FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE CALENDAR 2005-2006

Journalism

JLS 600 JRN 100 JRN 112 JRN 15A/B JRN 16A/B JRN 17A/B JRN 18A/B JRN 199 JRN 19A/B JRN 200 JRN 301 JRN 310 JRN 312 JRN 340 JRN 341 JRN 410 JRN 412 JRN 413 JRN 414 JRN 50A/B JRN 51A/B JRN 53A/B JRN 54A/B JRN 55A/B JRN 56A/B JRN 57A/B JRN 62A/B JRN 800 JRN 801 JRN 802 JRN 803 JRN 804 JRN 805 JRN 901 JRN 902 JRN 903 JRN 905 JRN 906 JRN 90A/B JLS 600 The History of Journalism This course studies the evolution of journalism from 1600 to the present. It examines the various forms that news took at different periods and in different places; how news influenced culture and was influenced by it, as well as by changing technology, business organization, and markets; how different audiences used and responded to news; and how the producers of news understood their work in relation to their society, their audiences, their employers and their peers. (UL) Lect: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 100 Information and Visual Resources This course teaches core ideas for the gathering and dissemination of information, while introducing students to the application of these ideas through specific skills which may include: photography, Geographic Information Science (GIS), and the use of databases/spreadsheets. Special attention will be given to increasing students’ visual literacy and communication abilities. (formerly JRN 113). Antirequisite: JRN 113. Lect: 2 hrs./Lab: 2 hrs. back to top JRN 112 Introduction to Online Journalism Students are given an opportunity to try several forms of online journalism, including breaking news, re-purposing of print material and online features. Rather than concentrate on coding, the course introduces the challenges and opportunities of this new medium, as well as engaging the students in the potential for converged reporting, interactivity and the financial stability of online news outlets. Assignments will include both individual and group projects, resulting in a publicly-available website. Prerequisite: JRN 199. Lect: 1½ hrs./Lab: 2 hrs. back to top JRN 15A/B Introduction to Broadcasting This is a laboratory course. This course provides students in the university graduate program with the basics of news writing for broadcast and news gathering both in radio and television. Along with the necessary technical skills, students learn to write for the ear as well as for the eye. They report and produce programs in simulated newsroom conditions. Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 16A/B Print Reporting Students in the program for university graduates are introduced to gathering and writing news for newspapers and online in a computer lab. They cover stories at city hall and criminal courts, as well as doing specialized reporting and profiles. Students are coached in clear thinking, clear writing, interviewing and story organization. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 5 hrs. back to top JRN 17A/B Copy Editing/Layout First year graduate students are given practical experience in editing news and feature articles, learning the importance of accuracy, precision and style. Skills include tightening writing, sharpening leads, applying Canadian Press style, headline writing, cutline writing, and the principles of layout. Lect: 1 hr./Lab: 1 hr. back to top JRN 18A/B Introduction to Magazine Writing First-year graduate students are introduced to the craft of magazine-style feature writing through lectures and a series of assignments, including a feature article. Topics covered include finding a focus and developing a thesis; research and interviewing techniques; use of dialogue; developing characterization; openings and endings; and the place of personal voice. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 199 Grammar This mandatory course for journalism students is graded on a pass/fail basis. Students will write a Grammar test during their first year, as well as a make-up test if needed. Suggested resources (text, CDs, Web sites) will be offered for students to review relevant material. This course is a prerequisite for second-year journalism courses, including JRN 112, JRN 200 and JRN 61A/B. back to top JRN 19A/B News Reporting This course teaches the fundamentals of news reporting: accuracy, finding a focus, lead writing, clear and concise writing, story structure and organization, use of transitions and quotations, colour and detail, news judgment, story ideas, and ethical considerations. Instruction includes writing and reporting assignments in class and on the street. Interviewing will be a special component of classes during one semester. (formerly JRN 014). Antirequisite: JRN 14. Lect: 2 hrs./Lab: 4 hrs. back to top JRN 200 Introduction to Broadcasting This course introduces the values and techniques of radio and television journalism to second-year students. In a laboratory-classroom setting, simulating the operation of a broadcast newsroom, JRN 200 emphasizes specific skills of writing and newsgathering: knowing what is to be said, why it is important and how to write it for broadcast. Students will be responsible for mastering the basic technical and editorial skills of broadcast journalism, and for preparing reports in both media. (formerly JRN 240). Prerequisites: (JRN 199, JRN 19A/B or JRN 19 and JRN 100) or (JRN 199, JRN 19A/B or JRN 19 and JRN 113). Antirequisites: JRN 240, JRN 101. Lect: 2 hrs./Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 301 Critical Issues in Journalism This offers a critical look at journalism, particularly at whom it covers and whom it doesn’t. Though the course can be adapted to deal with many issues, it will focus primarily on the marginalization and stereotyping of multicultural communities. Students will analyze case studies and experiment with ways of building journalistic skills to cover such groups fairly and accurately. (formerly JRN 300). Antirequisites: JRN 300, SOC 507. Lect: 2 hrs./Lab: 1 hr. back to top JRN 310 TV Production Techniques This course introduces students to the hardware and techniques used in television production, and how those tools are used to support the editorial message. Students will be introduced to the operation of a television studio, editing suite, and electronic news-gathering equipment. Through hands-on assignments students practice the technical, artistic, and logistical skills necessary to produce news reports and short documentary features for television. Prerequisites: JRN 200 or (JRN 240 and JRN 101). Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 312 Research and Story Editing This course is designed to teach the fundamentals of research and story producing for broadcast. The emphasis is on the identification of story ideas and angles and the gathering of background information. Interviewing techniques are also introduced. The role of research in news, information, and documentary programs is examined. The emphasis is on practical exercises and programs. Prerequisite: JRN 200 or JRN 240. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 340 Media Ethics Journalism Ethics: This advanced course prepares graduate students for many of the ethical problems they will encounter as professionals. Students work from case studies, discuss ethical issues as they arise in current media, and write research papers on issues that they choose in collaboration with the instructor. Broad themes covered at length include conflict of interest, rights of privacy, plagiarism, and the dangers and possibilities in the use of “fictional” narrative styles in feature writing for newspapers and magazines. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 341 Broadcast Technology This course is designed to strengthen technical skills required for television production. Students will learn how to storyboard, sequence, interview and shoot with standards used in the broadcast industry. Students work from JRN 902 lab class and will be critiqued during class time. Through hands-on assignments students practice techniques used in news reporting and short documentary features for television. Prerequisite: JRN 15A/B or JRN 15. Lect: 1 hr./Lab: 1 hr. back to top JRN 410 Broadcasting Internship This course is a broadcast journalism internship. Students will spend six weeks at a professional broadcast venue where the student will be expected to perform duties assigned by the broadcaster. Students can either arrange their own internship or be assigned by the Instructor. Prerequisites: (JRN 15A/B or JRN 15) or (JRN 310, JRN 312 and JRN 50A/B or JRN 50). Lab: 8 hrs. back to top JRN 412 Documentary Survey From the newsreel to the newscast, a look at the great and not-so-great moments in Broadcast Journalism. Students will screen archival film and radio reports from the early days of broadcasting. Through the work of great journalists in the field students will track the development of programs and programming. They will follow broadcasting from its infancy to the latest developments in network news. Prerequisites: (JRN 15A/B or JRN 15) or (JRN 310, JRN 312 and JRN 50A/B or JRN 50). Lect: 4 hrs. back to top JRN 413 Newspaper Internship This course is a newspaper internship designed to give graduating students exposure to writing for publication in a daily or weekly newspaper. Students will spend up to six weeks working in a newsroom assigned to them by an Instructor or pre-arranged by them with the Instructor’s approval. Students will be expected to work at a professional level and will be scheduled by the newspaper. They will be required to work a 40 hour week and may be required to do shift work. Prerequisites: (JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 and JRN 17A/B or JRN 17) or (JRN 51A/B or JRN 51 and JRN 53A/B or JRN 53). Lab: 8 hrs. back to top JRN 414 Online Internship This course consists of an internship with an online information service. Students in their graduating year will be assigned duties for up to six weeks at an online organization arranged by them, or by the supervising instructor. Work will be assigned and evaluated at a professional level. Prerequisite: JRN 112 or JRN 56A/B or JRN 56 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53. Lab: 8 hrs. back to top JRN 50A/B Broadcast Reporting This is a laboratory course, building on skills developed in first and second year. Students will spend one day each week in a simulated newsroom. They will be required to write copy, line up newscasts, report on air, edit and script tape reports, while producing newscasts for television and radio. They will begin to incorporate current affairs techniques and news features into their broadcasts. Prerequisites: JRN 199 and (JRN 19A/B or JRN 19). Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 51A/B Copy Editing and Newspaper Layout Students are taught to ensure that a story is accurate and readable, to understand style, make a story fit an allotted space, and write headlines. Different approaches to layout, design and typography, and picture use are covered. Students will gain a working knowledge of newspaper production through editing, headline writing, selecting news and pictures, and designing pages. (formerly JRN 051) Prerequisite: JRN 19A/B or JRN 19. Lect: 1 hr./Lab: 2 hrs. back to top JRN 53A/B Print Reporting A newspaper lecture/laboratory course in which students learn news judgment and news writing skills, building on what they learned in Reporting I. The course also improves interviewing techniques, note-taking speed and ability to meet deadlines, skills as useful for online writing as for newspapers. Students learn to propose feasible story ideas. Units of time are spent reporting for The Ryersonian. Prerequisite: JRN 19A/B or JRN 19. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 4 hrs. back to top JRN 54A/B Advanced Magazine Writing Through theory and practice, students come to grips with the nonfiction writer’s craft. Technique-including structure and transitions, writer’s voice, tone and cadence-is discussed with an eye to developing individual styles. But the emphasis is on writing and rewriting. The aim is to produce work that meets the highest magazine standards. Prerequisites: (JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 and JRN 18A/B or JRN 18) or JRN 56A/B or JRN 56. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 5 hrs. back to top JRN 55A/B Advanced Magazine Editing The focus here is on the full range of skills required of senior editors on major magazines. The topics covered include developing story ideas, refining an editorial concept, assigning and editing articles, main display writing, magazine design, the role of the advertising and circulation departments, libel and defamation and web site development and on-line editing. Students in the course develop a prospectus and web site for a new magazine. Prerequisites: (JRN 56A/B or JRN 56 and JRN 57A/B or JRN 57) or (JRN 17A/B or JRN 17 and JRN 18A/B or JRN 18). Lect: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 56A/B Magazine Reporting The aim is to bring students to an understanding of the nonfiction writer’s craft - what it is and how it works - and to set them on the road toward mastering it. The idea is to combine the excitement of great storytelling with the study of the techniques that make it possible. Lectures cover structure and transitions, writer’s voice, cadence and the artistry of a well-turned phrase. Regular writing assignments - from descriptive exercises to a web article to a fully-realized magazine piece - will put such theory into practice. Prerequisites: (JRN 19A/B or JRN 19) and JRN 62A/B. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 4 hrs. back to top JRN 57A/B Magazine Fundamentals The emphasis in this course is on the acquisition and application of editorial skills, especially those at the entry level. Students receive hands-on instruction in copy editing, proofreading, display writing, checking, computer skills and QuarkXpress. The course is also an introduction to how editors practise their craft, providing a sense of the domestic magazine industry generally as well as the working environment at individual magazines. This course leads to both Advanced Magazine Editing and Magazine Masthead. Prerequisite: JRN 62A/B. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 62A/B Feature Writing This course introduces the feature writing form, with emphasis on writing for magazines. Instruction and assignments stress descriptive and explanatory writing, and address essentials of written style such as clarity, brevity, vividness, variety and originality. Other topics include how to conceive, market, and research features. Course work includes reading published articles as well as practice in reporting and writing. (formerly JRN 058). Prerequisites: JRN 199 and (JRN 19A/B or JRN 19). Lect: 3½ hrs. back to top JRN 800 Television Documentary This is a laboratory course in documentary production. The emphasis is on effective storytelling through the medium of the television documentary. Particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the audiovisual and written elements of a documentary. Students will form production teams that will plan, write, shoot, and edit documentaries. A significant amount of work will be done outside of class time. Prerequisites: (JRN 310 and JRN 312 and (JRN 50A/B or JRN 50) or (JRN 341 and JRN 902). Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 801 Radio Documentary This is an advanced laboratory course in the craft of planning and preparing radio documentaries. Attention is given in the classroom to the technical, editorial, ethical, and artistic issues that are involved in documentary production. Students then go into the field and assemble a variety of radio documentaries that will vary in length, form and technique. Prerequisite: JRN 50A/B or JRN 50. Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 802 Investigative Techniques This course assists students in gaining the necessary skills to create investigative pieces for publication on a freelance basis for traditional and new media, including The Ryersonian and other mastheads. It emphasizes the use of documents and computer-assisted techniques, the Internet, website creation and online journalism skills. Prerequisite: JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 or JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53 or JRN 57A/B or JRN 57. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 803 Freelance Writing Deals with the differences in structure, logic, and philosophy between reporting and article writing for magazines. Among subjects covered are the in-depth interview, the cross-check interview and the research involved for both; pre-story, preparation and development, finding the “angle”  or point of view; anecdotal and other writing approaches; making the “think” piece readable; the use of facts and examples to balance and substantiate opinion and statement; logic, clarity, structure, drama, humour, and rhythm - the architecture that breathes life into a story. Also covered are the pitfalls and rewards of staff and freelance writing, the development and selling of ideas, how to tailor stories to editors’ specific length and market requirements, how to “fix” or rewrite your stories; what you should know about primary and secondary markets. Prerequisite: JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 or JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53. Antirequisites: JRN 56A/B, JRN 56, JRN 54A/B, JRN 54. Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 804 Newsroom Leadership This course develops skills needed by the thinking editor, including motivating writers, coaching them on ideas, story structures, leads, writing style and content. Supervisory skills are introduced through challenging, real-life case studies. Prerequisites: (JRN 51A/B and JRN 53A/B) or (JRN 16A/B and JRN 17A/B). Lect: 3 hrs./Lab: 3 hrs. back to top JRN 805 Senior Reporting This course will build on the skills and techniques acquired in JRN 019 and JRN 053. Students will explore the challenges of beat reporting in a competitive environment, producing breaking news, features and special investigations to be published in the School of Journalism’s newspaper, the Ryersonian. Prerequisite: JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53 or JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 56A/B or JRN 56. Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 901 Radio Masthead This is a laboratory course. Graduating students are taught the technical, artistic, and editorial skills involved in the writing and production of news and current affairs radio programs. For a concentrated period of four weeks, students are required to produce a regular news and current affairs radio program. Lab: 9 hrs. (4 days/week for 6 weeks) back to top JRN 902 Television Masthead Students in this course are required to produce each week a number of newscasts of varying content and duration. Students are responsible for all aspects of the production: shooting, editing, writing, reporting and performing. The main emphasis of JRN 902 is on visual storytelling, interviewing, news judgement, professionalism and teamwork. Prerequisites: JRN 310 and JRN 312 and (JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 15A/B or JRN 15). Lab: 9 hrs. back to top JRN 903 Newspaper Masthead Graduating students work as staff on the School of Journalism’s newspaper, The Ryersonian. They are responsible for the operation and production of the paper from the assignment of stories, reporting, picture-taking, editing, headline writing, and page design through to paste-up of pages ready for printing. Students serve in a variety of editorial positions in the preparation of news, commentary, and feature stories for the paper. Prerequisites: (JRN 16A/B or JRN 16 and JRN 17A/B or JRN 17) or (JRN 51A/B or JRN 51 and JRN 53A/B or JRN 53). Lab: 9 hrs. back to top JRN 905 Online Masthead This lab course will give students a chance to create and maintain an online news site. Reporting, editing and producing roles will be available, and the site managed to replicate a live site, including interactivity, responsiveness to users and opportunities for multimedia storytelling. Prerequisite: JRN 112 or JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 56A/B or JRN 56 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53. Lab: 9 hrs. back to top JRN 906 Online Reporting Students in the online stream will be immersed in theories, skills and techniques central to reporting breaking and longer-form news. Special attention will be given to developing online skills, building on those learned in the broadcast, newspaper and magazine streams. Prerequisite: JRN 112 or JRN 50A/B or JRN 50 or JRN 56A/B or JRN 56 or JRN 53A/B or JRN 53. Lab: 6 hrs. back to top JRN 90A/B Magazine Masthead Senior students learn how to produce a consumer magazine by producing one. It’s the Ryerson Review of Journalism, a perennial award winner that showcases their writing, editing and production skills. Students also handle the business side of the Review, including circulation, advertising and promotion. In addition, student staff contribute articles to the Ryerson Review of Journalism Online, the web version of the RRJ. Thus they experience at first hand the full range of magazine publishing. Prerequisites: JRN 18A/B or JRN 18 or (JRN 56A/B or JRN 56 and JRN 57A/B or JRN 57). Lab: 4.5 hrs. back to top