News 201

Your final grade will be determined by the quality and professionalism of your work:

• News judgment exercises and critiques ...10%
• Weekly quizzes ...15%
• Print news writing assignments (e.g., police beat story, meeting or speech coverage) ... 20%
• Broadcast news writing assignments (e.g., police beat story, meeting or speech coverage) ... 20%
• Community Profile (final project) ... 25%
• Instructor's evaluation and student class participation ...10%

You are also required to attend outside workshops on the various skills that you'll need. Students who do not attend will receive an incomplete for the course. No exceptions.

Students are also required to participate in 6 hours of media experience and turn in a signed attendance form plus a composite experience paper (see Course Format). Students who do not complete the media experience will receive an incomplete for the course. No exceptions.

Grading Rubric/Writing Assignment Criteria

Note that all News 201 instructors use the +/- grading system, and all Journalism and TCOM students are required to get a grade of "C" or better in all courses required for the major. A grade of "C-" will require the course to be repeated.

Grades on writing assignments will be based on the following criteria:

A (95): Achieves professional standards. The assignment exhibits originality; thoroughness of research and reporting; excellent story structure; accurate, interesting and well-edited writing. Additionally, the assignment is effectively written for reaching its intended readership/audience.

B (85): Solid research, reporting and writing. Good sense of story structure. Minimal editing errors. Overall, the assignment achieves its objectives; however, it falls short of an A paper in terms of its originality and/or, perhaps, its connection with its targeted readership/audience.

C (75): An average assignment in terms of research, reporting and writing. The student has met the minimum requirements but has not achieved the quality required for a higher grade. The work may also reflect problems with story structure, with reaching its targeted readership/audience, and with grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage/style errors,

D (65): The assignment fails to meet the minimum requirements for research, reporting, story structure and writing. There are significant problems with organization of material, grammatical errors, and/or a poor understanding of targeted readership/audience.

F (59 and below): The assignment is fundamentally flawed due to inadequate research and reporting, weak story structure, poor writing, excessive grammatical errors, failure to follow instructions and/or an inability to comprehend the targeted readership/audience. The grade may also reflect penalties for late assignments.

Further, the instructor will critique writing assignments based on:

• Lack of story structure.
• Poor organization and transitions.
• Confusing mix of facts, quotes and other information.
• Passive writing.
• Lack of concrete details, imagery and/or insightful quotes.
• Lack of convincing and/or valid evidence or information.
• Doesn't connect with readers/audience.
• Grammar, spelling, punctuation and other usage/style errors. Five such errors in one assignment will result in a one-letter grade reduction. Misspelling a primary source's name will result in an automatic "F."