In introduction to Visual Storytelling, students will become better producers and consumers of visual media. Students will develop a deeper visual literacy by studying topics like visual ethics, aesthetics, agency, and the currents of the modern visual journalism ecosystem. By reporting their own video, photography and data visualization projects, students will learn how to control exposure with a DSLR camera, how to capture quality video and how to use different editing and production software. (Gen. Ed. AT)

A hands-on course aimed at how to write, edit and cover sports stories. Interviewing skills will be honed in this class, and you will need a flexible schedule in order to cover games outside of classes. Students will learn to write a variety of stories ranging from straight game stories to previews to features and breaking news. Students will read and analyze successful writing styles from sportswriters in all mediums, including broadcast and the Web.

We will examine the major innovations and styles in journalism, including the historical context into which print fits, the arrival of press freedom, the invention of faster presses, the Penny Press of the 1840s, the story press period in the 1890s, and the Muckrakers, objective reporters, investigative journalists, the literary journalists of the 20th century and today, and the arrival of the Internet.

This course explores career development as students start to prepare for life beyond UMass. Topics include career options for journalism majors; resumes, cover letters and networking; job search techniques and preparation. This course provides a structure and supportive environment for helping students define and pursue their career goals.

Successful online storytelling requires more than just a good story. In this course, students will learn basic web design and development skills to better pursue their journalism goals online. Topics covered include basic design principles, HTML, CSS, working with images, logo design, typography and how to incorporate external plugins and modules.

This course introduces students to writing and reporting for radio or podcasting. Students will practice pitching stories, arranging and conducting interviews, as well as writing and mixing radio scripts. The course explores how writing in broadcast journalism differs from print. Students will practice writing in a conversational style that works for "the ear". This is a "hands-on" course that requires students to report, record and write several stories on deadline. It's designed to give students the confidence to pursue audio stories for broadcast or the web.

This course will develop an understanding of the ethical questions raised by media coverage in a democratic society at a time of focus on profit over news values and on entertainment over substance. Issues discussed will include: accuracy and fairness, diversity, conflicts of interest, privacy, deception, relationships with sources and photojournalism. We will also learn to identify news values--or lack of them--both as professionals and as consumers. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Journ majors.