WR 428/528: Advanced News Writing

Portland State University

Spring 2009, Monday, 5:15 p.m. 9 p.m.

Brent Walth

brentwalth@aol.com
503-780-9868, mobile; 503-294-5072, work

OVERVIEW. This course is designed to hone your skills as a writer and a journalist. In news
writing, collecting information and telling the story go together. In the classroom and through
hands-on experience, you will learn how journalists find stories, conduct interviews and dig out
information. We will examine issues of ethics and the civic role of the journalist: to seek truth,
uncover injustice and give voice to the voiceless.
REQUIREMENTS. Reporting assignments, a final journalism project, a public records
assignment, assigned readings, reflection papers, and a brief presentation during the final class
meeting. I reserve the right to add or revise assignments or exercises where appropriate.
Attendance in class is mandatory.
PLAGIARISM, FABRICATION and HONESTY. Plagiarism and fabrication are not tolerated
in journalism or this class. Your work here must be original.
If you have any questions about plagiarism or the proper use of sources and attribution,
please feel free to contact me at any time. If you have questions about what this means, come
speak to me or refer to the Portland State University Student Code of Conduct (specifically, 577031-0136 (2) ).

The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics puts it this way: Never
plagiarize.
REQUIRED TEXT. Writing Tools, by Roy Peter Clark. Little, Brown, 2006.
ASSIGNMENTS.
Reporting assignments will come every week and will usually be due on Fridays. I
will score your reporting assignments based on how close your work is to being ready for
publication in a community newspaper. Please follow AP style. These assignments represent 30
percent of your final grade.
A final news writing assignment due at the end of the term will allow you to dig
into a civic issue facing Portland. This assignment will call on you to demonstrate the skills
weve discussed during the course, including information gathering, interviewing, and writing
with clarity and impact.
A profile of a public figure represents 20 percent of your final grade. In addition to
writing the story, you will use public records to collect and verify information on your subject.
Your score will depend on how well you perform compared to your classmates.
Class participation represents 10 percent of your final grade. Class participation
includes exercises, reflection papers, attendance, and how well you are prepared for class. No late
work is allowed. I will score you based on effort and the critical thinking you apply.

Scoring and Grading. Each assignment will get two scores: one for the quality of your
reporting, and the other for the quality of your writing.
I will award you a score on a 10-point scale based on the strength of your work. Youll earn a 10
if your work is essentially ready for publication. In other words, youll get a 10 for reporting if its
thorough, fair and complete, and another 10 if your writing is clear and concise, and your story is well
organized and largely free of grammatical, style and punctuation errors.
Your score will drop depending how much additional work your story would need before it
could be published. For example, you would get a 5 for an assignment that couldnt be published
without a significant amount of additional reporting or rewriting.
For either your reporting or writing, a score of 5 or below is unacceptable, and Ill ask you to go
bak and try again..
With a 10-point scale, where do I stand in terms of a grade?

At the courses end, Ill calculate a final score from all of your work and convert it to 4-point
grade scale. For example, a score of 10 converts to a 4.0 grade point, or an A. Getting a 5 converts
to a 2.0 grade point, a C. You may ask me at any time where you stand in terms of a letter grade.
The bottom line: Do outstanding work and your final grade will take care of itself.
GRADE PENALTIES. In all forms of news writing, accuracy and deadlines matter.

A fact error will earn you cut your score in half. If it happens again, your score goes
to zero. Fact errors include misspelled names, incorrect dates and places, and any
other detail that can be objectively and independently verified.

No late work. Assignments turned in after the deadline also get a zero.

Severe penalties for plagiarism, fabrication and honesty.

REVISIONS. Dont like your score I gave you? Come back with a new and improved
assignment. Revising your work, in fact, is a key to becoming a better writer. Here are the
conditions:
You may revise up to three of the reporting assignments. Choose wisely.
The revision must show substantial improvement.
The rewrite is due 72 hours after you get your scored assignment back from me.
This option doesnt apply to assignments that require you to revise.
Revisions will not help you if your score is lowered for being late or having a fact error.