J220 Intro to Coding

It is increasingly hard to work in journalism without having a basic understanding of how your work will be presented online. In this course, you will be introduced to basic concepts, terms and approaches to web development, including:

– HTML (the structure of a webpage)

– CSS (the style and layout of the page)

– wireframing and web design

– basic JavaScript

By the end of the semester, you will have the tools and knowhow to efficiently communicate with newsroom developers, graphics reporters and designers, whether you want to collaborate on creating a newsletter, a story page or even a site for your documentary or podcast. Or, you might even be interested in becoming a newsroom technologist yourself.

How you present the work, the layout, page hierarchy and interactive elements are at their core critical editorial conversations that require the same thoughtfulness and discussion as any other journalism endeavour. Expect to have those critical conversations in this class, too.