COURSES
JOUR 1030 Fundamentals of Reporting (3)
Students learn the basic forms and techniques of modern journalistic writing. Students write both simple and complex news stories and are introduced to feature writing and other specialized story forms. Basic word processing skills and competence in diction and grammar are required.
JOUR 2140 Advanced Reporting (3) Syllabus
Students learn a variety of specialized news story forms, as well as the formats for interpretative stories, editorials, op-ed pieces, and personal columns. Actual reporting assignments, both on- and off-campus, are an integral part of the coursework. Students are expected to compose subjective commentaries based on their objectively reported story assignments. Prerequisite: JOUR 1030 OR permission of the instructor.
JOUR 2170 Copyreading/News Editing (3) Syllabus
This course is an intensive workshop where students learn the essentials of copyreading and editing. Prerequisite: JOUR 1030 OR permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.
JOUR 2300 Journalism: Layout and Design (3) Syllabus
Students learn the fundamentals of newspaper and magazine layout and design, principles of good typography, front and interior page makeup, and photo placement.
JOUR 2360 History and Principles of American Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn the historic and contemporary influences on both print and electronic journalism in the American political scene. The course content focuses on key individuals in American media development and their political impact. Prerequisite: junior/senior standing or permission of the instructor.
JOUR 2380 Free Expression and the First Amendment (3) Syllabus
Students learn the history and application of free expression and the First Amendment, the various areas of free speech, and the pressures to limit such expression. Included are the areas of political dissent, hate speech, funding of the arts, prior restraint, and wartime restrictions.
JOUR 3060 Community Reporting (3) Syllabus
Students learn and apply the concepts of local reporting of city government, police, fire, schools, and special business districts. Students are assigned community "beats" and are expected to report regularly with stories in their assigned areas. Prerequisite: JOUR 2140.
JOUR 3080 Global Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn strategies and techniques used by the United States and foreign countries in the management of domestic and international news. Students listen to and evaluate shortwave broadcasts from world capitals, including Moscow, London, and Beijing. Students learn the different philosophies of freedom of the press operating in international and American news media. May be repeated for credit, if taken at an international campus.
JOUR 3120 Global Affairs Reporting (3) Syllabus
Students learn the role of the foreign correspondent and the structure and importance of global news organizations. Students also examine current international issues and global trouble spots, analyzing how events are covered both in the U.S. media and non-U.S. media. Prerequisite: MEDC 1010.
JOUR 3130 Feature Writing (3) Syllabus
Students learn the longer feature and the interpretative or specialized newspaper or magazine article writing style. Student-written articles from class assignments are submitted for publication on a free-lance basis. Prerequisite: JOUR 2140 OR permission of the instructor.
JOUR 3150 Topics in Modern Media (1-3) Syllabus
This course provides the latitude to feature topics in media and journalism not covered by regularly offered courses. Prerequisite may vary with the topic. May be repeated for credit if content differs.
JOUR 3190 Topics in International Journalism (3) Syllabus
This course focuses on a particular facet of international media. Content may vary from semester to semester. For example, it may focus on the British Media System and History one semester, while focusing on Press Freedom from Lenin to Yeltsin in another. Prerequisite: JOUR 3080 OR permission of the instructor.
JOUR 3300 Newspaper Production Workshop (2-4) Syllabus
The course forms the center of the journalism curriculum. In it students learn to apply the journalistic theories, principles, and techniques they have learned in the classroom to newspaper production. Theories of journalism are tested and refined by the everyday practice of getting out the campus newspaper. Students meet several times during the week to gain firsthand experience in developing the skills necessary to produce a readable and attractive publication. Students are required to work a minimum of five hours per week on production of the campus newspaper. Prerequisite: JOUR 2140, JOUR 2170, JOUR 2300, OR permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.
JOUR 3750 Environmental Journalism and Communications (3) Syllabus
In this course students learn how journalists, advocacy group spokespersons, and public relations officials communicate on environmental issues. The course provides future environmental reporters with a sensitivity to the language of hazard and risk, as well as technical and quantitative knowledge about environmental issues. For future public information professionals involved with environmental issues, the course will provide insight on how the media reports on the environment. This is a writing course, and students can be expected to research and write on an array of local and national environmental concerns. Prerequisites: JOUR 1030, sophomore standing, SCIN 1520, OR permission of instructor.
JOUR 4050 Sports Reporting (3) Syllabus
Students learn the principles, strategies, and techniques involved in sports reporting by analyzing a variety of sports styles and approaches and producing sports articles throughout the course. Prerequisite: JOUR 1030.
JOUR 4170 Investigative Journalism (3) Syllabus
In this course, the advanced journalism student learns the specialized techniques of seeking out hidden, untapped news sources, and interpreting specialized data and information. Students learn the skills of investigative reporting in the beat areas of the environment, medicine, business, consumer issues, politics, elections, crime, and more. Students study major practitioners of investigative journalism, from Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Prerequisite: JOUR 2140 OR permission of the instructor.
JOUR 4200 Teaching Scholastic Publications (3) Syllabus
This course provides an overview of teaching beginning journalism and advising high school publications. Topics discussed include: press rights and responsibilities; gathering, reporting, and editing the news; photo and electronic journalism; mass media and society; design techniques; management and business skills necessary for advising publications; and evaluation techniques necessary for grading students involved in school publications. Students learn how to write lesson plans for daily use in their journalism classes, and each student is required to submit a lesson plan including activities, and tests and projects on teaching the First Amendment. Each student submits a sample staff manual, which he/she adapts to the school publication that he/she will be advising. This course applies to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education certification of teachers of journalism in secondary education.
JOUR 4220 Advanced Global Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn six aspects of mass media in countries representing a spectrum of economic and political systems: the nature and treatment of the news; socialization and social control; persuasion and opinion functions; the entertainment function; the organizational and economic structure; and the concept and future of press freedom. The course incorporates the use of shortwave and satellite technology to examine international broadcasts. Prerequisite: JOUR 3080. May be repeated for credit if taken at international campuses.
JOUR 4250 Methods of Teaching Secondary Publications/Journalism (3) Syllabus
This course provides the instruction necessary for the teacher to aid in the publication of the high school newspaper, yearbook, or broadcasting medium. Students learn the process of writing bids for selecting the printing company, and techniques needed to publish the school paper or yearbook. Students learn classroom organization, photography (both digital and darkroom procedures), assigning beats, the public relations of scholastic journalism distribution and mailing of publications, press freedom and mass media in society, advertising and business skills for teaching journalism, and newspaper and yearbook production. This course applies to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education certification of teachers of journalism in secondary education.
JOUR 4380 Magazine Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn the elements of magazine journalism, including research, interviewing, structure, formats, feature writing, and style. The class is conducted as a workshop, with students producing articles and critiquing the work of their peers. Prerequisite: JOUR 3300 OR permission of the instructor.
JOUR 4400 Business Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn the function, role, and practice of the business press, with emphasis on the strategies, style, and techniques involved in this specialized application of journalism. Students analyze business articles as well as produce a variety of written materials in this subject area. Prerequisite: JOUR 3300.
JOUR 4500 Media Criticism for Publication (3) Syllabus
This course is an offshoot of Webster’s media literacy studies and journalism programs but is open to students from all disciplines who are interested in writing and publishing original articles that examine media coverage of events, cumulative messages in the media, and the impact of the media on American society and culture. The course will help students learn to bridge the gaps between academic and journalistic styles of research and writing. The course will include an overview of current media literacy criticism in specialized and mainstream press as well as basic tools for analyzing media from a media literacy perspective. Prerequisite: JOUR 3130 and MEDC 3190 or consent of instructor; graduate level students with writing/journalism experience and interest in media literacy topics also are encouraged to enroll.
JOUR 4610 Readings in Journalism (1-6) Syllabus is customized by the readings
Prerequisites: usually junior/senior standing and permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit if content differs.
JOUR 4620 Senior Overview (3-6) Syllabus is customized by the project
Provides an opportunity for seniors to demonstrate their proficiency in a selected area of journalism. The student assumes responsibility for the production of a writing/research project under the direction of a faculty member. Projects may include an investigative article, a story series, or a thesis. Prerequisites: senior standing, acceptance into the major through portfolio review, AND permission of the instructor.
JOUR 4700 Professional Development in Journalism (3) Syllabus
Students learn the various careers available in the field of journalism and apply this knowledge to their personal portfolio development and presentation; attend appropriate journalistic professional organizations; improve their interviewing skills; and prepare their resumes. Prerequisites: journalism major AND senior standing.