J561 News Editing Syllabus

Fall 2009, Tuesday-Thursday, 2-5 p.m.
John Russial
309A Allen Hall; 346-3750

This page can be found at http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~russial/j461/sylf09.html

Some editing references can be found at http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~russial/j461/

To send me E-mail Some browsers are not set up properly to send e-mail; if this link doesn't work, jrussial@uoregon.edu is the address

Books

Strategic Copy Editing is the basic text for the course, and I expect that you will have read the appropriate chapters for the week. The text reflects my approach to editing instruction, which I have developed over three decades of working as a copy editor and teaching editing. I have other editing textbooks that you are welcome to borrow to look at. Different editing texts agree on basic principles, but they sometimes take different approaches and offer different examples. There is a copy of Strategic Copy Editing on reserve in the reading room in Allen Hall.

We'll be using AP style in this course, so you should keep a copy of the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual handy. It wastes time when you have to ask someone else if you can borrow a stylebook to look something up. Also, a current dictionary is useful--it sometimes is faster than using an online dictionary.

We will use Quark Xpress or InDesign to design pages. I'm leaning toward using Quark because even though many college papers, including the Emerald, use InDesign, most small to mid-size newspapers in the Northwest and elsewhere continue to use Quark. UO students who have taken copy editing/design jobs have found Quark skills useful.

As in other news courses, it's important to keep up with the news. This means you should be reading at least the Emerald and The Register-Guard. Try to read a major metropolitan paper, such as The Oregonian or the New York Times, as well. Both have Web sites; the Times' site is quite extensive.

Course overview

The course covers copy editing, headlines and design, pretty much in that order. In lectures, we'll discuss concepts, issues and rules and look at examples. In labs, you'll be editing copy, writing headlines, captions and other display elements and designing pages. We will spend the last third of the class doing page design.

Time pressure will be a big part of the course, as it is in just about all publications. The online era has, if anything, increased time pressure for many reporters and editors. Editing is a balancing act. Editors must know how to manage their time -- to work quickly yet thoroughly. This is a worthwhile skill for any media professional to develop.

Attendance is required. Your grade is based largely on lab work, and the labs will draw heavily on what we discuss in the lecture portion of class. Readings from the texts also will help you improve your grade. Makeup work will be allowed in the case of unavoidable circumstances, such as illness, but I need to be told about this before the class is scheduled to meet, either in person, by phone message or E-mail. If you don't let me know before class, you might not be allowed to make up the work. I will accept other requests for makeup labs if you have a good reason, for example, a religious holiday or a job interview that cannot be rescheduled, but I need to be informed in advance.

The GTF is Finn John, who has considerable newspaper experience in the Northwest and is in the Literary Nonfiction program.
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Grading:

Grading will be based on criteria that newspapers and other publications use. In copy editing, that means work will be graded down for errors of spelling, punctuation, style, usage, etc. (See the grading guidelines.) Certain assignments will contain errors of fact, which you will be expected to catch using reference works and online sources available in the lab. Be careful, though, about checking facts online. Many Web sites contain errors. Clarity, conciseness, legal issues and organization are additional considerations. The criteria for headlines and layout also reflect publishability. See the Grading Guidelines for more detail.

Grades will be based on the following formula:

* One ongoing outside assignment will be to find (and fix) errors in newspapers such as the Emerald, Register-Guard and Oregonian. Any professional paper, print or online, can be used as well. I will explain this assignment in class.

** I'm looking for contributions to lecture discussions and evidence of improvement over the course of the term.

I've spent half a career as an editor, most of it as a copy chief. I like to edit, and I hope I can share some of the enthusiasm I have for editing. In any event, this course is worthwhile even if you've wanted to be a reporter since you were 6. If there were such a thing as a newspaper oracle, it might say: Edit thyself.

The university is serious about this, and so am I. In the lab portion of this course, as in a newsroom, colleagues often discuss their work. You are, however, expected to do your own work and be graded on your own work. For example, when we write headlines, you need to work on your own headline, not glance at the headline of the person next to you and copy it. If you find a mistake in copy, don't broadcast it to the rest of the class. Important passages in the Student Conduct Code are in the Schedule of Classes.

No class 11/26 (Thanksgiving holiday)

Nov. 30