MC 919 Basic News Writing: (3 Semester Credits)
Introduction to news writing including, the techniques of news gathering, reporting, and interviewing; the use of library and online database research methods; and other related skills. Students write basic stories under real time constraints. On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
write clear, concise, accurate, complete, balanced and readable news stories;
define what constitutes news and how news stories differ from features and opinion pieces;
effectively apply research skills for writing news stories;
write effective leads;
write a variety of types of news stories;
gather and write news in an ethical manner and apply the laws governing journalists;
demonstrate knowledge of AP stylebook rules; and
write under deadline pressure.