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
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
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'
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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