JRN 337: Introduction to Narrative Journalism

Building on students' experiences in newswriting, this courses examines the reporting and writing of longer stories and more textured feature stories. There will be an emphasis on focus, structure, and storytelling, including the rudiments of developing style and a narrative voice. Students will be expected to write several original enterprise stories. They will also explore the similarities and differences in telling stories in print, online, and in broadcast formats.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 216 and JRN 217

3 credits

JRN 339: Foreign Reporting

An introduction to interpreting complicated events outside North America for domestic audiences at home through studying foreign correspondents, their practices, practicalities, tradecraft, ethics, scoops, successes, and failures. The course is situated in the context of understanding the geopolitics of information, cross-cultural studies, ethics, and identifying the impact of propaganda, and disinformation. This seminar format course focuses on key reporting techniques including identifying reliable sources, quickly analyzing complex situations, and writing and speaking, about them under time pressure.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 340: Beat Reporting

A hands-on course that gives students greater exposure to the skills and knowledge required to regularly cover various branches and functions of government or a topic area. Students develop a beat and write stories from that beat. Beats include local governments: village, town or county government, police, courts or a board of education or a topic such as the environment, transportation, immigration, education or health care issues on Long Island or a specific aspect of Stony Brook University. The course emphasizes identifying, developing, and maintaining sources. A special feature of this class is the opportunity to meet and learn from experienced journalists as well as government officials and public relations experts who offer a perspective on the media from their points of view. The basic reporting skills developed here are applicable to print, broadcast and the Internet. All stories handed in must be ready for publication.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 350: Journalistic Judgment and Ethics

Journalistic judgment-how and why decisions are made in the newsroom-examines the fundamentals of the editor or news director's role in print, broadcast and online news with emphasis on their impact on critical thinking, decision-making, maximizing accuracy, removing bias and providing diversity and context. Students will discuss journalistic judgment in print, broadcast and online news. The semester case studies and project will address fundamental judgment issues.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 205 and JRN 215

SBC:     CER, ESI

3 credits

JRN 355: Reporting in New York City - Broadcast

Offered mainly in winter and summer sessions, the course provides students with an overview of how broadcast journalists cover the major institutions in New York City: City Hall, the United Nations, the police department, the courts, Wall Street, etc. The course offers a blend of classroom instruction, talks with officials and journalists, and hands-on reporting. On reporting days, the class will be run as a newsroom. It is offered at the university's Manhattan extension.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 310 and permission of the department

3 credits

JRN 361: News Editing and Presentation/Print

Editors are the last line of defense. Their job is to catch and correct mistakes, make stories readable if they are not, write engaging headlines and captions, design pages that invite the reader, protect the publication's credibility, avoid libel, and otherwise exercise good news judgment. This course focuses on developing students' copyediting and page design skills. Mastery of grammar and of The Associated Press Stylebook are goals. The course will cover the art of photo selection, placement and cropping, and the use of graphics and other elements to enhance storytelling. Students will use Adobe InDesign to create attractive pages.

Prerequisites: C or higher in JRN 350 or permission of the department

Pre- or corequisite: JRN 364

3 credits

JRN 363: Magazine Writing

This course builds on JRN 337, advancing the exploration of long-form magazine stories. Students will learn how to develop ideas and craft them into sophisticated pieces with protagonists and strong narrative drive. They will learn to bring their stories to life using novelistic techniques such as character development, voice, mood and theme, conflict and resolution, scene-setting, foreshadowing and dialogue. Required reading assignments, group discussions of works-in-progress and roundtable meetings with professional narrative journalists will inspire students to develop their own writer's eye and voice. The culminating goal of the course is for each student to produce a 2,500-to-3,000-word story for publication. Students will also learn how to select a market for their stories and write a query letter.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 364: Advanced Reporting

Designed to help student journalists explore complex stories through probing reporting that unearths rich detail and context. Students will work under supervision of their "editor" (the instructor) to produce publication-quality works. The focus will be on "solutions journalism," with reporting in-depth on a single story spanning the semester. Classes will serve as a learning lab and newsroom, during which students will present their work to their editor and fellow reporters. They will pitch their ideas, explain in detail their reporting progress, brainstorm with fellow student journalists on story development and reporting strategies, share experiences, review each other's stories in progress, and, in general, help one another. Students will be graded on their success as a colleague, a reporter, and a writer.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 216 and JRN 217 and U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 365: Talking Science

Designed to help undergraduate students in the sciences communicate effectively and responsively with multiple audiences, from peers and professors to potential employers and the media. Rather than a bag of tricks and techniques, this course will push a shift in the students' understanding of communication: 1) audience centered, 2) goal oriented, and 3) dynamic. Improvisational theatre exercises will help students connect with an audience, pay close and dynamic attention to others, read non-verbal cues, and respond freely without self-consciousness. There will be a strong focus on storytelling as a medium through which this communication shift occurs.

SBC:     SPK

3 credits

JRN 366: Press & the Presidency

Students examine the complex, difficult, co-dependent relationship between the news media and the president including the role of the press in a presidential campaign. The course includes a study of the historical relationship between the press and the president, the reasons for the fundamental deterioration of the press- White House relationship over the last 50 years, the impact of the digital revolution on the relationship, and whether voters can make an informed decision based on the information provided by the news media. This course is offered as both JRN 366 and POL 366.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 367: Opinion Journalism

A writing-intensive experience on the various aspects of opinion journalism, from columns to commentary, editorials, op-ed, blogs, reviews, and letters to the editor. What makes effective opinions? How does opinion journalism differ from news reporting? When do opinions and commentary qualify as journalism? When do they not qualify? What has been the historical role of opinion in journalism? How did it change and why? What impact has the internet and cable television had on opinion journalism and commentary? This course covers print, broadcast, and all forms of news media emphasizing the importance of reporting, critical thinking and clear writing.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 370: Advanced Visual Reporting and Storytelling

This course builds on the work of JRN 310 and is offered in a workshop/production environment. There is focus on mastering the reporting of breaking news, live reporting and developing story ideas. Emphasis also will be on shooting techniques. Students will produce longer-form reports.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 310

Pre- or corequisite: JRN 350

3 credits

JRN 371: Weekly Broadcast

Designed to introduce students to planning, assembling, producing and performing the elements of a newscast. Students will be exposed to the roles of key members of a newscast team, including producers, assistant producers, reporters, writers, anchors and video photographers and editors. There will be emphasis on developing decision-making and on-air skills, as students complete mini-newscasts and segments for broadcast. Students will be expected to meet strict deadlines and manage critical air time. Newscast segments will be showcased on JRN Web sites.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 370

3 credits

JRN 372: Introduction to Weathercasting

An introduction to weather casting with an emphasis on practical exercises and performance in a cutting-edge broadcast studio. Students will gain ease and poise delivering weather forecasts on camera using the latest equipment and technology in a professional setting with real-time constraints and challenges. Budding weathercasters will practice reporting and communicating critical meteorological news and be encouraged to find their personal voices and styles before the camera.

Prerequisite: ATM 102/103 or ATM 205; permission of department

1 credit, S/U grading

JRN 373: Advanced Weathercasting: Extreme and Hyperlocal

Advanced training for meteorology students who have completed JRN 372: Introduction to Weathercasting and want to continue exploring the coverage of extreme and local weather events such as hurricanes. Students will practice performing live under deadline pressure to acquire ease and a personal style before the camera. This class takes advantage of padcaster technology to put weathercasters in the field for live remote broadcasts. The goal of the class is to prepare students to qualify for The American Meteorological Society¿s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Program.

Prerequisite: ATM 102/103 or ATM 205; grade of B or higher in JRN 372; permission of department

1 credit, S/U grading

JRN 380: Multimedia Photojournalism

This course, designed for students interested in specializing in online news, will focus on content management and the presentation of news on the Web. Students will have the opportunity to manage a news website in real time, with emphasis on around-the-clock news judgment and presentation. Students will learn how to enhance online news through multimedia integration and reader/viewer interactivity. Students also will study information architecture, eye-tracking studies and different ways of making the Web more accessible for readers, including layering information. After completion of course overview material, students will move through three phases designed to simulate a key role in current online newsrooms. The phases include real-time content management, multi-media integration and harvesting original video. There will be emphasis on building critical thinking skills and developing team work. By the end of this course, students are to produce a complete multimedia project and integrate its production into a real-time online news site.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 320

Pre- or corequisite: JRN 350 or permission of the department

3 credits

JRN 381: Web Presentation

Students will combine their advanced journalistic skills in reporting, writing and producing with advanced multimedia techniques to create an online "microsite" devoted to one major story, combining text with video, photos, blogs and interactive features. This course builds on skills acquired in JRN 380. Significant computer use will be required outside of class time.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 380

3 credits

JRN 390: Special Topics in Journalism

This special topics course will deal with timely and contemporary issues that affect journalists and journalism. The issues could range from the press in wartime to how the press covers presidential campaigns. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 391: Journalism Workshops

These workshops are designed to assist students in developing skills that will be useful in various journalism courses. Topics will rotate. Anticipated topics include On-Air Presentation, Audio Journalism, Digital Photography, Databases, FOIL and Sunshine Laws, On-Air Performance, Editing Software. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: Varies by topic, permission of the department

1-2 credits

JRN 392: Special Topics: Issues in Contemporary Journalism-Journalism Without Walls Prep

This 1-credit workshop is designed to help students prepare if they are interested in taking JRN 435 Journalism Without Walls, a course in which students travel with journalism faculty to a location and spend several weeks reporting, writing and broadcasting from and about it. Each Journalism Without Walls Prep is tailored to the specific locale and coverage issues. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: To be taken before JRN 435

1 credit

JRN 393: Audio Journalism Lab

This 1-credit audio lab is designed to assist students in developing skills that will be useful in various broadcast courses and to prepare them for radio and podcasting internship opportunities. Digital recorders will be provided for use in and out of class. An emphasis will be on the skills needed to produce long-form radio reports and podcasts in the tradition of National Public Radio. The lab meets once a week for three hours. Some assignments will require students to go off campus.

Prerequisite: JRN 215

SBC:     EXP+

1 credit

JRN 411: Television Practicum

This is a capstone course for students specializing in video. This day-long workshop class meets on Fridays from 9 am to 6 pm, with an hour break for lunch. Each week, students will produce and broadcast a half-hour, live newscast that will be broadcast on the Web and on a campus news channel. The class will experience the working conditions of a professional TV newsroom. Over the course of the semester, students will have the opportunity to work in each of they key jobs necessary for a successful newscast: broadcast producer, news director, anchor, field producer, reporter, video editor and member of the studio crew. Following each newscast, the news team will gather for a "post-mortem" meeting. At this meeting, work will be critiqued and plans will be made for follow-up stories and the next week's newscast. The post mortem will serve as a weekly assessment for the students.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 370 and permission of the instructor

Pre- or co-requisite: JRN 371

3 credits

JRN 413: Journalisms of the Global South

A historical and socio-communicational exploration of the genres and styles of journalism emerging and shaping the different regions of the Global South since the early mercantile expansion of the 17th century and into the 21st century. In parallel with the colonial push into the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, journalistic narratives start to shape the Western view of the new worlds. But the process has a dual nature: these styles and genres are appropriated, re-signified and repurposed locally, giving birth to an array of journalisms that do not conform with their Western counterparts. Crónicas, corridos, roman feuilleton, and a vast number of other forms of journalisms born in the Global South are discussed during this course. The class aims at expanding the Western idea of journalism as the watchdog of democracy, and to understanding journalism in the Global South in its historical context, within its political, pedagogical and literary roles.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 415: Data Analysis and Storytelling

A skill-building exploration of communicating empirical data to different audiences using stories. Using existing data, students practice interpreting data and implementing storytelling tools to create clarity and meaning within goal-oriented, narratives about topics from climate change, to population health, and plant science. Through the Alda Method® for science communication, students learn to engage in clear and vivid communication that ensures data is communicated with integrity and accuracy, which leads to improved understanding by the public, media, patients, elected officials, and others outside of their own discipline. The Alda Method® supports experiential learning by integrating teaching strategies from improvisational theater, communication, journalism, public health, and other relevant fields. This course is offered as both JRN 415 and COM 415

JRN Maj/Min: U3 or U4

SBC:     STAS

3 credits

JRN 433: Journalistic Book and Serial Narrative Production

A contemporary approach to factual long-form and serial storytelling based on the study of narrative theory. We explore western and non-western contemporary literary journalism in written and audio-based formats. Participants conduct research as a basis for producing an individual or group project. Individuals may produce a pitch, prospectus, or a book proposal and then complete the first chapter of a long-form narrative. Groups may develop a collaborative proposal and produce a first episode of a serial podcast. Formative research will include interviews, documentary research, and a summary of the core ideas proposed in the book or podcast. The work is based on class analysis and the ideas explored during the semester.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 434: Photojournalism

An introduction to operating as a reporter empowered by effective news and feature photography skills. Students will develop judgement in how to tell stories visually through experiential mastery of digital camera picture taking and editing skills. They will develop a critical eye to determine what makes a great photograph, understand effective forms of visual communication, and master techniques in making photographic images. Students will take a hands-on approach to craft photographs that convey emotions and have impact in delivering the news. Picture selection, cropping, captions as well as the ethics of photographic presentations in an era of easy image manipulation are emphasized. Students add to their visual toolbox of reporting skills through lessons that are focused making stronger photographs under time pressure.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status and major in Journalism, or permission of instructor

3 credits

JRN 435: Journalism Without Walls

Offered only during winter or summer sessions, this course is designed for experienced and energetic journalism students. Students will be assigned as part of a team to travel to a location and using only mobile technology, transmit stories and video from the field. Their work will be published via a special website. Students will have one week to research a topic or location before leaving for their destination. (Teams of students, for example, have gone to China, Russia, Cuba and the U.S. Gulf Coast.) While on assignment, students file blogs, gather multimedia and video, write and edit stories, produce a website and establish a "mobile newsroom." One or several instructors accompany the students. This course combines students' journalistic skills, judgment and enterprise with knowledge of emerging technology. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisites: permission of the department, additional prerequisites announced by topic. Passport may be required.

SBC:     EXP+

3 credits

JRN 438: Weathercasting & Environmental Reporting

A practicum for upper division meteorology majors and advanced journalism students preparing for post college careers as local television/radio weathercasters, resident environmental reporters, and off-screen producers. The course centers on performance and production of a bi-weekly TV studio-based broadcast.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 status

3 credits

JRN 444: Experiential Learning

This course is designed for students who engage in a substantial, structured experiential learning activity in conjunction with another class. Experiential learning occurs when knowledge acquired through formal learning and past experience are applied to a "real-world" setting or problem to create new knowledge through a process of reflection, critical analysis, feedback and synthesis. Beyond-the-classroom experiences that support experiential learning may include: service learning, mentored research, field work, or an internship.

Prerequisite: WRT 102 or equivalent; permission of the instructor and approval of the EXP+ contract (http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/bulletin/current/policiesandregulations/degree_requirements/EXPplus.php)

SBC:     EXP+

0 credit, S/U grading

JRN 475: Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I

Work with a faculty member as an assistant in one of the faculty member's regularly scheduled courses. The student must attend all classes and carry out tasks assigned by the faculty member to assist in teaching the course. The student will meet with the instructor on a regular basis to discuss intellectual and pedagogical matters relating to the course. Not for major or minor credit.

Prerequisites: U3 or U4; Permission of instructor and undergraduate program director

SBC:     EXP+

3 credits, S/U grading

JRN 476: Undergraduate Teaching Practicum II

Work with a faculty member as an assistant in one of the faculty member's regularly scheduled courses. Students assume greater responsibility in such areas as leading discussions and analyzing results of tests that already have been graded. The course in which the student is permitted to work as a teaching assistant must be different from the course in which he or she previously participated. Not for major or minor credit.

Prerequisites: grade of satisfactory in JRN 475; permission of instructor and undergraduate program director

SBC:     EXP+

3 credits, S/U grading

JRN 487: Independent Study

Intensive study of a special topic undertaken with close faculty supervision. May be repeated with a different topic.

Prerequisite: Permission of director of undergraduate studies

0-6 credits, S/U grading

JRN 488: Internship

Students work at local, state, and national news organizations. The work must involve journalistic skills related to the educational goals of the department. Students are required to submit written progress reports and a final written report on their experiences.

SBC:     EXP+

0-12 credits, S/U grading

JRN 489: Specialized Internship

Students work in campus departments or at local, state and national organizations. The work must involve a professional experience using journalistic skills in alignment with the educational goals of the department. Students are required to submit written progress reports and a final written report on their experiences.

SBC:     EXP+

0-12 credits, S/U grading

JRN 490: Senior Project

This is a capstone course and a requirement for all journalism majors. Students produce an in-depth story of professional quality in written form, visually and with interactive elements. Students attend a weekly seminar and work independently. A secondary goal of the course is to prepare students for career opportunities upon graduation. Students leave with a multiplatform portfolio.

Prerequisite: C or higher in JRN 311 or JRN 312 or JRN 313

SBC:     EXP+, WRTD

3 credits