J201 Community Sites

This course builds on reporting from J200. Students will cover local government in Richmond and Oakland, with the intent of developing enterprising and investigative stories from those cities. Students can expect to cover meetings, sometimes at night, and to occasionally work weekends. This is a hands-on class that will be run like a newsroom, with the instructor as more of an editor than a lecturer. Students will be expected to meet weekly, and sometimes daily, deadlines; to develop sources; mine public records; scour data; take photos and video; and collaborate with peers. Work that meets the standard will be published on Oakland North and Richmond Confidential.

Students may be expected to cover travel costs and minimal costs for access to records and databases. All students will be expected to have access to and become familiar with the Associated Press Stylebook.