as a music reporter Adam Jensen Last names Pr Z Email ajjgfc mail missouri edu Office hours 1 to 2 p m on Fridays must confirm location by email Adam is a May 2014 graduate of the School of Journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication and is currently working toward earning an MBA with an emphasis in marketing Upon graduation he realized all his friends left before he started grad school so he got a dog named Hosmer who is perfect Besides Hosmer he also loves the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs TAs will only hold scheduled office hours by email request 24 hours in advance and during the week of exams All office visits must be confirmed via email I COURSE DESCRIPTION The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with concepts and functions of journalism in American society We will explore underlying principles of journalism relationships among journalism and other social institutions and values and current issues and problems facing journalists By the end of the course you will have developed familiarity with how journalism works as well as some perspective on how well or not journalism performs its function in American society I hope our exploration will make you more analytical practitioners of journalism more informed media consumers and more critical writers and thinkers about why things are they way they are in journalism Lectures You are expected to attend and be prepared to participate in lecture Please complete the assigned reading before the lecture so you can ask informed questions and initiate discussion If there is a guest lecturer please prepare as if they were the professor and read the suggested readings Also you should be aware that exams are based on the assumption that you have been to class done the reading and absorbed the material You are free of course to borrow notes from fellow students You will not however be able to get notes from the instructors or TAs Also please do not try to use email as a substitute for attendance by asking the professor what you missed or your own record keeping by asking about due dates In general to succeed in this class you need to come to class and do the readings It also would help to find a classmate with whom you can exchange notes and study for tests My lecture slides presentation are my intellectual property and I do not make them available outside of class or office hours However I will share any videos or graphics I share in class through my mediatingmimi Twitter account as long as they are publicly available Blackboard site Email If you are reading this syllabus it means you ve either accessed the course website courses missouri edu or persuaded a vigilant classmate to do so Either way you ll find that the site contains lots of things vital to your success in this class You ll find the schedule of topics and readings there as well as the participation blog special assigned readings your grades and more Also this is a journalism class Newsbreaks things happen I reserve the right to change class plans last minute You may be notified of assignments readings via email That said I try to respond to email in a timely fashion When you send an email expect a response within 24 hours unless you are emailing on a Friday afternoon in that case expect a response by Monday morning before noon 2 Technology The ability to take notes to paraphrase to take complex information and interpret it for yourself these are crucial skills in any field of communication In order to support you learning these skills laptops and cell phones cannot be used during class unless the instructor asks you to use them Students using unauthorized technology will be asked to leave class II REQUIRED TEXTS This semester we will use the Principles of American Journalism textbook by Stephanie Craft and Charles Davis This book is available at the Mizzou Bookstore Other readings will be announced in class and posted to Blackboard III MAJOR ACTIVITIES AND GRADING All assignments will be unique to this course and this semester Other sections may have different assignments so please be familiar with our assignments and course schedule Point values are subject to change as needed because of time constraints 1 Exams 180 points total You will take three exams this semester 50 60 and 70 points respectively They may be cumulative and failure to take an exam by the assigned date time may result in an automatic 15 percent