Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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COM JO 300: Media and Democracy - Journalism in an Age of Disinformation
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150 and at least junior standing. - This course is for anyone who reads the news or produces it, for those who want accurate information and those who want to provide it. Students will gain a true-north understanding of the role of the free press in a democracy, the rise and allure of online fake news, and how empowered individuals and the news media can push back against this 21st century threat to freedom. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy. -
COM JO 309: Feature Writing
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO210) - The course invites students to refine their reporting and writing skills in projects that will showcase their mastery of the craft. Projects will span a variety of lengths, deadlines, and forms. Prerequisites: COM JO 200, 205 and 210. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. -
COM JO 312: Visuals for the Newsroom
Prerequisite: (COMJO205) - This is a course for those who want to experience life in a newsroom, photographing assignments, working with reporters and editors, traveling to the community you're assigned to cover, generating your own ideas, and photographing or video-graphing stories throughout the semester that are of a high enough quality that they will be published by professional news organizations. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. -
COM JO 322: Smart Phone Reporting
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 - This course teaches video journalism- how to identify, research, shoot, write and edit accurate, compelling news videos on deadline, using smart phones equipped with Adobe software. Students will become informed citizen journalists as well as adopt the standards and skill sets of professional mobile, multimedia journalists. Smart Phone Reporting teaches news and visual literacy, multimedia expression and applied writing skills to non- journalism majors while also training students to acquire a multimedia skill set required to become journalists. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Writing-Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy. -
COM JO 350: Law and Ethics of Journalism
This interactive course introduces the core legal and ethical issues affecting how journalists, including the student press, gather, verify and communicate news. This course offers an exciting deep-dive into the key concepts affecting newsgathering and dissemination today.Students will discover the underpinnings of a free press as well as practical tools to use when confronted with government efforts to block legitimate newsgathering. Students will gain a working knowledge of how and why the First Amendment protects them as they gather, verify and disseminate the news. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy. -
COM JO 351: Reporting With Audio and Video
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205 - Learn how to find, write, shoot, and edit news packages, broadcast on television or the internet. Taught by veteran journalists in a newsroom complete with the latest digital technologies. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and 205.) -
COM JO 400: Newsroom
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210 - What is it like to work in a deadline-driven, multimedia newsroom? That's the focus of this capstone course which will immerse you in an environment that produces deadline stories, long-form reporting and data-driven projects. -
COM JO 403: Magazine Writing and Editing
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO210) - Students learn to research and write lengthy articles of national magazine quality. Students also learn editing skills. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and COM JO 210.) -
COM JO 404: Radio Station Management
This is a seminar for students interested in managing the student-run radio station, WTBU. It is open to students who serve on the executive board of WTBU. Students will manage all facets of the radio station including music programing, sportscasting, news reporting, promotions, underwriting, website management, and technical equipment. Students will learn how to accomplish specific goals in improving the professionalism of the station and increasing the audience of WTBU. -
COM JO 412: Professional Journalism Internship
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO200 and JO205; rising junior status; a 2.0 GPA in COM - Valuable on-the-job practice of journalism skills. Provides student with portfolio of professional work. The student works 150 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Assistance in placement; instructor must approve project. Paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required at end of semester. Credit variable, every semester. -
COM JO 427: Narrative Non-Fiction Journalism
JO 427, Narrative Journalism, focuses on the craft of true storytelling. Students in the class will study and produce work that adheres to the highest standards and ethics of journalism. Among those are accuracy, fairness, honesty, transparency, independence, impartiality and accountability. Nonfiction narratives are carefully structured, with beginnings, middles and ends. They can be short or long. They can be presented on any media platform, but at their core is good writing. They feature characters rather than sources. They are built on scenes. They have themes. They have stakes. They include sensory detail. They are attuned to the emotional content of the information they explore. They unfold over time. They employ a voice appropriate to the material. They engage, enlighten, and when appropriate, entertain. Although they share certain structural and stylistic elements with great fiction, nothing in them is invented or imagined, and no characters are created or composited. They are true. PREREQ: JO 200 and JO 210. -
COM JO 431: Enterprise Reporting
Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO351) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO707) - Students produce in-depth video reports similar to those seen on network TV news magazine programs, news websites or, local television series. Includes a review of job trends in the field and advice on producing a resume reel or website. Four credits, spring semester. (Prerequisite: JO 351.) -
COM JO 455: Journalism Professional Project - Undergrad
Undergraduate Prerequisites: JO150, JO200, JO205, and JO210. - A capstone project completed by undergraduate students in consultation with one or more full-time Journalism faculty members. Projects may consist of long-form narrative stories, hard-news stories, video or audio or multimedia work, or a combination of all three. Must be approved by consulting faculty. -
COM JO 490: Directed Studies
Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Students work with faculty on individual research, professional training, or special studies. Variable credits, either sem. -
COM JO 500: Media Criticism
How well have the media covered recent U.S. wars? Do the media have political biases? What effect has Fox News had on the mainstream media? In the face of growing competition from the Internet, what is the future of traditional journalism? What impact are changes in the business model having on editorial integrity? Does political satire such as the "Daily Show" elevate or debase the political process? This timely course takes a critical look at the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of the news media, including current controversies. Four credits, either semester. -
COM JO 502: Journalism Special Topics
Undergraduate Prerequisites: COMJO 200; Graduate Prerequisites: COMJO 721. COMJO 502 offers a variety of relevant topics in the field of journalism for undergraduate and graduate students to explore. This course is designed to give students a deeper understanding of a particular topic, allowing them an opportunity to test their skills as a journalist. -
COM JO 503: Journalism Research
A rigorous grounding in research and investigative methods from interviews and records searching to computer-assisted reporting and use of the Freedom of Information Act. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.) -
COM JO 504: Arts Criticism
In this course, students learn how to cover entertainment and the arts and how to write criticism of performances and exhibitions. Students develop critical thinking and writing. Topics include: structuring a review; critical biases; profiling celebrities from a critical perspective; cultural criticism (how to write about entertainment or the arts to make broader points about our culture) and, style - how to get it. Assignments include TV, film, music and theater reviews, screenings and a trip to a Boston theater. Guests include prominent Boston critics. Four credits, fall semester. -
COM JO 505: Race & Gender in the News Media
Students examine the nature of race and gender stereotypes and the forms they take, and the historic context in which they develop and change overtime. The class looks at the structures, practices and culture of the news (and entertainment) media that create or echo and reinforce race and gender stereotypes. Students evaluate and analyze dominant political and ideological positions on race and gender in the U.S. and how they are presented by major media outlets. Four credits, every semester. -
COM JO 506: Audience Engagement
The ability to report for a digital audience and engage readers with your coverage are two of the most prized skills in newsrooms today. Understanding your audience -- why people read, watch, and listen to what they do -- and being able to connect them to your journalism is often the difference between a story read by millions that delivers a major impact and one that disappears without a trace into the vastness of the Internet. Many newsrooms have developed entire departments dedicated to these skills, which are core to both editorial strategy and company success. They represent not only a growth area in the industry, but also an important potential starting point for eager journalists looking for a foot-in-the-door. More specifically, this course will give students a thorough grounding in the principles and skills of digital reporting, audience engagement, multimedia journalism today. They will learn how to nimbly master emerging technologies and report in a way that resonates deeply within their communities. They will come away with not only the core concepts behind these disciplines, but also hands-on abilities that they can use in the real world for internships and full-time jobs. We’ll employ lectures, journalism critiques, guest speakers from around the industry, and real-world assignments to educate our students.
