Effectively delivering the news to your audience

Overview

Being a successful journalist is more than hunting down information. How journalists process the information, then put it together, are key steps for news reports. You will learn the process, planning, requirements of how journalists develop their news reports. There are many ways to report news reports, and you will learn different forms of how to perform reporting and writing to serve different audiences. This course also explains the different formats within journalism, beyond the written word and how they are best utilized.

Syllabus

Welcome to Course 3!

We are thrilled to have you as part of Course 3 in our Introduction to Journalism Specialization. We will be discussing how to "Effectively Delivering the News to Your Audience." You will learn about the School of Journalism, our award-winning faculty and the world-class atmosphere of Michigan State University. We are a special place, where amazing things happen every day.

Earning and keeping trust

You've developed your story concept. You've done your research, reporting and interviewing. Now you will learn how to take the next steps: sorting your information, and picking the right format for your news report. You will develop skills in dealing with statistics, numbers and how to figure out if you have enough information to compile an effective news report.

Preparing your news report

Sometimes one of the biggest challenges in being a journalist is figuring out how to best handle quotes, format, and audience recognition. Knowing what you're reporting, and your audience, makes all the difference. You will learn how to best use and structure quotes in your news reports, choose the right format for reporting, and understand the needs of your audience.

More than words

Having an effective news report is often dictated by the many thoughtful choices made by editors and journalists. How things look, sound, feel and read impacts how the audiences choose to take in information - and if they want to interact with your media. What are the things you need to consider? You will learn how your news report can be strengthened through multimedia: audio, video, graphics, photos and maps. You will develop skills in shooting video and photos, as well as gathering audio.

Keeping the news conversation going

Being a journalist does not mean you complete a news report...and move on to another story. Many times, one report leads to another, then another, then another on a particular topic. You will learn how to harness and understand the power of your audience, and use their feedback to develop more news reports. You will also deepen your understanding of audience reaction and how to handle the feedback.