JMC 330 B

TELEVISION REPORTING
Fall 2015

INSTRUCTORS: Craig Allen

Brian Snyder
Downtown Office: Cronkite 388
Downtown: Cronkite 616
Office Hours: Monday 3:30-6:00 p.m
602-496-8257
Wednesday 12:00-1:30 p.m.; 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Phones: 602-496-2857 (Downtown); 480-965-8661 (Tempe); 480-926-0968 (Home)

CLASS SESSIONS: 1:30-3:20 p.m., Monday and Wednesday

PREREQUISITES:
1. JMC 315
2. JMC 345
3. knowledge of video editing
4. knowledge of ENPS scripting, news content & writing

REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Text, News Now: Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age by Green, Lodato, Silcock, Schwalbe
AP Broadcast Stylebook

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS:
Portable harddrive
Please make sure that required and recommended materials are clearly marked with your name.

GENERAL:
This course is designed for students specializing in the area of broadcast news. It will examine news
and information practices of local TV stations and the industry and introduce you to practical applications
of writing, reporting, and editing, with an emphasis on video. The purpose of the course is that of helping
prepare you for a professional reporting career in broadcast news.
Your final grade will be based on completion of a diverse series of activities. These activities will
include video news projects that will be conceived, photographed, written, and edited by you. There also
will be in-class video assignments designed to familiarize you with video technique and equipment
operation. There may be some written assignments in which you will analyze reporting situations typical
in a broadcast newsroom.

Facilities dictate that in many cases you will work with your classmates; although their work will not
generally influence your grade, you will be evaluated on the teamwork and cooperation you demonstrate.
Typical course sessions will mix discussions with hands-on instruction. Several class sessions will be
designated as "open labs"; during these sessions, formal classroom activities will be kept to a minimum
and you will be given time to complete work on assigned projects. Be alert to announcements of these
"open lab" sessions.

GRADING CRITERIA:
Activities (5 percent; check graded) -- During the early part of the semester, you will complete some
in-class video activities that will consist of such assignments as weather video and basic camerasequencing exercises. You will not receive a letter grade for these activities although they will be
critiqued and your completion of them will be noted. The activities are designed to develop skills needed
later in the semester in graded projects.
Script Completion (5 percent; check graded) For the final 4 news projects, a hard copy printout of
your ENPS script must be turned in. While not graded, submission of your scripts will be recorded and
filed. All scripts must be turned in by the last day.
News Projects (50 percent) -- You will produce 5 news projects that will consist of package news
stories similar to those seen on the news. The first will be a preliminary package story conducted in
class. The others will be full-dress news reports. The schools camera and video facilities are available.
It is your responsibility to arrange these facilities. Because of deadlines and demand for the facilities, you
are urged to begin work on these projects immediately after instructions are given in class. Your grade
will be based on writing-reporting, construction, shooting, story idea/execution, and technical aspects.
Midterm Exam (10 percent) -- The midterm will take place on or about October 21; the exact date will
be announced. The exam will be closed book and feature a mixture of objective and subjective items.
You will be responsible for all text material and class discussion prior to the time the exam is given.
Final Exam (20 percent) -- Like the midterm exam, the final exam will be closed book and feature a
mixture of objective and subjective items. The final exam will be comprehensive. You will be responsible
for all text material and all class discussion.
Attendance/Participation (10 percent) -- Attendance is defined as the number of times a student
shows up for class; participation is defined as both the number of times a student participates in class and
the quality of that discussion. Both will be noted and used for computation of your attendance/
participation grade. Normally, legitimate absences are excused only if the student consults the instructor
prior to the class session that is missed.
Optional News Project (10 percent) Students wishing to improve their grade can submit an optional
sixth news project. The optional grade will replace the lowest-graded previous project.
Here is a summary of the grading criteria:
.
Activities ........................................ 5%
Script Completion ............................ 5%
News Project ...................................10%
News Project ...................................10%
News Project ...................................10%
News Project ...................................10%
News Project ...................................10%

Midterm Exam..................................10%
Final Exam ......................................20%
Attendance/Participation ..................10%

GRADING COMPUTATION:
As your reward in this class is your final grade, it is important that you understand how your final
grade is computed in order that it fairly and accurately represents your work in the class. Because your
final grade will be a letter grade based on the 4-point system established by the university, this system, as
much as possible, will prevail. Assignments and projects will receive letter grades. The exams will be
graded on a point system, with letter grades determined by a point distribution in which 90 percent of
correct responses generally comprises the A range; 80 percent the B range; 70 percent the C range; and
Final
Letter
Grade
A+
A
AB+

Final
Grade
Points
4.00
3.67
3.33

Class
GPA
Range
4.00-3.92
3.91-3.83
3.82-3.50
3.49-3.19

Final
Letter
Grade
B
BC+
C

Final
Grade
Points
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00

Class
GPA
Range
3.18-2.83
2.82-2.50
2.49-2.19
2.18-1.50

60 percent the D range. The possible grades are as follows:

Final
Letter
Grade
D
E

Final
Grade
Points
1.00
0.00

Class
GPA
Range
1.49-0.50
0.50-0.00

Your final grade will be an average of the latter grades recorded for each activity. Because each
significant activity is worth an equal value, 10%, and because each is letter graded, grading is simplified.
By counting individual letter grades, the student can project what a final letter grade is likely to be. Note
that the final exam is worth double value.
WRITTEN WORK
The professional and academic standards of the university demand clarity of expression. All written
work must be typed, double spaced, and submitted on 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch typing paper, in which the
content appears on one side of the page only. Written work not submitted in this manner will be
penalized. Work must also be neat and free of grammatical, typographical, and spelling errors; excessive
numbers of errors in written work will lead to penalties.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUBMISSION OF PROJECTS IN QUICKTIME ON SERVER
Students are responsible for ensuring the instructors receipt of video projects.
Completed video projects must be converted from video editing to a QuickTime Movie file and
exported to the instructors computer using the Cronkite School Journalism Server mechanism. This
courses server site is located at 330allen with the password student. Videos that are not converted to
Quicktime and/or not exported to the Server cannot be viewed. Thus they cannot be graded. In such a
situation, until a correctly exported video is received, a zero will be recorded.
DEADLINES/LATE WORK
In all phases of enterprise, particularly broadcasting, deadlines are unforgiving. The in-class
assignments cannot be made up or excused without prior approval of the instructor. As is the case in the
professional world, only extraordinary situations (death in the family, documented illness) will constitute
acceptable excuses. Out of class assignments will be penalized at the rate of one-third of a letter grade at
the moment it becomes late, and an additional one-third of a letter grade for each class session that
elapses in which the assignment is not turned in. As an example, an out-of-class assignment due on a
Monday that is turned in Thursday will lose two-thirds of a letter grade: one-third for the initial penalty and
one-third for the Wednesday class session. If this assignment merits an A grade, a B+ will be recorded.
Late penalties will be assessed passively by the instructor based on this formula.
EQUIPMENT AND VIDEO USAGE
All equipment, and all content captured by the equipment, is the sole property of Arizona State
University and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The content captured
is intended for the sole purpose of meeting the goals and objectives of this course, and may not be used,
distributed or sold for any other purpose without the express consent of the instructor or authorized
administrator. Any violation of the video usage guidelines or the Cronkite School Equipment Checkout
Agreement is subject to referral to the Standards Committee for possible disciplinary action.
CRONKITE SCHOOL ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY/ACEJMC VALUES
Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
and Mass Communication. The crux of our democracy is the ability of citizens to obtain honest, truthful
and balanced information, and the credibility and integrity of the individual journalist and communications
professional are crucial in that effort. As the mission of the Cronkite School is to prepare students to
become journalists, that credibility and integrity will be fostered within the educational environment of the

school. A zero tolerance policy toward academic dishonesty will be enforced within every course and
educational activity offered or sanctioned by the school. Allegations of academic dishonesty will be
referred to the Standards Committee of the school for review and recommendation to the dean of the
school. If any student is found by the committee to have engaged in academic dishonesty in any form including but not limited to cheating, plagiarizing and fabricating--that student shall receive a grade of XE
for the class and will be dismissed from e Walter Cronkite School. Reinstatement will not be considered.
There will be no exceptions.
Cases of fabrication and/or misrepresentation in a news story or journalistic project can result in the
immediate deduction of two full letter grades.
As a member of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the
School is committed to classroom learning that achieves ACEJMC values and competencies. These
include freedom of speech, ethics, critical thinking, research, writing, and use of tools and technologies.
For a full list of values and competencies, visit http:.//tinyuri.com/82m2k19.
DIVERSITY PRINCIPLES
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication practices inclusivity in
student, staff and faculty populations in order to create an academic environment that embraces diversity
of thought and acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation or societal,
political, cultural, economic, spiritual or physical differences. To this end, the school directs efforts to the
following four principles: (1) Actively seek out and encourage diverse populations to become productive
members of the faculty, staff and the student body; (2) Create and maintain a work, learning and social
environment that is cognizant and supportive of a diversity of human differences and beliefs; (3)
incorporate within the formal content of the curriculum and in each course an affirmation of the core
journalistic values of accuracy, fairness, ethical behavior and sensitivity when reflecting an increasingly
multicultural world; (4) Foster and support a climate in which events and activities of the school reflect
diversity of awareness, sensitivity to and support for people of different origins, orientations and abilities.
SCHEDULE ADVISORY:
The following is a tentative schedule for activities this semester, including the reading and
assignment schedules. All changes in the schedule will be announced. You must be alert to all matters
pertaining to the schedule.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Dates
Aug. 24-26
A/S 31-2
Sep.
7-9
Sep. 14-16
Sep. 21-23
Sep. 28-30
Oct.
5-7
Oct. 12-14
Oct.
19
Oct.
21

Topics
Readings
Introduction/News Now.......................................................Preface, Chap 1
LABOR DAY/Sight & Sound/Storytelling.............................Chapter 6 & 2
Storytelling, Sequencing.....................................................
Writing/Audition Videos......................................................Chapter 7
News Package Story..........................................................PROJ 1 (P.O.S.)
Reporting/News Package Story..........................................Chapter 3
News Package Story..........................................................PROJ 2
FALL BREAK/News Package Stories/Resumes.................Chapter 5
News Package Story..........................................................
MIDTERM EXAM

Oct. 26-28
Nov.
2-4
Nov. 9-11
Nov. 16-18
Nov. 23-25
N/D 30/2

News Package Story/Diversity...........................................Chapter 13/PROJ 3

Producer & Assignment Editor...........................................Chapter 8
On Air, On Camera.............................................................Chapter 9
On Air, On Camera/Package Story Work...........................PROJ 4
Sports.................................................................................
Legal Street Smarts/Ethics/Producing Your Career............Chaps 11, 12, 14/PROJ 5

Dec.

FINAL EXAM

FINAL EXAM--Monday, December 7, 12:10 p.m.

PROJECT 6 DUE--Monday, December 7, 3:00 p.m.
MAKE UP WORK DUE--Monday, December 7, 3:00 p.m.