Reporting & News Writing Syllabus
Georgetown School of Continuing Studies, Fall 2018
Aug. 29: The News

Discussion: What makes a piece of information newsworthy? How do you rank different stories by importance within a news outlet? How does the medium affect news values?
Workshop: Students will look at a sample news budget, discuss what makes each of the items a story and choose which ones they would run for different types of outlets.
Top News Workshop 1: National TV broadcast
Top News Workshop 2: Tabloid newspaper
Readings: “How the Format Affects the News,” Ryan Teague Beckwith; “Understanding the News Cycle at a Newspaper,” Guy Bergstrom; “Welcome to the Zócalo” in News Is a Verb, Pete Hamill; “Advice for Beginning Journalists,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Discussion: How do you write a classic Associated Press lede? How do you decide which information should go at the top of a story? What are some alternatives to the standard straight-news lede?
Presentation: How to Write a Lede
Presentation: Famous Ledes From History
Workshop: Students will be given a set of facts and will be tasked with writing an AP-style lede. The class will then collectively write a lede and discuss alternatives.
Reading: “Deconstructing an Associated Press Lede,” Ryan Teague Beckwith. “Leads: The Agony of Square One” from The Associated Press Guide to News Writing, René J. Cappon; “The Power of Leads,” Chip Scanlan; “Read the Epic 333-Word Lede from a Boston Newspaper’s Account of the Death of Blackbeard” and “The Worst Ledes Ever?” Ryan Teague Beckwith; “Anecdotal Leads for News Stories Reporting the End of the World,” Hart Seely
Assignment: Students will decide on a neighborhood in D.C. that they would like to cover as a class. The ideal beat includes a mix of residential and commercial areas, is accessible by Metro and has an interesting demographic mix. Past classes have focused on Brookland and Anacostia. Other possibilities include Bloomingdale, U Street, Shaw, H Street, Navy Yard and Southwest Waterfront.
Inspiration: “High-Rises Replace Parking Lots in Mount Vernon Triangle,” Lori Aratani; “In a Changing D.C. Neighborhood, Urban Art Helps Preserve Community Roots,” Mary Hui; “Navy Yard on Track to Be D.C.’s Most Densely Populated Neighborhood,” Sadie Dingfelder.
Sept. 5: The Beat

Discussion: What is a beat? How does a reporter find news off a beat? How do you develop official and unofficial sources? How do you decide what are the best stories off a beat? How do you go from idea to pitch?
Presentation: How to Walk the Beat
Workshop: Students will write a brief pitch for a story off their beat. The class will go over all of the pitches and discuss how to make them stronger and which ones they would accept as an editor.
Readings: “Beat Reporting: What Does It Take to Be the Best?” Chip Scanlan; “How to Turn a Garbage Assignment Into Front Page News, Literally,” Ryan Teague Beckwith; “Washington’s Beat Sweetener Media Culture,” Ari Berman; “A Beat-Sweetener Sampler,” Timothy Noah
Discussion: What is the purpose of a headline? How do you write an effective headline? How does the medium affect the format of a headline? What are the different kinds of headlines?
Presentation: Writing Headlines
Presentation: Online Headlines
Workshop: Students will be given an assortment of stories and will brainstorm headlines for each, including variations for print, social media and search engine optimization.
Reading: “A News Story Doesn’t Have a Headline Any More. It Has Headlines,” Ryan Teague Beckwith; “How the Media Would Have Covered Columbus’s Discovery of the New World,” Dan Amira; “This Study on the Most Effective Facebook Headlines Will Make You Cry Tears of Recognition,” Will Oremus
Assignment: Write a beat memo for your new neighborhood. The beat memo should include a brief history of the area, its demographics, potential sources and a list of possible story ideas. Due Sept. 12. No rewrite.
Inspiration: “Columbia Heights Hipsters Stumble Into Target Territory,” Monica Hesse; “Immigrants Gather at a Starbucks in Northern Virginia for a Taste of Home,” Tara Bahrampour, “Homeless Tent City in the Heart of Gentrifying Washington Gets Moved Out,” Ian Shapira; “What’s a Wendy’s Doing There? The Story of Washington’s Weirdest Traffic Circle,” Dan Zak, “‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Chevy Chase dog park divides the rich and powerful,” Jessica Contrera; “A Bridge Too Far: The Dating Divide Between D.C. People And Arlingtonians,” by Airey.
Sept. 12: The Interview

Discussion: How does a reporter get a source to open up? What are some common tricks of the trade? What is the difference between friendly and hostile interviews? How do you ask good follow-up questions?
Presentation: How to Interview
Presentation: How to Ask a Presidential Candidate a Question
Workshop: Students will brainstorm a list of questions for an interview of public figure in a tightly controlled setting. The class will then discuss how to frame the questions better.
Readings: “Creative Interviewing” from The Writer’s Complete Guide to Conducting Interviews, Michael Schumacher; “How Journalists Can Become Better Interviewers,” Chip Scanlan; “The Art of the Interview,” Ann Friedman; The Art of the Interview, Lawrence Grobel; “Writing About People: The Interview” in On Writing Well, William Zinsser
Discussion: How do you write in plain English? How do you avoid jargon, purple prose and off-key tone? How do you learn to edit yourself and others to make writing more clear and lively?
Presentation: Write Saxon, Don’t Communicate in Latinate
Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Origins of English Words?
Workshop: Students will rewrite a short story to strike unnecessary words, replace jargon with plain English and break up needlessly long sentences without losing any of the basic information.
Presentation: Write Drunk, Edit Sober
Reading: “The Tale of English,” Ryan Teague Beckwith, “News Writing: Information is Not Enough” in The Associated Press Guide to News Writing, René J. Cappon
Assignment: Interview someone on your beat. This could be a local newsmaker, such as a politician, or it could be just someone interesting, such as a small business owner. Transcribe the entire interview. Due Sept. 19. No rewrite.
Inspiration: “Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon,” Ryan Lizza; “James Reston Jr. on the ‘Frost/Nixon’ Interviews,” Terry Gross; “David Sedaris Wants You to Read His Diary,” Ana Marie Cox; “How Humankind Could Become Totally Useless,” Nate Hopper; “Fresh Air’s 10 Favorite Terry Gross Interviews,” Nicholas Quah
Sept. 19: The Profile Story

Discussion: How do you write a profile? How do you make your readers care about a profile subject? Which parts of their life story do you include? What are the telling details that sell the story?
Presentation: How to Write a Profile
Presentation: How to Write an Obituary
Workshop: Students will write a brief pitch for a profile based on their interview from the previous assignment. Selected students will pitch their profile to the class for critique and refinement.
Reading: “Planning and Execution” in The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, William Blundell; “The Checklist,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Discussion: How do you structure a news story? How do you begin and end? How do you decide which information to highlight in the headline and lede? How do you edit yourself effectively?
Presentation: A Taxonomy of News Stories
Workshop: Students will take apart a story from a national publication and discuss its structure. The class will compare structures of stories on the same subject from different outlets.
Presentation: I Created a Slideshow
Readings: “The Hourglass,” Chip Scanlan; “Read the Epic Newspaper Correction on the Wright Brothers’ First Flight,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Assignment: Write a profile of the person you interviewed for the preceding assignment. (Exceptions granted with permission.) Interview friends, coworkers, rivals and customers as well as the person profiled. Due Sept. 26. Rewrite due Oct. 3.
Inspiration: “The Peekaboo Paradox,” Gene Weingarten; “The Ballad of Old Man Peters,” Jon Franklin; “A Muslim Leader in Brooklyn, Reconciling 2 Worlds,” Andrea Elliott; “The Real Heroes Are Dead,” James B. Stewart; “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” Gay Talese; “Kim Kardashian Has a Few Things to Get Off Her Chest,” Caity Weaver
Sept. 26: The Event Story

Discussion: How do reporters prepare for rallies, festivals and other planned events? Where do you look for angles that set your story apart? How do you avoid falling victim to spin?
Presentation: The Pseudo-Event
Quiz: Event or Pseudo-Event?
Workshop: Students will write a breaking news story based on a set of facts. The class will then collectively write a version of the story. New facts will then be introduced and the class will rewrite the story.
Presentation: How to Cover an Earthquake
Reading: “From News Gathering to News Making” in The Image, Daniel J. Boorstin
Discussion: How do you use quotes effectively? What makes something quotable? How do you use partial quotes? How do you handle a source who rambles or uses jargon?
Presentation: How to Quote Someone Properly
Workshop: Students will take a transcript of an interview with a notable public figure and find the best quotes. They will rank the quotes and discuss how they would use them in a story.
Presentation: How to Handle Sexual Harassment
Reading: “Deconstructing Associated Press Quotes,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Assignment: Attend an event on your beat and write a story within a few hours. You are encouraged to do some reporting about the event and its organizers ahead of time to find an angle. Events must be cleared with instructor ahead of time. (It’s not a bad idea to discuss the angle too.) Story must be turned in no later than Oct. 3. Rewrite due Oct. 10.
Inspiration: “Activists say Capital Pride overtaken by corporations and rich gay men,” Justin Wm. Moyer; “Donald Trump takes center stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival,” Rachel Lewis; “The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved,” Hunter S. Thompson; “Digging JFK Grave Was His Honor,” Jimmy Breslin
Oct. 3: The Government Story

Discussion: How do you cover a government meeting? Where do you look in an agenda to find the potential story or stories? How can you prepare before a meeting to file a better story quickly afterward?
Presentation: How to Write Up a Vote
Workshop: Students will go over information from a government meeting and turn it into a news story, with a focus on getting rid of bureaucratic terms and putting it in plain English.
Presentation: How to Cover Election Night
Reading: “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell; “On Bullshit,” Harry Frankfurt; “Candidates’ Vices: Craps and Poker,” by Michael Weisskopf and Michael Scherer; “‘There’s Nothing Better Than a Scared, Rich Candidate,’” Molly Ball; “The Front-Runner’s Fall,” Joshua Green; “13 Ways of Looking at a White House,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Discussion: How do you illustrate a story? How can a photograph convey the gist of a news story or feature? What makes a photograph good? What are some tricks non-photographers can use?
Presentation: How to Take Good Photos
Workshop: Students will spend 15 minutes looking for a good street photo in Chinatown. The class will then go over which pictures worked and which didn’t and discuss how to improve their technique.
Presentation: Famous Magazine Covers From History
Readings: “The Falling Man,” Tom Junod; “The Most Influential Images of All Time,” Ben Goldberger, Paul Moakley and Kira Pollack
Assignment: Attend a government meeting on your beat or in the Washington, D.C., area generally. You will write a news story based on—but not necessarily limited to—topics discussed at the meeting. The meeting must be cleared with instructor ahead of time. Story due no later than Oct. 10. Rewrite due Oct. 17.
Inspiration: The Power Broker, Robert Caro; Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72, Hunter S. Thompson; All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein; The Boys on the Bus, Timothy Crouse
Oct. 10: The Crime Story

Discussion: How do you cover crime and legal issues? What makes some crimes newsworthy and others not? What are the legal and ethical concerns when reporting on crime? How do you talk to victims and suspects?
Presentation: How to Talk to Victims
Workshop: Students will write a crime story based on information from a charging document and the text of an interview with a police captain. The class will then critique and rewrite the story collectively.
Readings: “Murder” from The Good Times, Russell Baker; “A Q&A with a ‘Daily News’ Crime Reporter,” Paul Hiebert; “Dirty Secrets in a Crime Reporter’s Backpack,” Adam Martin; “Execution” in True Crime: An American Anthology, Joseph Mitchell; “Covering the Cops” from American Stories, Calvin Trillin
Discussion: What is libel? How do you avoid it? What are the legal defenses to a libel charge? How should you respond when threatened by the subject of a news story?
Presentation: How to Avoid Libel
Quiz: Is That News Story Libelous?
Reading: “What Journalists Need to Know About Libelous Tweets,” Mallary Jean Tenore
Assignment: Schedule a ride-along with police on your beat or elsewhere in Washington, D.C. You will look for a story from the ride-along, such as a trend in local crime, to report out later. Due Oct. 17. Rewrite due Oct. 24.
Inspiration: In Cold Blood, Truman Capote; The Corpse Had a Familiar Face, Edna Buchanan; The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcolm; The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson; “A Part of Cop’s Past Lies Dead,” Jimmy Breslin; “The Color of Blood,” Calvin Trillin
Oct. 17: The Business Story

Discussion: How do you write about business at the local level? What are some common types of stories about local business? How do you get business sources to open up?
Presentation: How to Profile a Business
Workshop: Students will go over information about a business and turn it into a news story, with an emphasis on using plain English and avoiding business jargon and finding the key facts and figures.
Discussion: What is search engine optimization? How do you find trending topics on Google? What are the upsides and downsides of buildling coverage around SEO?
Presentation: How to Write for Google
Quiz: Which Newsy Phrase Does Better on Google?
Workshop: Students will take an assortment of stories in the news and practice looking up and comparing search terms on Google Trends and checking Google News.
Assignment: Profile a business on your beat. You will talk to the owner as well as employees, regular customers, a competitor and any experts on the industry. Due Oct. 24. Rewrite due Oct. 31.
Inspiration: “Twist-Ties vs. Plastic Clips: Tiny Titans Battle for the Bakery Aisle,” Paul Lukas; “Behind the Scenes of Barbie’s Insanely Popular, Painstakingly-Produced Instagram,” Julia Rubin; “Business Outsider,” Ken Auletta; “The French Fry Connection,” Richard Read
Oct. 24: The Feature Story

Discussion: What makes a good feature story? Where do you find ideas for features? How can you use the power of description and observation to make your feature writing stand out?
Presentation: How to Find a Feature Story
Workshop: Students will pitch feature stories off their beat. The class will collectively refine the pitches and discuss where to find good sources.
Reading: “Stalking the True Short Story” in Writing for Story, Jon Franklin; “The 3 Things in Every Great Magazine Story,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Discussion: How do you use statistics? How do you keep from overhwelming the reader with numbers? How do you choose the most notable figure? What are good sources for statistics?
Presentation: How to Read a Poll
Quiz: How Well Can You Read a Poll?
Workshop: Students will be given a recent national poll. They will decide on the most important results and write a short brief highlighting those and noting the polling methodology.
Assignment: Write a feature story on your beat. It could be a slice of life about a local institution, a trend piece or a group profile. With advance permission, it could also be an event or individual profile. Due Oct. 31. Rewrite due Nov. 7.
Inspiration: “Other People’s Stuff” in “Off-Ramp,” Hank Stuever; “The Old House at Home,” Joseph Mitchell; “Vietnamese Refugees in New Orleans Find a Little Peace,” Rick Bragg
Oct. 31: The Broadcast Story

Discussion: What are the elements of a radio story or TV story? How do you capture ambient sound, write a voice-over and prepare for a live interview? How do the news values of broadcast differ?
Presentation: How to Write for Radio
Reading: “Writing for Broadcast” in Sound Reporting, Jonathan Kern; “Radio: An Illustrated Guide” from Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio, Jessica Abel; “Get great sound every time with this field recording checklist,” Rob Byers
Workshop: Students will rewrite a newspaper article into a one-minute radio spot, including an introduction from the host. Selected students will read their radio hit to the class.
Discussion: How do you use documents to advance your story? How do you find documents? How do public records requests work? How do you verify leaked documents?
Presentation: How Does FOIA Work?
Workshop: The class will decide on a public record on our beat, find the appropriate agency’s public information officer and collectively write a FOIA letter.
Assignment: Rewrite one of your previous assignments as a script for a one-minute radio spot, following proper formatting for a broadcast piece. You can treat quotes from your piece as though they were on tape. Due Nov. 7. No rewrite.
Inspiration: Radio scripts of Edward R. Murrow; All I Did Was Ask: Conversations With Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists, Terry Gross
Nov. 7: The Enterprise Story

Discussion: How do you go deep on a story? How do you use statistics and data to back up a story? How do you find real people to tell the story? How do you conduct deeper interviews?
Workshop: Students will write a pitch for their best ideas for an enterprise story. The class will critique the ideas and suggest ways to narrow the focus, find sources and make the story compelling.
Assignment: Write an enterprise story on a subject on your beat. This could be a more in-depth look at a subject you previously covered, a trend, a profile of a major local player or a contentious local issue. The final story should be at least 1,000 words and have more sources than a regular weekly assignment. Reporting plan due Nov. 15. Draft due Nov. 29. Story due Dec. 6.
Nov. 15: Social Media

Discussion: How do you write for social media? What are the tips and techniques that draw and sustain an audience? How can you use social media to find sources and breaking news?
Presentation: How to Tweet
Presentation: How Not to Tweet
Workshop: Students will draft social media status updates for an assortment of news stories aimed at different audiences. The class will also practice searching for status updates and verifying a social media account.
Reading: “How to Tweet Newsy Links for Attention,” Ryan Teague Beckwith
Discussion: What are the next forms of media? How can stories be told in emerging media? How do you adapt the rules and lessons of traditional journalism for the future?
Presentation: How to Write an Email Newsletter
Workshop: Students will discuss stories they have written in class this year and brainstorm how they could have been done in alternate story form, broadcast or using social media platforms.
Readings: “Six Alternative Story Forms That Can Stand Alone,” Vicki Krueger; “10 Ways to Engage Readers With Alternative Story Forms,” Vicki Krueger; “76 Ways to Make Money in Digital Media,” David Plotz; “New Revenue for News,” Josh Sterns; “Find Out if President Trump Would Let You Immigrate to America,” Lisa Marie Segarra and David Johnson
Nov. 29: Peer Review

Workshop: Students will be paired together to critique the first drafts of their enterprise pieces. The class will go over a handful of pieces from selected students.
Dec. 5: Journalists’ Roundtable

Workshop: A group of reporters and editors from the Washington area will talk with the class about how they got their start, how they do their jobs and their advice on journalism.
Dec. 12: Fact-Checking and Pitching

Discussion: How do you fact-check an article for a weekly or monthly publication? What are primary and secondary sources? How do you conduct a fact-checking interview with a source? What do you do if you think a reporter is lying?
Presentation: Fact-Checking
Workshop: Students will highlight facts in a draft story that they would check and discuss how they would confirm them.
Discussion: How do you frame a story idea without an editor? How do you decide which publications you should pitch? How do you sharpen a pitch to a specific news outlet? What are best practices for approaching editors?
Workshop: Students will write a pitch email for one of the stories from this class.
