University of Missouri Extension

Meeting on the campus of Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo. in Karls Hall, Room 103 from 2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m

§ Assignment: review newspapers and do a critique on whether or not they demonstrate examples of community journalism and if they do, give examples of how

June 23 – ASSINGMENT - Letters to the editor based on something in News-Leader. Finish by end of class June 25.

o In class assignment is to write copy in class related to story -- students have a choice and can write an obit for the pigs, opinion piece (ie importance of brick homes), news story of event, perhaps a cartoon (worth 10 points)

If time allows, students may finish work on letters to the editor in class. Please include contact information and I will get these submitted. (worth 10 points)

o In class exercise (worth 15 points) and then essay on show and SPJ Code of Ethics (worth 10 points)

• ASSIGNMENT DUE -- Two NEWS stories due (emphasis on 5W 1H, pyramid style stories of 400 words or less) (worth 20 points EACH).

· HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT -- Pass out names of reporters to contact and interview regarding community journalism (due July 7); feel free to submit 4 to 6 questions to reporter via e-mail; be sure and give them a deadline to respond.

o In class exercise (worth 15 points) and then essay on show and journalism practices and SPJ Code of Ethics (worth 10 points)

· Discuss media ethics survey results and situations; take an additional in class quiz on media ethics (worth 10 points)

o ASSIGNMENT: Essay on “Why is Freedom of the press important?” (10 points)

FINAL IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT – Essay on what you learned in the class. Give solid examples and explain how you might use something that you learned. (20 points)

And finally, here are two chances to earn 5 to 10 bonus points. I anticipate that these will be the only bonus points available during this class (I had not planned to offer any).

1) The question was asked in class about "when did journalism start." If you want to read the article found at http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/journhist.html and write an essay summarizing what you learned on the subject that would be worth between 5 and 10 bonus points (depending on the effort put in to it). Again, the essay should be no more than 400 words.

2) You may do the same, and earn an additional 5 to 10 bonus points, by reading about the first School of Journalism at http://journalism.missouri.edu/about/history.html and providing another essay summary. Again, the essay should be no more than 400 words.

These two bonus point opportunities can be turned in any time prior to the end of class on July 9 (our last class).

I've been teaching a community journalism workshop this summer. Class members have requested a movie or two as part of the class. Well, we don't really have time for that but I did provide them with a list of great journalism-themed movies they can watch on their own time. Here is that list:

1. Shattered Glass - This is probably one of the best journalism movies ever made. It focuses on ethics and how easy it is to ignore the faults in the popular kid in the newsroom. PG-13

2. Good Night and Good Luck - This is of course the story of Edward R. Murrow and his fight against McCarthyism. PG

3. The Pelican Brief - Denzel Washington plays a great newspaper reporter. I like to use just the part where he interviews her and reviews his notes. It is a great way to show kids how to take good notes. PG-13

4. The Killing Fields - Great true story of a photographer and a reporter during the fall of Laos and the aftermath. R

5. All The President’s Men - I guess you just can’t escape this movie. If you don’t know about Watergate, then you might want to check out a history book first. PG

6. Absence of Malice - Another good story about ethics and when you should print information that might be damaging. PG

7. The Truman Show - Not really about journalism, but about our television culture and how much we are invading into people’s personal space. PG-13

8. Broadcast News - Pretty good movie on what is fake in the news. Some good scenes you could actually use to show kids how a news interview is really done. R

9. The Paper - Micheal Keeton plays a great foul mouthed, deadline oriented, sensationalist editor. An often too realistic look at many daily newspapers. R

10. Deadline USA -- Bob Greene of the Chicago Tribune has called this the best journalism movie ever made. If you are interested in art movies, see Citizen Kane. If you are interested in screwball comedy, check out His Girl Friday. If it's history you're after, watch All the Presidents Men. If you want to see a classic journalism movie, rent The Front Page. But if you want to see a movie that actually shows you what life is like inside a newsroom, how reporters work together to get a story, and how "the story" is not always about the big expose but sometimes just about getting the little details right, this is your movie.

11. -30- (also known as Deadline Midnight) -- "In just nine hours they put the world on your doorstep." This 1959 movie is a classic if you can find it.

12. The Front Page -- nominated for 3 Oscars this 1930 film was remade in 1970.

13. His Girl Friday -- A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying. 1940

14. Switching Channels -- A television news chief courts his anchorwoman ex-wife with an eleventh-hour story. 1988

15. Blessed Event -- Here it is! The scandalous comedy of a scandal columnist who rose "from a keyhole to a national institution." 1932

16. The Big Clock -- A career oriented magazine editor finds himself on the run when he discovers his boss is framing him for murder. 1948

17. I Love Trouble -- Peter Brackett and Sabrina Peterson are two competing Chicago newspaper reporters who join forces to unravel the mystery behind a train derailment. 1994

18. Up Close and Personal -- An ambitious young woman, determined to build a career in TV journalism, gets good advice from her first boss, and they fall in love. 1996

19. The Insider -- A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a "60 Minutes" expose on Big Tobacco. 1996

20. S1M0NE -- A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person. 2002

21. Ace In The Hole -- A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to re-jump start his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus. 1951

22. Sweet Smell of Success -- They know him - and they shiver - the big names of Broadway, Hollywood and Capitol Hill. They know J.J.- the world-famed columnist whose gossip is gospel to sixty million readers! They know the venom that flickers in those eyes behind the glasses - and they fawn - like Sid Falco, the kid who wanted "in" so much, he'd sell out his own girl to stand up there with J.J., sucking in the sweet smell of success! This is J.J.'s story - but not the way he would have liked it told! 1957

23. Citizen Kane -- One of my personal favorites and often listed at the top of many "best movie" lists, this movie is more about the person than about the profession. 1941

24. Live from Baghdad -- A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War. 2004

25. Bonus -- Superman or Spiderman - Who doesn’t see journalists as superheros (especially journalism teachers)? Go rent almost any one of the movies featuring Peter Parker or Clark Kent. Watching all of those movies may take you an entire year but it will be worth it!

833 Boonville Avenue, Springfield MO 65802
(417) 862-9284
Office hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.


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