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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] Office hours: 1 to 2 p.m. on Fridays (must#confirm#location#by#email)2 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.3 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