Reminder: Spring 2025 Course Registration Will Take Place in Workday, Not WIN!
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Journalism Program Courses
Please note that the course information below is subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please reference JOU course sections in Workday. Course sections for Spring 2025 will be published in Workday on Friday, October 18, 2024.
JOU 270 A/B/C
Introduction to Journalism (3 credit hours)
A: MW 12:30-1:45pm – Prof. Justin Catanoso
B: TR 11:00-12:15pm – Prof. Ivan Weiss
C: W 9:30-11:50am – Prof. Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
The gateway to a minor in journalism, this rigorous, skills-based course emphasizes how to independently find stories, select sources, verify information, conduct interviews, strengthen observation skills and write compellingly in journalistic styles. We will learn and apply Associated Press Style. And along the way, we consider vital questions about objectivity, the media landscape, equity, bias, facts and Truth. We develop our cultural competency – how to relate to and understand people different from ourselves so that we can convey their stories truthfully. This course is foundational to all other courses in the journalism minor.
Class size: 16
JOU 278-A
News Literacy (3 credit hours)
Prof. Phoebe Zerwick
WF 11:00-12:15pm
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: 18
JOU 310-A
Prof. Justin Catanoso
Editing (3 Credit Hours)
T 2:00-4:30
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 315-A
Prof. Justin Catanoso
Beat Reporting (3 Credit Hours)
M 2:00-4:30
This class is ideal for students interested in learning more about and practicing the twin skills of reporting and journalistic writing in its varied forms: traditional news and feature stories, blog and Twitter posts, and short videos. The class meets one night a week where interactive discussions focus on developing sources, interviewing skills, the new modes of journalistic communication and how best to write news and feature stories both short and long. Part of each class is also devoted to progress students make between classes on the real meat of the course: cultivating sources and developing story ideas. Students select a beat on campus, like covering student government or study abroad programs. They reach out to sources on that beat week by week. They come up with story ideas. They write stories designed to fit a range of assignments. Most stories are offered to the OGB or The Student for publication. Guest speakers provide real-world insight into professional journalism.
P – JOU 270
Class Size: 12
JOU 331-A
Prof. Abē Levine
On the Air with WFDD (3 Credit Hours)
WF 2:00-3:15
In this hands-on course students will learn the foundations of news radio, including: creating sound-rich stories, training your ear to recognize “good tape,” interviewing, writing for broadcast, and getting experience in a local newsroom. Students should come with topics and stories they’d like to investigate. Your pieces, if up to snuff, will be aired on 88.5 WFDD, Winston-Salem’s local National Public Radio member station based on the Wake Forest campus. All curious minds are welcome.
Class size: 12
JOU 335-A
Prof. Ivan Weiss
Multimedia Storytelling (3 Credit Hours)
TR 12:30-1:45
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 375-A
Special Topics: Mastering the Interview (3 credit hours)
Prof. Barry Yeoman
M 1:00-3:15pm
Interviews not only reveal information; they also hold power to account, give space to unheard voices, and can be newsmaking events themselves. In this class, we’ll discuss the best practices for conducting interviews and using them in longer stories. Students will read, listen to, watch, and discuss great interviews. They will discuss the craft with other journalists and documentarians. And they will conduct interviews, culminating in two writing projects. The course will have a thematic focus on justice and power.
Class Size: 12
JOU 375-B
Special Topics: Advanced Multimedia Storytelling (3 credit hours)
Prof. Ivan Weiss
TR 3:30-4:45pm
Dive deeper into documentary storytelling and take your craft to the next level. Spend the semester producing a longform story in video, photography or audio. Along the way, learn technical skills to aid your media production while honing interview techniques and your understanding of narrative structure.
As a class, we will discuss and analyze a wide range of documentary and multimedia stories. Together, we will create a safe space for creativity and experimentation as we workshop your projects in close-knit groups. Some background knowledge in journalism and media production is recommended. Please reach out to the instructor if you have any questions.
Permission of Instructor Only.
Class Size: 8
JOU 380-A
Deep Dive: Photojournalism
Profs. Justin Catanoso and Justin Cook
W/R 5:00-8:00pm (First Part of Term — Feb 5, 6, 12, 13, & 26)
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. The short course during the first part of the spring term involves five in-class sessions in February 2024. A 35mm camera is not required.
Class Size: 8
JOU 380-B
Deep Dive: LGBTQ+ Communities and the News
Prof. Barry Yeoman
M 11:00-12:15pm
This class will take a close look at how the mainstream news media has covered queer communities from the mid-20th century to the present. It will also look at the formation of an independent LGBTQ+ press to address coverage deficits and challenge media misconceptions. Additional readings and speakers will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how newsroom decisions were made.
Class Size: 8
JOU 380-C
Deep Dive: Business of Freelance
Prof. Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
W 3:30-4:45pm
So you want to be a writer – but how in the world do you make a living at it? The Business of Writing focuses on the practical side of journalism, everything that isn’t writing, from pitching to publication. Topics covered include networking, developing and fostering ideas, building relationships with editors, the art of the followup, invoicing, bookkeeping, and why you should (almost) never write the story before an editor has bought the idea. It will lay out how you should value your work and what average rates are across the landscape of magazines, newspapers, and websites. As legacy media brands continue to downsize or shutter entirely, The Business of Writing will arm students with the invaluable tools needed to make a living in the ever-shifting worlds of journalism and creative nonfiction.
Class Size: 8
Elective Courses with Limited Reserved Seats for Journalism Minors
COM 215-A/JOU 355-A
Prof. Melissa Painter-Greene
Broadcast Journalism (3 credit hours)
M 5:00-7:30pm
Introduces students to best practices in broadcast storytelling, including scripting, producing, filming, editing and anchoring a news broadcast.
2 Seats Reserved for Journalism Minors