Contact: rkanigel@gmail.com Teaching the Newspaper Course Contact: rkanigel@gmail.com Rachele Kanigel San Francisco State University

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JOUR 609 Publication Lab Newspaper production course in a journalism department All students required to take at least once, most take at least twice, some take it three times Prerequisites: Newswriting + Reporting (reporter/editors) OR Newswriting + Photojournalism 2 (photographers)

Staff 10-15 editors 10-25 reporters 6-15 photographers 1-3 designers (sometimes not enrolled in class – they may take independent study)

Publication Website updated daily Newspaper distributed weekly on Wednesdays 10,000 circulation

Class Structure Class meets twice a week, Mondays & Fridays 9:35-10:50 a.m. Mondays: Story pitches Wednesdays: Critiques, workshops, guest lecturers, discussions of ethical issues, panel discussions, brainstorming sessions, project planning sessions Last 15 minutes of every class reporters & editors meet

Grading reporters Minimum requirements: 15 stories (roughly one per week) 20 production hours (distributing the paper, copyediting, writing headlines, background research for someone else’s story, man-on-the-street interviews) Weekly story pitches Reporters turn in three portfolios, each after about 5 weeks

Critiques

Grading reporters Portfolio includes: Original draft of each story and story as it appeared online or in print Memo for each story explaining how story originated, problems encountered, how reporter and editor worked together Weekly beat memos (story ideas) Production hours log Self-evaluation form Evaluation of editors

Grading reporters Point system: Portfolio 1 Up to 25 points Beat Report Up to 5 points Class participation Beat handoff Production hours (20) 1/2 point per hour Bonus points 1 for each weekly award Total Up to 100

so there is no problem with prior review. All work is graded AFTER PUBLICATION so there is no problem with prior review.

Class activities Small group discussions Students meet in small groups to select: Best headline Best story Best lede Best opinion piece (editorial, column, review) Best photo Best page design and address the question: What could we have done better this week:

Class activities Story hunt Send groups of 3 (a mix of editors, reporters, photographers, designers) out on a story hunt to a different building or area of campus. Each group has to find: An upcoming event A profile subject A subject for a multimedia story A news story Each team reports back to the whole staff.

Class activities Brainstorming session Students meet in small groups to generate story ideas. Ask: What’s challenging about being a student? What frustrates you about this school? How does the economy/budget cuts/upcoming election, etc. affect students on this campus? Have each group make a list of topics/issues and then turn them into story ideas

Class activities Meet your readers Have staffers go out in pairs with a stack of newspapers to different parts of campus. Instruct each pair to introduce themselves and the newspaper to passersby and engage potential readers in conversation. Ask: Are you familiar with the newspaper? Do you read it? Regularly or occasionally? What do you like about the newspaper? What don’t you like about it? What stories should we cover?

Textbook Instructors can order a free examination copy at wiley.com

Resources Golden Gate Xpress can be viewed at http://goldengatexpress.org/ Syllabus available for download at http://issuu.com/rachelekanigel/docs/sfsustudentnewspapersyllabus Contact rkanigel@gmail.com Presentation: http://slidesha.re/1u9tI7y