All Courses
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JOUR 498 SENIOR PROJECT - (1064-SP2022)
This course involves students in the creation of writing, photography and video/multimedia reports and promotional content for a local non-profit organization working with the homeless and those struggling with poverty in communities adjacent to the CSUN campus. Depending on the students’ own areas of expertise (broadcast, print, photography, public relations) each student will create content either for dissemination through the mass media, for use by the organizations for promotional and/or educational purposes or will work with the organization and its clients on a variety of activities. The course will involve weekly meetings with the entire class during which there will be lectures and presentations on advocacy journalism work, with particular focus on the ethical considerations of working with marginalized populations. As the semester progresses, each student will come up with a proposal for their contribution to the community organization and will be expected to make at least one weekly visit to the site, presenting their progress to the class during class meetings and one-on-one meetings with the instructor during designated office hours.
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JOUR 455 DOC PHOTOJOURNLSM - (1065-SP2022)
This lecture/lab course covers aspects of documentary photography, and the role of activist photography in photojournalism. Areas to be emphasized include: the historical role of documentary as a force for social change; the role of subjectivity in documentary as compared with photojournalism; the intersection between the narrative and artistic capabilities of documentary, and the psychological, philosophical, ethical and practical approaches employed by prominent documentarians throughout the history of the genre. We edit with the use of digital and electronic technology for the publication and dissemination of our documentary work. In practical terms, this semester we will be working mainly with still images and audio, some multimedia, and print publication. Students will contribute in one or more medium, with our main focus being still photography. Lectures, demonstrations and presentations (some by the students) will all be part of the class.
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JOUR 410 INVEST REPORTING - (1708-SP2022)
In this course you will learn the approach, mindset, tools and skills used by investigative reporters. You will learn a fundamental approach to journalism that takes you beyond day-to-day, event focused reporting, adding context and meaning to your stories. This course is intended to be practical, while at the same time causing you to think deeply about the stories you do and why you do them. This includes dealing with the ethical questions investigative journalists face. By the semester’s end, students will be able to integrate multiple sources to produce a well-written and constructed investigative text and multimedia project, producing investigative stories worthy of publication in student and professional media outlets. Students will work in pairs to complete a semester-length investigative reporting project on a topic of their choosing. Students will identify the key questions related to their issue, conduct research, gather materials, interview sources and prepare materials for print and multimedia presentations. The story and the multimedia element will complement each other. Other class elements will include discussions, an in-class presentation and assessments of investigative ethical issues.
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JOUR 460 MAG JOURNALISM - (1668-SP2022)
Journalism 460 is a class that results in the production and distribution of Scene, a non-fiction general interest magazine published by the Journalism Department. The magazine will be published in both print and on-line versions, and is targeted toward the CSUN community. Students will work in teams with the goal of producing a magazine featuring a series of illustrated investigative and feature reports. The magazine will focus on an issue or issues with a social justice or social awareness component. The theme, and the specific topics to be covered will be determined by the students.