2021 – Summer

Reporting with Social Media (2-credit) (4 weeks, June 7-30)

Course Number: SS0: JOUR-UA 25.001

Day & Time: Mon/Wed 6:30-9:30 pm

Location: Online

Instructor: Kenneth Paulsen

Albert Class Number: 6737

Social media serves as an essential tool not only for how today’s reporters research and report the news, but also how they present and promote the news. It represents a massive shift over the course of just 10-15 years. In this course, we’ll learn to track down high-quality primary sources through social channels and engage with them; conduct geographically focused research; and craft news reports that meet the interests of a social-media obsessed audience, while also serving the public-interest objectives of serious news outlets. We’ll write traditional stories using information and sources from social media, and we’ll apply non-traditional storytelling platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram Stories to deliver the news.

In addition, we’ll study social media habits across age spectrums, including how authors build personal readerships, how stories go viral, and the overwhelmingly mobile audience that is reshaping how news is being consumed. We’ll follow the data, exploring insights from social media analytics and scheduling platforms, while remaining true to the ethics and tenets of high-quality journalism.