COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

JOUR 201. Fundamentals of Journalism. 3 crs. Develops in the student a sense of news value; introduces basic news reporting techniques; develops news writing skills; familiarizes the student with journalism ethics and copy editing symbols.
JOUR 202. Reporting and Writing. 3 crs. Emphasizes writing and reporting under newsroom conditions; provides intensive experience in gathering and writing news under deadline pressure.
JOUR 203. Introduction to Public Relations. 3 crs. An overview of the principles, historical and contemporary practice of public relations in business, government, associations and other organizations; analysis of public relations programs; ethics of public relations practice and career opportunities.
JOUR 204. Introduction to Broadcast News. 3 crs. An overview of the principles, historical and contemporary practice of broadcast journalism with emphasis on methods, terminology and techniques; writing, announcing, ethics and career opportunities.
JOUR 206. Introduction to Advertising. 3 crs. An overview of the principles, historical and contemporary practice of advertising with emphasis on newspapers, broadcast and other media organizations; ethics and career opportunities.

JOUR 301. Advanced Reporting and Writing. 3 crs. Deals with advanced development of reportorial skills and writing techniques, with exposure to complex issues and ideas influencing public affairs reporting.
JOUR 303. Ethics in Journalism. 3 crs. Evaluation and analysis of contemporary ethical problems encountered in the mass media.
JOUR 305. Special Topics in Journalism. 3 crs. Topical reporting course designed to change from semester to semester. Possible topics include Sports Reporting, International Reporting, Editorial and Commentary Writing, Washington Post Semester, and the WRC-TV Semester.
JOUR 306. History of Multicultural Media. 3 crs. Comparison of black and white press histories-political, economic, social and cultural, emphasizing the development characteristics of the former.
JOUR 307. Contemporary Issues. 3 crs. Examination of such major press issues as war coverage, censorship, race, pornography, advertising, and confidentiality, with practice in criticism and commentary.
JOUR 308. Copy Editing. 3 crs. Overall view of the editorial concept, with emphasis on the copy editor’s job.
JOUR 309. Publication Production Techniques. 3 crs. Combines theory and actual practice to demonstrate the techniques of publication production and the principles of layout and design.
JOUR 311. Broadcast Journalism I. 3 crs. Emphasis on radio and television news reporting with lab and field practice in reporting techniques. Readings, writing, announcing for broadcast.
JOUR 312. Broadcast Journalism II. 3 crs. Advanced television news reporting and production. Emphasis on fact-gathering, interviewing, packaging the TV news report. On-the-air reporting.
JOUR 313. NewsVision. 3 crs. Laboratory experience in writing for a televison newsmagazine show.
JOUR 320. Advertising Sales. 3 crs. Examines the principles and techniques of advertising and advertising sales and their application to the print media.
JOUR 321. Advertising Copywriting and Design. 3 crs. Treats the theory and practice of researching, writing, and designing advertising for all media.
JOUR 322. Media Planning and Buying. 3 crs. An overview of the principles of planning and buying media: publications, broadcast, and direct mail and in-depth examination of the sources of pertinent advertising data necessary to the development of all advertising-related strategies and decisions.
JOUR 323. Advertising Research and Marketing. 3 crs. In-depth examination of the sources of pertinent data to provide background and guidelines necessary to the development of all advertising-related strategies and decisions.
JOUR 324. Advertising Campaigns. 3 crs. Develop specific advertising campaigns according to selected media criteria, i.e., newspaper, magazine, radio and television demographics. Study of the differences and similarities in each type of media.
JOUR 330. Public Relations Writing I. 3 crs. Designed to develop professional level writing skills with emphasis on external communications: press releases, news conferences, spokesperson training, backgrounds, memos, query letters and public service announcements.
JOUR 331. Public Relations Writing II. 3 crs. Designed to develop professional level writing skills with emphasis on publication design, employee communications, speech writing and audio visual presentations.
JOUR 332. Advanced Public Relations. 3 crs. Emphasis on understanding communication theory, the use of research in public relations, ethics and public opinion.
JOUR 333. CapComm Lab. 3 crs. Emphasis on planning, developing, implementing and evaluating public relations campaigns through a departmental public relations/advertising agency.

JOUR 401. International Press Issues. 3 crs. Overview of the publications, advertising and press laws as well as history, development and operation of the international press, with special attention to Africa.
JOUR 403. Feature Writing. 3 crs. Deals with the theory and practice of feature writing for publications, including critical inspection of published examples. Prer
JOUR 404. Supervised Internship: Advertising. 1 cr. Offers field experience under the supervision of a professional in print, or broadcast, advertising or an advertising agency.
JOUR 405. Supervised Internship: News-Editorial. 1 cr. Offers field experience, under a professional journalist, that requires preparation and publications or regular writing.
JOUR 406. Supervised Internship: Broadcast News. 1 cr. Offers field experience, under a professional journalist, that requires preparation of newscasts at a radio or television station.
JOUR 407. Supervised Internship: Public Relations. 1 cr. Actual work experience as an intern with the Public Relations Department of an organization.
JOUR 410. Directed Study. 3 crs. Consists of advanced, individualized research with the department chairman or designee. Prereqs.: Junior or Permission of Curriculum Committee.
JOUR 411. Newspaper Laboratory. 3 crs. An upper-level course involving reporting and writing for BlackCollegeView.coms, the Journalism Department’s laboratory web site.
JOUR 413. Advanced Copy Editing. 3 crs. Concentration on the editing and display of complex news stories and other print media content with emphasis on accuracy, fairness, news judgment, content, ethical and legal considerations. Advanced practice in designing pages, using computer editing technology, copy control, scheduling and newsroom interaction.

Note: Students must complete all prerequisites before moving to the next level of course work.