Public Affairs Reporting

Journalism 135

Course Description | Grading | Texts & Reading | Course Requirements | Links | Weekly Assignments

Texts & Reading

Texts

On the Record; An Insider's Guide to Journalism. Tom Wicker

Paper Trails, California Newspaper Publishers Association

California Political Almanac (Edited by Stephen Green)

The Reporter's Handbook/ Steve Weinberg. St. Martin's Press

2003 Roster and Government Guide or Pocket Roster

"The Corpse Had A Familiar Face," by Edna Buchanan (Random House 1987)

"The Boys on the Bus," by Timothy Crouse (Random House 1972)

Reading

Politically, it is an interesting time to be a reporter in the state of California. The resources for researching public issues are virtually unlimited, and vastly increased by the growing variety of computerized research.

Read everything and stay current. Browse online.

Stay aware of stories published concerning public policy, issues and trends. Read Rough and Tumble daily, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, the L.A. Times, (both online) listen to California Report on NPR radio, and anything else that might contribute to your knowledge.

If you see something appropriate coming up on a cable station, share that information with the rest of the class. As part of the learning experience, I expect all of you to read, prepare and debate issues. Your participation is encouraged.

You will also be assigned readings out of the "Insiders" book and other external references. You must submit a compelling, thoughtful question in writing on assigned chapters for the class, and/or lead a discussion on the readings.