A Jrl 325 Media Ethics (3)
Students will explore the ethical dilemmas encountered by professional journalists. These revolve around conflicts of interest, differing interpretations of community standards, the right to privacy versus the public’s right to know, First Amendment guarantees of free speech, the constraints of corporate ownership, and evolving ideas of what constitutes acceptable journalist practices. Students are strongly encouraged as a prerequisite to take one of the Philosophy Department courses listed as A Phi 114, A Phi 115, or A Phi 212.

A Jrl 330 History of Journalism in the United States (3)
This course examines the development of journalism in the United States, emphasizing the role of the press as a social institution. Subjects covered include the function and purpose of the press, evolving definitions of news, changing interpretations of the First Amendment, and the ethical and legal dimensions of free speech. Also examined will be the social, economic, political, technological, and cultural forces that have shaped the practices of journalism today.

A Jrl 340 Global Perspectives on the News (3)
This course provides a global perspective on news production and the distribution of media around the world. After studying the political and legal constraints under which international media operate- including the operating procedures of American journalists working as foreign correspondents- the course will explore topics including censorship, information warfare, internet piracy, the blogsphere, and conflicts between national interests and the media technologies that are unconstrained by national borders. Readings include works by Marshall McLuhan, Umberto Eco, Benjamin Barber, Susan George, and others.

A Jrl 350/Y Journalistic Interviewing (3)
Students in this course will gain experience in journalistic interviewing. They will work on assignments in a variety of situations, including personal interviews, background interviews, cold calls, solicitations for comment, and repeat interviews to press for clarification or new information. Also discussed is this course are the ethics of journalistic interviewing and editing, as well as the legal issues involved in prior consent, release forms, taped interviews, and other journalistic practices. Prerequisite(s): a grade of B or higher in any A Jrl course at the 100-, 200-, or 300-level, or permission of the instructor.

A Jrl 355 Public Relations Writing (3)
Students are introduced to the history of Public Relations tracing its modern development in the twentieth century and current rise to political prominence. Topics to be discussed include branding, logos, packaging, and other corporate practices. Students will review the legal and ethical rules of governing PR. Only after exploring how the goals of PR may be antithetical to those of journalism, will students be asked to produce a variety of writing samples, including advocacy journalism, press releases, speeches, position papers, web content, and other forms of PR. Some of this work, simulating crisis management, will be produced on deadline.

A Jrl 360 Intermediate Reporting and News Writing (3)
Building on the techniques acquired in A Jrl 200, students will develop their news instincts and hone their reporting and writing skills. Much of the class will be spent developing "live" stories- covering events, interviewing subjects, scrutinizing news sources, or handling a "beat." Students will produce news articles and feature stories like those expected of professional reporters with a modicum of experience in the field. Prerequisite(s): A Jrl 200Z.

A Jrl 364 Journalism: Special Topics (3)
Study of various issues in journalism. May be repeated when content differs. A Jrl 364Z is the writing intensive version of A Jrl 364. Prerequisite(s): intended primarily for juniors and seniors.

Topics for 2008-2009 include:
"Vietnam in Literature and Film"
The scene of major colonial wars as well as the United States’ longest war, Vietnam defined a generation. The Vietnam conflict transformed the nature of war reporting and gave rise to a variety of new techniques in narrative writing and filmmaking. Students will study this revolutionary period by immersing themselves in readings and films from the 1960s to the present, including works by Graham Greene, Marguerite Duras, Neil Sheehan, Le Ly Hayslip, and Michael Herr, as well as writing on the war by Vietnamese authors such as Bao Ninh and Nguyen Huy Thiep. Films viewed in the course include Apocalypse Now, The Quiet American, Rambo, and other works by Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American directors.

A Jrl 364Z  Journalism: Special Topics (3)
A Jrl 364Z is the writing intensive versions of A Jrl 364. Prerequisite(s): intended primarily for juniors and seniors.

A Jrl 365 Journalism: Special Topics (3)
Study of various issues in journalism. May be repeated when content differs. A Jrl 365Z is the writing intensive version of A Jrl 365. Prerequisite(s): intended primarily for juniors and seniors.

A Jrl 365Z Journalism: Special Topics (3)
A Jrl 365Z is the writing intensive version of A Jrl 365. Prerequisite(s): intended primarily for juniors and seniors.

A Jrl 366/Z Magazine Writing (3)
This course gives students experience in conceptualizing, researching, writing, rewriting, and submitting for publication different types of articles that are found in magazines, webzines, and the features section of newspapers. Ethical issues and writer-editor relationships are also examined. Students write several articles of varying length and complete other assignments, such as writing query letters and analyzing magazine content.

A Jrl 370/Z Reporting on Science & Technology (3)
A foundations course in writing about science and technology- two forces that play an increasingly dominant role in modern life. Students will learn how to evaluate scientific claims and distinguish the relative importance of technological advances in fields ranging from computers and telecommunications to biotechnology, nano-scale research, and environmental studies. Ethical issue surrounding military research, patents, copyrights, and intellectual property will also be explored. Weekly reading and writing assignments.

A Jrl 380 Photojournalism (3)
Students develop the critical skills for evaluating and the technical skills for producing, editing, and publishing digital photographs in a variety of formats, including traditional newspapers, satellite transmissions from the field, and internet web sites. While developing their aesthetic and technical skills, students will critique each other’s photos in a workshop format.

A Jrl 385/Y  Broadcast Journalism (3)
Students will report, write, produce, air, and record a variety of television and radio news stories with a degree of professionalism resembling what might be found in local newscasts, whether they be short reports or longer, feature-length stories. Working individually or in groups, students will use analog and digital video technologies and recording devices to produce their stories.

A Jrl 390 Digital Media Workshop I: Web Publishing (3)
This workshop teaches the editing and design skills required to produce literary websites, webcasts, blogs, and other forms of online digital journalism. The class is taught as a hands-on workshop in a digital classroom. Students, working on individual and team projects, will produce digital media using a variety of tools, ranging from Photoshop and Flash to Dreamweaver and HTML.

A Jrl 392 Digital Media Workshop II: Desk-Top Publishing (3)
This course develops the skills required for writing, editing, designing, and publishing on the web, primarily webzines, and internet news sites. This hands-on workshop is taught in a digital media lab. Working individually and in teams, students will produce and publish three major media projects.

A Jrl 397 Independent Study of Journalism (1–4)
A project in journalistic investigation and writing, or a study of some specific body of journalism sponsored by a faculty member and approved by the director of journalism. May repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): intended primarily for juniors and seniors and with permission of the program director.

A Jrl 410 Images of Journalism in Film (3)
This course explores the depiction of American journalism and journalists in a variety of fictional films and selected works of prose. Students study the history of filmed representations of journalists; they also study the images that journalists have presented of themselves and their profession. The course does not involve journalistic report and writing, but it does require close analysis of films, attentive reading, participation in class discussions, and a willingness to explore.

A Jrl 420 Political Economy of the Mass Media (3)
The course examines the production, distribution, and consumption of media, and how these social constraints shape the news, images, and cultural artifacts that surround us. Proceeding by case-study analyses of various cultural industries, including publishing, broadcasting, and other mass media, the course will examine topics including global marketing and branding, media corporatization, and other links between our cultural experience and the modern political economy. Readings of works by Herbert Schiller, Elizabeth and Stuart Ewen, Robert McChesney, Joseph Stiglitz, Katha Pollitt, and others.

A Jrl 460Z Advanced Reporting and News Writing (3)
After prior work in lower-level courses, students in this advanced workshop will develop their skills as investigative reporters and writers of news stories and articles that are thoroughly researched and compellingly written. Students may choose to write and rewrite one article throughout the semester or a cluster of articles on related subjects. Students are expected to develop a sense of journalistic tenacity and appreciation for applied research. They will learn how to develop a story through multiple drafts and how to produce articles that are noteworthy for their journalistic flair, emotional impact, or informative power.

A Jrl 465Z Opinion Writing (3)
This workshop gives students experience in writing a variety of journalistic pieces normally found in the opinion sections of newspapers, magazines, and online sites. Among the types of articles students will produce are personal columns, move and music reviews, and editorials. Students will also read widely among the best practitioners of opinion writing, from Maureen Dowd and Molly Ivins to H.L. Mencken and Hunter Thompson.

A Jrl 468/Z Literary Journalism (3)
This course invites students to read literary journalism and to write their own literary essays. Readings include works by Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Samuel Clemens, Stephen Cane, Janet Flanner, Lillian Ross, Rebecca West, John Hersey, James Agee, Dorothy Day, Meridel LeSueur, Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Tracy Kidder, and others. While reflecting on the relations between journalism and literary fiction and nonfiction, students will complete bi-weekly assignments.

A Jrl 470 Advanced Reporting on Science and Technology (3)
The successor to A Jrl 370Z, the introductory course on science writing and technology. Students will be expected to produce a sustained, well-researched and argued body of work on a scientific domain or domains of their choosing. Acceptable topics include computers and information, public health, medicine, biotechnology, nano-scale research, and environmental studies. Weekly reading and writing assignments, the latter sometimes consisting of outlines or drafts of loner work in progress.

A Jrl 475 Topics in Journalism (3)
This course may be either an intensive skills-oriented workshop or a conceptual course on a topic in journalism that bears serious study. More than one section may be offered in a semester. This course may be repeated for credit as the content varies.

A Jrl 480/Z Public Affairs Journalism (3)
The Capital District offers a unique laboratory for reporting on public affairs at all levels, from the local to the national. These include governmental affairs, but also judicial matters, relations between New York State and the State’s indigenous Indian tribes, and policy issues concerning medicine, technology, business, and education. Public affairs journalism is now part of a large debate about the lengths to which journalists should go in hosting community events and creating an informed citizenry. Along with numerous writing assignments, students will engage in wide reading of journalists who have staked out positions to this debate and operated effectively as reports or advocates in the public arena.

A Jrl 490 E-zine: Online Magazine Workshop (3)
E-zines, defined here as magazines published on the World Wide Web, are flourishing in the rapidly expanding domain of electronic journalism. This now includes blogs, webcasts, internet news services, and other specialized sites. The workshop is devoted to publishing several issues of an online magazine, which will include articles, images, graphics, and other interactive features. Students will work in teams to do the reporting, writing, editing, layout, design, coding, and publishing of these web-based e-zines.

A Jrl 495 Internship in Journalism (3-6)
The course is limited to Journalism majors and minors. Internships in a variety of media are offered for variable credit. The internship requires that students work on-site in a professional media organization, under the direct supervision of a qualified supervisor. A faculty supervisor will also design an academic component for the internship, based on readings, daily journals, and the writing of papers that analyze and reflect on the work experience. The faculty supervisor will meet regularly with interns, both individually and as a group. The Journalism Program Director will establish the specific requirements that must be fulfilled to receive credit for this course. Internships are open only to qualified juniors and seniors who have an overall grade point average of 2.50 or higher. Prerequisite(s): permission of faculty supervisor. S/U graded.

A Jrl 497 Independent Study in Journalism (1-3)
For variable credit (1-3), students in Journalism pursue an independent project under the supervision of a full time faculty member. A students might use this course to enhance a portfolio, gain expertise in journalistic practices, research a special topic, or complete work on a major assignment. An application to a faculty member is required. A written agreement outlining the goals and work to be completed during the independent study is also required. The course is limited to seniors with prior journalism experience, although they do not have to be a Journalism major or minor.

A Jrl 499 Senior Honors Project in Journalism (3)
Students will define, develop, research, and write or produce in electronic or visual form an individual project of serious merit. The project is intended to demonstrate the range of skills acquired during the student’s training in Journalism. The project should also demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the ethical and legal issues of the profession. Work on the project will be supervised by advanced arrangement with a faculty member. The decision on whether a student’s final project merits receiving Honors in Journalism will be made by the faculty of the Journalism Program.