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Course Descriptions

COM 131 - Principles of Journalism

This course has been deactivated and no longer offered at MCC

3 Credits

This course provides an overview of journalism principles and practices. Information covered includes discussion and interpretation of what is news, news reporting today, beat reporting, feature writing, and writing for the web. Students will learn to work alone and in teams to conduct interviews, find sources, and prepare news leads, news stories, and profiles. They will demonstrate their ability to write and edit balanced, accurate journalistic stories on deadline.

Prerequisite: ENG 101 or ENG 200

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Apply Associated Press (AP) Style Guide principles to news stories.
2. Write leads for journalistic copy.
3. Revise journalistic copy.
4. Compose a feature story.
5. Differentiate primary and secondary sources.
6. Identify relevant information gathered from various sources.
7. Apply interviewing skills to gather information from primary sources.
8. Construct journalistic copy using direct and indirect quotations.
9. Apply journalistic ethics in research and writing.
10. Apply AP Style Guide principles to feature stories.

Course Offered Fall; Spring

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2024
Spring Semester 2024
Summer Session 2024