Syllabus

WASHINGTON JOURNALISM
The changing role, shape and influence of the Fourth Estate through the prism of coverage of the nation’s capital. 

Professor Amos Gelb

CLASS MEETS TUESDAY EVENING 7-9PM
AND FRIDAY 9AM – 6PM

The Semester in Washington Semester is a unique experiential course designed to bring together the theory and practice of journalism in today’s new media environment through the perspective of the unique journalism that takes place here in the nation’s capital. Through an investigation of the nature, form and substance of “Washington” journalism, the class will explore the unprecedented change reshaping the journalism industry today.

COURSE GOALS:            
By the end of the course you will:

1. Understand Washington journalism and all its forms,
2. Understand the interaction between journalism and the politics that define this city,
3. Be fully versed in the complex issues such as business and ethics that are reshaping today’s journalism,
4. Be better prepared to make decisions about a career in journalism,
5. Read and watch the news more critically,
6. Improve/develop writing, producing and story telling abilities

COURSE MAKE UP:
All the seminar classes and other sessions are scheduled on Tuesday evenings (7pm-9:30pm) and all day Friday (9.30am-5.30pm).

The seminar is composed of five components:

1. Lectures/Class Discussions
2. Speakers
3. Off-site Visits
4. Assignments
5. Readings

The lectures and class discussions are the backbone of the course. These class sessions will comprise formal lecture and class discussion sessions during which you will be introduced to and discuss the key issues the course will address.

These lectures and class discussions will provide an intellectual framework for listening to and engaging our speakers. Each week, leading experts from across the journalism field will bring their experiences to you, offering candid, and often surprising, insights into the issues raised throughout the course. In addition to practicing journalists, you will hear from those whose work directly impacts journalism as it is practiced in Washington, include public relations professionals, lobbyists, think tank researchers and politicians.

The key to getting the most out of the Semester in Washington is exploiting these speakers to give a practical perspective on the academic issues we discuss. To do that you need to engage the speakers with relevant and probing questions.  Please challenge the speakers, but always remain composed and polite.  If you have a question, several of your classmates are wondering the same thing. So ask!

Finally, to understand Washington journalism fully, we need to visit those places where Washington journalism takes place such as newsrooms, Capitol Hill, courthouses, the White House and Pentagon. All speakers and sight visits have very specific purposes in providing context to the academic content of the course. This course is not a SIGHTSEEING/AUTOGRAPH tour of Washington DC.

In addition to the topical lectures and speakers, there will also be sessions dedicated to practical journalism such as interviewing, reporting, writing and editing. For those who have received extensive training in these areas at their home schools these sessions are designed to push you to improve those skills. For those who are less proficient, these sessions will arm you with the tools needed to complete assignments.

GRADING:

The grade for the journalism seminar is based on the formula below.

ASSIGNMENTS:

There will be three analytical assignments, weekly journalism assignments, and a major final project.

ANALYTICAL ASSIGNMENTS:

MEDIA ANALYSIS: a five page paper analyzing, comparing, and contrasting how a major Washington story is covered across the Washington media.  Topics for the paper will depend on the news during the Semester and more details will be given nearer the time.

ANATOMY OF A HEARING:  A five-to-seven page paper that will be based on attending a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill and analyzing the background of the issue, the players in the story, possible outcomes, how they all came together during the hearing and how the story was covered by the media.

POLICE DRIVE ALONG: Students will spend a shift with a DC police officer and then produce a 3 page paper contrasting perceptions of the police created by the press with their own personal experience.

JOURNALISM ASSIGMENTS:

Students will also write and produce a series of shorter assignments ranging from producing daily news stories to making campaign commercials in conjunction with Semester In Washington Applied Politics Program students. The projects will be designed to apply practically the theoretical principals discussed during the seminar. They will be a mixture of written assignments and produced television stories.

FINAL PROJECT:

REPORTING WASHINGTON: A ten-page or ten minute documentary final project will be based on original reporting of a topic that exploits the unique access offered by Washington. There is virtually no limit to the topics possible although there are three criteria: you must have direct access to participants in the story, it is manageable, and the project is the result of original reporting. For example any story requiring White House access is unrealistic.  All story topics MUST be cleared with me before you embark on reporting.

READING:

The readings are designed to complement the lectures and speakers. Several of the readings are necessary background to fully understand the speaker. Others address the bigger themes of the course.

Supplemental reading will be handed out during the semester. 
Please complete all assigned readings by the beginning of the week.  Each text directly relates to an upcoming issue, class lecture or exercise.  Readings will be excerpted primarily from the following books.

Bagdikian, Ben, The New Media Monopoly, Beacon Press, 2004

Downie and Kaiser, The News about the News, Knopf, 2003 

Goldstein, Tom, The News at Any Cost, Simon and Schuster, 1985

Kovach & Rosenstiel, Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, 2001.           

Massing, Michael, Now They Tell Us, New York Review of Book, 2004

McChesney, Robert, Rich Media, Poor Democracy, the New Press, 2000

Meyers, Philip, The Vanishing Newspaper, University of Missouri Press, 2005

Mitchell, Jack, Listener Supported, Greenwood, 2006

Phillips, Michael, the Gift of Valor, Broadway Books, 2005

Spinner, Jackie, Tell Them I Didn’t Cry, Simon and Schuster, 2006
             
As part of the required reading, please also review at least one newspaper each day (online is fine) and set your radio alarm to NPR on 88.5 FM, WAMU.
           
SCHEDULE:

Since much of the schedule is dependent on speaker and site visit availability it is subject to change. A schedule will be provided at the start of each week. In addition, the course is designed so it can adjust should major news happen.

Week 1:
Course introduction and individual meetings

The individual meetings serve two purposes: so I can evaluate the class’ journalism experience and to work on customized internship placements. Please bring cover letters and resumes. This week will also include camera and digital editing training sessions.

Week 2:
CURRENT STATE OF WASHINGTON JOURNALISM

1. what is journalism today?
2. what makes beltway journalism different?
3. what are Washington Journalism’s components?
4. what is the current state of Washington journalism?
5. historical overview
6. issues confronting and shaping Washington Journalism and journalism as a whole

(Visits and speakers: press corps veterans, media analysts)

Reading:

• State of the News Media – (online only - stateofthenewsmedia.org) – Project of Excellence in Journalism (entire overview and intro to each section)
• Bagdikian, Chapters Preface, 1, 2, 4 
• Kovach – Introduction, Chapters 1, 2
• McChesney – Introduction, Chapters 1, 6, Conclusion

Week 3:
DAILY COVERAGE.

1. the differing forms of daily journalism in Washington
2. the different roles and audiences of daily journalism
3. the role and effect of daily journalism in Washington DC
4. the increasing pressures of daily reporting, how reporters respond to them and how that has changed the way the city is covered
5. how stories get covered.

(Visits and speakers include: Market News International, local television station, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, and the Associated Press)

Reading:

Kovach – Chapters 3

Meyers – Chapters 1,2,5,6

Week 4:
THE POWER GAME: COVERING POLITICAL WASHINGTON.

1. relationship between journalism and political power in Washington
2. what defines and shapes coverage
3. change relationship between the media and politicians
4. how the media shapes the political debate and the players involved
5. the particular relationship between the White House and the Media

(Visits and speakers include: the White House, Capitol Hill press galleries, congressmen and press secretaries, political news organizations such as Roll Call and the Hotline)

Reading: 

Auletta, Fortress Bush (New Yorker Magazine 2004)

Kovach – Chapter 5

Assignment:

Media Analysis Due.

Week 5:
SPECIAL INTERESTS.

1. the role of the lobbyists and special interest groups in shaping coverage
2. the relationship between the media and these groups
3. case studies of how they have influenced coverage
4. the “Potomac two-step”: why it is so hard to cover hot-button issues

(Visits and speakers include: special interest think tanks and non-profit organizations, beat reporters)
           
Reading:

Bagdikian, Chapter 11

MID TERM WILL BE HELD DURING CLASS SESSION

Week 6:
The PARTISAN PRESS

1. the resurgence of politically partisan journalism
2. its role in shaping the tone and substance of political debate
3. the traditional of partisan journalism in US history
4. the new partisan press

(visits and speakers: editorialists, political magazines such as the Weekly Standard and the American Prospect, FOX News, The Washington Times)

Reading:

Downie, Chapter 6

Week 7:
THE TALK SHOW CIRCUIT.

1. the growth and role of talk shows in Washington Journalism
2. the differing forms of talk shows
3. the role of talk shows in shaping the national debate in DC
4. the role of talk shows in augmenting partisan journalism

(Visits and speakers: Meet the Press, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, the McLaughlin Group, Pardon the Interruption).

Reading:

• Kovach – Chapter 7

Assignment: 

Anatomy of a Hearing Due.

Week 8:
RADIO – THE FORGOTTEN MEDIUM.
            -     the resurgence of radio as broadcast news medium

1. state of radio journalism (Washington is a new hub)
2. public radio versus private broadcasting
3. evolution of radio news format

(Visits and speakers: NPR local and national, XM Radio, Bob Edwards, WTOP, AP Radio)

Reading:

• Mitchell: Listener Supported
• McChesney: Chapters 4, 5

Week 9:
the TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY.

1. the art of documentary film making
2. the evolution of documentary programming
3. the growth of long form journalism
4. programming and distribution

(Visits and speakers: Discovery Communications, National Geographic Television, American Film Institute, Dateline NBC, 60 Minutes)

Screenings:

Bowling for Columbine, Out Foxed, Enron.

Readings:

Massing, Chapters 1 – 3

Week 10:
WAR, JOURNALISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

1. media Coverage of the Iraq War
2. embedding
3. historical relationship of the media and the military
4. role and responsibility in covering conflict
5. relationship of media and the military
6. military censorship

(Visits and speakers: Pentagon, Spinner, Philips, Walter Reed Hospital, Head of PR for Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp.)

Reading:

Spinner, Phillips

Week 11:
LAW AND ETHICS.

1. competing ethical theories
2. journalistic responsibilities
3. public perception of journalistic ethics
4. abstract versus practical ethical dilemmas
5. review of laws governing journalism

(Visits and speakers: Freedom Forum, Newseum ethics training sessions, Supreme Court, first amendment attorneys)

Reading:

• Bagdikian – Chapter 8, 9
• Downie – Chapters 4, 5

Week 12:
INVESTIGATIVE, CELEBRITY AND SCANDAL JOURNALISM.

1. from Watergate to Monicagate
2. history and tradition of the investigate journalism in Washington
3. the balance between the right to know and the right to privacy
4. Freedom of Information Act
5. sources and confidentiality
6. the laws for and against journalists

(Visits and possible speakers: Chuck Lewis/Center for Public Integrity, Seymour Hersh/New Yorker Magazine, Mark Feldstein/GW, Brian Ross/ABC News, Tara Mckelvey/American Prospect)

Reading:

• Kovach Chapter 8
• Feldstein – brilliant work to come!

Week 13:
COPS AND ROBBERS: CRIME AND THE MEDIA.

1. from the crack wars to Washington sniper
2. local media coverage of local crime
3. balance between police investigation and public reporting
4. the evolution and role of real crime shows like “COPS” and “America’s Most Wanted”
5. law enforcement perspective on dealing with media.
   

(Visits or speakers: Metropolitan Police, FBI Quantico Training Facility, DC Court, crime reporters, AMW producers, John Walsh, producers of Psychic Detectives)

Reading:

Downie, 10

Assignment:

Police Drive-Along Due

Week 14:
THE JOURNALISM BUSINESS.

1. traditional business models
2. the changing business forces
3. fragmentation
4. new journalistic business models
5. the internet

(Visits and speakers: WashingtonPost.com, the Examiner Newspaper, Congressional Quarterly, CBS eye.com, the Current Newspapers)

Reading:

• Gelb, New Media Age, New Marketing Strategies, USC On-line Journalism Review
• Meyers: Chapter 11, 12                       
  

Week 15:
WHAT DOES IT ALL AMOUNT TO?
The final sessions will be devoted to what all we have heard amounts to and what it means for you as you move ahead.

FINAL EXAM WILL TAKE PLACE DURING EXAM WEEK
FINAL PROJECTS ARE DUE THE LAST FRIDAY OF EXAM WEEK.