Course Schedule | JRN275 home page
KEY DATES
March 1: ASSIGNMENT #1 due via Blackboard no later than 6 p.m., Saturday, March 2
March 7: EXAM 1
March 12-16: NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK
March 17: MOVIE ESSAY due via Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17
April 11: EXAM 2
May 2: FINAL STORY PITCH DRAFT due printed out and in class for session on Thursday, May 2
May 3: INTERVIEW due via Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Friday, May 3 (absolute latest)
Noon, May 7: FINAL PROJECT due via Blackboard no later than 12 p.m., Tuesday, May 7
WEEK 1. WHO ARE WE? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
Tuesday, Jan. 23
What we will do in class: Introduce ourselves to each other and discuss how journalists get their information? Why does it matter? What do we do with the information? *Press release, write the lede & discuss
What is due next session: Read Gaines, Chaps. 1&2 (pp. 1-49; the story pitch example on pp. 44-45 is not legible, so here it is). Identify a piece of investigative journalism *bring the link, or copy to class*, write what elements make it so, answer questions on p. 21 to turn in.
Thursday, Jan. 25
What we will do in class: What is investigative journalism? What makes it so? Introducing the way we think about investigative journalism and public documents and discuss pitches (PPT)
What is due next session: Refresh on Gaines, Chaps. 1&2 and read "How to Find Out About Hot Dogs, Puppy Names and Parking Tickets" -- Sandyha Kambhampati, ProPublica
WEEK 2. TRIANGULATION, DOCUMENTS, FOIA & PITCHING
Tuesday, Jan. 30
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitches; lecture on types of documents and intro to FOI (PPT)
What is due next session: Read Cuillier & Davis, Chap. 1&2, Write a story pitch using the above linked format; what documents would you need (list in sources)? Submit via Blackboard before next class.
Thursday, Feb. 1
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitches -- problems, solutions & let's try again.
What is due next session: Read C&D Chaps. 5; Write a FOIA request letter. Submit via Blackboard before next class.
WEEK 3. FOI: EFFECTIVE REQUESTS & YOUR RIGHTS AS JOURNALISTS -- AND AS CITIZENS
Tuesday, Feb. 6
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitch & FOIA request; How to investigate people and look into GIS, licensure, Google datasets & other Google tools more; discuss strategies for getting information.
What is due next session: Read C&D Chap. 3-4 and these three stories (if you don't have access to the stories, use the QU library to access them):
*Sports
*Local crime
*Entertainment
Thursday, Feb. 8
What we will do in class: Alphabet soup -- knowing your rights: HIPAA, FERPA & DPPA.
What is due next session:
Read each of these three stories:
*Abortions Rose in Most States This Year, New Data Shows -- Amy Schoenfeld Walker & Allison McCann, NYT
*Just How Bad is the 'Tripledemic' -- Amy Schoenfeld Walker, NYT
WEEK 4. MAPPING A GOVERNMENT AGENCY & INVESTIGATING PEOPLE
Tuesday, Feb. 13
SNOW DAY!
Please be sure to do the previous reading to prepare for our guest speaker.
Thursday, Feb. 15
What we will do in class: GUEST SPEAKER, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, New York Times
What is due next session: Read Gaines Chap. 5.
WEEK 5. COVERING THE COPS
Tuesday, Feb. 20
NO CLASS; PROFESSOR AT URI
What is due next session: Read Gaines Chap. 5.
Thursday, Feb. 22
What we will do in class: Discuss Assignment #1; Group work: MAP THE TOWN GOVERNMENT.
What is due next session: Group story pitch + FOIA request, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name.
Read Gaines Chap. 6, this article & this short pamphlet, which describes how Connecticut's court system is structured.
WEEK 6. GOING FROM THE COPS TO THE COURTS... AND TO PRISON
Tuesday, Feb. 27
What we will do in class: Lecture on covering cops and crime (ppt), cops press release.
What is due next session: Explore the Marshall Project's report on states' FBI crime data & why that is important. Read this pamphlet on Connecticut courts. Helpful links -- Connecticut Judicial Branch Case Look-Up site | U.S. Attorney for the State of Connecticut (DOJ)
What is due next session: Contact the clerk of courts about a case, turn in via Blackboard.
Thursday, Feb. 29
What we will do in class: Guest speaker Lindsay Boyle, Hearst CT Media Group, senior editor, audience & social platforms;
Finish lecture on covering cops and crime; get into courts and prisons. (ppt)
What is due next session: ASSIGNMENT #1 due via Blackboard no later than 6 p.m., Saturday, March 2
WEEK 7. EXAM WEEK
Tuesday, March 5
What we will do in class: Group work: Map a criminal case; Go over story pitches and study for Exam 1
What is due next session: Group story pitch + FOIA request, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name. Study!
Thursday, March 7
What we will do in class: Take Exam 1
What is due next session: Movie essay due over spring break to Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17; Read C&D 6-9
WEEK 8. SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES
What is due next session: Movie essay due to Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17; Read C&D 6-9
WEEK 9. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY SAY NO? & WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS TOO MUCH INFO
Tuesday, March 19
What we will do in class: Go over readings - How to deal with FOIA denials
What is due next session: David Fahrentold readings ("A 'Moral Role in Society' and Little Enforcement. You Have This Reporter's Attention" and politics | sports | other); read Journalist's Resource article, Understanding the IRS 990 form (for basics & definitions)
Thursday, March 21
What we will do in class: Discuss the Fahrentold stories; Discuss what non-profits do, the 990 forms, where to find them & what we look for in them.
What is due next session: Analyze the recent 990s forms of US Soccer and write a short essay about what you learned from it.
WEEK 10. COVERING NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS & CORPORATIONS
Tuesday, March 26
What we will do in class: Group work -- Map a non-profit organization
What is due next session: Group story pitch, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name; Read "Understanding financial statements" and "How to use SEC filings to cover companies" -- both by Chris Roush, The Journalist's Resource
Thursday, March 28
What we will do in class: Go over Amazon's financial statements & SEC filings.
What is due next session: Nothing
WEEK 11. PRIVACY, SURREPTITIOUS RECORDING, POLLS & EXPERTS
Tuesday, April 2
What we will do in class: What we will do in class: Map a publicly-traded business
What is due next session: Group story pitch, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name; Read First Amendment Handbook, Chaps. 2-4 (pp. 11-34).
Thursday, April 4
What we will do in class: Discuss what "privacy" means from a legal standpoint, how to maintain it & defend against lawsuits.
What is due next session: Read these two Journalist's Resource articles: 1.) Using academic research to do investigative journalism: 5 tips, 2.) How to tell good research from flawed research: 13 questions journalists should ask.
WEEK 12. STUDYING FOR & TAKING THE EXAM
Tuesday, April 9
What we will do in class: Explore Google Scholar, look at academic research & know when and why to use it. Go over exam
What is due next session: Study!
Thursday, April 11
What we will do in class: Take Exam 2
WEEK 13. EXAM POST-MORTEM & INTRO TO INTERVIEWING
Tuesday, April 16
What we will do in class: Go over exam & discuss reading
What is due next session: Read Nelson, 1-97; Person to interview for final assignment needs to be identified
Thursday, April 18
What we will do in class: Review horrible, excellent and memorable interviews; What did you learn? Try it out!
What is due next session: Read Nelson, 98-173.
WEEK 14. PLANNING ON INTERVIEWING & DEVELOPING A STRUCTURE
Tuesday, April 23
What we will do in class: Planning your interview (workshop in class - research, questions, structure)
What is due next session: Begin work on Final Assignment; Read Nelson, 174-224.
Thursday, April 25
No class, but Finish the Nelson reading.
WEEK 15. INTERVIEWING
Tuesday, April 30
What we will do in class: Off the record, other terms & how do we know it's over?
What is due next session: Work on final
Thursday, May 2 -- BRING DRAFTS TO CLASS
What we will do in class: Workshop final
FINALS WEEK.
Final project due to Blackboard no later than noon, Tuesday, May 7
March 1: ASSIGNMENT #1 due via Blackboard no later than 6 p.m., Saturday, March 2
March 7: EXAM 1
March 12-16: NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK
March 17: MOVIE ESSAY due via Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17
April 11: EXAM 2
May 2: FINAL STORY PITCH DRAFT due printed out and in class for session on Thursday, May 2
May 3: INTERVIEW due via Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Friday, May 3 (absolute latest)
Noon, May 7: FINAL PROJECT due via Blackboard no later than 12 p.m., Tuesday, May 7
WEEK 1. WHO ARE WE? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
Tuesday, Jan. 23
What we will do in class: Introduce ourselves to each other and discuss how journalists get their information? Why does it matter? What do we do with the information? *Press release, write the lede & discuss
What is due next session: Read Gaines, Chaps. 1&2 (pp. 1-49; the story pitch example on pp. 44-45 is not legible, so here it is). Identify a piece of investigative journalism *bring the link, or copy to class*, write what elements make it so, answer questions on p. 21 to turn in.
Thursday, Jan. 25
What we will do in class: What is investigative journalism? What makes it so? Introducing the way we think about investigative journalism and public documents and discuss pitches (PPT)
What is due next session: Refresh on Gaines, Chaps. 1&2 and read "How to Find Out About Hot Dogs, Puppy Names and Parking Tickets" -- Sandyha Kambhampati, ProPublica
WEEK 2. TRIANGULATION, DOCUMENTS, FOIA & PITCHING
Tuesday, Jan. 30
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitches; lecture on types of documents and intro to FOI (PPT)
What is due next session: Read Cuillier & Davis, Chap. 1&2, Write a story pitch using the above linked format; what documents would you need (list in sources)? Submit via Blackboard before next class.
Thursday, Feb. 1
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitches -- problems, solutions & let's try again.
What is due next session: Read C&D Chaps. 5; Write a FOIA request letter. Submit via Blackboard before next class.
WEEK 3. FOI: EFFECTIVE REQUESTS & YOUR RIGHTS AS JOURNALISTS -- AND AS CITIZENS
Tuesday, Feb. 6
What we will do in class: Discuss story pitch & FOIA request; How to investigate people and look into GIS, licensure, Google datasets & other Google tools more; discuss strategies for getting information.
What is due next session: Read C&D Chap. 3-4 and these three stories (if you don't have access to the stories, use the QU library to access them):
*Sports
*Local crime
*Entertainment
Thursday, Feb. 8
What we will do in class: Alphabet soup -- knowing your rights: HIPAA, FERPA & DPPA.
What is due next session:
Read each of these three stories:
*Abortions Rose in Most States This Year, New Data Shows -- Amy Schoenfeld Walker & Allison McCann, NYT
*Just How Bad is the 'Tripledemic' -- Amy Schoenfeld Walker, NYT
WEEK 4. MAPPING A GOVERNMENT AGENCY & INVESTIGATING PEOPLE
Tuesday, Feb. 13
SNOW DAY!
Please be sure to do the previous reading to prepare for our guest speaker.
Thursday, Feb. 15
What we will do in class: GUEST SPEAKER, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, New York Times
What is due next session: Read Gaines Chap. 5.
WEEK 5. COVERING THE COPS
Tuesday, Feb. 20
NO CLASS; PROFESSOR AT URI
What is due next session: Read Gaines Chap. 5.
Thursday, Feb. 22
What we will do in class: Discuss Assignment #1; Group work: MAP THE TOWN GOVERNMENT.
What is due next session: Group story pitch + FOIA request, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name.
Read Gaines Chap. 6, this article & this short pamphlet, which describes how Connecticut's court system is structured.
WEEK 6. GOING FROM THE COPS TO THE COURTS... AND TO PRISON
Tuesday, Feb. 27
What we will do in class: Lecture on covering cops and crime (ppt), cops press release.
What is due next session: Explore the Marshall Project's report on states' FBI crime data & why that is important. Read this pamphlet on Connecticut courts. Helpful links -- Connecticut Judicial Branch Case Look-Up site | U.S. Attorney for the State of Connecticut (DOJ)
What is due next session: Contact the clerk of courts about a case, turn in via Blackboard.
Thursday, Feb. 29
What we will do in class: Guest speaker Lindsay Boyle, Hearst CT Media Group, senior editor, audience & social platforms;
Finish lecture on covering cops and crime; get into courts and prisons. (ppt)
What is due next session: ASSIGNMENT #1 due via Blackboard no later than 6 p.m., Saturday, March 2
WEEK 7. EXAM WEEK
Tuesday, March 5
What we will do in class: Group work: Map a criminal case; Go over story pitches and study for Exam 1
What is due next session: Group story pitch + FOIA request, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name. Study!
Thursday, March 7
What we will do in class: Take Exam 1
What is due next session: Movie essay due over spring break to Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17; Read C&D 6-9
WEEK 8. SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES
What is due next session: Movie essay due to Blackboard no later than 11:59 p.m., Sunday, March 17; Read C&D 6-9
WEEK 9. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY SAY NO? & WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS TOO MUCH INFO
Tuesday, March 19
What we will do in class: Go over readings - How to deal with FOIA denials
What is due next session: David Fahrentold readings ("A 'Moral Role in Society' and Little Enforcement. You Have This Reporter's Attention" and politics | sports | other); read Journalist's Resource article, Understanding the IRS 990 form (for basics & definitions)
Thursday, March 21
What we will do in class: Discuss the Fahrentold stories; Discuss what non-profits do, the 990 forms, where to find them & what we look for in them.
What is due next session: Analyze the recent 990s forms of US Soccer and write a short essay about what you learned from it.
WEEK 10. COVERING NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS & CORPORATIONS
Tuesday, March 26
What we will do in class: Group work -- Map a non-profit organization
What is due next session: Group story pitch, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name; Read "Understanding financial statements" and "How to use SEC filings to cover companies" -- both by Chris Roush, The Journalist's Resource
Thursday, March 28
What we will do in class: Go over Amazon's financial statements & SEC filings.
What is due next session: Nothing
WEEK 11. PRIVACY, SURREPTITIOUS RECORDING, POLLS & EXPERTS
Tuesday, April 2
What we will do in class: What we will do in class: Map a publicly-traded business
What is due next session: Group story pitch, submit one pitch via Blackboard and be sure to include everyone's name; Read First Amendment Handbook, Chaps. 2-4 (pp. 11-34).
Thursday, April 4
What we will do in class: Discuss what "privacy" means from a legal standpoint, how to maintain it & defend against lawsuits.
What is due next session: Read these two Journalist's Resource articles: 1.) Using academic research to do investigative journalism: 5 tips, 2.) How to tell good research from flawed research: 13 questions journalists should ask.
WEEK 12. STUDYING FOR & TAKING THE EXAM
Tuesday, April 9
What we will do in class: Explore Google Scholar, look at academic research & know when and why to use it. Go over exam
What is due next session: Study!
Thursday, April 11
What we will do in class: Take Exam 2
WEEK 13. EXAM POST-MORTEM & INTRO TO INTERVIEWING
Tuesday, April 16
What we will do in class: Go over exam & discuss reading
What is due next session: Read Nelson, 1-97; Person to interview for final assignment needs to be identified
Thursday, April 18
What we will do in class: Review horrible, excellent and memorable interviews; What did you learn? Try it out!
What is due next session: Read Nelson, 98-173.
WEEK 14. PLANNING ON INTERVIEWING & DEVELOPING A STRUCTURE
Tuesday, April 23
What we will do in class: Planning your interview (workshop in class - research, questions, structure)
What is due next session: Begin work on Final Assignment; Read Nelson, 174-224.
Thursday, April 25
No class, but Finish the Nelson reading.
WEEK 15. INTERVIEWING
Tuesday, April 30
What we will do in class: Off the record, other terms & how do we know it's over?
What is due next session: Work on final
Thursday, May 2 -- BRING DRAFTS TO CLASS
What we will do in class: Workshop final
FINALS WEEK.
Final project due to Blackboard no later than noon, Tuesday, May 7