J-School course descriptions for Fall 2009
See also class schedule
J24 : Opinion Writing
Instructor: Susan Rasky
Location: 104 North Gate Time: 12-1 M
CCN: 48003 Section: 1 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12This is a class to help students with journalistic interests sharpen their writing and analytical skills in a format that demands clarity of thought and economy of words. We will begin where all good writing begins, with solid, efficient reporting on a range of social and cultural topics. We'll experiment with voice and style to see how pithy, insightful and profound we can be-about big issues and small ones-in about 400 (for broadcast commentary) to 850 polished words every week or two. Weekly readings and finished opinion pieces will be posted to a student website. Students will be required to submit one 800 word piece to the Berkeley Political Review. Enrollment is limited to twelve freshmen. Students with journalistic interest or background are encouraged to enroll.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Freshman only.
Susan Rasky was the congressional correspondent for The New York Times. A winner of a George Polk Award for National Reporting, she began her career in Washington, D.C., covering economic policy for the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. and later reported for Reuters from Capitol Hill and the White House. Rasky was a columnist and contributing editor for the California Journal as well as a frequent political commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and NPR. She established and supervises the J-School’s California News Service, which gives students experience covering government and politics for news organizations throughout the country. She joined the faculty in 1991. Rasky received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics.
J24 : World War II Through the Documentary Lens
Instructor: William Drummond
Location: 104 North Gate Time: 12:30-2 F
CCN: 48006 Section: 3 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/AClass Dates: Aug. 28-Oct. 30
This seminar will explore the events of 1939-1945 by examining what many experts believe to be the greatest historical TV series ever made: The World at War. This monumental work, originally broadcast thirty years ago, has been reissued. In DVD the boxed set contains 22 hours and 37 minutes of original programming, plus another 12 hours of extras, including a detailed account of how the series itself was made. It was seventy years ago in August, 1939, that the Second World War began, and its shadow hangs over relations between nations today from Middle Europe to the Middle East. The generations born since the war's end have slowly lost touch with the staggering human costs and the equally staggering questions of personal and national responsibility. The goal of this class is to make use of the documentarian's art to reopen these questions and examine them in light of new information and new sensibilities.Restrictions and Prerequisites: Freshman only.
William J. Drummond’s career includes stints at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, where he covered the civil rights movement, and the Los Angeles Times, where he was a local reporter, then bureau chief in New Delhi and Jerusalem and later a Washington correspondent. Drummond was appointed a White House Fellow in 1976 by Gerald R. Ford, worked briefly for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and eventually became associate press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. In 1977 he joined NPR and became the founding editor of “Morning Edition.” Drummond has been honored with a National Press Club Foundation Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for Journalism Excellence, and the Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Black Condition from the National Association of Black Journalists. His research interest lies in incorporating stress-reduction techniques into journalism education. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
J200 : Reporting the News - Gorney
Instructor: Cynthia Gorney
Location: TBD Time: 9-11 WTH
CCN: 48039 Section: 2 Units: 6 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 17This course, an intensive 15-week workshop, provides the foundation for the rest of the curriculum and will take up the majority of your time during the first semester. J200 stresses hard news reporting, writing, and editing. Faculty members with extensive experience in newspaper reporting run their classes much like newsrooms. The aim is to produce publishable newspaper stories and many class assignments do end up in print, often in local dailies, weeklies, and regional newspapers. This course is considered the most important of your J-School career. Plan on about 20 hours of outside reporting time each week.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: J-School students only.
Cynthia Gorney joined the faculty in 1999, after a career at The Washington Post that included serving as an award-winning national features writer, South American bureau chief and the first writer for the Post’s Style section based on the West Coast. She is the author of “Articles of Faith: A History of the Abortion Wars,” and has written for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and the American Journalism Review. She is currently a New Yorker staff writer. Gorney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
J200 : Reporting the News - Chavez/Chakarova
Instructors: Mimi Chakarova, Lydia Chavez
Location: In the Mission Time: 9-11 am M, 7-9pm Th
CCN: 48036 Section: 1 Units: 6 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 17This course, an intensive 15-week workshop, provides the foundation for the rest of the curriculum and will take up the majority of your time during the first semester. J200 stresses hard news reporting, writing, and editing. Faculty members with extensive experience in newspaper reporting run their classes much like newsrooms. The aim is to produce publishable newspaper stories and many class assignments do end up in print, often in local dailies, weeklies, and regional newspapers. This course is considered the most important of your J-School career. Plan on about 20 hours of outside reporting time each week.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: J-School students only.
Chakarova received her BFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. She completed her graduate thesis in the Visual Studies Department at UC Berkeley. She has had numerous solo exhibitions of her documentary projects on Africa and the Caribbean. She is the recipient of the 2003 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for outstanding work in documentary photography and the 2005 Magnum Photos Inge Morath Award for her work on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. In 2007, Chakarova became the series curator of FRONTLINE/World's FlashPoint, featuring the work of established and emerging photographers from around the world. In 2008, Chakarova's work on sex trafficking was awarded a People's Voice Webby. She was also a 2008 nominee for a News & Documentary Emmy Award.
Lydia Chávez started as a reporter for The Albuquerque Tribune, later moving on to Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, where she served as El Salvador and South American bureau chief. In 2005, Chávez and her students collaborated to publish “Capitalism, God and A Good Cigar: Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century” (Duke University Press). And in 1998, Chávez published, “The Color Bind: California’s Battle Against Affirmative Action,” which won the Leonard Silk Award (UC Press). She has also written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner and magazine pieces for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazines and George Magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
J200 : Reporting the News - Drummond
Instructor: William Drummond
Location: TW 108 Lower/ TH 251 Hearst Gym Time: 7:00-9:00 TW, 7:00-8:30 Th
CCN: 48042 Section: 3 Units: 6 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 17This course, an intensive 15-week workshop, provides the foundation for the rest of the curriculum and will take up the majority of your time during the first semester. J200 stresses hard news reporting, writing, and editing. Faculty members with extensive experience in newspaper reporting run their classes much like newsrooms. The aim is to produce publishable newspaper stories and many class assignments do end up in print, often in local dailies, weeklies, and regional newspapers. This course is considered the most important of your J-School career. Plan on about 20 hours of outside reporting time each week.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: J-School students only.
William J. Drummond’s career includes stints at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, where he covered the civil rights movement, and the Los Angeles Times, where he was a local reporter, then bureau chief in New Delhi and Jerusalem and later a Washington correspondent. Drummond was appointed a White House Fellow in 1976 by Gerald R. Ford, worked briefly for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and eventually became associate press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. In 1977 he joined NPR and became the founding editor of “Morning Edition.” Drummond has been honored with a National Press Club Foundation Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for Journalism Excellence, and the Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Black Condition from the National Association of Black Journalists. His research interest lies in incorporating stress-reduction techniques into journalism education. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
J210 : News Photography
Instructor: Ken Light
Location: 104 North Gate Time: 3-5 M
CCN: 48051 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 15An exploration and survey of newspaper photography including daily news photo assignments, and picture story development.
Paula Lubens, San Jose Mercury News staff photographer will participate in 8 weeks of the class offering insider perspective of the newspaper world and critique.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Restrictions and Prerequisites: UC Journalism Graduate students. By portfolio review for others.
Light, curator of the Photojournalism Center at the School, is the author of 5 monographs including Texas Death Row.
J211 : Reporting the news-lab--Chavez/Chakarova
Instructors: Mimi Chakarova, Lydia Chavez
Location: In the Mission Time: 9-6 T
CCN: 48054 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 12Lab Component for J200.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: This course is only for first year students in J200.
Chakarova received her BFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. She completed her graduate thesis in the Visual Studies Department at UC Berkeley. She has had numerous solo exhibitions of her documentary projects on Africa and the Caribbean. She is the recipient of the 2003 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for outstanding work in documentary photography and the 2005 Magnum Photos Inge Morath Award for her work on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. In 2007, Chakarova became the series curator of FRONTLINE/World's FlashPoint, featuring the work of established and emerging photographers from around the world. In 2008, Chakarova's work on sex trafficking was awarded a People's Voice Webby. She was also a 2008 nominee for a News & Documentary Emmy Award.
Lydia Chávez started as a reporter for The Albuquerque Tribune, later moving on to Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, where she served as El Salvador and South American bureau chief. In 2005, Chávez and her students collaborated to publish “Capitalism, God and A Good Cigar: Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century” (Duke University Press). And in 1998, Chávez published, “The Color Bind: California’s Battle Against Affirmative Action,” which won the Leonard Silk Award (UC Press). She has also written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner and magazine pieces for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazines and George Magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
J211 : Reporting the news-lab--Drummond
Instructor: William Drummond
Location: 108/Lower NG Time: 8:30-5 Th
CCN: 48060 Section: 3 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 17Lab Component for J200.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: This course is for first year students in
J200 only.William J. Drummond’s career includes stints at The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, where he covered the civil rights movement, and the Los Angeles Times, where he was a local reporter, then bureau chief in New Delhi and Jerusalem and later a Washington correspondent. Drummond was appointed a White House Fellow in 1976 by Gerald R. Ford, worked briefly for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and eventually became associate press secretary to President Jimmy Carter. In 1977 he joined NPR and became the founding editor of “Morning Edition.” Drummond has been honored with a National Press Club Foundation Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for Journalism Excellence, and the Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Black Condition from the National Association of Black Journalists. His research interest lies in incorporating stress-reduction techniques into journalism education. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
J211 : Reporting the news-lab--Gorney
Instructor: Cynthia Gorney
Location: 108/Lower NG Time: 9-6 M
CCN: 48057 Section: 2 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 17Lab Component for J200.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: This course is for first year students in J200 only.
Cynthia Gorney joined the faculty in 1999, after a career at The Washington Post that included serving as an award-winning national features writer, South American bureau chief and the first writer for the Post’s Style section based on the West Coast. She is the author of “Articles of Faith: A History of the Abortion Wars,” and has written for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and the American Journalism Review. She is currently a New Yorker staff writer. Gorney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
J212 : Advanced Radio/Watchdog Reporting
Instructor: Holly Kernan
Location: 209 Greenhouse Time: 1-4 F
CCN: 48069 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12This class is a hands-on approach to depth journalism. Students will work as an editorial team to shine a light on the inner workings of East Bay city governments and to find out how well strapped social services are serving the communities they are charged with helping.
Many advanced radio students use this class to gather material for their documentary thesis projects—this is encouraged and supported.
This class is an opportunity for students to do professional level work for broadcast on the award- winning local magazine Crosscurrents. Students are encouraged but not required to create the first mix of their pieces.
The course emphasizes great writing and storytelling, scene setting and use of sound, but also focuses on reporting in the public interest. This is shoe leather reporting that takes listeners directly inside of city bureaucracies and reveals what’s working…and what’s not—in a compelling and timely fashion.
Susan Rasky will be on-hand with background information and to offer reporting support.Holly Kernan is the news director at public radio station KALW-FM in San Francisco and the architect of the award-winning Public Interest Reporting Project. She is also the director of the Public Radio Program at Mills College in Oakland. Kernan has worked at New America Media, Youth Radio, KQED, Link TV and Canal Sur in Spain, where she produced historical documentaries for public television. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Society for Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi, Edward R. Murrow, American Women in Radio and Television, Northern California Society for Professional Journalists’ Public Service Award and Columbia du Pont.
J213 : Visual Storytelling: Advanced Documentary Projects-Blurb Book Photo Project
Instructors: Mimi Chakarova, Ken Light
Location: 104 North Gate Time: 10-12 M
CCN: 48072 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 12You will work throughout the term on one in-depth group photo documentary project in class and we will produce a bound Blurb photo book. This course will focus on developing a personal photographic style, photo editing, sequencing and publication as well as concentrating on visual story telling focused on a single subject. Class will include historical overviews, writing text to accompany photographic work.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: UC Journalism Graduate students only. By portfolio review for others.
Chakarova received her BFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. She completed her graduate thesis in the Visual Studies Department at UC Berkeley. She has had numerous solo exhibitions of her documentary projects on Africa and the Caribbean. She is the recipient of the 2003 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for outstanding work in documentary photography and the 2005 Magnum Photos Inge Morath Award for her work on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. In 2007, Chakarova became the series curator of FRONTLINE/World's FlashPoint, featuring the work of established and emerging photographers from around the world. In 2008, Chakarova's work on sex trafficking was awarded a People's Voice Webby. She was also a 2008 nominee for a News & Documentary Emmy Award.
Light, curator of the Photojournalism Center at the School, is the author of 5 monographs including Texas Death Row.
J215 : Multimedia Boot camp-sec.1
Instructors: Jeremy Rue, Jerry Monti, Richard Koci Hernandez, Sam Grant, Paul Grabowicz
Location: 106/Upper NG Time: 8/24-8/28 M-F 9am-9pm
CCN: 48078 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 17Formerly titled: Multimedia Skills
This class is a five-day intensive bootcamp in which students learn the fundamentals of using digital audio, video and photo equipment, editing digital video, audio and photography, creating map mash-ups and participating in social networks, and producing multimedia stories. The class is designed to expose students to what it's like to report in an environment where stories can be reported and told using a variety of different media. Instruction includes using digital video cameras; editing digital video with FinalCut Pro; using compact flash digital audio recorders; editing digital audio with Soundtrack Pro; using digital photo cameras; editing digital photos with PhotoShop; basic training in broadcast and photography techniques; and using Flash and Dreamweaver to create multimedia stories and web sites. An instructor who specializes in each particular form of media will teach that segment of the class. Students work as teams in the field reporting on local feature stories and then in computer labs producing multimedia projects, to be completed by the end of the bootcamp. The skills learned then will be applied in reporting for J200 classes.Jeremy Rue is a multimedia training instructor for the Knight Digital Media Center located at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for the Oakland Tribune, where he produced a number of Web-based projects related to the rise of Oakland homicides in 2006. Rue started out as a photojournalist for a number of publications, including The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee and the Duluth News-Tribune in Minnesota. He then went on to become a reporter for the Selma (Calif.) Enterprise, where he covered beats ranging from city government to courts and crime. Rue is also the recipient of the 2007 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for his photo documentary work on migrant farm workers in the California Central Valley. He has a programming background and is an expert with Adobe Flash/ActionScript, HTML, CSS, as well as variety of other web scripting languages.
Jerry Monti is technology training instructor at the J-School's Knight Digital Media Center.
Richard Koci-Hernandez worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times and international magazines, including Stern. In 2003, Richard was the recipient of the James K. Batten Knight Ridder Excellence Award. His work for the Mercury News has earned him two Pulitzer Prize nominations. His photography and multimedia work has won numerous awards on the national and regional level, including two Emmy nominations. Richard was named deputy director of photography and multimedia after spearheading the creation of MercuryNewsPhoto.com. He has taught multimedia workshops for Stanford University, National Press Photographers Association, The Southern Short Course, National Association for Hispanic Journalists and National Association for Black Journalists. He has lectured at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Stanford University. Koci-Hernandez is a San Francisco State University journalism graduate, where he has been a guest instructor.
Samantha Grant is a Bay Area documentary film and radio producer. Through her production company GUSHproductions, LLC Samantha has worked with ABC, MTV, CNN, NPR, PRI, FRONTLINE/World, PBS, Al Jazeera International, and Current TV, as well as several national corporate clients like Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and Electronic Arts. Samantha’s work has received several awards including a student Emmy and a South Asian Journalists Association award for a short documentary she produced about the black market trade in Human Kidneys in India. In 2006, Samantha began work on a documentary film which is still in production about the Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal. In 2007, Sam was named a Carnegie/Knight fellow and through the News21 fellowship Sam directed a short documentary about life after Polygamy called “Now Leaving Colorado City”. When she’s not shooting, recording, producing or directing independent documentaries, you can find Sam lecturing at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Knight Digital Media Center.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
J215 : Multimedia Boot camp-sec.2
Instructors: Jeremy Rue, Jerry Monti, Richard Koci Hernandez, Sam Grant, Paul Grabowicz
Location: 106/Upper NG Time: 8-31-9/4, M-F, 9am-9pm
CCN: 48081 Section: 2 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 17Formerly titled: Multimedia Skills
This class is a five-day intensive bootcamp in which students learn the fundamentals of using digital audio, video and photo equipment, editing digital video, audio and photography, creating map mash-ups and participating in social networks, and producing multimedia stories. The class is designed to expose students to what it's like to report in an environment where stories can be reported and told using a variety of different media. Instruction includes using digital video cameras; editing digital video with FinalCut Pro; using compact flash digital audio recorders; editing digital audio with Soundtrack Pro; using digital photo cameras; editing digital photos with PhotoShop; basic training in broadcast and photography techniques; and using Flash and Dreamweaver to create multimedia stories and web sites. An instructor who specializes in each particular form of media will teach that segment of the class. Students work as teams in the field reporting on local feature stories and then in computer labs producing multimedia projects, to be completed by the end of the bootcamp. The skills learned then will be applied in reporting for J200 classes.Jeremy Rue is a multimedia training instructor for the Knight Digital Media Center located at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for the Oakland Tribune, where he produced a number of Web-based projects related to the rise of Oakland homicides in 2006. Rue started out as a photojournalist for a number of publications, including The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee and the Duluth News-Tribune in Minnesota. He then went on to become a reporter for the Selma (Calif.) Enterprise, where he covered beats ranging from city government to courts and crime. Rue is also the recipient of the 2007 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for his photo documentary work on migrant farm workers in the California Central Valley. He has a programming background and is an expert with Adobe Flash/ActionScript, HTML, CSS, as well as variety of other web scripting languages.
Jerry Monti is technology training instructor at the J-School's Knight Digital Media Center.
Richard Koci-Hernandez worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times and international magazines, including Stern. In 2003, Richard was the recipient of the James K. Batten Knight Ridder Excellence Award. His work for the Mercury News has earned him two Pulitzer Prize nominations. His photography and multimedia work has won numerous awards on the national and regional level, including two Emmy nominations. Richard was named deputy director of photography and multimedia after spearheading the creation of MercuryNewsPhoto.com. He has taught multimedia workshops for Stanford University, National Press Photographers Association, The Southern Short Course, National Association for Hispanic Journalists and National Association for Black Journalists. He has lectured at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Stanford University. Koci-Hernandez is a San Francisco State University journalism graduate, where he has been a guest instructor.
Samantha Grant is a Bay Area documentary film and radio producer. Through her production company GUSHproductions, LLC Samantha has worked with ABC, MTV, CNN, NPR, PRI, FRONTLINE/World, PBS, Al Jazeera International, and Current TV, as well as several national corporate clients like Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and Electronic Arts. Samantha’s work has received several awards including a student Emmy and a South Asian Journalists Association award for a short documentary she produced about the black market trade in Human Kidneys in India. In 2006, Samantha began work on a documentary film which is still in production about the Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal. In 2007, Sam was named a Carnegie/Knight fellow and through the News21 fellowship Sam directed a short documentary about life after Polygamy called “Now Leaving Colorado City”. When she’s not shooting, recording, producing or directing independent documentaries, you can find Sam lecturing at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Knight Digital Media Center.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
J215 : Multimedia Boot camp-sec.3
Instructors: Jeremy Rue, Jerry Monti, Richard Koci Hernandez, Sam Grant, Paul Grabowicz
Location: 106/Upper NG Time: 9/7-9/11, M-F, 9am-9pm
CCN: 48084 Section: 3 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 17Formerly titled: Multimedia Skills
This class is a five-day intensive bootcamp in which students learn the fundamentals of using digital audio, video and photo equipment, editing digital video, audio and photography, creating map mash-ups and participating in social networks, and producing multimedia stories. The class is designed to expose students to what it's like to report in an environment where stories can be reported and told using a variety of different media. Instruction includes using digital video cameras; editing digital video with FinalCut Pro; using compact flash digital audio recorders; editing digital audio with Soundtrack Pro; using digital photo cameras; editing digital photos with PhotoShop; basic training in broadcast and photography techniques; and using Flash and Dreamweaver to create multimedia stories and web sites. An instructor who specializes in each particular form of media will teach that segment of the class. Students work as teams in the field reporting on local feature stories and then in computer labs producing multimedia projects, to be completed by the end of the bootcamp. The skills learned then will be applied in reporting for J200 classes.Jeremy Rue is a multimedia training instructor for the Knight Digital Media Center located at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for the Oakland Tribune, where he produced a number of Web-based projects related to the rise of Oakland homicides in 2006. Rue started out as a photojournalist for a number of publications, including The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee and the Duluth News-Tribune in Minnesota. He then went on to become a reporter for the Selma (Calif.) Enterprise, where he covered beats ranging from city government to courts and crime. Rue is also the recipient of the 2007 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for his photo documentary work on migrant farm workers in the California Central Valley. He has a programming background and is an expert with Adobe Flash/ActionScript, HTML, CSS, as well as variety of other web scripting languages.
Jerry Monti is technology training instructor at the J-School's Knight Digital Media Center.
Richard Koci-Hernandez worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times and international magazines, including Stern. In 2003, Richard was the recipient of the James K. Batten Knight Ridder Excellence Award. His work for the Mercury News has earned him two Pulitzer Prize nominations. His photography and multimedia work has won numerous awards on the national and regional level, including two Emmy nominations. Richard was named deputy director of photography and multimedia after spearheading the creation of MercuryNewsPhoto.com. He has taught multimedia workshops for Stanford University, National Press Photographers Association, The Southern Short Course, National Association for Hispanic Journalists and National Association for Black Journalists. He has lectured at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Stanford University. Koci-Hernandez is a San Francisco State University journalism graduate, where he has been a guest instructor.
Samantha Grant is a Bay Area documentary film and radio producer. Through her production company GUSHproductions, LLC Samantha has worked with ABC, MTV, CNN, NPR, PRI, FRONTLINE/World, PBS, Al Jazeera International, and Current TV, as well as several national corporate clients like Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and Electronic Arts. Samantha’s work has received several awards including a student Emmy and a South Asian Journalists Association award for a short documentary she produced about the black market trade in Human Kidneys in India. In 2006, Samantha began work on a documentary film which is still in production about the Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal. In 2007, Sam was named a Carnegie/Knight fellow and through the News21 fellowship Sam directed a short documentary about life after Polygamy called “Now Leaving Colorado City”. When she’s not shooting, recording, producing or directing independent documentaries, you can find Sam lecturing at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Knight Digital Media Center.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
J216 : Advanced Multimedia
Instructors: Jerry Monti, Paul Grabowicz, Bill Gannon
Location: Class B-1 first three weeks, 108 Upper Newsroom after that Time: 5-7 Th class & 2-5 W Lab
CCN: 48087 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 12In this class students will learn how to produce sophisticated multimedia projects and make use of various publishing technologies to produce content for online news sites.
The multimedia stories and other projects will be produced for the various community-based news web sites created by the J200 classes. The projects will range from complex multimedia presentations, databases and map mash-ups, to use of social networks, mobile devices and other platforms for delivering content and encouraging citizen participation. The class is designed to give students a solid understanding of the technical and conceptual skills needed to produce high-quality journalism online and deliver interactive content on a variety of digital platforms.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Students are also required to take the lab component on Wednesdays from 2-5. Register for Advanced Flash and Web Development. Advanced MM students will be given priority enrollment. The lab time is required. See Flash and Web Development for their start dates and class locations.
Jerry Monti is technology training instructor at the J-School's Knight Digital Media Center.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
Bill Gannon is Director of Online Operations at Lucasfilm Ltd. and previously was Editorial Director and Managing Editor at Yahoo!.
J219 : MINI: Advanced Flash (6 weeks)
Instructor: Jeremy Rue
Location: 106/Upper NG Time: 2-5 W
CCN: 48096 Section: 3 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 24Class Meetings: Nov 4, 11, 18, 25 Dec 2, 9
This is a six-session class on advanced Flash techniques. Students will learn the complexities of Flash including: drawing graphics, tweening animations, writing ActionScript code, working with dynamic text, formatting the timeline, using components, integrating video and sound, creating interactivity and finally publishing the project to the Web.
Flash is a very complex program, and takes lots of patience and determination. While this class will cover advanced techniques and programming code, only basic knowledge of Flash is required coming into the class. However, students should feel comfortable with prospect of learning to writing code similar to pre-algebra.
There will be no outside projects required for this class, and only one assignment will be given after the third session which is based on tutorial material. This class has a very tight curriculum, and students will not be given time to work on personal projects during class time. This class, however, is designed to equip students with the skills necessary to create an interactive multimedia feature on their own.Restrictions and Prerequisites: As a prerequisite, students must have taken the the required multi-media boot camps. This class is for one unit of credit and is graded pass-fail. ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY for every session - no exceptions. If you cannot make one of the sessions, please do not enroll in this class. Auditors will be considered only after the enrollment period, and will be based on the number of additional seats available.
Jeremy Rue is a multimedia training instructor for the Knight Digital Media Center located at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for the Oakland Tribune, where he produced a number of Web-based projects related to the rise of Oakland homicides in 2006. Rue started out as a photojournalist for a number of publications, including The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee and the Duluth News-Tribune in Minnesota. He then went on to become a reporter for the Selma (Calif.) Enterprise, where he covered beats ranging from city government to courts and crime. Rue is also the recipient of the 2007 Dorothea Lange Fellowship for his photo documentary work on migrant farm workers in the California Central Valley. He has a programming background and is an expert with Adobe Flash/ActionScript, HTML, CSS, as well as variety of other web scripting languages.
J219 : MINI: Web Development: HTML/CSS/PHP (6 weeks)
Instructors: Paul Grabowicz, Scot Hacker
Location: 106/Upper NG Time: 2-5 W
CCN: 48093 Section: 2 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12Class Dates: Sep 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 21
HTML and CSS are the "glue" that holds the web together, and are foundational skills for all web-related jobs. In this code-centric class, students will learn hands-on web development, focusing on standards-compliant HTML and cascading stylesheets (CSS). Students will also learn a bit about how web servers work, how HTTP and FTP work, how media is served, how database-driven web sites work, and more. In the final weeks of class, students will set up a WordPress test installation and apply their new skills to a dynamic, database-driven web site (final sessions will also cover some PHP). As a final project, students will develop a personal resume or portfolio site.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
Scot Hacker is the Webmaster at the school of Journalism and the author of O'Reilly's "MP3: The Definitive Guide," as well as Peachpit's "The BeOS Bible." He is the author of dozens of technology articles for PC Magazine, Byte, MacWorld, and ZiffNet. Hacker also runs an independent web hosting and consulting business.
J219 : MINI: Advanced Video for the Web (9 weeks)
Instructors: Sam Grant, Marilyn Pittmann
Location: 108/Lower NG Time: 10-1 T
CCN: 48090 Section: 1 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12Class begins 9/15 and runs for nine weeks.
In this day and age, everyone (including print and radio reporters) is expected to be capable of crafting complementary video web elements to support their online work. This 7 week, hands-on MINI course will give students the video production skill sets they will need to survive in today's changing journalism marketplace.
We will cover the basics of producing, shooting, and editing professional Video Journalist (VJ) quality video for the web. We will cover technical and creative aspects of shooting, technical and creative aspects of editing using Final Cut Pro, and the practical concerns of producing a complementary video story.
Each student will produce either one short (2-4 min) video piece to complement their reporting on a longer format print or radio story or one standalone video report suitable for online publication.
Attendance at every one of the 7 classes is required.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: This class must be taken pass/not pass. Basic knowledge of Final Cut Pro strongly recommended.
Samantha Grant is a Bay Area documentary film and radio producer. Through her production company GUSHproductions, LLC Samantha has worked with ABC, MTV, CNN, NPR, PRI, FRONTLINE/World, PBS, Al Jazeera International, and Current TV, as well as several national corporate clients like Merrill Lynch, AT&T, and Electronic Arts. Samantha’s work has received several awards including a student Emmy and a South Asian Journalists Association award for a short documentary she produced about the black market trade in Human Kidneys in India. In 2006, Samantha began work on a documentary film which is still in production about the Jayson Blair/New York Times scandal. In 2007, Sam was named a Carnegie/Knight fellow and through the News21 fellowship Sam directed a short documentary about life after Polygamy called “Now Leaving Colorado City”. When she’s not shooting, recording, producing or directing independent documentaries, you can find Sam lecturing at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Knight Digital Media Center.
Marilyn Pittman is a 25-year broadcast veteran. Originally trained as an actor, she has played many roles in radio and television, including news anchor, reporter, writer, producer, and host. She currently makes a living as a voice actor, a stand-up comic, and a talk show host. Since 1989 she has been teaching broadcasters and executives what she knows about performance. She co-teaches the Introductory Multimedia Reporting Class.
J219 : Videography
Instructor: Jon Else
Location: TBD Time: TBD
CCN: 48099 Section: 4 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/ADescription Forthcoming.
Jon Else produced and directed the documentaries “The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,” “Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven,” “A Job at Ford’s” part of the PBS series “The Great Depression,” “Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature,” “Sing Faster: The Stagehands’ Ring Cycle,” and “Open Outcry.” He was series producer and cinematographer for “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years.” Else served as cinematographer on documentaries for PBS, BBC, ABC, MTV and HBO, including the BBC/PBS “History of Rock and Roll,” the Paramount/MTV feature documentary “Tupac: Resurrection” and “Afghanistan: Hell of a Nation,” and numerous commercials and music videos. He is directing a feature documentary about nuclear weapons. Else was a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and has won an Academy Award, four National Emmys, several Alfred I. DuPont and Peabody awards, the Prix Italia, the Sundance Special Jury Prize and Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy. Else received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in communication from Stanford University.
J219 : Picture and Sound
Instructors: Kean Sakata, Karen Everett, Jon Else
Location: TBD Time: TBD
CCN: 48101 Section: 5 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/AJ 219 Picture and Sound focuses on advanced production (camera, sound and editing) techniques that will raise Television and Documentary Masters Projects to professional standards.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: This course is required for second year students enrolled in J284 Documentary production) and J285 Longform TV production. The prerequisites are J 282 and J 283 and permission of the instructors.
forthcoming
Karen Everett is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor based in San Francisco. She has directed five documentaries which have received educational distribution and aired on PBS. Everett teaches editing at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has edited the nightly news for a top-ranked NBC affiliate, taught at several Bay Area colleges, and recently authored “Reality in Three Acts: What Documentary Filmmakers Can Learn From Screenwriters”.
Jon Else produced and directed the documentaries “The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,” “Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven,” “A Job at Ford’s” part of the PBS series “The Great Depression,” “Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature,” “Sing Faster: The Stagehands’ Ring Cycle,” and “Open Outcry.” He was series producer and cinematographer for “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years.” Else served as cinematographer on documentaries for PBS, BBC, ABC, MTV and HBO, including the BBC/PBS “History of Rock and Roll,” the Paramount/MTV feature documentary “Tupac: Resurrection” and “Afghanistan: Hell of a Nation,” and numerous commercials and music videos. He is directing a feature documentary about nuclear weapons. Else was a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and has won an Academy Award, four National Emmys, several Alfred I. DuPont and Peabody awards, the Prix Italia, the Sundance Special Jury Prize and Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy. Else received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in communication from Stanford University.
J219 : Tackling the Long Form Story--Reading Section Only
Instructor: Cynthia Gorney
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 9-12 T
CCN: 48234 Section: 6 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 5See Tackling the Long Form Story course description for details and registration.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: See Tackling the Long Form Story course description for enrollment.
Cynthia Gorney joined the faculty in 1999, after a career at The Washington Post that included serving as an award-winning national features writer, South American bureau chief and the first writer for the Post’s Style section based on the West Coast. She is the author of “Articles of Faith: A History of the Abortion Wars,” and has written for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and the American Journalism Review. She is currently a New Yorker staff writer. Gorney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
J226 : Following the Food Chain
Instructor: Michael Pollan
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 3-6 M
CCN: 48102 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12It might be hard to see what transpire between a child and Big Mac as an ecological event, but of course that's exactly what it is. Like every other creature, we are a species connected to other species, as well as to the earth and the sun, by a food chain-albeit a very special sort of food chain, one that's been shaped by political and economic decisions as much as by biology. This course aims to develop the intellectual context in which to understand, and connect, the many food stories now finding their way to the front page: GMOs, the obesity epidemic, factory farming, animal rights and welfare, antibiotic resistance, agricultural pollution, agricultural subsidies, third world hunger, and the rise of alternatives to the industrial food system, such as organic agriculture and "slow food." Expect to do lots of reading (from Upton Sinclair and Rachel Carson to Wendell Berry and Eric Schlosser) and writing.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Registration will be by waitlist only. Register by May 1st to be considered for enrollment. You will be contacted by the faculty after that date with enrollment information.
Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." His previous book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals", was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World", "A Place of My Own", and "Second Nature". A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Essays and the Norton Book of Nature Writing. Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.
J226 : Narrative Science Journalism
Instructor: Michael Pollan
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 3-6 T
CCN: 48105 Section: 2 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12The focus of the course will be on making the transition from writing for newspapers to magazines, with particular attention to scientific subjects. What’s the difference between a subject and a story? When is the first-person appropriate? What is the role of the editor and publication in shaping your story? The arc of the course will trace the process of writing a single long piece involving science reporting: finding and pitching story ideas; reporting in depth and at length; outlining and structuring your story; choosing a narrative voice and strategy, crafting leads and “overtures,” and making transitions between your story and its larger contexts. As a group, we’ll also work as editors on one another’s ideas and pieces. And since reading good prose is the best way to learn to write it, we’ll be closely reading a substantial piece of science journalism each week. This workshop is designed especially for second years embarking on a written master’s project; students will be expected to complete a first draft of a magazine-length piece by the end of the term.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Registration will be by waitlist only. Register by May 1st to be considered for enrollment. You will be contacted by the faculty after that date with enrollment information.
Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." His previous book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals", was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World", "A Place of My Own", and "Second Nature". A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Essays and the Norton Book of Nature Writing. Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.
J230 : Business Reporting
Instructor: Staff
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 6-9 W
CCN: 48111 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12Description Forthcoming.
J234 : International Reporting: African Women & Agriculture-The Global Food Crisis
Instructor: Neil Henry
Location: 142/Library NG Time: 9:30-11:00 TTh
CCN: 48114 Section: 1 Units: 4 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12Description Forthcoming.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Application Required. Details to follow by email.
Neil Henry worked for 16 years as a metro, national and foreign correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya for The Washington Post, and as a staff writer for Newsweek magazine, prior to joining the faculty in 1993. A former John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, he is the author of a 2002 racial history, Pearl's Secret. His second book, American Carnival: Journalism under Siege in an Age of New Media, was published in May, 2007. A graduate in political science from Princeton University, Prof. Henry earned his master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
J234 : International Reporting: Mexico
Instructor: Tyche Hendricks
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 2-5 W
CCN: 48114 Section: 2 Units: 4 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 10Recent news coverage of the U.S.-Mexico border has been dominated by lurid stories of savage drug cartel violence and continuing reports about illegal immigration and border fences, along with the swine flu outbreak. But there is much more to the border region, a complex, bi-national world that is home to 12 million Americans and Mexicans, many of whom have lives that span the international frontier.
In this course we will visit Northern Baja California and explore some of the pressing issues that are shaping life – in places ranging from the shantytowns of Tijuana to the hidden oases of the Colorado River Delta. Specifically we will report on the intersection of environmental and economic issues in the borderlands. Many of these concerns affecting Northern Mexico have causes and consequences that tie them to the United States.
Among the possible stories students might pursue: the impact of global warming and international water politics on the ecosystem of the Colorado River Delta; the struggle for survival of the Cocopah Indians of the Upper Gulf of California; the consequences for Mexicali Valley farmers of the lining of the All-American Canal; the business and labor realities of transnational desert agriculture; the politics of energy generation in a growing border economy; the cross-border battle over Tijuana sewage; the public health implications of Tijuana’s rapid urban growth; the problem of tracking disposal of industrial waste from border assembly plants.
These suggestions are a sampling of the range of stories we can uncover. Over the course of the semester, students will do intensive background study of the history and current politics, economics and ecology of Northern Baja California and Mexico more generally. They will select a story topic, research the existing coverage of the issue and hone an original angle for a story. Students will develop sources and begin the reporting for their piece. The class will also meet with veteran reporters who have covered Mexico. In December we will travel to Mexico for a week to 10 days to conduct our field reporting.
The instructor is primarily a print reporter, but students working in any media are welcome to enroll. Spanish speakers are especially encouraged to consider this class. During the semester we will discuss issues and challenges common to all foreign reporting and learn strategies to ensure a safe and successful trip.Tyche Hendricks writes about the intersection of culture and politics, covering immigration, demographic trends and immigrant communities for the San Francisco Chronicle. She has reported extensively on the U.S.-Mexico border and her work has taken her across the continent from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Lake Nicaragua. Along the way, she has trekked through deserts and jungles, helped pregnancy test cattle and bury hurricane victims, monitored polling stations and learned to cook pollo en mole. Hendricks has worked at the Hearst-owned San Francisco Examiner, the San Jose Mercury News and the Seattle Times and as a freelance radio producer. Her work has won awards, including a Best of the West prize and an NFCB Golden Reel. She is currently writing a book about the border for the University of California Press. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University, and an MA in Latin American Studies and an MJ in Journalism, both from UC Berkeley.
J243 : Tackling the Long Form Story
Instructor: Cynthia Gorney
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 9-12 T
CCN: 48120 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 10This advanced reporting course for second-years is aimed at the master's project, but welcomes anyone interested in learning to conceive and report newspaper and magazine stories intended to run at 3000 to 8000 words. If you've ever taken on projects like this, you know that the challenge of the sustained piece is not just in the writing; it begins long before that, when you have to figure out your broader story, your immediate story, your structural possibilities, your narrative lines, your target home for the piece you have in mind--and, because of all that, the nature of the reporting itself.
There are two ways to take this class—TLF, and for a few extra people an abridged version called TLF/Reading.
1. TLF (3 units, maximum 10) is the class I’ve taught for some years now: one 3-hour class per week. Readings, which are heavy, include profiles, book excerpts, Pulitzer-winning newspaper features, magazine pieces from a variety of outlets. Lots of close examination of technique; I like to take stories apart and study things like transitional devices, narrative power, the elements of a strong opening, challenges in handling time, and funneling material in and out (you’ll see what that means).
While you are in this class, expect to be spending a lot of concentrated time reporting your story. (See below, Restrictions & Prerequisites, for specifics.) Don’t plan to take any other courses this semester involving heavy reporting. Writing assignments start in early September: reporting memos, story pitches, character studies, narrative scenes, experimental leads and closings, etc. Your intensive reporting time is September and the first three weeks of October; first draft due in early November.
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CCN 48234 1 units J219 Section 006
2. TLF/Reading (2 unit, 9 weeks, pass/no pass only) will be offered for a maximum of five more students who are interested in the reading & technical dissections but plan to be doing their own reporting & writing in other classes (including doc, radio, new media, etc.) These extra students will join the weekly class for the first 90 minutes, as we talk about the reading material, and only until late October. There are no prerequisites for this version, but if you sign up, I’ll count on you to read everything carefully and speak your mind in class.
If you're sure you want Reading Only, you do NOT need to answer the questions below--just send me an email explaining you want Reading Only; register for TLF; and if there are too many of you Reading Only folks I'll draw straws. The system will tell you you're signing up for 3 units, but we'll figure out how to fix that.Restrictions and Prerequisites: Registration will be by waitlist only. Send the following to Cynthia Gorney before May 1st if you want to be considered for the TLF class:
(If you're sure you want TLF--Reading Only, you do NOT need to answer the questions below--just send Cynthia an email by May 1st explaining you want Reading Only; register for TLF; and if there are too many of you Reading Only folks I'll draw straws. The system will tell you you're signing up for 3 units, but we'll figure out how to fix that.)
--What's the longest piece you’ve ever written, published or unpublished, and what was it about?
--What writing classes, if any, have you already taken at the school? Did you attend WAC this spring?
--Are you in the doc or TV magazine program? If not, were you hoping to use this class to write your masters project?
--Two project ideas. I know this is sort of ridiculous, since it’s now April and you won’t really start work until September. But I need to see whether you’re thinking in terms of story, not just big interest area. If you sat through that first “how to interrogate your story idea” WAC workshop, you need to be able to answer at least three-quarters of questions to your satisfaction. (You don’t have to know who
your central characters are yet, for example—but you have to be able to imagine who they might be.) If you didn’t, I recommend you get notes from somebody. Prime questions to ask yourself: Why now? What’s new? What’s the focus? What will actually happen in this story? How might I describe the story, for a budget line or an index page, in a maximum of two sentences? Who would be interested in reading this story, and why?
Two more requirements for each idea:
1. The reporting has to be local enough that you can keep going back for more. (No stories based in Japan or
Bolivia.
2. You must have either secured access or be nearly sure you’ll be able to. (No proposals for Sean Penn profiles.) If you have a kind of person in mind, but haven’t yet settled on the actual person—an undocumented immigrant, an athlete in training—then tell me that, tell me why, and make sure you’ve done enough preliminary reporting to be confident you’ll be able to find such a person around here AND that the person will talk to you. True story: Student came in a few years ago with a good-sounding idea, find a story about the West African community living in Oakland, and tell it through the beauty parlors they own & frequent. But it turned out that because she wasn’t African, she couldn’t get them to open up at all, and she had to switch ideas in late October. No fun.
This is not a contest to see who's got the best ideas. It's an effort to ensure that everybody in the class is ready to get to work in September.
And remember, you’re not marrying these ideas. I understand something more compelling may pop up over the summer. Once you’re in enrolled, expect to be in some communication with me during the summer so we can talk about anything new that may emerge, or any prep that’s possible alongside your summer work.
Cynthia Gorney joined the faculty in 1999, after a career at The Washington Post that included serving as an award-winning national features writer, South American bureau chief and the first writer for the Post’s Style section based on the West Coast. She is the author of “Articles of Faith: A History of the Abortion Wars,” and has written for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and the American Journalism Review. She is currently a New Yorker staff writer. Gorney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
J243 : Longform Writing
Instructor: Jenn Kahn
Location: 104 North Gate Time: TBD
CCN: 48122 Section: 2 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12Profiles are a remarkably versatile form. They can anchor the exploration of a novel world (the kingpin behind the spam email business), illuminate the dark side of human behavior (the prison psychologist who devised the Army’s torture guidelines), or act as a gateway into an epic drama (the drug war in Mexico framed through the life of a professional hostage negotiator). They’re also marketable – magazine editors love them – and unusually fun. At its purest, a good profile often becomes a kind of detective story: the investigation of another person’s hidden, and potentially contradictory, internal world.
Reporting from this world can be an adventure, with challenges that vary depending on whether the subject is a celebrity (movie star, athlete, politician) or a “regular” person. Because profiles don’t always have an obvious plot, they also require a different strategy in order to build interest and sustain momentum. We’ll take a close look at how to do this, starting with the critical choice of who to write about. (As Ira Glass once observed, “It’s true that everybody has a story to tell. But most of those stories aren’t very interesting.”) Connecting to, but remaining independent from, the person you’re writing about can also be tricky, both personally and ethically – an issue we’ll discuss as it relates to your own pieces.
Expectations: Readings will be wide-ranging, eccentric, and sometimes funny. All will shed light on how to represent another person with insight and nuance: a skill central to most any long-form story. Writing assignments will begin with a 500-word “test” profile, and finish with a 3000-word story, the subject of which will be vetted through a written and oral pitch to the class. We’ll edit this pitch over the semester as the story sharpens, with an eye to magazine submission. We’ll also host various guests – including writers and editors from the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine – to get the dish on game-changing profiles from the people who wrote them.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Prep: Students should come to the first class with 3-5 reasonable ideas. These can be unresearched, but should be solid enough that you can give a two-sentence summary of the story as you see it. The person involved can be specific or generic – e.g. “an Iraq vet with PTSD” is acceptable as long as it’s part of a more specific idea – but plausibility is key. This means that zero credit will be given for “Osama bin Laden,” and less than zero credit will be given for “Cameron Diaz” – unless you have an in with either or both of them. (If you do have an in with either of them, please contact me immediately.)
Jennifer Kahn has been a contributing editor at Wired magazine since 2003, and a feature writer for The New Yorker, National Geographic, Outside, Discover, Mother Jones, and the New York Times, among others. A graduate of Princeton University and UC Berkeley, she has degrees in astrophysics and journalism, and has been a recipient of the CASE-UCLA media fellowship in neuroscience. Her work has been selected for several annual Best American Science Writing anthologies.
J254 : Opinion Writing: The Reported Column
Instructor: Susan Rasky
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 2-5 W
CCN: 48231 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12So you know how to write a news lead, a sassy blog, and maybe even the not-half-bad-top of a feature. Now you need to think about writing with perspective and authority, about how to go one level deeper in a voice very different from the neutral (or snarky) one you've developed so far. This is an advanced reporting course designed to help students sharpen their writing and analytical skills in a format that demands clarity of thought and economy of words. We will begin where all good writing begins, with solid, efficient reporting on a range of social and cultural topics. We'll experiment with voice and style to see how pithy, insightful and profound we can be - about big issues and small ones - in about 400 (for broadcast commentary) to 850 polished words each week. Columnists, editorial writers and OP-Ed page editors and a radio producer will be popping in to critique our offerings. The idea is to develop both a body of work and a base of outlets who like what we have to say. The first assignment is a reported RANT, so come to class all worked up about something.
Susan Rasky was the congressional correspondent for The New York Times. A winner of a George Polk Award for National Reporting, she began her career in Washington, D.C., covering economic policy for the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. and later reported for Reuters from Capitol Hill and the White House. Rasky was a columnist and contributing editor for the California Journal as well as a frequent political commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and NPR. She established and supervises the J-School’s California News Service, which gives students experience covering government and politics for news organizations throughout the country. She joined the faculty in 1991. Rasky received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics.
J255 : Law and Ethics
Instructors: Tom Goldstein, Tom Burke
Location: 142/Library NG Time: 9:30-12:30 W
CCN: 48123 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 40An introduction to the legal and ethical conflicts faced by working reporters. Half of the semester will concentrate on First Amendment and media law, including libel and slander, privacy, free press/fair trial conflicts, and civil lawsuits arising from controversial reporting methods. The remainder of the semester will focus on ethical dilemmas faced by reporters and editors. Using case studies, in-class argument, readings and guest lecturers, the course examines some of the murkier conflicts that don?t necessarily make it to court but nevertheless force difficult newsroom decision-making.
Goldstein is a Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and Director of the Mass Communications Program at Berkeley. He has been a journalism educator for more than 20 years, first at the University of Florida, then at Berkeley (where he served as dean from 1988 to 1996) and finally at Columbia (where he served as dean from 1997 to 2002). Goldstein worked as a reporter at A.P., Newsday, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He served as press secretary to New York City Mayor Edward Koch. Goldstein has written The News at Any Cost, A Two-Faced Press and co-authored The Lawyers Guide to Writing Well. He edited the Killing the Messenger: 100 years of Press Criticism. A native of Buffalo, he is a graduate of Yale and Columbia's law school and journalism school.
Burke is a Northern California practicing attorney with extensive experience in media and First Amendment law.
J260 : Investigative Reporting for Print/TV
Instructors: Rob Gunnison, Lowell Bergman
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 11-1 F
CCN: 48126 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 15This class is designed to build on students’ fundamental reporting and writing skills by learning the basics of investigative reporting. It is journalism that often bridges traditional beats to examine systems and institutions.
In this class, you will enhance your interviewing skills, learn the difference between newspaper and television interviews; learn how to set up a two-camera shoot; work with public records; and develop and protect sources.
In past years, students have been involved in production of “Frontline” films and Web sites. Past projects produced by the class include work on:
“Al Qaeda's New Front”
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/
“Secret History of the Credit Card”
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/
“Chasing the Sleeper Cell”
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sleeper/
Students will be required to become familiar with the development of investigative reporting and its place in American history.
The seminar will meet regularly on Fridays, 11-1, and occasionally at other times to accommodate special guests or lectures.
Students can propose projects for class credit and are encourage to incorporate the class in their master’s projects.
Rob Gunnison is Director of School Affairs at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. He arrived in 1999 after writing for 15 years for the San Francisco Chronicle in Sacramento, where he covered state government and politics with an emphasis on budget and tax issues. Before that, he was Sacramento Bureau Manager for United Press International where he covered government and politics for 11 years. His reporting on the savings and loan debacle was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Mr. Gunnison teaches “Reporting and Writing the News” and has co-taught an investigative reporting class with Professor Bergman for six years.Lowell Bergman was one of the founders of the Center for Investigative Reporting. He spent 22 years as a producer first with ABC News and then CBS, where he was a staff producer at "60 Minutes." Since leaving CBS in 1999, he has been a correspondent and producer for PBS "FRONTLINE" and a reporter for The New York Times. A series he co-authored on worker safety for The New York Times in a joint project with "FRONTLINE" won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. It was the first time a print/television collaboration was recognized by both a Pulitzer and its equivalent in broadcasting, the Peabody and Alfred I. DuPont awards. Bergman's earlier work on the CIA and cocaine, corruption in Mexico and the war on drugs has been the recipient of DuPonts, Peabody Awards and Emmys. His investigation of the tobacco industry for "60 Minutes" was chronicled in the feature film, "The Insider." Bergman graduated from the University of Wisconsin and was a graduate fellow in philosophy at the University of California at San Diego.
J275 : Radio News Reporting
Instructor: Ben Manilla
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 10-1 TH
CCN: 48129 Section: 1 Units: 4 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 12The course focuses on the basics of radio reporting in the digital era. It is a hands-on, intensive preparation for the real world. Students are required to cover general news stories and produce a weekly half-hour magazine program including a live newscast on deadline. In addition, students create weekly news features many of which have been picked up for commercial and national broadcast. Students rotate between assignments as anchor, reporter and producer. You learn how to build a newscast, write for radio, read for radio, and how to use digital technology to produce audio that engages the listener.
Ben Manilla is one of America's foremost audio producers. His 30-year career spans all aspects of radio. He has produced series for National Public Radio, The Disney Company, The Library of Congress, CBS, and many others. His consulting firm, Media Mechanics, created a full-time satellite channel for Starbucks, invented a new music format for public radio in Milwaukee, and is developing a new cable TV series starring Laura Dern. For fifteen years, Ben has collaborated with Dan Aykroyd on the House of Blues radio series. Together, they wrote the book, "Elwood's Blues". Ben’s work has been honored with the Major Armstrong Award, The Edward R. Murrow Award, The Music Journalism Award, The Ohio State Public Service Broadcasting Award, Billboard Magazine’s Syndicated Radio Show Award, and many more. Ben is currently working on a multi-hour TV and radio series on The History of Recorded Music with Sir George Martin. Ben has a degree in Drama from New York University.
J282 : Introduction to TV News
Instructors: Linda Schacht, Karen Everett, Bob Calo, Joan Bieder
Location: 101 North Gate Time: 4-6 W, 10-12 F
CCN: 48132 Section: 1 Units: 4 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: N/AJ282 is the introductory television production course where students learn digital shooting, Avid editing, lighting and sound as wells as basic writing, interviewing and team work skills for television. At the end of the semester students produce a half-hour television news program in the J-school studio. The program is cablecast in Berkeley and by satellite through UCTV.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Reporting and Producing for Television: J282 and J283 comprise a fall and spring sequence that is required for incoming students who elect to concentrate in television news, magazine and documentary. A few spots are reserved for second year students.
Linda Schacht is an Emmy award winning television reporter with more than 20 years experience in local television. Her career began at KQED-TV on the highly regarded Newsroom nightly news show. She then covered politics, locally and nationally, for KPIX, the CBS owned and operated station in San Francisco, for nineteen years. Linda has won two Emmy awards and an American Bar Association national award for her political coverage. She has been on the faculty since 1992 and continues to write television scripts and do special television and documentary projects.
Karen Everett is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor based in San Francisco. She has directed five documentaries which have received educational distribution and aired on PBS. Everett teaches editing at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She has edited the nightly news for a top-ranked NBC affiliate, taught at several Bay Area colleges, and recently authored “Reality in Three Acts: What Documentary Filmmakers Can Learn From Screenwriters”.
Bob Calo began his career in television at KQED in San Francisco, where he produced daily news and documentaries for the local and national PBS audience. He moved to New York to join ABC News “Primetime Live,” and then to NBC News as a broadcast producer. Calo produced stories throughout the U.S. and foreign countries, including assignments in Pakistan, Chile, Croatia, Kenya, and Somalia. His work has been honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, IRE, and National Headliner awards, among others. As an independent producer, he produced a documentary profile of the late landscape historian J.B. Jackson for PBS. Calo joined the faculty in 2001 and continues to write and produce for the national broadcast audience. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s in broadcast communication arts from San Francisco State University.
Joan Bieder worked for a decade as a television news producer at ABC News. Before coming to Berkeley, she taught print and broadcast journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Bieder has produced a series of videos on broadcast journalism, a film on female journalists in Asia and a video on the history of the Jews of Singapore. Her research has focused on freedom-of-the-press issues in Singapore, where she has spent several summers working as a consultant to the news staff of Singapore Television. Bieder has written a book on the history of the Jews of Singapore and Southeast Asia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Goucher College.
J284 : Documentary Production
Instructor: Jon Else
Location: 101 North Gate Time: 2-6 T
CCN: 48135 Section: 1 Units: 4 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: 10An intensive documentary workshop in which second year students develop and produce their Masters projects. We work with the styles of writing, shooting, lighting, sound, editing, and production management unique to documentary. Guest filmmakers will conduct special sessions on various production skills including lighting, shooting, sound recording, and archival research. During the 2010 spring semester the class will continue to meet weekly (under the course title J284, with Jon Else) for work-in-progress screenings and advanced practical workshops. Attendance at all class meetings and technical sessions is mandatory, with the exception that students may miss one class meeting per semester.
Occassional meetings W 12-1.Restrictions and Prerequisites: By instructor permission only.
Jon Else produced and directed the documentaries “The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,” “Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven,” “A Job at Ford’s” part of the PBS series “The Great Depression,” “Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature,” “Sing Faster: The Stagehands’ Ring Cycle,” and “Open Outcry.” He was series producer and cinematographer for “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years.” Else served as cinematographer on documentaries for PBS, BBC, ABC, MTV and HBO, including the BBC/PBS “History of Rock and Roll,” the Paramount/MTV feature documentary “Tupac: Resurrection” and “Afghanistan: Hell of a Nation,” and numerous commercials and music videos. He is directing a feature documentary about nuclear weapons. Else was a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and has won an Academy Award, four National Emmys, several Alfred I. DuPont and Peabody awards, the Prix Italia, the Sundance Special Jury Prize and Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy. Else received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in communication from Stanford University.
J285 : Longform Television
Instructors: Bob Calo, Joan Bieder
Location: 101 North Gate Time: 10-1 T
CCN: 48138 Section: 1 Units: 4 Fee: Y Enrollment Limit: N/AJ285 is a second year course in which students produce 5 to 10 minute non-fiction television magazine stories and create television magazine programs. In producing long form stories and magazine programs students develop their digital story telling skills by identifying compelling central characters and their interesting and newsworthy stories, connecting them to larger issues or common personal experiences, and experimenting with innovative styles and techniques. The two-semester course and final programs satisfy the Masters Project requirement.
Occasional Meetings Wed. 12-1Restrictions and Prerequisites: J-School students only.
Successful completion of J282 and J283, proficiency in AVID editing and SONY DV cam, and permission of instructors.Bob Calo began his career in television at KQED in San Francisco, where he produced daily news and documentaries for the local and national PBS audience. He moved to New York to join ABC News “Primetime Live,” and then to NBC News as a broadcast producer. Calo produced stories throughout the U.S. and foreign countries, including assignments in Pakistan, Chile, Croatia, Kenya, and Somalia. His work has been honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, IRE, and National Headliner awards, among others. As an independent producer, he produced a documentary profile of the late landscape historian J.B. Jackson for PBS. Calo joined the faculty in 2001 and continues to write and produce for the national broadcast audience. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s in broadcast communication arts from San Francisco State University.
Joan Bieder worked for a decade as a television news producer at ABC News. Before coming to Berkeley, she taught print and broadcast journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Bieder has produced a series of videos on broadcast journalism, a film on female journalists in Asia and a video on the history of the Jews of Singapore. Her research has focused on freedom-of-the-press issues in Singapore, where she has spent several summers working as a consultant to the news staff of Singapore Television. Bieder has written a book on the history of the Jews of Singapore and Southeast Asia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Goucher College.
J288 : Digital TV: The Japanese in America
Instructor: Todd Carrel
Location: B-1 North Gate Time: 11-1 MW
CCN: 48141 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12This will be a small class designed for students who have completed the Spring 2009 Digital TV and the World course, or who have equivalent digital TV and editing skills, or who have web design, coding and photography skills, or are fluent in Japanese. The class offers a chance for students outside the professional TV track to do preliminary work with small format cameras and explore an array of multimedia storytelling techniques and editing styles. Students will learn to listen carefully to the voices of their subjects in Japanese American communities, then create cross-platform reports. Each student will report and produce stories crafted for the washingtonpost.com and other outlets. The course will emphasize solid reporting, clear expression and original storytelling.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Registration will be by waitlist only. Sign up on the waitlist by May 1st if you want to be considered for the class.
Todd Carrel is a journalist who covered Asia for more than a decade, first as a reporter for the Associated Press based in Tokyo, then as the ABC News bureau chief and correspondent in China. He has worked for National Geographic on many projects, contributed numerous freelance stories to newspapers, and produced an independent documentary aired on PBS stations.
J294 : Master's Project Seminar
Instructors: Qiang Xiao, Susan Rasky, Michael Pollan, Ken Light, Neil Henry, Paul Grabowicz, Cynthia Gorney, Jon Else, Mark Danner, Lydia Chavez, Joan Bieder, Lowell Bergman
Location: By appt. Time: By appt.
CCN: See chart Section: 0 Units: 1 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/AJ294 is a 2 semester course (1 unit/Fall, 1 unit/Spring). You must register for both semesters and it must be taken for a grade.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Limited to Journalism students only.
Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor of the Graduate School of Journalism, is the Director of The Berkeley China Internet Project, a faculty-student research project focused on improving access to, interpreting and understanding Chinese cyberspace. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the China Digital Times, a collaborative news website which aggregates the most up-to-the-minute news and analysis about China from around the Web, while also providing translations, multimedia features, and other content from Chinese cyberspace. Xiao studied theoretical physics in China and US in 1980s and has been a long time human rights activist. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, and is profiled in the book "Soul Purpose: 40 People Who Are Changing the World for the Better
Susan Rasky was the congressional correspondent for The New York Times. A winner of a George Polk Award for National Reporting, she began her career in Washington, D.C., covering economic policy for the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. and later reported for Reuters from Capitol Hill and the White House. Rasky was a columnist and contributing editor for the California Journal as well as a frequent political commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and NPR. She established and supervises the J-School’s California News Service, which gives students experience covering government and politics for news organizations throughout the country. She joined the faculty in 1991. Rasky received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics.
Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." His previous book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals", was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World", "A Place of My Own", and "Second Nature". A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Essays and the Norton Book of Nature Writing. Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.
Light, curator of the Photojournalism Center at the School, is the author of 5 monographs including Texas Death Row.
Neil Henry worked for 16 years as a metro, national and foreign correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya for The Washington Post, and as a staff writer for Newsweek magazine, prior to joining the faculty in 1993. A former John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, he is the author of a 2002 racial history, Pearl's Secret. His second book, American Carnival: Journalism under Siege in an Age of New Media, was published in May, 2007. A graduate in political science from Princeton University, Prof. Henry earned his master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Paul Grabowicz is Director of the New Media Program at the Graduate School of Journalism and teaches classes in multimedia reporting, new media publishing and video game storytelling.
Cynthia Gorney joined the faculty in 1999, after a career at The Washington Post that included serving as an award-winning national features writer, South American bureau chief and the first writer for the Post’s Style section based on the West Coast. She is the author of “Articles of Faith: A History of the Abortion Wars,” and has written for many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and the American Journalism Review. She is currently a New Yorker staff writer. Gorney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Jon Else produced and directed the documentaries “The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,” “Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven,” “A Job at Ford’s” part of the PBS series “The Great Depression,” “Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature,” “Sing Faster: The Stagehands’ Ring Cycle,” and “Open Outcry.” He was series producer and cinematographer for “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years.” Else served as cinematographer on documentaries for PBS, BBC, ABC, MTV and HBO, including the BBC/PBS “History of Rock and Roll,” the Paramount/MTV feature documentary “Tupac: Resurrection” and “Afghanistan: Hell of a Nation,” and numerous commercials and music videos. He is directing a feature documentary about nuclear weapons. Else was a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and has won an Academy Award, four National Emmys, several Alfred I. DuPont and Peabody awards, the Prix Italia, the Sundance Special Jury Prize and Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy. Else received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in communication from Stanford University.
Mark Danner has written about international affairs, human rights and foreign wars for more than 20 years. He has covered, among many other stories, wars and political conflict in Central America, Haiti, the Balkans, Iraq and the Middle East, and, most recently, the story of torture during the War on Terror. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, Danner is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. His work also has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times op-ed page and many other publications, and he has written and helped produce television documentaries for ABC News. Danner is the author of “The Massacre at El Mozote: A Parable of the Cold War,” “The Road to Illegitimacy,” “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror," and, most recently, "The Secret Way to War: The Downing Street Memo and the Iraq War's Buried History." He was named as a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and his work has been honored with a National Magazine Award, three Overseas Press Club Awards, and an Emmy, among other awards. Danner is a graduate of Harvard University.
Lydia Chávez started as a reporter for The Albuquerque Tribune, later moving on to Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, where she served as El Salvador and South American bureau chief. In 2005, Chávez and her students collaborated to publish “Capitalism, God and A Good Cigar: Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century” (Duke University Press). And in 1998, Chávez published, “The Color Bind: California’s Battle Against Affirmative Action,” which won the Leonard Silk Award (UC Press). She has also written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner and magazine pieces for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazines and George Magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Joan Bieder worked for a decade as a television news producer at ABC News. Before coming to Berkeley, she taught print and broadcast journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Bieder has produced a series of videos on broadcast journalism, a film on female journalists in Asia and a video on the history of the Jews of Singapore. Her research has focused on freedom-of-the-press issues in Singapore, where she has spent several summers working as a consultant to the news staff of Singapore Television. Bieder has written a book on the history of the Jews of Singapore and Southeast Asia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Goucher College.
Lowell Bergman was one of the founders of the Center for Investigative Reporting. He spent 22 years as a producer first with ABC News and then CBS, where he was a staff producer at "60 Minutes." Since leaving CBS in 1999, he has been a correspondent and producer for PBS "FRONTLINE" and a reporter for The New York Times. A series he co-authored on worker safety for The New York Times in a joint project with "FRONTLINE" won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. It was the first time a print/television collaboration was recognized by both a Pulitzer and its equivalent in broadcasting, the Peabody and Alfred I. DuPont awards. Bergman's earlier work on the CIA and cocaine, corruption in Mexico and the war on drugs has been the recipient of DuPonts, Peabody Awards and Emmys. His investigation of the tobacco industry for "60 Minutes" was chronicled in the feature film, "The Insider." Bergman graduated from the University of Wisconsin and was a graduate fellow in philosophy at the University of California at San Diego.
J297 : Internship Credit
Instructor: Rob Gunnison
Location: TBD Time: TBD
CCN: 48183 Section: 1 Units: 2 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/AStudents receive one or two units of credit for the internships. Documentation required from both the student and from supervisor regarding internship responsibilities, hours, etc.
Rob Gunnison is Director of School Affairs at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. He arrived in 1999 after writing for 15 years for the San Francisco Chronicle in Sacramento, where he covered state government and politics with an emphasis on budget and tax issues. Before that, he was Sacramento Bureau Manager for United Press International where he covered government and politics for 11 years. His reporting on the savings and loan debacle was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Mr. Gunnison teaches “Reporting and Writing the News” and has co-taught an investigative reporting class with Professor Bergman for six years.
J298 : Key Issues with Faculty and Campus Experts
Instructors: Susan Rasky, Lydia Chavez
Location: 142/Library NG Time: 1-3 F
CCN: 48189 Section: 3 Units: 2 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 60Class Begins September 18th. Details are forthcoming.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Required for first year students, second year students are welcome to enroll.
Susan Rasky was the congressional correspondent for The New York Times. A winner of a George Polk Award for National Reporting, she began her career in Washington, D.C., covering economic policy for the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. and later reported for Reuters from Capitol Hill and the White House. Rasky was a columnist and contributing editor for the California Journal as well as a frequent political commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Sacramento Bee and NPR. She established and supervises the J-School’s California News Service, which gives students experience covering government and politics for news organizations throughout the country. She joined the faculty in 1991. Rasky received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics.
Lydia Chávez started as a reporter for The Albuquerque Tribune, later moving on to Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, where she served as El Salvador and South American bureau chief. In 2005, Chávez and her students collaborated to publish “Capitalism, God and A Good Cigar: Cuba Enters the Twenty-First Century” (Duke University Press). And in 1998, Chávez published, “The Color Bind: California’s Battle Against Affirmative Action,” which won the Leonard Silk Award (UC Press). She has also written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner and magazine pieces for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazines and George Magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
J298 : Africa Journalism
Instructor: Neil Henry
Location: TBD Time: TBD
CCN: 48188 Section: 2 Units: 2 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: N/ADescription Forthcoming.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Registration is limited to students enrolled in J234 Int'l Travel:Africa
Neil Henry worked for 16 years as a metro, national and foreign correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya for The Washington Post, and as a staff writer for Newsweek magazine, prior to joining the faculty in 1993. A former John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, he is the author of a 2002 racial history, Pearl's Secret. His second book, American Carnival: Journalism under Siege in an Age of New Media, was published in May, 2007. A graduate in political science from Princeton University, Prof. Henry earned his master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
J298 : Blogging China
Instructor: Qiang Xiao
Location: 127 North Gate Time: 9-12 F
CCN: 48186 Section: 1 Units: 3 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12China is the biggest story of the 21st century. The success or failure of its ongoing economic, social and political transition will have a tremendous impact on the world, from stock-exchange markets to food security, from war and peace to climate change. This project-based class is centered around an interactive news website: China Digital Times (CDT). Students will get the opportunity to do hands-on work on CDT, which taps into the vast resources of online news, analysis, and multimedia content about China from a wide spectrum of perspectives and sources. The required tasks include regular news blogging, translating, information organization/representation projects, and developing a Chinese language blog aggregator. The class will also include readings and discussion about political expression, public opinion and state censorship in Chinese cyberspace.
This three hour seminar class welcomes students both from social media and China research fields, and is open to students from all departments on campus, including undergraduates.
Restrictions and Prerequisites: Chinese language or previous blogging experience are not required.
Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor of the Graduate School of Journalism, is the Director of The Berkeley China Internet Project, a faculty-student research project focused on improving access to, interpreting and understanding Chinese cyberspace. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the China Digital Times, a collaborative news website which aggregates the most up-to-the-minute news and analysis about China from around the Web, while also providing translations, multimedia features, and other content from Chinese cyberspace. Xiao studied theoretical physics in China and US in 1980s and has been a long time human rights activist. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, and is profiled in the book "Soul Purpose: 40 People Who Are Changing the World for the Better
J298 : Journalism in a time of disruptive change
Instructor: Alan Mutter
Location: 127 North Gate Time: 2-4 M
CCN: 48200 Section: 8 Units: 2 Fee: N Enrollment Limit: 12With the long-standing economic foundation for much of journalism under assault, students planning media careers must understand the business of the businesses that support journalism. Further, they need to learn the new roles and innovative skills that will equip them to contribute to the future vitality and viability of a strong and independent press. This course will acquaint students with the economic fundamentals of the media business and then concentrate on providing them with a deep and practical understanding of the three factors that define the success for any media venture: Audience building, content development and revenue generation.
Alan D. Mutter began his career as a newspaper columnist and editor at the Chicago Daily News and later rose to City Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. In 1984, he became the No. 2 editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He left the newspaper business in 1988 to join InterMedia Partners, a start-up company that became one of the largest cable-TV companies in the country. Mutter was the COO of InterMedia when he moved to Silicon Valley in 1996 to lead the first of the three start-up companies he led as CEO. The companies he headed were a pioneering Internet service provider and two enterprise-software companies delivering cutting-edge solutions for media companies. Mutter now is a consultant specializing in corporate initiatives and new media ventures that combine his twin passions, journalism and technology. He joined the adjunct faculty of the Journalism School in January, 2009.