Anne-Marie Cusac
Assistant Professor
Roosevelt University
Communication
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| Office |
Chicago Campus |
Schaumburg Campus |
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505J
(Gage Bldg.)
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808c |
| Phone |
312-281-3225
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847-619-8592
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| Hours |
M 3-5, T 2:00-4:00, W 3-5 |
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| E-mail |
acusac@roosevelt.edu |
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| Bio |
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is. a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author of a book of poetry entitled The Mean Days (Tia Chucha, 2001). A second book of poems is forthcoming from Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac ‘s current project is Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, a book on contract, to be published by Yale University Press in the fall of 2007
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| 457/357 syllabus, Spring 2008 |
Magazine Production
JOUR 357/457—Spring 2008
Wednesday evening, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Chicago Campus. Gage Building, Room 507
David Weissman Anne-Marie Cusac
Department of Communication Department of Communication
Adjunct Professor Assistant Professor
Fireman99@ameritech.net acusac@roosevelt.edu
Office hours: W 4-6, room 507 Gage Building Office hours:
M 3-5, T 2:00-4:00, W 3-5, room 505 J, Chicago Campus. And by appointment.
Phone: 312 281-3225 (Chicago Campus)
Course goals
1. To simulate the launch of a consumer or trade magazine.
2. To work as a team to develop a magazine concept,
mission statement and reader profile.
3. To define the magazine’s departments, develop story ideas,
research and write them.
4. To conduct market research and develop a circulation,
distribution and advertising strategy.
5. To lay out pages and design the magazine on a real print deadline.
The class staff
In week two, students will choose a magazine concept and take on various duties needed to produce the magazine. In addition to writing and producing stories, students will be busy with page layout and design, market research, circulation and distribution, and advertising strategy.
Some classes—especially the first few—will include lectures on the various aspects of magazine development. By week five, the bulk of lectures will have ended. We’ll meet not just as a class, but also as the staff of your new magazine. Each department head will give weekly briefings to the class on where things stand in his or her respective area.
The class dynamic
Unlike other classes, this is a group project. Not every idea will make it off the chalkboard, and some ideas you think are earth-shattering may get flat-out rejected. Don’t take it personally. The end result is what counts. You’re all in this together, and merging several personalities into one sharp, clear voice is no easy trick. Exercise patience and constructive criticism. Working smoothly with others is a skill that will serve you well the rest of your career.
The stories
All class members will write at least two (2) of the three types of magazine stories: columns, departments and features. The relatively low volume of stories means you’ll have more time to sharpen them, while working on other aspects of the magazine. All stories will be rewritten at least once. We’ll discuss story assignments in more detail during class.
Exit memos
Exit memos are designed to give next year’s students a sense of what your job on the magazine was really like. Take a look at last year’s exit memos to get a sense of how they handled deadlines with respect to the overall project. These can be written in groups and submitted by department: one each for advertising, circulation/market research, editorial, art, and production.
The book
The Magazine from Cover to Cover, second edition, by Sammye Johnson and Patricia Pijatel (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Professionalism
As senior- and graduate-level students, it’s time to look beyond the classroom and embrace the real-world experience of magazine work. Attitude goes a long way. Come to class prepared and on time. Bring enthusiasm and interest, a desire to lend constructive criticism and fresh ideas. That’s what the pros do. If you’re playing a key role in the advertising strategy or laying out pages and can’t make it to class, the whole project suffers. Your classmates are counting on you.
Deadlines
This is a real-world exercise. Stories filed past deadline can’t be typeset. If they can’t be typeset, there’s no magazine. Deadlines are in place for good reason. Late stories will be docked a full grade each class they are filed past deadline. No exceptions. Did I mention deadlines are important?
Artwork
All students will be responsible for submitting artwork with their stories. A digital camera is ideal, though 35mm prints are also fine. If you don’t have a camera or can’t borrow one, expect to purchase a disposable 35mm camera and pay for processing. The cost should be about $12-$15.
Production Notes
While five weeks will be set aside at the end of the semester for page layout and design, the process often proves much more tedious than anticipated. Students who take on production responsibilities will be expected to attend class for one extra hour before class, starting Week 11 (April 5).
Style and spelling
At this stage of the game, you should have at least a basic grasp of proper grammar and magazine style, according to The Chicago Manual of Style. You also should proofread what you write and double-check everything for accuracy before you turn stories in. Neatness counts.
Discussions, workshops, and presentations
We expect all members of the class to participate in discussions. Such participation is a significant portion of your grade.
Make certain that you are keeping up on the news. Good magazine editors and reporters rely on print, radio, online, and television news as sources for their own stories. Examples of news sources: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, WGN radio, Public radio, BBC television or online edition, foreign newspapers in English such as the London Guardian or the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. . . . There are also online editions of many of these publications and broadcasts.
Class Policies
Absences
Please communicate with one of us as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact us by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. We expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers, music players, or cell phones during class.
Academic dishonesty
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as it is not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Grades
Course grades will be distributed as follows:
• Written stories: 40 percent
• Duties related to producing the magazine: 30 percent
• Professionalism and participation: 30 percent
Grading Scale
A = 4.0
B = 3.0
C = 2.0
D = 1.0
F = 0.0
Definitions of grading scale for written stories
A: Stories are of publishable quality, with little or no editing
B: Stories are of acceptable quality, but require editing
C: Stories of average quality, but require editing and more reporting
D: Below-average stories that require major editing and re-reporting
F: Seriously flawed stories with factual errors, style problems and reporting holes
* Note: Graduate students will assume positions of authority on the magazine staff and will be graded on their leadership in addition to their other contributions to the magazine.
Magazine Production—Class Schedule
Week 1—Jan. 30
• Intro and syllabus read-thru
• Industry overview—the “three-legged stool”
• Magazine duties & responsibilities: who does what
• Concept development—the mission statement
• Audience development, profiles
• Types of magazine stories: departments, features, columns,
service packages
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 1, 5 and 6 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 2—Feb. 6
• Class presentations
• Choose magazine concept
• Assign staff
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 2, 7, and 8 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 3—Feb. 13
• Circulation: audits, lists and list brokers, subscription, single copy sales, paid vs. controlled circulation, direct mail
• The reachable universe—how to find readers
• Distribution—from printer to newsstand
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 1 (all)
• Identify competition
• Sharpen departments (all)
• Font, color scheme research begins (art/production)
• Circulation, market research begins (circ, mkt. research)
• Choose working title (all)
• Advertising research begins (ad)
Advertising meeting. For next week, bring in a sales pitch in writing and a magazine profile.
Assignment: For next week, read chapters 9, 10, and 11 of The Magazine from Cover to Cover.
Week 4—Feb. 20
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 2 (all)
• Sharpen mission statement, audience profile (edit, ad)
• Work on reachable universe (circ)
• Finalize departments (all)
• Work on story 2 (all)
Deadlines: • Advertising sales pitch, magazine profile (ad)
Week 5—Feb. 27
• The media kit—what’s in it, how it works
• Advertising, ad sales, possible guest speakers
Deadlines: • Mission statement (first draft)
• Audience profile (first draft)
• Circulation mailing (first draft)
Class work: • Brainstorm/assign story 3 (all)
• Choose fonts, color scheme (art/design)
• Sharpen reachable universe, market research (circ)
• Work on stories (all)
Week 6—Mar. 5
• Editorial architecture of magazines: what goes where, and why
Deadlines: • Story 1 (first draft), with art
Class work: • Rewrites (ad, edit, circ)
• Work on story 2 (all)
• Begin selling ads (ad)
• Begin editing (edit)
Week 7—March 12
Deadlines: • Story 2 (first draft), with art
• Advertising media kit
• Mission statement (second draft)
• Audience profile (second draft)
• Circulation mailing (second draft)
Class work: • Sell advertisements (ad)
• Develop graphics, art for stories (art, prod)
Week 8—Spring Break, no class
Week 9—March 26
• Page layout and design
• Titles, cover lines
Deadlines: • Story 1 (second draft)
• Story 3 (first draft), with art
Class work: • Sell advertisements (ad)
• Rewrites (all)
Week 10—April 2: ALL ARTWORK, ADS DUE
Deadlines: • Story 2 (second draft)
• Reachable universe (circ)
• Mission statement (third draft)
• Audience profile (third draft)
• Circulation mailing (third draft)
Class work: • Rewrites (all)
Week 11—April 9
ALL FINAL DRAFTS DUE
PAGE LAYOUT BEGINS (ART/PRODUCTION)
• Production—preparing pages for the printer
• Production schedules
Class work: • Rewrites (all)
Week 12—April 16
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEGINS (EDIT, AD, CIRC/MKT. RSRCH)
Class work: • Page layout and production
• Executive summary (edit, ad, circ/mkt. research)
Week 13—April 23
Class work: • Page layout and production
Week 14—April 30
Deadlines: • Executive summary
• Exit memos (all)
Class work: • Page layout and production
Week 15—May 7
• Final pages, to press
Week 16—May 14
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| 201 syllabus, Spring 2008 |
JOUR 201-01
Communication in the Information Age
Roosevelt University
Spring 2008
T 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Chicago Campus, CPA 302G
Instructor: Anne-Marie Cusac, Department of Communication Assistant Professor
Phone: 312 281-3225 (Chicago Campus)
E-mail: acusac@roosevelt.edu (I am easily available by e-mail.)
M 3-5, T 2:00-4:00, W 3-5, room 505 J, Chicago Campus.
And by appointment.
Course description:
From the Catalog: “Prerequisite course for journalism, public relations, and integrated communications (advertising) majors. Overview of print and broadcast journalism, public relations and advertising; emphasis on the role and effects of media in society. The transformation of mass communication resulting from the development, diffusion, and convergence of new technologies.”
Prerequisites: ENG 102
“The Media” can seem familiar and strange, intimate and incomprehensible, particular and vast. Most of us encounter media messages and information numerous times per day, whether we seek such exposure or not, in radio communications, television, or the advertisements that line our roadways and pop up on our computer screens. From the invention of the book onward, advances in media have allowed for communications from one to many that would otherwise not have happened. In the electronic and digital ages, that movement of information has speeded up. We can now receive new information and ideas almost as events happen or at the moment a person hundreds (or thousands) of miles away thinks a thought. We can know the current weather in China, see images of a city block nearly anywhere in the world, and be aware of last night’s crimes in most U.S. cities. And, with the invention of the Internet, many more people (as in bloggers) can easily speak to mass audiences than could do so ten years ago. With the increase in speed has come an accumulation of information. Several centuries ago, a single human being could conceivably read much of what had been printed in English; however, a person with enough education, leisure time, and money to read those publications would have been rare. Today, thanks in good part to the proliferation of media, a much larger proportion of the populace can consume information through books and other printed matter, radio, television, and the Internet. However, the amount of available information is now vast and impossible for one person, or many, to monitor fully.
This course is a survey of media history and culture. It includes the mainstream press, but also the ethnic media the minority media, and the alternative media. And it is much more than media exposure. While you will become familiar with the huge realm of media, you will also become active media consumers and critics. Some of the questions we will return to throughout the course include:
How have the media changed or impacted your life?
How have changes in media altered society?
Can the media aid or damage a democratic republic, such as our own?
What is “information”?
Does more information make us better people?
Are some kinds of information better than other kinds, and if so, how would you rank them?
Do the worldwide web, television, printed publications, and radio really draw our world closer?
What are the dangers, and the benefits, of different media?
What media images do we receive? What roles do stereotypes play in those images?
Is every media voice easy to hear?
What does diversity in the media mean, today and in past decades?
What are alternative media voices, and why are they alternative?
How can one person deal wisely with so much information available every day?
Our class will receive regular visits from media professionals who can talk in detail about their work, their challenges, and their own questions.
Objectives
1) Students will be able to identify and describe the mass media covered in this course and will exhibit depth of knowledge about each medium’s historical and cultural development and function. They will be able to demonstrate familiarity with the traditional mass media but also with lesser-known media including alternative, oppositional, ethnic, and minority media.
2) Students will be able to describe the cultural, social, political, and economic implications of the different media.
3) Students will use the knowledge they acquire in class and through readings to inform their written assignments and class discussions.
4) Students will develop their critical and analytical abilities in connection with different media.
Text
Media & Culture, Richard Campbell, sixth edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008).
Class handouts.
Class Policies
Late work
Tardy work will lose an entire letter grade for every week that it is late.
Absences
Please communicate with me as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact me by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. I expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers or cell phones during class.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as such activities are not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Accommodation of students with disabilities
Students with disabilities or other conditions that require special accommodations should let me know or contact the Academic Success Center/Office of Disability Services at (312) 341-3810 as soon as possible.
Preparing your assignments
Your assignments should be typewritten, double-spaced, and proofread. Please send me an electronic copy of your papers, in addition to the hard copy you turn in during class.
Grading
Three Short Written Assignments: 30%
One Longer Written Assignment: 20%
Mid-Term Exam: 15%
Final Exam: 20%
Attendance/participation: 15%
Standards
A work is well-written and carefully structured, coherent, and contains original observations and arguments. A work contains few spelling and grammatical problems and makes use of standard source attribution
B work shows troubles in one of the above areas.
C work exhibits weaknesses in more than one of the above areas to an extent that the problems decrease the quality of the work overall.
D work shows problems in all of the above areas, or its difficulties in one or more areas are so considerable that they bring the overall quality of the written project down to below the average for students at this level.
F work either has grave problems in all areas listed above or does not satisfy the assignment.
Exams
There will be one mid-term exam, one final exam and possibly several quizzes during the course. The exams will be open book and open notes.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is March 28. If you withdraw by that date, your grade for the course will be a “W” for withdrawal. After that date, if you wish to withdraw from the course, you will need to petition to registrar for late withdrawal.
Tentative Class Schedule (open to change depending on the availability of our visitors, etc.)
Week 1, January 29
Introduction and class expectations
Empire of the Air, part one.
Assignments:
1. For next week, write a two page autobiography (not for grade), telling me about yourself, about what aspects of media and communications interest you most, and what you'd like to be doing ten years from now.
2. Find one example of American culture that has spread to other parts of the world; be prepared to talk about it next week, and be sure to note what your source is.
Reading: Chapters 1-2
Week 2, February 5
Mass Communications: Why Criticize?
Empire of the Air, part two.
Due: your autobiography
Assignments:
1. Media Watch Music Assignment.
2. Find an example of popular music from the 1920s; note your source.
3. Make a preliminary decision about your paper topic.
Reading: ch. 3
MEDIA WATCH MUSIC LISTENING ASSIGNMENT [Due Feb. 19]
I hope that this assignment, and all of them in this course, will broaden your horizons.
For two weeks from today, listen to a piece of music to which you ordinarily wouldn't pay attention, research it, write a brief, 3-4 page paper about it, and be prepared to talk about it in class.
For instance, if your favorite music is hip-hop, try something classical. If it's jazz, try country. If it's polka music, try Latin music.
Don't shortchange yourself: stop what you are doing and really listen to the music--DON'T LISTEN WHILE DRIVING. Unless the piece is something lengthy, listen to three or four selections. If you choose, for instance, the country music of Tammy Wynette, listen to three or four songs, not just one.
In your paper, be sure to engage all of the steps of the critical process: identify the piece, describe it, analyze it, interpret it, evaluate it, and how might you engage it? In addition, do some research on the music itself or the artist, and include at least one reference in your paper, properly foot-noted.
Roosevelt University has over 25,000 sound recordings in its audio library, from which you might choose.
Some suggestions from your instructor:
—Dvorak violin or cello concerto
--anything Mozart
--Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
--Béla Bartók, Hungarian Sketches or Romanian Folk Dances
--Maria Callas or Jessye Norman singing opera
--Collections of Scott Joplin, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holliday, or Dave Brubek
--Crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Jo Stafford. Belters like Judy Garland or Barbara Streisand.
--collections of music from abroad, from South America or South Africa or Asia, or from a region of the United States you haven’t visited. Try for instance, collections of Calypso, Reggae, Samba, Salsa, Celtic, Cajun, or Zulu music, Native American drumming and singing, or Japanese Taiko drumming.
--Bossa Nova stylists such as Vinicius de Moraes, Antônio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, or the new star Bebel Gilberto.
There are millions of possibilities. This is an opportunity to try something different, to learn more about it--and to get credit for it!
Week 3, February 12
Popular Music and sound recording. Merchants of Cool.
Assignments: Find an example of a radio program from the 1930s; note your source.
Reading: chapter 4
Week 4, February 19
Discussion of your Media Watch Music Assignment.
Due: Media Watch Music Listening Assignment.
Assignments: Media Watch Radio Assignment. Find an example of a movie from the 1940s; note your source.
Reading: ch. 7
MEDIA WATCH RADIO ASSIGNMENT [Due March 4]
Listen (and again don't do this while driving) to half an hour of news or talk radio (no music stations). The stations may be local like WBBM-AM, WGN-AM, WLS-AM or WBEZ-FM, or they may be from anywhere in the world broadcasting on the Internet (you might check out international stations on www.vtuner.com or the BBC Web site).
As you listen, take some notes about what you're hearing: what's the station, who's talking, what's the topic, who are the sponsors (if any) and what sort of audience do you think they're aiming at?
Again, write your 3-4 page paper, paying attention to identification, description, analysis (what elements of the broadcast caught your attention?), interpretation (what did it mean to you?), and evaluation (would you recommend the program or not?).
Again, do some research on the station or the host/hostess and properly footnote it.
Week 5, February 26
Movies and images
Assignments: Find an example of a television program from the 1950s or the 1960s; note your source.
Reading: Ch. 5 and 6
Week 6, March 4
Discussion of your Radio assignment. Television.
Due: Your Radio assignment.
Assignments: Media Watch Video Assignment. Find an example of an important news story from the 1970s; note your source
Reading: ch. 8 and 14.
MEDIA WATCH VIDEO ASSIGNMENT [Due April 1]
By now, you should know the routine.
This time, your assignment is to watch a classic movie or TV show, research it, and write papers like before.
If you choose movies, go to the American Film Institute's Web site (www.afi.com), click on the 100 Years Series on the right, and then click on the 100 Years 100 Movies button that will be on the next screen near the bottom. This is a list of the AFI's top 100 films. Choose one.
If you choose TV, you'll have to find a couple of episodes of a TV program from the 1950s or 1960s to watch (you might find these at the Museum of Broadcast Communication or Roosevelt's or a public library)
This time, let's also add the requirement that you begin your paper with a nice snappy lead that will interest the reader and keep him/her reading.
Week 7, March 11
Mid-term Exam, open-book, open notes.
March 18 No class for spring break
Week 8, March 25
Newspapers, ethics and journalism
Assignments: Find an example of a best-seller from the 1970s or 1980s and research it.
Reading: ch. 9 and 10
Week 9, April 1
Discussion of your video assignments. Magazines in the Age of Specialization. Books and the Power of Print
Due: Your video assignment.
Assignments:
1. Your long written assignment.
2. Find an example of advertising from the 20th century, and research the company or the product.
Reading: ch. 11.
LONG MEDIA WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT [Due May 6]
This Media Watch assignment is similar to all the others, except that you get to write more extensively about it. Print, advertising, and public relations are all acceptable, so choose what interests you.
Write up to 10 pages about it, and include at least three properly footnoted sources.
Week 10, April 8
Advertising and Commercial Culture
Reading: ch. 12
Week 11 April 15
Public Relations
Assignments: Find an example of a global media company.
Reading: chapter 13.
Week 12, April 22
Media and the global economy
Assignments: Finish your long writing project.
Reading: Ch. 16
Week 13, April 29
The First Amendment
Week 14, May 6
Due: Long writing projects.
Week 15, May 13
Final exam, open book, open notes
Bio:
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author of a book of poetry entitled The Mean Days (Tia Chucha, 2001). A second book of poems, entitled Silkie, was published by Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac’s current project is Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, a book on contract, to be published by Yale University Press in the spring of 2009.
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| 450/390 syllabus, Spring 2008 |
JOUR 390-24/450-24
EXPLORING INVESTIGATIONS
Roosevelt University
Spring 2008
M., 6-8:30 p.m., CHICAGO CAMPUS, Gage Building, Room 507
Instructor: Anne-Marie Cusac, Department of Communication Assistant Professor
Phone: 847-619-8592 (Robin Campus, Schaumburg), (312) 281-3225 (Chicago Campus
e-mail: acusac@roosevelt.edu (I am easily available by e-mail.)
Office hours: M 3-5, T 2:00-4:00, W 3-5, room 505 J, Chicago Campus
And by appointment
Course description:
From the catalog: Course content varies by semester but always focuses on current issues and/or diversity, alternative media, and social justice as they relate to media.
This course explores the rich and varied history of American investigative reporting and provides an understanding of the range of investigative journalism, including its social justice and watchdog roles; the diversity of practitioners of the craft, the connection of investigative reporting to political movements, such as those for racial, gender, and economic equality; and the many different media and genres that can handle investigative material. We will read deeply in the work of investigative journalists, both past and contemporary, cultivating an awareness of the many roles important investigative stories played in this country’s social and political development. We will also regularly watch and listen to televised and radio investigative stories. We will explore this work as potential investigative reporters ourselves, attempting to understand how the journalists we study found their stories and reported them. We will attend to such common issues as: story complications, ethical and legal questions, and the role (or problem) of narrative and style in investigative work. Having developed an analytical strategy for considering the work of established investigative journalists, students will conduct investigations of their own. In addition to the history and practice of investigative journalism, students will receive basic instruction in computer-assisted reporting and will explore the media- and genre-boundaries of investigations—considering, for example, the phenomenon of investigative fiction, photography, and poetry from the 1930s.
Prerequisites:
Undergraduate students: JOUR 220 with a minimum grade of C and one additional 300-level course.
Graduate students: JOUR 405
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, you should have
1. An understanding of the range and history of American investigative journalism, including investigative reporting’s social justice and watchdog roles; the diversity of practitioners of the craft, the connection of investigative reporting to political movements, such as those for racial, gender, and economic equality; and the many different media and genres that can handle investigative material.
2. An awareness of the many roles important investigative stories played in this country’s social and political development.
3. The ability to read investigative journalism closely and critically, with an eye toward learning about craft, investigative techniques, sources, formal considerations, and aesthetics from the best in the business.
4. Knowledge of ethical and other challenges pertinent to investigative journalism.
5. Knowledge of investigative research and reporting techniques, including how to find an investigative story and an introduction to computer-assisted reporting.
6. The ability to write both an in-depth investigative report and a critical paper analyzing important book-length investigative works.
Books
Muckraking The Journalism that Changed America, ed. Judith and William Serrin
Selected online resources and photocopies
Two selections you make from the attached bibliography of investigative books
Assignments
1. Written assignments
You will complete two major written assignments: an investigative story and a critical analysis of two book-length investigative works. You will do these major projects in several pieces, so that you have an understanding of my expectations.
For example, you will submit your investigative leads, a reporting proposal, a reporting plan, an outline, a summary of discoveries, and a lead paragraph before completing your investigative report.
Similarly, a shorter version of the paper, concentrating on the investigation of only one book, will prepare you to proceed to the longer comparison-contrast of two books in the second paper. I will expect you to incorporate the first paper into the second.
In addition, you will do weekly brief analyses of the stories we read for class.
2. Discussions, workshops, and presentations
Discussions of the examples of excellent investigative journalism are critical to your development as journalists. I expect all members of the class to participate in discussions. Such participation is a significant portion of your grade.
Students will bring in weekly examples of investigative journalism and will discuss their offerings with the class. I expect students to offer their perceptions of the news in relation to their developing investigative stories.
Finally, during the last weeks of class, you will each be responsible for two presentations of the work in your ongoing projects: both the investigative report and the critical paper. I will provide guidance on this project during the semester.
3. Quizzes
There may be current events quizzes.
4. Revisions
You will turn in a substantial revision of your investigative feature in the last week of class.
Good writing and revision are inseparable, and I expect you to revise your work for this class. You will also have the opportunity to revise your critical papers. You are welcome to submit a rewrite if you do so one week after you receive your grade. If significantly improved, your revision can lift your assignment grade by one letter.
5. Make certain that you are keeping up on the news. Good investigative reporters rely on print, radio, online, and television news as sources for their own stories. Examples of news sources: The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, WGN radio, Public radio, BBC television or online edition, foreign newspapers in English such as the London Guardian of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.. . . . There are also online editions of many of these publications and broadcasts. We may have periodic current events quizzes.
Make sure that you are also trolling the unexpected places for investigative sources. I will provide guidance in the first weeks of class on how to do this.
6. Graduate Students
If you are a graduate student, then, in addition to the course requirements listed above and below, you are responsible for an additional written project to be determined in consultation with me at the beginning of the semester.
In addition, graduate students will also be responsible for leading some discussions on investigative articles and on current news items that could lead to magazine story ideas. Please come to my office hours or arrange to meet with me during the first three weeks of class in order to make plans for both your written and your oral projects.
Class Policies
Late work
Editors depend on reporters to submit their work on time. Given the importance of on-time writing to journalism, tardy work will lose an entire letter grade for every week that it is late.
Investigative stories do sometimes run into troubles—sources who won’t talk, inaccessible documents, etc. If and when you hit such bumps in your project, you should get in touch with me as soon as possible, just as you would an editor.
Absences
Please communicate with me as early as possible in advance of any planned absence. In case of emergency, you may contact me by e-mail on the day of class. Lateness and/or unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. I expect you to make up any work you miss. You should make preparations to obtain notes and other information that you miss in class from your fellow students.
Noise
Please turn off any pagers, music players, or cell phones during class.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, invention of sources or information, and the borrowing of quotes without attribution will not be tolerated in this course, just as it is not tolerated in media careers. Please familiarize yourself with the Roosevelt University policy on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is attached to this syllabus. It is also available at: http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/default.htm.
Preparing your assignments
Your assignments should be typewritten, double-spaced, and proofread. You should write your investigative project in either A.P. or Chicago Manual style (please specify which) and your paper in APA style. Please send me an electronic copy of your papers, in addition to the hard copy you turn in during class.
Grading
Investigative Story: 20%
Investigative prep work: 10%
Presentations: 10%
Paper 1: 10%
Final paper: 20%
Weekly assignments: 10%
Discussion: 20%
Standards
A: Stories and papers need almost no editing and are of publishable quality
B: Stories and papers are acceptable in quality, but need editing
C: Stories and papers are average in quality, but need more reporting, research, and editing
D: Below-average stories and papers that need major editing and re-reporting
F: Seriously flawed stories and papers with problems in style, factual errors, and holes in their reporting. Make sure you fact-check your stories. Factual errors can give you a failing grade.
Note: I will provide comments on your in-class assignments but will not grade them.
Withdrawal
The last day to withdraw from the course with a grade of W is March 28.
Accommodation of students with disabilities
Students with disabilities or other conditions that require special accommodations should let me know or contact the Academic Success Center/Office of Disability Services at (312) 341-3810 as soon as possible.
Week One, January 28
Introduction
What is investigative reporting?
What is not investigative?
Where do you find investigative reporting?
Active reading and watching, reading like a journalist
A.I.R. discussion
Reading assignment: Muckraking: The Journalism that Changed America, Introduction, pp. xix-xxii, “The Poor,” pp 1-22
Pulitzer Prize selection: www.pulitzer.org
2002 prize in investigative reporting, Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham and Sarah Cohen of Washington Post
2000 prize in public service, Katherine Boo of The Washington Post
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Week Two, February 4
How in the world do I find my own good investigative story?
A basic primer on watchdog journalism
Finding a story where you least expect it
Doing a press check
Getting started
A.I.R. discussion
Reading assignment: Muckraking: The Journalism that Changed America, “The Working Class,” pp. 29-44 (Do not read pp. 23-38 or 44-46)
Pulitzer Prize selection: www.pulitzer.org
2004 winner in public service, David Barstow and Lowell Bergman of The New York Times
2001 winner in investigative reporting, David Willman of Los Angeles Times
In-class exercise
Begin story research
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Investigative leads due next week
Choose your first book
Week Three, February 11
Intro to the IRE website and the Reporter’s desktop
Background research: how to do it, how much to do, and when to move on
How to choose an angle
What separates ordinary investigative reporters from excellent ones?
A.I.R. discussion
Due: Your investigative leads
Title of book for first analytical paper
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Public Health and Safety,” pp. 47-82 (No need to read Larry Kramer, pp. 70-74, as it is not an investigative article.)
Pulitzer Prize selection
2005 winner in national reporting, Walt Bogdanich of New York Times
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Week Four, February 18
Initial interviews
How deep do you go?
What to save for later
Who to save for later
A.I.R. discussion
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Women, Their Rights, Nothing Less,” pp 92-96 (Read only the story about Karen Silkwood); and “America at War,” pp. 283-302 (Do not read 261-282)
Pulitzer Prize selection: 2004 winner in investigative reporting Michael D. Sallah, Mitch Weiss and Joe Mahr of The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
2003 winner in national reporting: Alan Miller and Kevin Sack of Los Angeles Times
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Your investigative proposal and reporting plan are due next week
Week Five, February 25
Sources you might not consider
Building the document trail
Primary vs. secondary sources
A.I.R. discussion
Due: Your investigative proposal and your reporting plan
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Politics,” pp. 99-138 (Do not read 97-99; no need to read “Uncle Joe Cannon,” pp. 109-113).
Pulitzer Prize selection: www.pulitzer.org
2006 winner in investigative reporting
Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi and R. Jeffrey Smith of Washington Post
2005 winner in investigative reporting
Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week, Portland, Ore.
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
An outline of your planned investigative report is due next week
Week Six, March 3
Effective, detailed reporting
The golden source, or just how good does that source have to be?
That many sources? Really?
Those tricky, important interviews: How to get and keep a critical source
A.I.R. discussion
Due: outline of your investigative report
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Muckraking!” pp. 139-172
Pulitzer Prize selection: 2004 winner in national reporting, Staff of Los Angeles Times
2003 winner in investigative reporting: Clifford J. Levy of New York Times
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Your first paper is due next week
Week Seven, March 10
A.I.R. discussion
Introduction to computer-assisted reporting
Brief presentations from your papers
Due: Paper #1
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Freedom,” pp. 179-202 (Begin with Ida B. Wells. Do not read pp. 173-178)
Pulitzer Prize selection
2005 winner in public service, Los Angeles Times series
1997 winner in investigative reporting, Eric Nalder, Deborah Nelson and Alex Tizon of Seattle Times
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
A summary of your discoveries for the investigative report is due next week
March 17 No class for Spring Break
Week Eight, March 24
A.I.R. discussion
How to sift the important details from everything else
Individual conferences
Due: Summary of your discoveries
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Sports,” pp. 203-219
Pulitzer Prize selection: www.pulitzer.org
2000 winner in beat reporting, George Dohrmann of St. Paul Pioneer Press
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Bring the title of the second investigative book for your final paper next week
Any revisions of your first papers are due next week
Week Nine, March 31
A.I.R. discussion
How to structure your investigative story
Aesthetic questions and investigative journalism
Due: title of second investigative book for final paper
Revision of paper 1 (optional)
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Conservation,” pp. 223-260 (skip the articles that created the Boy Scouts and the Appalachian Trail, pp. 232-240); “The Press” 309-(skip pp. 305-309)
Pulitzer Prize selection: www.pulitzer.org
1998 winner in investigative reporting, Gary Cohn and Will Englund of Baltimore Sun
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
The lead to your investigative article is due next week
Week Ten, April 7
Fun with FOIA
How to deal with a reluctant source
A.I.R. discussion
Due: Your investigative lead
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Muckraking, “Crime and Punishment,” pp. 343-370
Seymour Hersh’s Abu Ghraib reporting
David Protess and his students
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Week Eleven, April 14
A.I.R. discussion
How to know if you’ve really got the goods
In-class exercise
Reading assignment: Review of articles that concern ethical problems. Additional web readings and selections from Truman Capote, James Agee, and others.
Literary investigations: selections from: Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, and Muriel Rukeyser and their investigative poetry and fiction; Norman Mailer, Truman Capote and literary investigative nonfiction.
For Next Week: Bring chosen investigative article to class
Your investigative report is due next week
Week Twelve, April 21
A.I.R. discussion
Temptations, questions, and violations: ethical travails and troubles in investigative reporting
and
The boundaries of investigative journalism: Can poetry, photography, and fiction be investigative? Should investigations be aesthetically beautiful?
Due: Your investigative report
For next week: Your second paper is due next week
Week Thirteen, April 28
Due: Paper #2
Presentations
Week Fourteen, May 5
Presentations
For next week: your revision of your investigative story and any revisions of your papers are due next week.
Week Fifteen, May 12
Due: revision of your investigative report, any paper revisions
Presentations
Closing day, debriefing, what else do you want to know?
Bio:
Anne-Marie Cusac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, is. a George Polk Award-winning journalist. For ten years, she was an editor and investigative reporter for The Progressive magazine. Cusac won the George Polk Award for her article “Stunning Technology,” an investigation of the use of the stun belt in U.S. prisons. She has won the Project Censored Award three times—in 1997, for “Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk,” in 1998, for “Nuclear Spoons: Hot Metal May Find its Way to Your Dinner Table,” and again in 2003 for “Brazen Bosses.” She has also been recognized with a second-place John Bartlow Martin Award, and a 2002 Milwaukee Press Club Award for magazine reporting.
Cusac is also the author of a book of poetry entitled The Mean Days (Tia Chucha, 2001). A second book of poems, entitled Silkie, was published by Many Mountains Moving Press in 2007.
Cusac’s current project is Cruel and Unusual: Punishment in America, a book on contract, to be published by Yale University Press in the spring of 2009.
Bibliography
James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
James B. Bartlett and Donald L. Steele, Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business—and Bad Medicine
Bissinger, H.G., Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
Blakeslee, Nate, Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town
Bly, Nellie, Ten Days in a Mad-House
Bourke-White, Margaret: “Dear Fatherland Rest Quietly,” a Report on the Collapse of Hitler’s “Thousand Years.”
Bouton, Jim, Ball Four
Caldwell, Erskine, and Margaret Bourke White, You Have Seen Their Faces
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood.
Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman, The Everglades: Rivers of Grass
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America.
Gelbspan, Ross, The Heat is On: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-up, the Prescription
Glasser and Ettema, Custodians of Conscience
Griffin, John Howard, Black Like Me
Gutman, Roy, Witness to Genocide
Halberstam, David, The Making of a Quagmire
Harr, Jonathan. A Civil Action.
Harrington, Michael, The Other America
Hersh, Seymour, Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
Hersh, Seymour, My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and its Aftermath
Jackson, Helen Hunt, A Century of Dishonor
Kotlowitz, Alex, The Other Side of the River
Jonathan Kwitny, Vicious Circles: The Mafia's Control of the American Marketplace, Food, Clothing, Transportation, Finance
Lange, Dorothea and Paul Schuster Taylor, American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion
Lange, Dorothea, Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment
LeBlanc, Adrian Nicole, Random Family.
Edward Levinson, I Break Strikes!
Malcolm, Janet, The Journalist and the Murderer.
Mailer, Norman, The Executioner’s Song.
McGinniss, Joe. Blind Faith.
McGinniss, Joe. Fatal Vision
McGinniss, Joe, The Selling of the President
Mitford, Jessica, The American Way of Death
Nader, Ralph, Unsafe at Any Speed
Protess, David, A Promise of Justice
Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives
Royko, Mike: Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago
Rukeyser, Muriel “The Book of the Dead,” in U.S 1
Schlosser, Eric, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
Sheehan, Neil, The Pentagon Papers
Sherrill, Robert, The Saturday Night Special
Shilts, R. And the Band Played on: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic.
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
Snow, Edgar, Red Star Over China
John Spivack, The Georgia Negro
John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton, Mark Dowie, Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry
Steffens, Lincoln, The Shame of the Cities
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck, Harvest Gypsies
Stewart, Lames, Blind Eye
Ida M. Tarbell and David M. Chalmers, The History of the Standard Oil Company
Thompson, Hunter S., Hell’s Angels
Webb, Gary, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack-Cocaine Explosion
Wels, Ida B., On Lynchings (also under Ida Wells-Barnett)
Wellsome, Eileen, The Plutonium Files
Woodward, B. & Bernstein, C. All the President’s Men.
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Chicago 430 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
Schaumburg
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