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

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3. 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)

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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Critiques

11. 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

12. 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

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

14. 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:

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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?

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

19. Resources
Golden Gate Xpress can be viewed at
Syllabus available for download at
Contact
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