Journalism Research for Print & Broadcast Journalism 600 Regent University, Northern Virginia campus Spring, 2000 Terry Mattingly Associate Professor and Journalist in Residence I. OVERTURE This is not a class in "computer-assisted reporting," but it should be. In the days of the old CBS series about a city editor named "Lou Grant," the worst threat that a veteran newspaper reporter could make was to grab his or her Rolodex and vow to leave the newsroom. In the journalism business, a reporter's greatest asset is a long, long list of telephone numbers of sources and organizations (and the more home numbers, the better). Today, reporters still need telephone numbers. But they store them in their computer hard drives - along with everything else. Today, a superstar reporter might threaten to erase the contents of the "favorites" file on his desk computer's World Wide Web browser. As recently as the mid-1980s, reporters spent most of their research time in a newspaper's "morgue," which was the slang term for a library packed with tiny envelopes, full of smudged, inky newspaper clippings about people, places, groups and events. If you were going to interview someone, or cover a major event, you did your research in the "morgue." Today, everyone uses NEXUS - the computer-based superstore of journalistic and legal information, where a scan of the Associated Press offerings for an entire decade might take 30 seconds. Instead of starting his or her research with a few newspaper clippings, today's reporter - even at a small newspaper - can build up a quick background folder of material from the WWW. Then there are the online databases linked to government offices, think tanks, lobby groups, etc. The computer-based parallel universe is also where reporters get background on broad trends or find the connections between groups on opposite sides of the continent or on the other side of the world. Sources regularly e-mail texts of speeches or internal documents to reporters. The phrase "blind carbon copy" is music to many journalistic ears. But none of this matters much if a reporter does not have a nose for news and the ability to spot a promising speech or interview in the crowded agendas of your typical big city (and then there is Washington, D.C.). So we cannot skip over the basics of journalistic research. But everything we do is taking place in the age of the computer. II. COURSE DESCRIPTION This class is an introduction to journalism research, with lab activities here in the Washington, D.C., area. The class also will include lectures and readings on historical and theoretical issues linked to the World Wide Web. We will look at news in the context of both newspapers and the Internet. Lab fee required. III. OBJECTIVES (a) Our primary goal is to learn how to prepare background folders of information linked to news events, organizations and major news trends. Any news-writing work that we do in this class will be secondary to this goal. We also want to take an introductory look at the impact that digital technology is having on print journalism. (b) Most journalists find news by reading news, by spotting the hole in a story in the morning newspaper or by noticing the common themes in several stories in various publications. Internet or no Internet, an amazing percentage of news stories begin with a reporter or editor ripping something out of a newspaper and yelling at someone else, "Hey, look at this!" You will be required, each week, to show evidence of reading the news - in print and online. (c) Beyond the telephone, beyond the "morgue" and beyond the simple search engines of Microsoft Explorer 6.66, lies an entire frontier of techniques that most journalists now refer to as CAR - computer-assisted reporting. Your teacher would like to be honest, at this point, and say that he has a lot of experience finding people and WORDS and documents in cyberspace. But I know very little about statistical research, in this neck of the digital woods. Let us also note that almost any textbook published on this subject is out of date by the time the ink is dry. We will explore this issue together, and with the help of a Washington, D.C., professional who is helping build a company with an intriguing name - NumbersUSA. IV. TEXTBOOKS: Required. The Associated Press: Stylebook and Libel Manual, by the staff of The Associated Press. Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide (Second Edition), by Brant Houston of the Missouri Group. Bedford-St. Martin's Press, 1999. The Web site that supports this textbook is http://www.ire.org/carbook Perspectives: Online Journalism, edited by Kathleen Wickham. Coursewise Publishing, 1998. The Web site that supports this textbook is http://www.courselinks.com Washington, D.C., is one of the world's great cities for news junkies. Ideas come before research and ideas begin with reading. If you need help subscribing to a newspaper, please let me know. Also, I recommend that you create your own free online newspaper, by going to the Crayon site (http://www.crayon.net) and following the directions. Optional text: Life After Television: The Coming Transformation of Media and American Life (Revised Paperback Edition), by George Gilder. W.W. Norton & Company. 1994. V. REQUIREMENTS (a) Please keep the following in mind. This class is built on lively participation, especially in question-and-answer sessions. When in doubt, dive in. Come up with new ideas. Speak up. Students will quickly realize that I will strive to raise questions about what it means to be a Christian who works in mainstream journalism. I urge students to take part and raise questions of their own. (b) Attendance is critical and will affect your final grade. I would strive not to miss more than two scheduled class meetings - including any sessions that are student-led, in my absence due to work for Regent or the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Students must do their own research - following the university's academic policies at all times - but are encouraged to discuss their work with each other throughout the semester, as colleagues would in a news room. (c) During the semester, each student will complete a minimum of five research folders. What is a research folder? It's quite simple. First, pick a news event, a personality, an organization or a "news trend." After clearing this topic with the instructor, find between 10 and 20 examples of information that would help you write a related news story, print them out, and put them in a folder to turn in. After doing this, you will write a 500- word summary containing your original idea for a research topic, a summary of what found and how your new information has affected your final story concept. These research folders will be worth 50 percent of the final grade. (d) Students will be asked to brief the class on the progress of their research at least once in the semester. Class participation will be worth 25 percent of the final grade. (e) There will be no mid-term exam. The course will end with a take-home final focusing on lectures and the assigned texts. The final will be worth 25 percent of the final grade. The exams will be due at the time appointed by Regent University. (f) As is the case with any editor, I will accept assignments early, but I will not accept them late unless you have cleared this with me in advance. An incomplete grade ("I") will be given to a student only in the event of illness, emergencies or some other extreme cause that is acceptable to the professor, who will consult in each case with the director of the center. If the missing work has not been completed by the end of the following semester, an "FX" will automatically be posted - which equals an "F" in the computation of the student's GPA. V. COURSE OUTLINE: (a) Here is a tentative outline of the course: (1) Overture: What is this CAR thing? Assign chapters 1-2 in CAR. (2) Life After Television - George Gilder's long look ahead at how computer networks will affect the shape of news and entertainment. (3) Back to basics: Building networks of sources, organizations and your Rolodex. Getting YOUR OWN act together. Using e-mail and networks to extend your reach. A working session. Chapters 3-5 in CAR. (4) Back to basics: Finding texts online. First look at NEXUS. Chapter 7 in CAR. (5) Preparing a folder to prepare for an in-depth interview. A working session. (6) What is a newspaper library? A visit to USA Today. Perspectives, section 2. (7) Computer-Assisted Reporting: What is this CAR thing, Part II? A case- study presentation by Jim Robb of NumbersUSA. (8) Databases - what they are and how to find them. CAR, chapter 8. (9) Lies, darn lies, polls and statistics. CAR, chapters 6 and 9. (10) Ethics in the age of online journalism (and Matt Drudge): Perspectives, section 4. (11) Trends and controversies in online world. Perspectives, section 5. (12) Final discussion session. How does this affect you? Perspectives, section 3. (b) With at least one exception, our classes will meet at 9 a.m. on Mondays at the Media Visitor's Center at the Heritage Foundation, located on the 5th floor of its headquarters at 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE, unless an announcement of another location is made in class or via the Internet. Students will work on their own during the week and on Saturdays, while staying in touch with the instructor via telephone, the Internet or through contacts during office hours. If you do not have a home or laptop computer, I urge you to get one. Also, computer labs are available at Bishop Ireton High School on weeknights and on Saturdays. The Regent-Northern Virginia office also has material on free Internet service providers. (c) I urge students to ask for my input on story ideas, research tips and writing questions. There are also times when I will be going to events in the Washington, D.C., area, since I remain a working columnist as well as a teacher. I will strive to keep students abreast of my activities, so that we can, on occasion, attend news events together. Remember -- reporting skills are ``caught'' through contact with a professional, just as much as they are ``taught'' in a classroom. So dive in and take advantage of this time and this place. Under The Mercy, Prof. Terry Mattingly Home office: 1686 Barrister Court, Crofton, MD 21114 410-451-3214, 410-533-6028 (cell), 410-451-2812 (fax) http://www.tmatt.net or tmatt@tmatt.net Regent office: 1412-A Duke Street, Alexandria, Va. 22314 703-837-1912 (front desk), 703-837-1957 (voice mail), 703-837-1914 (fax) tmatt@regent.edu Capital Hill office at the CCCU: 329 8th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 202-546-8713, ext. 207, 202-546-8914 (fax) tmatt@cccu.org Office hours: 1.1 Mondays, 2-4 p.m. at CCCU Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m. at Irish Times Fridays, 2-4 p.m. at Regent-Northern Virginia O Heavenly King, O Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who art in all places and fillest all things; Treasury of good things and Giver of Life: Come and dwell in us and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O gracious Lord. -30-