2016 - Fall

WRRI – BER

Course Number: JOUR-GA 1021.001

Day & Time: Tuesday, 8:30am-2:20pm

Location: 655

Writing, Research & Reporting I: BER is designed to teach the basic skills you’ll need to write news stories for business publications. You’ll learn everything from how to write on a daily (or even hourly) deadline for newspapers and wire services to penning short pieces for magazines. The emphasis will be on learning by doing, with regular reporting and writing assignments inside and outside of class. We’ll workshop your stories in class, dissect current media coverage, take field trips to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Conference Board and New York Stock Exchange, and analyze the merit and structure of good (and bad) news stories. You’ll be expected to stay abreast of the news, and to read The New York Times and Wall Street Journal regularly, as well as a number of business magazines (Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek, etc.) and websites. By the end of the semester, you should be able to write snappy ledes and smart nut grafs in your sleep—the first step in becoming a first rate journalist—and have the requisite skills to write tight, informative business stories. (Note: WRII covers longer magazine features.) In addition, we’ll be working closely with the Internship Director to prepare you for landing a quality internship.