Indiana University School of Journalism

Survey of the institutions of journalism and mass communication, their philosophical foundations, history, processes, economic realities, and effects. This class is a robust introduction to journalism and mass communication in the United States today. It is a class for students interested in learning more about the role of media in American society and it serves as a prerequisite for further studies in the School of Journalism.

A ten-week online course emphasizing basic research techniques used by media writers to gather information for news releases, newspaper articles, magazine pieces, and other forms of journalistic-style writing. Skills covered include researching Internet and non-Internet sources. Ideally this course is taken concurrently with J 200.

Prerequisite: Member of the Media Living Learning Center. This course brings together students with shared academic and professional interests for events, speakers, readings and discussions about journalism and media in the 21st century. The primary goal is to establish a unique model of individual learning, a “College of One,” based on the value of experiences beyond the classroom.

Prerequisite: ENG-W 131 or its equivalent and fundamental computer skills. Working seminar stressing the creation of journalistic stories for diverse audiences. Students will learn to develop story ideas, gather information, combine visual and verbal messages, and to write and edit news.

Taught online through Oncourse Students will explore non-linear methods of storytelling and how Web-based tools can enhance their written work. In addition to building existing skills, they will use photography and embedded audio to create story packages for an online magazine.

Theories of visual communications including human perception, psychology of color, and principles of design. Application of those theories to photography, video, and graphic design in news communication.

Do the media occupy a “hot” space in audiences’ everyday lives? Without the media, how do we come to know the “who, what, where, when, and why” of newsworthy people and controversies in politics, economics, and entertainment?

The colorful images and words of newspapers, television news and online journalism have created a shared media culture with audiences across the world. Many people encounter the media in airports, cafes, classrooms, living rooms, gyms and in their cars. In the United States, it has become increasingly difficult to avoid or escape media. In this course, we will go behind the curtains of online information, newspaper pages, and television screens to gain a better understanding of how media shape the reality that we sometimes take for granted. This includes media coverage of war, politics and sports, and issues such as media privacy and bias.

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. History and philosophy of laws pertaining to free press and free speech. Censorship, libel, contempt, obscenity, right of privacy, copyright, government regulations, and business law affecting media operations. Stresses responsibilities and freedoms in a democratic communications system.

Required introductory course for Advertising.Survey course about the field of advertising with a focus on its function as a means of communication. Learn how marketing, psychology, research, mass media, law and ethics are important to professionals working in the industry. Class will emphasize use of strategy to develop creative advertising.

Required introductory course for Public Relations.Survey course about the theory and practice of public relations. Examines public relations' function within organizations, its impact on publics and its role in society. Topics include the evolution of the field, the range of roles and responsibilities that public relations practitioners assume in a variety of settings, ethics, and significant issues and trends that have shaped the practice. Course provides a foundation for more advanced study in the field. Also useful for those planning another professional or managerial career that requires an understanding of public relations concepts and management practices.

Techniques of gathering, analyzing, and writing news and features for newspapers. Practice in interviewing, observation, and use of documentary references that include computer information retrieval and analysis skills.

Techniques of gathering, analyzing, and writing material for specialized and general circulation magazines. Practice in interviewing, observation, and use of documentary references that include computer information retrieval and analysis skills.

Techniques of gathering, analyzing, and writing news and features for broadcast. Practice in interviewing, observation, and use of documentary references that include computer information retrieval and analysis skills.

This is an intermediate photojournalism course focusing on the basics of light, camera operation, and the use of the digital darkroom. It includes instruction in spot news and feature photography as well as instruction in ethics, privacy, and law.

Student must have their own camera.

Develop the professional writing skills expected of beginning public relations practitioners, including different approaches required for a variety of audiences and media. Focus on the basics of good writing as well as the art of writing. Brush up on AP style. Learn how to work effectively with clients.

Workshop in fundamentals of editing newspapers, including both individual and team projects. Emphasis on news judgment, fairness, accuracy, editorial balance, and language usage. Practice in writing news summaries, editing copy, writing headlines, laying out pages, and using computer editing technology.

Workshop in fundamentals of editing specialized and general interest publications. Individual and team functions are stressed. Attention is given to editorial voice and judgment, fairness, accuracy, and language usage. Practice in writing headlines and titles, layout, design, and use of computer editing technology.

Continuing workshop in reporting, writing, and editing for broadcast. Individual and team functions are stressed. Emphasis on news judgment, fairness, accuracy, editorial balance, and language usage. Practice in editing copy, audio and video tape.

Sports journalism chronicles the seemingly immortal prowess of the games’ brightest stars. It trumpets the titanic showdowns between the best of its gladiators. And, journalists do it all in an attempt to feed America’s insatiable appetite for sports. This course will explore the state and practice of sports journalism, through case studies of some of this decade’s most controversial sports stories. Were sports journalists fair? Did they report these stories with context? Did they explore the larger societal issues? Did they explore the economics behind these stories? Did they portray the characters in these sagas as real people?

We will explore these issues through evaluating coverage, reading related texts and talking directly to prominent sports journalists, executives and athletes.

This class taught via videoconference from IUPUI. This course will introduce students to sports and will take a macroscopic approach in discussing sports’ societal influence. It will study sport from a socio-cultural-historical perspective as well as from a contemporary position. It will focus on the converging worlds of print journalism, electronic media, public relations, advertising, documentary, and emerging technologies as expressed in the new commercial reality of sport. Students will have mid-term and final exams and will also write critical analyses and a media journal.

This class taught via videoconference from IUPUI. This upper-level course will study sports journalism’s key policies, trends, and issues. It will examine sociological, political, legal, ethical, and technological issues in college and professional sports. It will focus on current events and controversies in the world of sports journalism. This course will discuss the symbiotic relationship between sport media and race, gender, doping, steroids, sexuality and homophobia, politics and nationalism, sports fans, loyalty, and violence, disability in sport, and other provocative issues. The class will include discussions in a seminar format integrating lectures, debates, and questions. Students will turn in critical analyses, a media journal, and will conclude the semester with a presentation and final paper or project.

Survey and analysis of how news and entertainment media represent issues of race and gender. History of women and people of color as media professionals and media consumers. Discussion of contemporary problems and potential solutions.

Corequisite: J425 and J453. Laboratory or field experiences for prospective journalism teachers at the middle school or high school level. May be repeated. Graded S or F only.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. Students study the law relating to the content of news media and the processes by which that content is created. Discussion includes the legal issues triggered by story framing, selection of sources, interviewing, photography, and access to information. The course involves reading and research using primary legal materials.

Prerequisite: Senior standing. Examination of the functions and impact of the mass media in society with primary focus on the United States. Discussion of the values of media organizations and the professional and ethical values of journalists. Critical analysis of the relationship of the media and society and the effect of political, economic, and cultural factors on the operation of the media.

Intensive practice in producing effective advertising concepts, copy, and design prototypes for newspaper, magazine, direct mail, outdoor, radio, television, and converged campaigns.

This course examines the nature of public opinion in contemporary American politics. We will discuss how to conceptualize and measure public opinion, where opinions or attitudes “come from,” how people arrived at a vote choice on Election Day, the role of the media in the formation of public opinion, and whether public opinion affects policymaking. In so doing, we will explore whether the roles and functions that opinion surveys and other indicators of public opinion have assumed in American politics are appropriate to their limitations as channels of public opinion. One overarching goal is to help you become a more discerning consumer of public opinion data, so that when you encounter references to public opinion in the news or in a campaign or in politics generally, you will be able to evaluate whether these references are truthful, incomplete, fraudulent, etc.

Prerequisite: 12 credit hours of journalism. Corequisite: J403. Lectures, projects and discussion on legal and ethical aspects of advising school media and on designing, producing and financing school-produced student media, including print, broadcast and online media. Required for Education 2nd concentration.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.

Theories and principles relevant to public relations research and strategic planning, including development of goals and objectives, client relationships, budgets, and research methods.

How to develop a campaign proposal to meet a client's business objectives and how to pitch it. Part of the course focuses on media relations and crisis communications training.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. Seminar in current developments in advertising as an economic and social force. Examines contemporary issues in the profession. Students will conduct independent and original research projects.

This advanced reporting and writing class will teach students how to craft narratives that combine classic journalistic skills with timeless storytelling strategies. We will cover how to report for dialogue and detail and scene, how to practice invisibility as you immerse yourself inside your subjects’ lives, how to identify a structure inside the chaos of your notes, how to assemble an account that sings with the vivid power of what you’ve witnessed in the field. We will learn how to use these skills quickly on breaking stories and how to practice them in greater depth for profiles and magazine pieces.

This graphic design course incorporates electronic photo editing, graphics, and page design. Students are instructed in design theory, computer publishing skills, and creative problem solving.

Prerequisite: prior approval of internship coordinator; journalism majors only; graded course. Taught through Oncourse.

Supervised professional experience in communications media. May be repeated, but a student may take no more than 3 credit hours total of internship credit for the B.A.J. degree, either through journalism or any other academic unit.

Prerequisite: consent of the School of Journalism undergraduate dean. This non-credit course is for journalism students studying off campus temporarily as part of the B.A.J. degree program.

Prerequisite: consent of the School of Journalism dean. Planning of research project during year preceding summer abroad. Time spent in research abroad must amount to at least one week for each credit hour granted. Research paper must be presented by end of semester following foreign study.

Prerequisite: consent of the School of Journalism dean. Opportunity for independent reading, research, and experimentation on relevant issues in mass communications. Work with faculty member on individual basis. (May take twice for a total of 4 credits. No more than 3 credits at one time.)