Degree Requirements

4 credits

This course introduces students to multi- platform journalism. Students will gain practical experience producing and editing news and features for delivery via digital platforms. This class critiques and analyzes news sites to examine how multiple elements such as text, photo's audio, video, social media and interactive graphics are currently used in multimedia reporting. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.

4 credits

Students learn newswriting and reporting by covering a full range of news stories in a newsroom environment. This foundation course emphasizes stress on deadline pressure, writing, and reporting for all media. Includes weekly discussion of journalism principles as illustrated by current events and controversies. Four credits, fall semesters.

Var credits

Student develops a portfolio of professional work while working in the field. The student works 120-200 hours per semester or summer at the internship. Comprehensive paper, employer evaluation, and portfolio required upon completion of internship. Variable credit.

Var credits

Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor - In their final semester, all candidates for the M.S. degree in Journalism undertake a capstone project of professional quality. In consultation with a faculty member, the student conceives the project, carries out all necessary reporting and editing, combines multimedia elements as warranted, and seeks to have the work published or broadcast. 4 cr., either sem.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM FT353 - Graduate Prerequisites: COM FT707 or COM CO722 - This course is designed to develop skills necessary for producing long-form documentaries. There is an emphasis on exploring new, more engaging forms of storytelling and a broad range of stylistic approaches. It covers the entire process: finding a topic, developing a story structure, conceiving a style, shooting, editing, and post-production. Students develop their own ideas and form small groups to produce them.

4 credits

How well have the media covered recent U.S. wars? Do the media have political biases? What effect has Fox News had on the mainstream media? In the face of growing competition from the Internet, what is the future of traditional journalism? What impact are changes in the business model having on editorial integrity? Does political satire such as the "Daily Show" elevate or debase the political process? This timely course takes a critical look at the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of the news media, including current controversies. Four credits, either semester.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: COMJO 200; Graduate Prerequisites: COMJO 721. COMJO 502 offers a variety of relevant topics in the field of journalism for undergraduate and graduate students to explore. This course is designed to give students a deeper understanding of a particular topic, allowing them an opportunity to test their skills as a journalist.

4 credits

A rigorous grounding in research and investigative methods from interviews and records searching to computer-assisted reporting and use of the Freedom of Information Act. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

In this course, students learn how to cover entertainment and the arts and how to write criticism of performances and exhibitions. Students develop critical thinking and writing. Topics include: structuring a review; critical biases; profiling celebrities from a critical perspective; cultural criticism (how to write about entertainment or the arts to make broader points about our culture) and, style - how to get it. Assignments include TV, film, music and theater reviews, screenings and a trip to a Boston theater. Guests include prominent Boston critics. Four credits, fall semester.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO205) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO704 & COMJO721) - Whether you go to work for a print, broadcast or digital only newsroom, or produce content for your own start-up or non-profit, knowing how to properly edit content for multiple platforms is critical. This course is designed to give you hands-on experience with editing for multiple platforms. Examples of typical assignments: Editing a text story for print and web, writing a headline and description for YouTube video, copy editing photo captions for a photo gallery, fact checking social media. Students will put what they've learned to practical use by editing content that will run on the department's award-winning showcase news site for journalism students' work.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200 & COMJO210) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - This class provides instruction in covering state government, including legislative process, analyzing data, interviewing, and developing beats. Students learn how to write so that readers understand significant issues. Guest lectures, readings, and exercises explore the dynamics of political and public affairs reporting. Taken in the same semester as JO546 (Statehouse Program) as part of the Boston Statehouse Program. Class is open to journalism majors in all specializations. Four credits, every semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO200) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - A special-topic writing course for students interested in a career in sports journalism. Topics include game stories, features, columns, and profiles, as well as examining sport as a commercial enterprise. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 200. Graduate Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: Pre-req: JO200 or JO721 - This course covers the practical, critical, and theoretical issues involved in reporting the world for domestic audiences. How can journalists best report on different cultures? How can they demystify the other for their readers and viewers? How do you work with a fixer? Manage your own trauma? Stay safe? How does 19th Century colonialism still influence foreign coverage, and how do you escape this influence? What's to be learned from Conrad's Heart of Darkness about reporting on Africa? When is personalizing the news a bad idea and when is a good time to do it? Students read outstanding examples of foreign reporting, workshop their stories, and learn how to be successful given the current standards for foreign reporting. However, in light of such challenges as globalization, global warming, ethnonational conflict, and the rise of China, the class also debates how to develop better norms in the future. Four credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COMJO 200/250. Graduate Prerequisite: COMJO 721.)

4 credits

It used to be commonly accepted that if you wanted to work in audio journalism, then you were likely looking for a career in radio news. But the nature of audio - and journalism - continues to evolve. Now, legacy media outlets like newspapers have entire audio divisions producing daily and longform podcasts while news radio stations are re-thinking their broadcasts and attracting new audiences via streaming apps. But no matter the platform, there are certain tenets of audio storytelling and production that make for great listening and powerful journalism. This class combines the highest editorial standards of public radio with the best practices of digital audio production. You will learn how to write effectively for radio, incorporating in-depth reporting techniques with creative audio storytelling. The goal of this course is to produce a variety of high-quality audio pieces that could potentially be aired on a public radio program or serve as a launching off point for a longer form project. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO205) - This course is an advanced visual journalism class, concentrating on moving images and (a little) audio in a cinema direct documentary film tradition. The course takes students through a range of skills to develop their ability to work to professional standards & complete a narrative documentary show-reel adhering to photojournalistic/cinema direct ethics. You may use this class to create visuals/b-roll for an existing documentary film project you are working on. It will be a showcase piece for your portfolio. Active, experiential and hands-on learning will dominate this course. You are expected to have some experience in video and sound, as well as a basic knowledge of how to edit, though the instructor will assist you to grow your skills. 4 credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.)

4 credits

Students follow the week-to-week interaction of the president and the news media, while examining the evolution of relations between journalists and American presidents from FDR to the present. Four credits

4 credits

Investigative and Project Reporting is an advanced reporting clinic and seminar that teaches students how to identify, vet and pursue investigative stories. Students will dissect what it means to be 'an investigative reporter' while learning and utilizing some of the most useful practices and tools of the trade. From conducting interviews and requesting public records, to searching databases and organizing data, we as a class will work toward a long-term project that will, ideally, be published and or broadcast with a number of potential news partners, including WBUR, Boston's NPR station, ProPublica and The Boston Globe. Story topics may include criminal justice investigations, deep dives into immigration, as well as accountability reporting of complex systems and institutions, all with an emphasis on humanizing our story and placing an emphasis on the crucial role of effective storytelling.

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO205) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO706) or permission of instructor - New course description: This course explores long-form storytelling through the genres of photojournalism and documentary photography. We investigate advanced technical underpinnings and techniques of digital photography with the goals of enabling students to control their work, experiment and develop a deep understanding. Through lectures, hands-on assignments, and critiques, students expand their understanding of digital photography while exploring their creativity to broaden the possibilities and improve the quality of their photographs. With this lecturer's background in conflict and documentary photography, this course will explore those worlds extensively, with an emphasis on narrative photography, but it does not preclude you from any genre of photography you wish to pursue. The goal of the course is for each student to produce a semester-long body of work, or a photographic essay. The art of editing your own work will be a key learning goal. The course will constantly refer to the advanced use of software tools and color management technique. 4 Credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.)

4 credits

This course is an examination of cultural history as seen by our fellow journalists. It rests on the premise that to be a great writer, one must also be a great reader. With readings from Walt Whitman to the present, we examine the tools and techniques that make nonfiction writing memorable. Subjects include Mark Twain, George Orwell, Joan Didion, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and the great misanthrope, H.L. Mencken. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.

8 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO250 & COMJO310) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - Taking advantage of our location in the state capital of Massachusetts, the Journalism Department offers students the chance to cover the Statehouse for professional news clients. The prime component of The Boston Statehouse Program, this advanced study in government and political reporting offers the opportunity to write and report from Beacon Hill for a Massachusetts news organization. The course goal is to develop writing and reporting skills through the daily experience of covering state government that will apply in many fields. Working with a professor and a professional editor, students acquire the skills necessary to work in a daily news environment, including interviewing, developing sources, archival research and deadline writing. Students develop a substantial portfolio of published work. Taken with JO 511, eight credits, fall and spring semesters. See Statehouse Program: http://www.bu.edu/statehouse. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMJO304) - This course focuses on producing long-form, interactive multimedia projects. Working in teams, students learn to produce documentary-style multimedia packages that combine still photography, audio, video, interactives and text. The course will offer an overview of techniques and best practices currently employed by news organizations to produce advanced multimedia projects. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 304. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 704.)

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: JO 721 - This is a course in long-form magazine journalism such as appears in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Outside, and the New York Times Magazine, as well as websites such as Medium, The Atavist and others. Students read and analyze superb examples of the genre and report, research and write long-form pieces. Topics intensive, in-depth reporting and research; the writing process; the use of fine language and the development of a personal voice; the importance of a point of view; structuring long pieces; digging deeply into subjects in order to truly enlighten readers. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

This introductory course is about reporting, writing and producing the news for television and the internet. Students learn the fundamentals of news- gathering, story generation, research, videography, writing, editing and presentation. Strong stories air on BUTV and are posted on the department's news-service website. Four credits, fall semester.

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: JO 710 or permission of the instructor - Recommended for students in the TV journalism specialization who are interested in long-form video storytelling. This is a production class and will also include the study of documentary aesthetics, ethics and genres. Students will work throughout the semester to produce, shoot, and edit an eight-minute documentary short, learning to build a story from an idea to the final edited story. Students will be critiqued on their production skills as well as their reporting and storytelling.

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - For students who like the teamwork and adrenaline of a real newsroom. Students produce a half-hour news show on the student radio station, WTBU, during each class. Students report, write, produce and engineer all the news sports and commentary on deadline. Students use social media to report stories. Content is uploaded to the department's news- service website. Students file stories frequently, and programs from NPR, BBC, WBZ and other audio news outlets will be critiqued. Four credits, fall and spring semesters.

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - In this course, students are invited to go beyond the demands of hard-news writing and to explore a much broader range of topics and a richer array of approaches. The essence of feature writing is "enterprise" -- feature stories are those that do not have to happen and cannot be written by formula; individual journalists make them happen. Through readings and by reporting and writing their own features, students develop a sophisticated sense of stories and a stylish prose technique. Emphasis is on telling great stories at various lengths and in different formats. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721) - * Using the city as our subject, students cover working "beats" in Boston and surrounding areas. Students are responsible for proposing and covering stories dealing with courts, crime, education, local and state politics, and other essentials of community reporting across all media. Stories may appear in the BU News Service or in professional news outlets. Four credits, spring semesters. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)

4 credits

Graduate Prerequisites: (COMJO721 & COMJO707 & COMJO711) - Students produce a weekly half-hour newscast, broadcast on cable TV and the Internet, with live coverage and video reports on local, national and international news as well as sports highlights and weather. Students rotate positions weekly, using television studios and the control booth, collaborating to broadcast a fresh, informative and accurate newscast while facing the daily deadlines of a working newsroom. Four credits, spring semester.