Comm 3525

What Is News? --paper #1--15% of your final grade/60 grade points possible.

Communication scholars Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Karlyn Kohrs Campbell define HARD NEWS as "the report of an event that happened or that was disclosed within the previous 24 hours and treats an issue of ongoing concern. ... It is dramatic, conflict-filled, and involves extreme physical action and emotional intensity. It disrupts legimitate order and threatens community. ...[It] can be verified by official sources such as the police or the district attorney."

We begin this class with a review of the tenets of modern journalism, as defined by a review of some of the most important and notorious figures in American journalism. We examine the concepts of Objectivity, Fairness, Balance, Accuracy. We also explore how journalism has professionalized over the past 150 years.

Many pundits agree that journalism has changed over the last twenty years. Newspapers are failing around the country; online news is on the rise. News covered on the front pages of US newspapers is very different from the kind of news which appeared on front pages in the past.

Many of the standards which governed journalism in the past have been called in to question. In particular, many (including the author of your assigned textbook) have suggested that objectivity may not be a viable value today. What is the definition of news in 2009? What values currently govern news, as demonstrated by the Duluth News Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the New York Times, local television, national radio and television news?

This paper should be between five-seven pages long, double-spaced, one-inch margins on the sides, top and bottom, 12-point type. All referenced material must be internally cited and included on a works cited page. This paper should have a clear thesis, and a strong argument supported by evidence from the texts used. A failure to cite external sources will negatively affect your grade. Spelling and grammar are important. This paper MUST be typed/word-processed. Be sure to include a works-cited page. This paper is due at the beginning of class on February 12.