Journalism

• COM JO 537: Advanced Visual Storytelling
  Students will refine editing and workflow, learn lighting technique, add strong portrait work to their portfolio and complete a long-form multimedia story. Students are required to manage and edit their images and to produce multimedia. The final project is a four to five minute multimedia piece with an emphasis on story, lighting, technical results, continuity and camera work. There will be continual class discussion on ethics in photojournalism and class critiques of assignments. All photos and videos must be welled tagged and captioned with complete and accurate information. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.)
• COM JO 542: The Literature of Journalism
  This course is an examination of cultural history as seen by our fellow journalists. It rests on the premise that to be a great writer, one must also be a great reader. With readings from Walt Whitman to the present, we examine the tools and techniques that make nonfiction writing memorable. Subjects include Mark Twain, George Orwell, Joan Didion, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and the great misanthrope, H.L. Mencken. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
• COM JO 546: Statehouse Program
  Taking advantage of our location in the state capital of Massachusetts, the Journalism Department offers students the chance to cover the Statehouse for professional news clients. The prime component of The Boston Statehouse Program, this advanced study in government and political reporting offers the opportunity to write and report from Beacon Hill for a Massachusetts news organization. The course goal is to develop writing and reporting skills through the daily experience of covering state government that will apply in many fields. Working with a professor and a professional editor, students acquire the skills necessary to work in a daily news environment, including interviewing, developing sources, archival research and deadline writing. Students develop a substantial portfolio of published work. Taken with JO 511, eight credits, fall and spring semesters. See Statehouse Program: http://www.bu.edu/statehouse. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)
• COM JO 550: Advanced Online Journalism
  This course focuses on producing long-form, interactive multimedia projects. Working in teams, students learn to produce documentary-style multimedia packages that combine still photography, audio, video, interactives and text. The course will offer an overview of techniques and best practices currently employed by news organizations to produce advanced multimedia projects. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 304. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 704.)
• COM JO 702: Science Narrative
  An in-depth introduction to narrative for science communicators,?story-tellers and journalists.? We consider content, form, style and approach, using examples from the work of established writers to glean principles for our own thinking and writing. Research will play a central role, and we will focus on interview and reporting skills and analysis, including statistics.?The goal of science narrative is to shed light on scientific topics, and also to inform and provoke thought.?In this class, we produce four short pieces of narrative, and in the process discover how the writing voice acquires authority built on research. A?goal is to introduce the?essential elements of sound story telling--narrative, exposition, transition, and subtext. ?This course is required of all SciJo students and open to other students by permission of the instructor. Four credits, fall semesters.
• COM JO 703: Magazine Writing
  This is a course in long-form magazine journalism such as appears in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Outside, and the New York Times Magazine, as well as websites such as Medium, The Atavist and others. Students read and analyze superb examples of the genre and report, research and write long-form pieces. Topics intensive, in-depth reporting and research; the writing process; the use of fine language and the development of a personal voice; the importance of a point of view; structuring long pieces; digging deeply into subjects in order to truly enlighten readers. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
• COM JO 704: Online Journalism
  This course introduces students to multi- platform journalism. Students will gain practical experience producing and editing news and features for delivery via digital platforms. This class critiques and analyzes news sites to examine how multiple elements such as text, photo's audio, video, social media and interactive graphics are currently used in multimedia reporting. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
• COM JO 706: Digital Toolkit
  This "bootcamp" course on visual journalism prepares grad students for advanced photo, broadcast and online courses, providing fundamental skills in shooting and editing photos and video. Grad students also produce a short profile story. This is a?hybrid or blended?course, employing a number of online resources to help with independent learning. We meet for two full Saturdays, and there are 16?three-hour labs available.?Students are required to attend a minimum of six hours of lab time. Two credits, fall semesters.
• COM JO 707: Video Reporting
  This introductory course is about reporting, writing and producing the news for television and the internet. Students learn the fundamentals of news- gathering, story generation, research, videography, writing, editing and presentation. Strong stories air on BUTV and are posted on the department's news-service website. Four credits, fall semester.
• COM JO 711: Video Journalism
  Recommended for students in the TV journalism specialization. Students learn to set up, shoot and edit video news reports, using current HD cameras and editing software. This is a production class requiring students to produce several video news reports broadcast on television and posted to the Internet. Four credits, fall semesters.
• COM JO 712: Online Radio Newsroom
  For students who like the teamwork and adrenaline of a real newsroom. Students produce a half-hour news show on the student radio station, WTBU, during each class. Students report, write, produce and engineer all the news sports and commentary on deadline. Students use social media to report stories. Content is uploaded to the department's news- service website. Students file stories frequently, and programs from NPR, BBC, WBZ and other audio news outlets will be critiqued. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.
• COM JO 719: Feature Writing
  In this course, students are invited to go beyond the demands of hard-news writing and to explore a much broader range of topics and a richer array of approaches. The essence of feature writing is "enterprise" -- feature stories are those that do not have to happen and cannot be written by formula; individual journalists make them happen. Through readings and by reporting and writing their own features, students develop a sophisticated sense of stories and a stylish prose technique. Emphasis is on telling great stories at various lengths and in different formats. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
• COM JO 721: Introduction to Reporting
  Students learn newswriting and reporting by covering a full range of news stories in a newsroom environment. This foundation course emphasizes stress on deadline pressure, writing, and reporting for all media. Includes weekly discussion of journalism principles as illustrated by current events and controversies. Four credits, fall semesters.
• COM JO 722: Reporting in Depth
  Using the city as our subject, students cover working "beats" in Boston and surrounding areas. Students are responsible for proposing and covering stories dealing with courts, crime, education, local and state politics, and other essentials of community reporting across all media. Stories may appear in the BU News Service or in professional news outlets. Four credits, spring semesters. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)
• COM JO 732: Conflict and Commentary in Science Reporting
  A course in writing about science policy issues, including in-depth coverage of controversial issues and writing scientific-related essay, such as those that appear in Slate and Salon. classroom discussions will involve complex areas of science reporting, including scientific fraud and business issues related to science. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 705.)
• COM JO 734: Television Newsroom
  Students produce a weekly half-hour newscast, broadcast on cable TV and the Internet, with live coverage and video reports on local, national and international news as well as sports highlights and weather. Students rotate positions weekly, using television studios and the control booth, collaborating to broadcast a fresh, informative and accurate newscast while facing the daily deadlines of a working newsroom. Four credits, spring semester.
• COM JO 737: Journalism Internship
  Student develops a portfolio of professional work while working in the field. The student works 120-200 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Comprehensive paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required upon completion of internship. Variable credit.
• COM JO 954: Directed Study
  Faculty and students work together in a tutorial situation to produce a substantial project of mutual interest. 4 cr.
• COM JO 955: Professional Project
  In their final semester, all candidates for the M.S. degree in Journalism undertake a capstone project of professional quality. In consultation with a faculty member, the student conceives the project, carries out all necessary reporting and editing, combines multimedia elements as warranted, and seeks to have the work published or broadcast. 4 cr., either sem.

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