J298 The Essentials: Bias and Journalism (five weeks) 3/20 – 4/24

This course will focus on examining the assumptions and implicit biases that reporters of all backgrounds bring to their journalistic work. Beginning with a short history of the openly racist, fictive narratives that encompassed coverage of many communities in the early American press, the course will then challenge students to understand and confront their own biases in order to strengthen their reporting and their ability to tell more truthful stories. This class is the third in a set of three courses intended to be taken consecutively as a 15 week set. The three classes are (and will be offered in this order): MINI: History of Journalism, MINI: The Business of Journalism, MINI: Bias and Journalism.