Journalism—Semester A
Things are about to get seriously newsworthy.
- Course Length: 18 weeks
- Course Type: Elective
- Category:
- English
- Humanities
- High School
Schools and Districts: We offer customized programs that won't break the bank. Get a quote.
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
(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.
Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points
Sample Lesson - Activity
- Course Length: 18 weeks
- Course Type: Elective
- Category:
- English
- Humanities
- High School
Schools and Districts: We offer customized programs that won't break the bank. Get a quote.