JRN 494, Science Writing
Spring, 2004

Course meetings:
Mondays 4:40-6:30, West Hall 220
Individual meetings with instructor to be scheduled
Course Website:
http://cronkite.asu.edu/sciencewriting

Edward Sylvester
Office: STA 218
Phone: 965-4210

Office Hours: Mon. 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Wed. 1:30 - 4:30
And by appointment

Prerequisites

JRN 494 is open to selected upper-division students in Journalism and graduate students in Mass Communication, as well as to selected students with strong science/medical backgrounds and proven writing ability from other ASU colleges. The course is available for Honors College credit (Footnote 18) and fulfills the major emphasis elective requirement in the Cronkite School.

Objectives

Science Reporting covers one of the most dynamic specialties in journalism, with applications across a variety of professional careers. Few if any media specialties are in greater demand. Health and medicine stories regularly dominate as hard news and features, in print and broadcast. Now the web is
burgeoning with sites aimed at audiences ranging from professionals, who are sought by the American Medical Association at its site, to health-care consumers, targeted by OnHealth.com and others, to the broad audience that browses the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control site.

The course requires previous training in either journalism or science; it will be writing intensive.
Developing interviewing and reporting skills, and understanding and explaining key concepts in science will be the goal toward which everyone will work.

Text and Materials

Reading for the semester is on reserve at either Hayden or Noble Libraries, as shown on the separate reading list. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual American dictionary Reporter’s notebooks (available at campus bookstore).

Students without journalism backgrounds also should buy:

Itule, Bruce and Anderson, Douglas, News Writing and Reporting for Today's Media, Fifth Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 2000.

You will not need the workbook.

MCO 501 ? Spring, 1999 ? 2

Deadlines and Attendance

Meeting deadlines is a fact of life in all media careers. Attendance at every class meeting is expected. This is especially important because the class meets only once a week. If you cannot make it to class or will be late on a given date, please notify me as early as possible.

Style

We will use only The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. The most widely accepted stylebook in the news industry, it is usually the stylebook of choice in both newspapers and public relations offices. The AP stylebook is intended for regular, rapid use on deadline and must be followed down to details that may seem minor to a non-journalist. You will be expected to apply the rules of the AP Stylebook in all writing assignments; i.e., your familiarity with it will be important.

Grading

Each of the five stories / packages in the semester will count for 15 percent of your grade. The final, In-Depth project will count 25 percent. Only revised versions of stories/packages will count in your final grade. We will generally follow this schedule except as otherwise noted:

4:40 - 6:30 p.m Monday – Presentations. Generally, these will be either presentations by local science/medical professionals or presentations by you on projects you are working on for class. These are noted in the schedule.

By appointment – We will go over your stories one-on-one – as you develop them and after they are returned. In our group meetings, we'll be looking at how other professionals assemble their stories and presenting our own work for comment.

Course Organization

I've divided the course into three medical areas that yield the lion's share of news reported by the mass media. Naturally, these are somewhat artificial boundaries because news rarely falls into a single category. I ordered the subject areas to begin
with stories requiring the least expertise to report -- either in science or in journalism. We'll move into progressively more demanding topics. In each of these areas, we'll either host science/medical experts in the fields or travel to meet with them.

I Public Health

Weeks 2-5: Class meetings 1/31 - 2/14
Public health is breaking news. Last summer and fall, a strange new illness felled hundreds of people in New York before it was finally tracked down. It turned out to be a relative of West Nile Virus, little known on this continent. During the opening weeks of class, we'll study how reporters get sources and information for these types of stories, how things go wrong, and the complex roles played in outbreaks by local
health departments and the federal Centers for Disease Control. Story 1 (15%)

II Major Science/Medical

Weeks 6-9: Class meetings 2/20 - 3/20
My phrase, for lack of anything more precise: Diseases or traumas for which massive medical intervention is required. When we talk about heavily funded, cutting-edge scientific/medical research, these are usually the targets. Examples: cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, or 'brain attacks.' We'll look at burns and neurosurgery in
this list as an example of major interventional treatment. Stories 2 & 3 (15% + 15%)

MCO 501 ? Spring, 1999 ? 3

III Research

Weeks 10-13: Class meetings 3/27 - 4/17
Science/medical research is carried out in a wide range of setting, from basic research laboratories to applied research and development labs in drug companies to clinical trials in hospitals and doctors' offices. The rules of conduct are not always quite the
same and that leads to much of the controversy that winds up in the news. Stories 4 & 5 (15% + 15%)

IV In Depth Project

Weeks 14-15: Class meetings 4/24 - 4/30
The in depth project will be of your own choice. By the time we get to it, you will be familiar with developing and presenting story ideas and the events and research that will background them. The in depth project will be due no later than Friday, May 4 at
4:30 p.m. In Depth 25%

Download the PDF version of the syllabus.