2020 – Fall

Elective Reporting Topics: Sports Reporting

Course Number: JOUR-UA 204, section 3

Day & Time: Thu | 5:00 PM – 8:40 PM

Location: Online

Instructor: Michael Huang

Prerequisites:  Journalistic Inquiry: The Written Word (JOUR-UA 101)

Students taking this course ultimately want to know how to eventually obtain a job in the sports media industry as a sports reporter or editor. With so many options available to graduates, the difficulty is not necessarily being chosen for one path, but choosing a path for oneself. This course is not theory, it is how-to, and as such they will learn how to choose that path in a highly competitive industry and the skills necessary for those reporting and editing positions.

Students will learn valuable skills including how to write a sports feature, a game story, a sports news story, an opinion column and a next-level analytical piece. To do this, they will also learn to effectively interview athletes, the nuances of sourcing, the breaking news process and vetting, the power of social media. The objective in this class is to give the students a realistic laboratory to use these skills. In the end, mastering them should eventually lead to a professional reporting job.

Notes: Counts as an elective for the journalism major and both journalism minors.