JOU 270 A/B/C

Introduction to Journalism (3 credit hours)

270 A: Prof. Justin Catanoso MW 12:30-1:45 (CRN 17678)

270 B: Prof. Mandy Locke MW 2:00-3:15 (CRN 21167)

270 C: Prof. Ivan Weiss TR 12:30-1:45 (CRN 27125)

Introduction to Journalism is your gateway course to a minor in journalism. This course is a full immersion into new ways to think about gathering information and communicating it—fairly and accurately—in a variety of forms and formats. Throughout the semester, we will discuss, evaluate and practice the craft of journalism through clear and concise writing.  You will write news, features and opinion. You will write stories of varying length. You will post to a blog and tweet news. You will practice multimedia reporting using audio, video and/or digital photography. You will be creative, but work only from verified facts and information. Ultimately, you will learn communication skills that will impress potential employers, whether you plan to work as a journalist (writer or editor), a PR professional, an attorney, a business person or in any field where writing cleanly and communicating clearly are vital. There will be more than a dozen graded assignments, many of them on deadline.

Class size: 16

JOU 278 A/COM 270

News Literacy (3 credit hours)

Prof. Justin Catanoso

MW 2:00-3:15 (CRN 20493)

The mission of the course is to teach students to become informed and discerning consumers of news in a media landscape that is flooded with both information and misinformation. Students learn how to evaluate news coverage; how to read for bias, fairness, integrity, and accuracy; how to use new media to increase their knowledge of world events; how to research their own facts as a way to check the accuracy of the media outlets they rely upon; what happens when governments and media owners try to control news coverage; and the dangers of both censorship and media outlets run amok.

Class size: 20

JOU 310

Editing (3 credit hours)

Prof. Justin Catanoso

T 3:30-6:00 (CRN 27123)

This class looks both broadly and deeply at the practice and principles of editing news and features, primarily for newspapers—in print and online. Editing skills practiced and emphasized will include: grammar, AP Style, form and flow, story structure and thoroughness, use of quotations and verifying information, balance and fairness. Regular discussions will center on news judgment, coaching and managing reporters/writers, responding to readers, ethics and legal issues. Students will edit stories for homework and also in class on deadline. A critical expectation: students will keep up with national news daily so that they become well-versed in the news and issues of the day. Some class time will be regularly devoted to discussing current events and the news decisions that arise from top stories. The skills acquired in this class will apply to many disciplines, not just journalism, that require information gathering, skeptical thinking, verifying facts and writing clear, concise prose and managing people. Select guest speakers join classes to illustrate the various worlds in which editing is applied, from traditional media to fashion to magazines to public relations. Texts: Editing Today and Editing Today Workbook (Iowa State Press), AP Stylebook, and materials from the instructor.

Class size: 12

JOU 320

Community Journalism (3 credit hours)

Prof. Phoebe Zerwick

TR 3:30-4:45 (CRN 27129)

Students in this course produce stories in a range of media for an online publication with a growing readership, http://cloud.lib.wfu.edu/blog/heardithere/, about the people, places and trends that create community in downtown Winston-Salem. With the opening of Wake Forest’s downtown campus and engineering school, understanding the downtown community takes on new urgency. Students can expect to break news, explore the arts scene, and tell stories about some of the most interesting people in town. The news report has attracted more than 8,000 views, giving students the chance to produce stories for a public audience.

Class size: 12

JOU 335

Multimedia Storytelling (3 credit hours)

Prof. Ivan Weiss

TR 2:00-3:15 (CRN 24720)

In Multimedia Storytelling, students will learn how to develop audio-visual stories through the tools of photography, video, and audio. Students will study a range of provocative documentaries, photo essays, and audio stories and gain a greater literacy in these forms. They will learn the ins and outs of editing in Adobe Premiere. By the end of the semester, students will have a broad range of storytelling techniques at their command and a deeper sense of their own creative voice.

Class size: 12

JOU 340 A/WRI 344 A

Magazine Writing (3 credit hours)

Prof. Barry Yeoman

M 2:00-4:30 (CRN 24791)

Students in this class will learn and practice the skills needed to produce magazine stories for publication. Focusing on a single topic of their own choosing all semester, they will be encouraged to write creatively and often. They will learn advanced principles of interviewing, document research, story structure, character development, and explanatory journalism. They will also read and analyze some of the best magazine stories written over the past thirty years.

Class size: 10

JOU 350 A

Writing for Public Relations & Advertising (3 credit hours)

Prof. Peter Mitchell

TR 11:00-12:15 (CRN 24723)

Principles and techniques of public relations and applied advertising. Students use case studies to develop public relations and advertising strategies.

JOU 355 A/COM 215

Broadcast Journalism (3 credit hours)

Prof. Melissa Painter-Greene

M 5:00-7:30 (CRN 25844)

An introduction to the theory and practice of broadcast journalism. Topics will include ethics, technology, and the media as industry, and projects will address writing, producing, and performing for radio and television. 

JOU 375 A

Deep Dive: Photojournalism (1.5 credit hours)

Prof. Justin Catanoso with a Pulitzer Center-supported photojournalist

February 3-9, 2022 (CRN 24718) Time: evenings. Exact time TBA.

This 1.5-credit independent study takes students through the fundamentals of photojournalism: basic photographic skills development and review of more advanced techniques as well as consideration of how journalists develop story ideas, cultivate sources and create their ultimate published reported project. A unique hands-on assignment will involve alternative photo processes and multiple exposure. The short course involves five in-class sessions in February 2022. A 35mm camera is not required.

JOU 375 B

Deep Dive: Bearing Witness (1.5 credit hours)

Prof. Paul Garber

M 12:30-1:45 (CRN 25843)

Students in this class will interview witnesses to an execution in North Carolina and produce a radio documentary focused on the human impact of the death penalty. Taught by a reporter at WFDD, who served as the media witness to an execution in 2004, the interviews will explore the death penalty from the point of view of lawyers, law enforcement, and the families of the victiom and the defendant. POI required.

Class size: 5

JOU 375 C

Telling Stories with Data (3 credit hours)

Prof. Mandy Locke and Ryan Thornburg

W 3:30-6:00

Find and tell hidden stories with impact. Learn how to make data and numbers come alive through the experiences of real people. In this class, we’ll dive deeply into data involving health care and find the human stories that show why it matters. This class is for curious students with a background and interest in reporting or data analytics for health care.  Investigative reporter Mandy Locke and data reporting expert Ryan Thornburg will co-teach this class. POI; fluency in Excel and other data skills welcome but not required.

Class size: 12

JOU 375 D/PHI 280

Truth and Authenticity

Prof. Ivan Weiss and Prof. Francisco Gallegos

TR 9:30-10:45 (CRN 25433)

JOU 375 E/COM 316

Screenwriting

Prof. Thomas Southerland

W 2:00-4:30 (CRN 25846)

Introduction to the art and practice of writing for the screen. Through numerous exercises, students learn to use experiences, observations, and imagination to create compelling characters and stories for a variety of mediums and complete an original, short screenplay.

JOU 375 F/COM 309

Visual Storytelling

Prof. Luke Gloeckner

TR 11:00-12:15 (CRN 27133)

The course overviews digital media as well as studying the meaning of how visual images are used in our society. The course is designed to look at the changing landscape of visual storytelling.