J200 Reporting the News

J200 imparts the fundamentals of daily news writing, including ledes, nut graphs, quotes, summaries, and kickers. Students will learn about  the conventions of hard news reporting and the relationship between news reporting and writing. They will learn how to identify stories and distinguish between a topic and a story. They will come to understand the importance of word economy, concision, and the clear and effective distillation of information.. Students will also learn about  the differences among news writing approaches and  storytelling formats, including feature stories, profiles, and explanatory reporting. Since all news writing is based on reporting, students in J200 also learn about critical reporting skills, including background reporting, field reporting, interviewing techniques, how to cover events such as public meetings and press conferences, how to handle challenging sources, and how to navigate common dilemmas reporters often face in the job.