CS107

CS107/Basic Media Writing

School of Communication Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Instructors:

Dr. Marc EDGE                  Ms. YEO Ai Hoon
course coordinator
SCS 02-42 | 790-5810         SCS 03-10 | 790-5770
tmarc@ntu.edu.sg              tahyeo@ntu.edu.sg

Textbooks:

Writing for the Mass Media (4th Ed.), James Glen Stovall, 1998.
Reuters Handbook for Journalists, Ian Macdowall, 1992.

Basic Media Writing (cs107) -- or BMW, as students often call it -- covers the fundamentals of writing for the mass media. It covers the essential, beginning skills for writing print, broadcast and online news stories, and for writing for public relations and advertising.

Specifically, you will learn:

        • The basics of writing clear, concise and precise news stories, press releases and advertisements.
        • How and why mass-media writers do what they do. This, in turn, helps students to think more critically about the mass media.
        • About the media writer's social responsibilities and the ethical dilemmas she may face.

The mass media include newspapers, TV, radio and the Internet. And they are everywhere in today's global society. They inform us. They entertain us. They persuade us. The mass media are our windows on the world: they bring to us the people, places and events that we cannot experience firsthand. The mass media help keep the engines of the world economy running: they inform consumers about the myriad products they can consume. All of this makes the job of writing for the mass media an important one.

However, you should realize that BMW is an introductory course. It offers a taste of many different -- interesting and exciting -- media-writing venues and techniques. But there is not enough time in the course to make you a master of any one venue or technique. That comes later, as you progress through the School of Communication Studies curriculum.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

Dr. Edge and Ms. Yeo will not lecture straight from the course textbooks, but rather they will use the lectures to supplement and expand on the week's required readings. For your part, keeping current with the assigned, weekly readings is essential: You will not benefit fully from the lectures if you fail to keep up with the readings. Our goal for the tutorials is to offer students an opportunity to learn more about the topics discussed in that week's lecture in an interactive way. Journalistic style and its numerous rules, as well as the writing styles of journalism, public relations and advertising will be discussed.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOURSELF

Your active participation in the lectures and tutorials is required. You are encouraged to make relevant comments and ask relevant questions during the class sessions -- and you will be expected to answer questions put to you by the instructors.

Here are some other tips and rules:

        • Keep pace with the required weekly readings. A large part of the final examination will be drawn from the Stovall textbook.
        • MAKE DEADLINE with your assignments. A media writer who frequently misses deadline is called “unemployed”. Late assignments will not
            be accepted unless you have a really good excuse. And totally missing an assignment could be bad for your final grade.
        • Keep a good attendance record. Your frequent absence will affect your final grade.
        • Be on time to lectures and tutorials. If you are late coming to class, you surely will miss some important information, like assignment directions.
        • Bring the textbook and style book to all lectures and tutorials.
        • TURN OFF your hand phone or pager before class starts. It is rude to interrupt a lecture or tutorial with a ringing hand phone or pager. And it is
            disrespectful to the lecturers.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Writing is a learned skill, one that is improved and upgraded through constant practice. You will write in this course. In fact, you will write a lot -- just like the world of professional writers!

Here are some guidelines for writing assignments:

        • They should be written in English. Use either American or British word spellings, but do not mix the two in the same assignment.
        • They should conform to the accepted rules of English usage, grammar and punctuation.
        • They should be typed if possible but definitely double spaced, unless otherwise specified. (Typing assignments is highly recommended. Use
            12-point type, preferably Roman Times.)
        • Remember the required assignment information. Your name, tutorial group number, assignment number and the date you handed up the assignment
            should appear on all assignments.
        • Students are not allowed to hand up assignments for anyone else. Dr. Edge and Ms. Yeo will accept only one assignment per student.

The final grade will be calculated from the following:

        • Continuous Assessment (CA): Three (3) writing assignments; occasional style quizzes; participation in and attendance of lectures and tutorials; and
            instructors' qualitative assessment of your effort and/or improvement -- or the lack thereof. Your CA marks will make up about half of your
            final CS107 grade.

• Final Examination.

PLAGIARISM

Media writers are trusted to prepare original material. Do not plagiarize in this course -- do not pass off someone else's work as your own. The punishment could be severe. One example of plagiarism is when two students collaborate on a writing assignment, and hand up essentially identical work. You should do your own assignments, by yourself: In the outside world, your friends will not be with you at the workplace to help you.

GENERAL LECTURE SCHEDULE

Lecture 1 >
INTRODUCTION

A brief tour of the basic concepts of writing for the mass media.

• Ungraded Assignment > "Interview a classmate,” due at the start of your first tutorial. (Details to be discussed in class.)

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > L2 HANDOUT. From the Stovall textbook: Chap. 1, pp. 1-8, then all of Chap. 2. Finally, Chap. 3, p. 61 through top
of p. 67 and pp. 72-75. Ignore the "Tips on AP Style" boxes on pp. 63, 64.

Begin familiarizing yourself with the Reuters handbook. We will be working with it throughout the semester. It is available for photocopying in the
Resource Centre on the 1st Floor of the Communication Studies Building.

Lecture 2 >
WRITER'S TOOLS

We will review the essentials of journalistic style, and of communicating effectively and clearly in English. The Reuters Handbook for Journalists will be introduced.

Tutorial > Using the Reuters handbook, and grammar, spelling and punctuation exercises.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From Stovall textbook: the following parts of Chap. 4: pp 116-120, then bottom of p. 126 ("Observation") through to
top of p. 133. Ignore page 129.

Lecture 3 >
DECIDING WHAT IS and WHAT IS NOT 'NEWS'

The day's newspaper, online news sites, and TV and radio newscasts do not tell us everything that happened everywhere. Journalists must decide what is and is not "news". To do that they rely on their news judgment, as informed by traditional criteria for newsworthiness. We will discuss these criteria, or "news values." Also on our agenda: the sacred five W's, H and S of journalism - Who, What, Where, When, Why, How and Significance.

Tutorial > More about the concept of newsworthiness (news values).

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From Stovall textbook: TBA; from the Reuters handbook: A-B.

Lecture 4 >
NEWS WRITING

The Stovall textbook speaks of the journalist's work to gather newsworthy information, the raw material from which the day's news is distilled. Today we will discuss something different but highly related: how to "show" rather than merely "tell" the news.

Tutorial > More about selecting and gathering direct quotes that will help you "show" the news.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > L5 HANDOUT. From Stovall textbook, Chap. 5, pp. 155 through to top of p. 183. Ignore the "Thinking graphically"
and feature-writing sections. From the Reuters handbook: C-D.

Lecture 5 >
For the Eye: WRITING for NEWSPAPERS 1

Writing a newspaper story means choosing from among your assembled facts for information to put first, second and last. We will discuss the traditional and most common newspaper news-story organization technique -- the "inverted pyramid". Also, the "summary lead" -- a story's first paragraph -- will be introduced.

Tutorial > More about writing summary leads and ordering information in inverted-pyramid form.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > L6 HANDOUT. From the Reuters handbook: E-F.

Lecture 6 >
For the Eye: WRITING for NEWSPAPERS 2

The "inverted pyramid" is not the only way to arrange a newspaper news story. We will briefly discuss other techniques. Also, more about summary leads and handling quotations, and transitions -- those word-roads that move readers between paragraphs.

Tutorial > More about inverted-pyramid form and its alternatives.

ASSIGNMENT 1 > "Writing a newspaper story", due at start of Lecture 8.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From Stovall textbook, "Writing for the web", Chap. 1, pp. 9 through to top of p. 12. From the Reuters handbook:
G-I.

Lecture 7 >
ETHICS for the MEDIA WRITER

Ethics are guidelines that help us chose right from wrong. But ethics are not so clear cut. There often is a wide gray area, room for interpretation. We will discuss code of ethics and the media writer's responsibilities. We also will discuss the concept of journalistic objectivity.

Tutorial > Ethical dilemmas faced by news media around the world.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From Stovall textbook, all of Chap. 6. From the Reuters handbook: J-M

Lecture 8 >
For the Ear and Eye: BROADCAST NEWS WRITING 1

On one level, broadcast news writing is similar to writing for the print media. Yet there are a number of important differences. We will compare and contrast print and broadcast news writing.

Tutorial > Workshop sessions on writing leads for broadcast news stories. Details will be discussed in Lecture 8.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From the Reuters handbook: N-O.

Lecture 9 >
For the Ear and Eye: BROADCAST NEWS WRITING 2

With radio, you can "hear" the news as it happens. You can "see" it happen through TV. And "immediacy" is a strong quality of broadcast news. Today we will discuss in detail the techniques of writing news for radio and TV.

Tutorial > Writing broadcast-journalism scripts.

ASSIGNMENT 2 > "Writing a broadcast news story", due at start of next week's lecture.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > L10 HANDOUT. From Stovall textbook, the following parts of Chap. 8: pp. 315 through to top of p. 327; then, pp.
333-339, starting at "Company publications". Ignore "Letters" and "Oral presentations" sections. From the Reuters handbook: P-Q.

Lecture 10 >
WRITING for PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations professionals stand between their corporate or government bosses and the mass media -- and the public. In fact, they serve their clients' needs by serving the needs of journalists. PR professionals can work like journalists, as when they write press releases. But their jobs involve more than that. We will explore the many facets of PR work, but we will concentrate on the PR professional's use of the press release.

Tutorial > Writing a press release.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > L11 HANDOUT. From Stovall textbook, Chap. 7, pp. 263 through to the middle of p. 296. Ignore "Other media"
section. From the Reuters handbook: R-S.

Lecture 11 >
WRITING for ADVERTISING

Ever wonder who penned that TV advertising slogan you just cannot get out of your head? Ever bought something you saw in a newspaper ad? Advertisements try to seduce us everyday and at every turn. Their goal is to get our money. Persuasive writing is the key to ad copy writing. That is what we will talk about today.

Tutorial > Developing an ad concept, writing ad copy from it.

ASSIGNMENT 3 > Student's Choice: Write a press release or write an advertisement. Due at start of next week's lecture.

        For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From Stovall textbook, "Ethical considerations", Chap. 4, pp. 133-135. Then read the following parts of Chap. 3:
            "Balance and fairness", "The impersonal reporter", "Reliance on official sources" and "Attribution and quotes", pp. 69-72; followed by "Language
            sensitivity", pp. 77-79. Ignore the "Tips on AP Style" boxes, pp. 70, 79. From the Reuters handbook: T-V.

Lecture 12 >
WRITING for ONLINE MEDIA

Online journalism -- using the World Wide Web to deliver news -- represents, in its ideal form, a convergence of traditional and new media. It can have text, audio and video. It also ideally can have the quality of "interactivity", thanks to the technology of its delivery system, the Internet. Audiences can interact with the news content through hyperlinks, and they can interact with journalists and each other through e-mail and chat rooms. But online journalism is still evolving. We will discuss the latest ideas about it.

Tutorial > Developing a news story for online delivery.

For NEXT WEEK's lecture read > From the Reuters handbook: W-Z.

Lecture 13 >
REVIEW and REVISION

Last chance before the final exam to clarify and refine your understanding of media writing.