2000

Survey of mass media effects and careers. Students develop a portfolio for future employment organized around employer expectations across all occupations. Study includes the history and use of books, magazines, newspapers, radio, movies, music, television, the web, advertising and public relations. Emphasis on media as social, political, economic, and cultural forces. Includes media theory, ethics, and trends toward commercialization, conglomeration, converging technologies, and globalization.

Essential course for Mass Communication majors. Teaches students how to spot errors, correct English usage, improve clarity, remedy inconsistencies and redundancies, and edit information to meet generally accepted journalism and public relations standards according to the Associate Press style. Introduces students to the skills used in preparing written work for publication and involves students in hands-on exercise at several levels of editing: story flow and content, sentence-level accuracy and grammar, spelling and punctuation. Prerequisites: COMM 2360 Intro to Media Writing (credit or concurrent enrollment.

Discussion of the history and the societal impact of oral communication. Creation and delivery of extended, challenging speeches. Prerequisite: COMM 1320.

Using news values to locate stories; interviewing sources; and location, retrieving, assessing and verifying information, including computerized databases. Writing news, features, entertainment, sports, columns, editorials, and online. Basic proficiency in the use of a digital camera, the Associated Press stylebook, and layout, design, and editing software. Portfolio and laboratory section required. Lab fee. Prerequisite: ENGL 1321 and 1322 (or equivalent) and COMM 2320 (credit or concurrent enrollment).

An introductory survey of public relations history, definition, principles, practices and codes of ethics. Career options and trends in business, government, non-profits and other entities are also discussed. Prerequisite: COMM 2360, Introduction to Media Writing.

A survey of the film industry and the process of making motion pictures. Special attention given to the basics of film directing, acting, editing, cinematography and design, and to career paths in film and television. Prerequisite: COMM 2320