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THIRTEEN-WEEK SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS FOR JOUR277

Professor Rogers' e-mail: bucksjournalism@gmail.com

The news quiz is updated every Friday - go to the Virtual Newsroom in the Quick Links menu at the left to catch up on the week's news.

Send the entire week's worth of assignments in ONE e-mail. Send all work as attachments, either as Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format documents.

Be sure to join the following Facebook pages:

The Journalism Program

Jour277

All About Journalism

I'LL BE POSTING STORIES ON THE CLASS FACEBOOK PAGE THAT I WILL WANT YOU TO READ. BE SURE TO READ THESE STORIES.

THIS IS A 13-WEEK COURSE, SO IT WILL BE ORGANIZED IN FOUR UNITS OF THREE WEEKS EACH, WITH ONE WEEK LEFT AT THE END FOR FINISHING UP ASSIGNMENTS.

EACH THREE-WEEK UNIT WILL FOCUS ON A NEWS BEAT - TOWN GOVERNMENT, SCHOOLS, POLICE AND THE COURTS. YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE AN IN-DEPTH STORY OF 1,000 TO 1,500 WORDS FOR EACH OF THESE BEATS.

YOU WILL BE DEVELOPING YOUR OWN IDEAS FOR THESE STORIES BUT IF YOU NEED HELP I CAN HELP YOU. IF YOU DECIDE YOU'D LIKE TO DO TWO STORIES FROM THE SAME BEAT, AND SKIP ONE OF THE OTHER BEATS - FOR INSTANCE, DO TWO TOWN GOVERNMENT STORIES, A SCHOOL STORY AND A POLICE STORY - I MAY ALLOW IT BUT YOU NEED TO TALK TO ME FIRST.

THIS CLASS IS NOT ABOUT DOING QUICK, 500-WORD PIECES OF THE KIND YOU DID FOR JOUR175. IT'S ABOUT DOING MORE IN-DEPTH STORIES ABOUT SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS AND ISSUES THAT OFFICIALS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE DEALING WITH IN EACH OF THE BEATS OUTLINED BELOW.

UNIT ONE - TOWN GOVERNMENT

WEEK ONE

ATTEND A TOWN GOVERNMENT MEETING (OR WATCH A LIVE OR ARCHIVED ZOOM VIDEO MEETING) IN THE TOWN OF YOUR CHOOSING. FROM THIS MEETING AND FROM TALKING TO LOCAL OFFICIALS, DEVELOP A LIST OF ONE OR TWO POSSIBLE STORY IDEAS THAT YOU COULD DO FOR THIS CLASS. SEND ME THESE IDEAS AND WE'LL DECIDE WHICH STORY YOU'RE GOING TO DO.

READ THIS ON CALCULATING PROPERTY TAXES:

http://faculty.bucks.edu/rogerst/jourproptaxes.htm

READ THE CHAPTER IN THE MENCHER TEXTBOOK ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION AND TAKE THIS QUIZ.

DO THIS CITY COUNCIL NEWSWRITING EXERCISE

WEEK TWO

WORK ON YOUR IN-DEPTH TOWN GOVERNMENT STORY. CHECK IN WITH ME TO DISCUSS HOW IT'S GOING AND TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE HAVING ANY PROBLEMS.

DO EXERCISE THREE, PAGE 78 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

WEEK THREE

TURN IN YOUR TOWN GOVERNMENT STORY

DO EXERCISE FIVE, PAGE 79 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

UNIT TWO - SCHOOLS

WEEK FOUR

ATTEND A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING IN THE DISTRICT OF YOUR CHOICE. I RECOMMEND COVERING ONE IN THE DISTRICT YOU ATTENDED. FROM THIS MEETING AND FROM TALKING TO SCHOOL OFFICIALS, DEVELOP A LIST OF THREE POSSIBLE STORY IDEAS THAT YOU COULD DO FOR THIS CLASS. SEND ME THESE IDEAS AND WE'LL DECIDE WHICH STORY YOU'RE GOING TO DO.

DO EXERCISE FOUR, PAGE 79 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

WEEK FIVE

WORK ON YOUR IN-DEPTH SCHOOLS STORY. CHECK IN WITH ME TO DISCUSS HOW IT'S GOING AND TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE HAVING ANY PROBLEMS.

DO EXERCISE SIX, PAGE 80 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

WEEK SIX

TURN IN YOUR IN-DEPTH SCHOOLS STORY.

UNIT THREE - POLICE

WEEK SEVEN

INTERVIEW A POLICE OFFICER OR DETECTIVE AT A LOCAL POLICE STATION TO GET SEVERAL IDEAS FOR AN IN-DEPTH STORY ABOUT LONG-TERMS PROBLEMS OR TRENDS THE POLICE IN THAT COMMUNITY ARE DEALING WITH. DEVELOP A LIST OF THREE POSSIBLE STORY IDEAS THAT YOU COULD DO FOR THIS CLASS. SEND ME THESE IDEAS AND WE'LL DECIDE WHICH STORY YOU'RE GOING TO DO.

READ THE CHAPTER IN THE MENCHER TEXTBOOK ON THE POLICE AND TAKE THIS QUIZ.

DO A STORY BASED ON THIS PRESS RELEASE FROM THE POLICE.

WEEK EIGHT

CONTINUE WORKING ON YOUR POLICE STORY. CHECK IN WITH ME TO LET ME KNOW HOW IT'S GOING.

DO A STORY BASED ON THIS PRESS RELEASE FROM THE POLICE.

WEEK NINE

TURN IN YOUR IN-DEPTH POLICE STORY

DO A STORY BASED ON THIS PRESS RELEASE FROM THE POLICE.

UNIT FOUR - THE COURTS

WEEK TEN

ARRANGE TO VISIT A LOCAL COURTHOUSE, PREFERABLY THE STATE SUPERIOR COURTHOUSE IN DOYLESTOWN, AND INTERVIEW A JUDGE OR COURT OFFICIAL TO DISCUSS AN ONGOING PROBLEM OR ISSUE THE COURTS ARE DEALING WITH. DEVELOP A LIST OF SEVERAL POSSIBLE STORY IDEAS THAT YOU COULD DO FOR THIS CLASS. SEND ME THESE IDEAS AND WE'LL DECIDE WHICH STORY YOU'RE GOING TO DO.

READ THE CHAPTER ON THE COURTS IN THE MENCHER TEXTBOOK AND TAKE THIS QUIZ.

DO A STORY BASED ON EXERCISE FIVE, PAGE 40 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

WEEK ELEVEN

CONTINUE WORKING ON YOUR COURT STORY. CHECK IN WITH ME TO LET ME KNOW HOW IT'S GOING AND TO DISCUSS ANY PROBLEMS YOU MIGHT BE HAVING.

DO A STORY BASED ON EXERCISE SIX, PAGE 43 IN NEWSWRITING ON DEADLINE.

WEEK TWELVE

TURN IN YOUR IN-DEPTH COURT STORY.

WEEK THIRTEEN (FINAL WEEK)

TURN IN ANY REMAINING WORK YOU HAVEN'T YET COMPLETED.