UMass Boston

Course Overview

Description

This course prepares advanced students to explore careers in writing and reporting for print and online media. Students consider contemporary journalistic texts by professional reporters, columnists, and bloggers and develop their own writing for a range of publication platforms and audiences. The course covers the fundamentals of journalistic craft, from methods for story development--including interviewing, observation, and web-based research--to style, ethics, and genre conventions. Throughout the semester, students draft and revise a series of independent writing and reporting projects on real-world people and events, ranging from news articles and magazine features to blogs and reviews. Students learn strategies for pitching stories to editors and preparing their writing for local, campus, or online publication. Different sections of this course may focus on specialized branches or genres of journalism, such as community journalism or arts journalism. This course welcomes both emerging and experienced writers, regardless of previous journalism experience.