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Journalism—Semester A

Things are about to get seriously newsworthy.

  • Course Length: 18 weeks
  • Course Type: Elective
  • Category:
    • English
    • Humanities
    • High School

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Shmoop's Journalism course has been granted a-g certification, which means it has met the rigorous iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Courses and will now be honored as part of the requirements for admission into the University of California system.

Okay, okay. Be honest with us: You've thought about being a journalist at least once in your young life, haven't you?

We don't blame you. The life of a journalist can certainly be an exciting one. You get to hear breaking news before it even breaks. You get to interview such illustrious figures as presidents and pop stars. You may even get paid to give your two cents on entertainment, sports, or life in general. But before you embark on your fruitful career as a hard-hitting, spunky reporter, answer us this: What, exactly, is journalism?

Shmoop's journalism course seeks to answer that question for you (so don't say we never help you with your heavy lifting). In this course, we're looking at some fascinating info about the journalistic world. Case in point:

  • Unit 1 is all about the reason we need journalism. Because, really, we do.
  • Unit 2 will teach you how to be a journalist (and fulfill the childhood dreams we just know you've had).
  • Unit 3 will cover the kind of journalism that keeps you up-to-date on, like, everything in the world: news.
  • Unit 4 is a lesson in healthy skepticism, or how to avoid being duped by false info.
  • Unit 5 features features, which are in-depth looks at single, special topics.
  • Unit 6 dives deep into the hard-hitting, mystery-shrouded world of investigative reporting.

And that's just in Semester A. Wait 'til you see the hard-hitting journalistic reporting we've got in store in our second semester.

Unit Breakdown

1 Journalism—Semester A - What's Journalism For?

Unit 1 will tackle the age-old question: "Why does journalism exist, anyway?" There's no simple answer (obvs, or else we wouldn't need a whole unit to cover it), but the unit will explain how the necessity for journalism arose, what journalism's purpose really is, and what responsibility journalism has to the truth. Unit 1 will also discuss different approaches to journalism, as well as the extent to which "freedom of press" actually applies. Ominous, eh?

2 Journalism—Semester A - A Journalist's Toolkit

If Unit 1 was all about theory, then Unit 2 is all about practice—the ins and outs of actually writing journalistically, from AP style guidelines to the process of copy editing. You'll learn what makes an effective quote, what makes a successful interview—and, ultimately, what makes a good story. You'll also learn the methods journalists can use to evaluate their data before they go ahead and publish an article of any kind.

3 Journalism—Semester A - All the News That's Fit to Study

This is a unit about arguably the most widespread genre of journalism: the news. Unit 3 will go over the common threads between every good news story, the processes involved in getting a news story to print, and what makes a story "fit to print." You may think something "newsworthy" is anything that's seriously momentous; Unit 3 will debunk that assumption by proving that, actually, a lot of the most newsworthy events happen on a much smaller scale.

4 Journalism—Semester A - Put On Your Skeptical Spectacles

Brace yourself: sometimes, people say or write things just to get a rise out of people. This rule doesn't exclude journalists, which is why Unit 4 seeks to prepare you to study and digest journalism with a healthy dose of skepticism. This unit will teach you how to scope out sensationalism, fallacies, and half-truths in a piece of journalism, and show you that it's important to be an educated consumer of everything. Even information.

5 Journalism—Semester A - Featuring Features

This unit will teach you the art of writing a narrowly-focused story, often utilizing a narrative format that doesn't show up in, say, the news. You'll think even harder about what makes something—or some one—"newsworthy," by examining a few features and cracking the code of what, exactly, makes them so…featurable

6 Journalism—Semester A - Going in Deep

True to its name, this unit goes deep into the investigative process and outlines the steps that journalists take to get to the bottom of a juicy story. Through historical examples from Muckraking to the Watergate scandal, we close the semester with a high-interest discussion of the legality and controversy over certain practices in investigative journalism, and explain why we need investigative journalism in the first place.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.05: Down to the Elements

A black and white photograph of three young men jauntily posing in bathing suits on the end of a homemade diving board.
These provocatively dressed dudes are ready to dive into The Elements of Journalism. Also: we imagine their names are Pat, Pete, and Paul. We told you we love a three-item alliterative list.
(Source)

Now that you've got some history under your belt, you're ready to dive into the text you'll be spending the rest of the unit on: The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. Notice that the subtitle of this book is "What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect." That's a pretty big hint that this book is going to cover a lot. After reading it, you'll have a good understanding of the purpose, practice, and principles of journalism.

Man, don't you love a good three-item list that's also alliterative? Shmoop surely should—and does.

If you read the book's jacket blurb, you'll notice the phrase "…one of the most provocative books about the role of information in society." Wondering what could possibly be provocative about the role of information in society? Think the role of information in society is to, uh, inform society?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. See, information is produced by humans. And humans tend to have all these human emotions and tendencies—some of them great, some of them not so much. Like the ones the authors of Elements list in the first chapter: "bias, stereotype, inattentiveness, and ignorance."

Makes you feel good to be a human, huh?

If we humans let our less-than-great human behavior affect the way we present, package, and perceive information, then it's easy to see how information can be manipulated and twisted.

That's why it's important for journalists to follow certain principles so that the public can actually trust what they write (or say, or mime, or whatevs). But how does that make The Elements of Journalism "provocative"?

Looks like you'll have to start reading it to find out.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.05: Seriously: What Is Journalism For, Anyway?

Now that you're five lessons deep into the unit, it's time to start asking the big questions about journalism. Namely—why?

Before you start reading, answer these questions in your head:

  • Do journalists care about people? Should they?
  • Do journalists protect democracy? Should they?
  • How is journalism different than communications?
  • What is journalism for?
  • Who is journalism for?

Now you're primed and ready to read what Kovach and Rosenstiel have to say about these questions and more. Get started by reading the following from The Elements of Journalism, which you can get right here:

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: What Is Journalism For?

One thing to note before you begin. In the Introduction, the authors lay out nine essential elements of journalism. These may seem a bit unclear on first read. Don't worry about deciphering each one now, because the rest of the book will explain each one, chapter by chapter.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.05a: Let's Think Some of This Through

You've read the introduction and the first chapter of Elements. Feeling overwhelmed? This book covers some complicated ideas, so let's take a close look at some sections and think things through.

  1. In the Introduction, the authors introduce something they call the "Awareness Instinct." They write:

    We need news to live our lives, to protect ourselves, bond with each other, identify friends and enemies. Journalism is simply the system societies generate to supply this news (10).

    Think about your own life and the ways you seek out "news" about the world, the people, and events around you. Make a list of all the ways you can think of that you seek out news (or information) to satisfy your own "Awareness Instinct." Don't limit yourself to newspapers you read or radio stations you listen to, though—think about people you talk to, places you go, websites you visit, devices you use to communicate, etc.

    Answer in at least two complete sentences, referring to direct quotes from the passages from Elements we're Shmooping you.

  2. After laying out the nine essential elements of journalism, the authors write:

    After synthesizing what we learned, it became clear that a number of familiar and even useful ideas—including fairness and balance—are too vague to rise to the level of essential elements of the profession (13).

    Why are the ideas of "fairness" and "balance" vague? In two to three paragraphs, explain why you think the authors make this claim. Think of at least one potential example to use in your explanation.

  3. In the first chapter, the authors discussed a main idea (and just to be nice, they indented it, bolded it, and added a fancy square design to make it as obvious as possible that this is a main idea). It's this:

    The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing (17).

    What do the authors mean by the phrase "free and self-governing"? Explain in one or two short paragraphs, being sure to include at least one short quote from the book as evidence. Yes, this probably means you'll need to skim the chapter again. Don't fret. We'll be here when you get back.

  4. On page 23 of Elements, the authors quote First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger as saying that "out of a diversity of voices the people are more likely to know the truth and thus be able to self-govern."

    Often when we hear the word "diversity" today, it has to do with race. But hey—guess what? That's not the only definition of the word. We'll look it up so you don't have to: according to Google (sorry, Webster's, but you're not our go-to word-definer anymore), diversity just means "variety" and "a range of different things."

    What do you think Bollinger meant by the word "diversity"? What kinds of diversity do we need in journalism in order to know the truth and self-govern? Explain in one brief paragraph.

  5. The authors introduce what they call the "Theory of the Interlocking Public," in which they lay out three levels of public engagement on every issue:

    • Involved public
    • Interested public
    • Uninterested public

    They write that "we are all members of all these groups, depending on the issue."

    Now you're going to put this theory to the test—on yourself.

    Pick up a print version or go to the website of a local or national paper that you—at least occasionally—like to read. Take a look at the stories on the front page (or for a website, the top stories—the ones you can see right away, or after only scrolling down the page once or twice).

    Make a list of each story you see and indicate for each story whether you would categorize yourself as "involved public," "interested public," or "uninterested public." Give a short, one-to-two-sentence explanation as to why you categorize yourself that way for each story.You should list a minimum of three stories total.


Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(10)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(9)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(8)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(7)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(10)

All content is accurate.

(9)

May contain minor errors.

(8)

Major errors.

(7)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(5)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(4)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(4)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(3)

Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. Which of the following is not covered by the First Amendment?

  2. True or false: The publishers of a newspaper can be sued if the content of their paper is politically biased.

  3. Which of the following provides the best definition of "prior restraint" as it relates to freedom of the press?

  4. Say a newspaper published a story claiming a famous actress had an eating disorder. The actress sued the paper, saying the claim was false and damaged her reputation. What is this an example of?

  5. Which of the following is associated with sensational news stories?

  6. Which of the following best summarizes the changing ideology of American journalism?

  7. What do the authors of The Elements of Journalism claim is the primary function of journalism?

  8. What idea does the sentence, "The notion that people are simply ignorant, or that other people are interested in everything, is a myth," from pages 27–28 of Elements, support?