J201 Community Sites Reporting

Students will join the corps of local news reporters across the country whose work informs communities and holds governments accountable. You will cover local government in Richmond and Oakland, developing enterprising and investigative stories. This is a hands-on training ground, with the instructor acting as more of an editor. You will be expected to meet weekly, 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 should take J200 before enrolling in this class.

Hours and workload: About 5-6 hours per week of outside work, including meeting coverage, sometimes at night, and occasional weekends.

Texts and costs: “AP Stylebook”; students also may be expected to cover travel costs to assignments and minimal costs to access records.