Office of the Registrar

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

(MS) (JMS) Topics vary by section, may be repeated for credit with different topic. Rotating topics in the analysis and working methods of specialized areas of the news media.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Business and the Media

This course helps students understand the business dynamics that affect and challenge all types of news media in the Internet age. It explores how the various types of media ownership, public, private, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial, deliver different profit expectations and journalism quality in print and online; the circulation and advertising business models that drive consumer-level, commodity news and specialized premium content; the evolution and de-evolution of local and network television news; the rise, fall, and rise of radio news; the pressures of newsroom management in the age of the Internet; and how the web has redefined the media economy as well as the very nature of journalism. Open only to students in the graduate weekend program in News Media Studies.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Race, Ethnic and Community Reporting

This course prepares students to report and write about increasingly diverse populations involving race, ethnicity, and religion at a local level. Students study race and ethnicity in the media, including cultural biases and approaches to non-mainstream communities, and then apply those concepts by creating profiles of metro-area neighborhoods and ethnic enclaves. Prerequisite: COMM-200 or graduate standing.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Fundamentals of News Design

This course explores how type, color, illustration, charts, and photography work together to create a publication's identity while explaining the news in print and online. Includes the history of publication design and examines current influences and trends. Both team and individual hands-on projects help create the feel of real-world newsrooms in this lecture-lab combination. No previous software experience is required.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Reporting for Specialized Media

The Project for Excellence in Journalism has found that the decline in the mainstream press has been nearly matched by a sharp growth in the niche media. This course explores the world of specialized media, including business-to-business publications, association newsletters and sites, and publications aimed at specific industries, which provide news and information for niche audiences. The course covers how highly competitive markets are defined and served, and helps students develop the skills needed to report and write for these markets. Prerequisite: COMM-200.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Online News Production

Writing and editing the online news publication, The American Observer. Students improve grammar; learn AP style, editing, headline writing, good news judgment, story and visual selection. Includes discussion of legal and ethical issues and trends in news coverage and audiences. Prerequisite: admission to the graduate journalism program and concurrent registration in COMM-724.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Online News Production

Writing and editing the online news publication, The American Observer. Students improve grammar; learn AP style, editing, headline writing, good news judgment, story and visual selection. Includes discussion of legal and ethical issues and trends in news coverage and audiences. Prerequisite: admission to the graduate journalism program and concurrent registration in COMM-724.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Multimedia Journalism

Storytelling using tools such as Macromedia Flash to add animation and interactivity to web pages. The course uses case studies of successful multimedia sites, planning and executing a Flash journalism package, and development of rich Internet applications including use of Fireworks, Audacity and Dreamweaver. Students create a multimedia web site that showcases a personal and class project. Prerequisite: admission to the weekend graduate program in Interactive Journalism.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Interactive Journalism Skills

Interactive presentations and delivery of content for the web, including multi-dimensional storytelling with elements that allow readers to move, click, comment upon, decide, help, navigate and share content. Open only to students in the weekend graduate program in Interactive Journalism.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Digital Storytelling

This course incorporates traditional journalistic reporting and writing skills with digital elements used for online news sites. Students write and adapt stories for an online audience using non-linear storytelling methods, and discuss how audio, video, and interactive elements can complement and enhance news for the online reader. Open only to students in the graduate weekend Interactive Journalism program.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Online News Production

Writing and editing the online news publication, The American Observer. Students improve grammar; learn AP style, editing, headline writing, good news judgment, story and visual selection. Includes discussion of legal and ethical issues and trends in news coverage and audiences. Open only to students in the graduate weekend Interactive Journalism program.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Teaching Communication

This course is designed to help navigate the practical, pedagogical, and scholarly issues related to teaching the discipline of communication. Students explore best teaching practices, curriculum development, student motivation, and more, as well as a variety of aspects of teaching communication at the college level. As part of this course students observe teachers in action; create course syllabi and presentations; grade "student" work; hear from leaders in the academic field; and have the opportunity to pepper current and former university students with questions about what gets their attention in the classroom. Prerequisite: admission to MA in Communication: Journalism and Public Affairs, or permission of instructor.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

The Arts: Media Criticism

Students assess, analyze, critique, and learn professional skills and techniques to review and cover the arts, including movies, television, music, theater and books. Field trips and additional meeting times outside of class to various performances and exhibits, and a wide range of readings, augment students' own writing. Prerequisite: COMM-320 or permission of instructor.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

International Investigative Reporting

The class briefly examines the history and practice of investigative journalism in the United States from the late nineteenth century to today. From that context, the class then explores what the essential ingredients are in a democracy for independent, critical reporting. Students collaborate on an international investigative story on a compelling public matter. Prerequisite: COMM-320 or COMM-724 or permission of instructor.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Online News Production

Print and online production training in editing news and feature stories. Writing and editing the online news publication, The American Observer. Emphasis is on the dynamics of stories and the refinement of stories for publication. Prerequisite: admission to MA in Communication: Journalism and Public Affairs, or permission of instructor.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Broadcast and Multi-Media Journalism Management

Students gain an understanding of the functions and economic structure of broadcast and multi-media journalism management at the local, national, and international level. Challenges for commercial, cable, and public broadcasting include news management, programming, and distribution issues across traditional and new media platforms such as the web both in the United States and internationally. Guest speakers include a diverse range of industry leaders.

Course Level: Undergraduate/Graduate

Special Topics in News Media (3)

Building Interactive Web Sites

This hands-on class covers new media trends and technologies including Flash, Drupal, and frameworks, used to build platforms and engage audiences in the digital media space. Student gain the tools and knowledge they need to build, launch, and run their own interactive community site, even if they have little previous experience in programming or interaction design. Prerequisite: COMM-438/638 Web Design/Development or COMM-535 Online News Production, or permission of instructor.