George's recent classes at Temple University.
Fall 2008 Courses
J1111 Journalism & Society:
The news media are essential to informing us of the world out there, especially since much of the world is beyond our direct experience. Ideally, they tell us what happened, why it happened, what the consequences are and how it fits into a larger context.
The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with concepts and functions of journalism and the related industries of advertising and public relations in American society. Students will gain knowledge about the history, economics and structure of these industries, focusing on how mass media content is determined and disseminated. We will explore underlying values associated with journalism, relationships among journalism and other social institutions, and current issues facing journalists. By the end of the course, you will have developed familiarity with how journalism works as well as some perspective on how well (or not) journalism performs its function in American society.
The main goal is to help you become a more critical consumer and producer of media content.
Click here to visit the Journalism & Society blog with ethical debates, job hunting links, internship advice and links to nearly 100 Philadelphia area media outlets.
J2396 Magazine Article Writing:
In this class, we will study magazines style writing - from short copy blocks to long-format, 6,000 word articles. We will concentrate on the differences between newspaper reporting and magazine writing.
We will discuss the development of stories: from generating ideas, to pitching editors, drafting the story, revising it and then working through the editing and fact checking processes.
Students will complete a series of writing exercises. They will draft a query letter, craft three front-of-the-book features, write a mid-length essay (1,000 words), and then report and research a second, longer article (2,000 words). One of the two essays will be revised and expanded upon as the final project.
J3710 The Entrepreneurial Journalist
As the business of journalism evolves and traditional journalism jobs disappear, opportunities arise for people who understand the media landscape and can recognize under-served niches.
In this class, we'll look at the state of the media to understand why things are changing so rapidly, and we'll try to anticipate where the field will go. We will study existing models of niche journalism and try to learn from their experiences. We will discuss the business of journalism, not with the idea of becoming wealthy through journalism, but with the notion of creating viable products that can provide a service to their audiences (as well as provide a living for the producers).
Since the media models we will be discussing are small businesses, we will also discuss the potential pitfalls and ethical dilemmas that may arise while performing the duties of both the journalist and publisher/ business-owner.
We will ultimately design a business model, create a media kit and begin the process of creating a new journalistic outlet.
Spring 2008 Courses
J1111 Journalism & Society
J1112 Writing for Journalism:
Writing for Journalism is designed to give students an introduction to the various forms of journalistic writing - from newspapers to magazines, broadcast to the Internet. We will start with the concept of a "story" and follow that conception through the reporting and interviewing process, the writing stage and then the editing and production stages.
In addition, we focus on three major issues in journalism today: the role of the media in modern society (including the importance of the First Amendment), ethics in the media and diversity in the media.
J2396 Magazine Article Writing
Fall 2007 Courses
J1111 Journalism & Society
J2396 Magazine Article Writing (2 sections)
Summer 2007
Armagh Project:
The Armagh Project is an intensive, multimedia journalism program operated in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Over four weeks, students documented the city in words, images and video, and then created a comprehensive website.
Visit our website by clicking here. To see some of the students' photojournalism work, click here.
Spring 2007
J150 Writing for Journalism
W231 Magazine Article Writing
J260 Journalism Research
Fall 2006
J150 Writing for Journalism