News articles and reports
The largest single component of your grade is comprised of the points you earn on six assignments resulting in written reports. All but one of these assignments requires you to write news reports for a general audience living in West Texas. The sixth assignment is a beat structure report in which your audience is other Advanced Reporting students. For each of these assignments you turn in at least two components:
| Assignment | Component 1 | Component 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1) News Event | Advance (news article) | Follow-up coverage (news article) |
| 2) Depth1 | Research Plan | News Report (news article) |
| 3) Depth2 | Research Plan | News Report (news article) |
| 4) Depth3 | Research Plan | News Report (news article) |
| 5) Depth4 | Research Plan | News Report (news article) |
| 6) Beat structure | Handout, class discussion | Grade teammates |
All assignments need to be turned in according to the schedule on your syllabus and on the WebCT Calendar (see also due dates). No late work will be accepted. The beat structure report has a different due date for each student; therefore, it does not show up with a specific date on the syllabus or the due date documents.
Work you turn in must be prepared according to the mechanical specifications for class work. All assignments are turned in digitally, as MS Word documents. Except for your four depth reports, they are attached to an e-mail to Dr. Reddick. Depth reports are turned in through turnitin.com. Research plans for your depth stories are due one week prior to the story itself. Supporting documents (i.e. research notes, phone logs, interview notes) may be called in at random but are not routinely turned in. If your notes are extensive and include handwritten material, photocopies or other similar materials they may be clipped or banded together.
Broadcast students may elect to turn in the news article portion of their depth pieces as 2 1/2 minute television depth news pieces. Your use of visuals will be considered during evaluation. If you select this option, you will turn in the broadcast script as your written portion, along with a VHS format tape. You still must complete a research plan according to class schedule.
Tips / reminders
Remember news writing basics. You are reporting news, not giving your opinion. Therefore, you should avoid use of words that suggest or connote opinion. You should also avoid writing in first person or second person (implied or direct). All reports should be written in third person.
