This is the syllabus for JNL-1102, Reporting and Writing News I, at the National Management College in Yangon, Myanmar. This is Professor Austin's class for the semester beginning June 1, 2015.

1. Syllabus – JNL 1102, Reporting and Writing I
Professor Linda Austin | National Management College | June 2015 | laustin.nmc@gmail.com
Learning objectives:
What you will be able to do after successfully completing this course:
 Identify stories that possess the attributes of good journalism: accurate, clear, audience-
focused, newsworthy, objective, fair, as well as reported ethically and without libel.
 Demonstrate basic news writing skills, including writing summary news leads and inverted-
pyramid stories, using attribution and quotes correctly, as well as including context and
background.
 Demonstrate basic reporting skills, including interviewing diverse individuals, showing a
command of basic math, and using traditional reference materials, the Internet, social media
and databases as sources.
Course description: This introductory news reporting course will teach you the basic reporting and
writing skills that you will need for further study in reporting for multiple platforms -- print,
broadcasting, online and mobile -- or for practicing public relations.
Required texts and other materials:
 Writing and Reporting News: A Basic Handbook, second edition, by Peter Eng and Jeff
Hodson, 2009, for the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation. The Burmese-language version
will be distributed in class. Burmese- and English-language versions can also be downloaded as
PDFs at the first two links near the bottom of this Web page: http://bit.ly/1GC1bKP
 Accuracy Checklist for Journalists, which will be provided.
 Follow the news: You cannot be a successful journalist if you don’t keep up with the news.
The BBC has a Facebook page of news in Burmese: https://www.facebook.com/bbcburmese
The Irrawaddy also has a Facebook page of news in Burmese:
https://www.facebook.com/IrrawaddyBurmese
 Read both, and come prepared to discuss current events in class. There will be a news quiz
most weeks based on these two sources. You can also get a daily email in English of links to
news about Burma from a variety of sources by subscribing at Burmanet.org.
 Reporter’s notebooks, steno pads or legal pads and at least two pens are required to take
notes for assignments.
 A digital audio recorder is highly recommended but not required. If you have an Android
smartphone, you can use it as a recorder by downloading either of these free apps: Easy Voice
Recorder by Digipom -- http://bit.ly/1JOB3N5 -- or Sound Recorder by Needom Studio:
http://bit.ly/1GsQojp
 The above apps do not work to record phone calls; try the free Automatic Call Recorder by
Appliqato for recording phone calls: http://bit.ly/1FuC79C. Despite its name, you can chose
which calls you record. Always ask permission of the other party before recording a phone call.
 If you have a smartphone, download the free Quizlet app: http://bit.ly/1AbndiE Then, search
for: “Vocabulary Words from ‘Writing and Reporting the News: A Basic Handbook,’ by Peter
Eng and Jeff Hodson”: https://quizlet.com/_19v9g1 You will find several ways to learn the 23
vocabulary words including flash cards and games. After you’ve accessed the vocabulary-word
set once, you can use the Quizlet app without being connected to the Internet. There will be a
vocabulary quiz on June 22 based on these 23 words, which form the glossary on page xiv of
Writing and Reporting the News: A Basic Handbook.
 Other useful books include a dictionary and a thesaurus.
Attendance: You are expected to be in every class, and you are expected to arrive on time. There are
no excused absences or lateness, and no makeup work will be given. If you are not present for a

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quiz or in-class assignment, you will not receive credit. This includes homework with an in-class
component assigned when you are absent. The dropped-grade (below) is designed to account for
missed assignments due to illnesses and emergencies.
Assignments: You will do most of your reporting and much of your writing in the classroom.
Generally, your instructor will be the source for your story – he/she will provide you with basic
information, and you will report the story by asking questions. At other times, the instructor will bring
someone into the classroom for you to interview, or you will watch a news conference or other event
and then write about it. You will write a number of your stories in class on tight deadlines. At other
times, you will begin writing your assigned story in class, where you can get feedback from the
instructor on your lead, structure, etc., and then you will take your story home to complete by a
designated deadline.
Outside writing assignment: As part of the final exam, you will produce an out-of-class enterprise
assignment. You will pitch a simple enterprise story idea to your instructor, who must approve the
assignment. Then, once your instructor approves the idea, you will go out and report the story, doing
real interviews with at least three sources, and turn in a story of 600-800 words. You must submit a
draft for your instructor’s review before turning in the final story. The story pitch is due July 27;
the draft is due Aug. 21, and the final story is due Sept. 4. The outside writing
assignment cannot be dropped.
Quizzes and tests: During the first class period of most weeks, there will be a graded quiz covering
current news events, lectures and textbook readings from the previous week. While there is no
traditional midterm or final exam, you will be given midterm and final writing assignments that must
be completed in class during the exam time without consultation with the instructor; the midterm
and final writing assignments cannot be dropped. The outside writing assignment will be
considered the take-home portion of the final exam.
Class participation: I strongly encourage you to ask questions and participate in class discussions.
We are all learning together, and your questions may well help others.
Accuracy: Since accuracy is the most important aspect of journalism, we will adhere to rigid
standards. Any major error of fact – a misspelled proper name, an erroneous phone number, an
incorrect address, a libelous statement or a misstatement of a major fact (in other words, anything
that would require a printed correction if the story were to appear in a newspaper) – will result in a
zero on that assignment.
Deadlines: Since this course is designed to immerse students in the world of journalism, we will
replicate the tight and unbending deadlines of a real newsroom. That means assignments must be
submitted by the designated time. No late assignments will be accepted; you will receive a zero.
Dropped-grades policy: Your two lowest grades on in-class writing assignments and your two
lowest quiz grades will be dropped. This means that if you must miss a class and you receive a “zero”
on that assignment or quiz, the grade may be dropped. The outside writing assignment and midterm
and final writing assignments cannot be dropped, and your instructor may decide that other
assignments or quizzes throughout the semester also may not be dropped. You will be told ahead of
time which assignments these are.

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Grading of stories: Stories that have no factual errors and are submitted on time will be evaluated
on the following criteria: lead (intro), content, attribution, organization and writing. Here is a chart
that describes how stories will be graded; the highest score for a story is 100 points:
Scoring criteria: how
many points
Excellent: 20
to 16 points
Good: 15 to 11
points
Fair: 10 to 6
points
Poor: 5 to 0
points
Lead (intro):
Draws readers into the story;
is concise yet complete.
Content: Contains fair,
accurate, objective, timely
information that is relevant
to the audience.
Attribution: Uses multiple
sources; includes all relevant
viewpoints; use quotations
and identifies sources
properly.
Organization: Has the
impact before the details, the
new info before the
background. The story is
complete, has context and
answers most readers’
questions.
Writing: Is clear, concise
and easy to understand.
Follows spelling,
punctuation and grammar
rules.
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Tutorial #1 6 marks
Quizzes
In-class writing assignments
Class participation
Tutorial #2 8 marks
Midterm in-class writing assignment
Tutorial #3 6 marks

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Quizzes
In-class writing assignments
Class participation
Final exam 80 marks
In-class writing assignment on final exam day
Outside writing assignment based on story pitch
TOTAL 100 marks
Scale for final course grades: GP 5=75 marks and above; GP 4=74 to 64 marks; GP 3=64-50
marks; GP 2=49-35 marks; GP 1=34 to 0 marks
Classroom etiquette: Cell phones and all other mobile devices must be turned off during class.
Please do not interrupt others when they are speaking.
Academic integrity: If any student is found to have engaged in academic dishonesty in any form –
including but not limited to cheating, plagiarizing and fabricating – that student shall receive a GP 1
for the class. Plagiarism consists of using someone else’s words, phrases, sentences or ideas without
giving credit. This is true whether you do it intentionally or inadvertently.
Course schedule: Be sure to read textbook assignments before the week dedicated to that topic so
you can contribute to the discussion. All chapters are from Writing and Reporting News: A Basic
Handbook by Peter Eng and Jeff Hodson. This schedule is subject to change.
Week Dates
Chapter title and
subject for the week
Chapter
to read
BEFORE
week
starts Quiz/exam dates
Due dates
for
important
assignments
1 June 1-5 Journalists and the news 1 June 5: Syllabus
quiz
June 3: Return
student
questionnaire
2 June 8-12 Basic requirements of
good stories
4 June 8: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
3 June 15-19 Basic story structure 3 June 15: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
4 June 22-26 The lead 8 June 22:
Vocabulary quiz
5 June 29-
July 3
Organizing the story 9 June 29: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
6 July 6-10 Using quotations 10 July 6: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week

5. Page 5 of 5
7 July 13-17 Tips on good writing 11 July 13: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
8 July 20-24 Finding sources and story
ideas
2 July 20: In-class
midterm writing
assignment
9 July 27-30 Observation 5 July 27: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
July 27: Story
pitch due
July 31 HOLIDAY – No class
10 Aug. 3-7 Interviewing techniques 6 Aug. 3: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
11 Aug. 10-14 Using documents and the
Internet
7 Aug. 10: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
12 Aug. 17-21 News releases 12 Aug. 17: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
Aug. 21: Draft
story due
13 Aug. 24-28 Covering meetings,
speeches, news
conferences
13 Aug. 24: Quiz on
basic math
14 Aug. 31-
Sept. 4
Writing for digital media 16 Aug. 31: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
Sept. 4: Final
story due
15 Sept. 7-11 Ethics 15 Sept. 7: Quiz on
news, lectures and
readings from
previous week
16 Sept. 14-18 Final exam In-class final exam
writing assignment