TNS Curriculum Summary

TNS Curriculum Summary

St. Agatha’s News School Intern Training Schedule & Reading (Bookshelf Resources)

 

Week 1

1. Introduction to WordPress

1. Constructing Short Autobiography

1. The News School Protocols and WUBTESSH (World, US, Business, Technology, Entertainment, Sports, Science, and Health News)

1. SEO Assistant

1. Search Engine Optimization
2. Using the SEO Assistant
3. What Is a Keyword?

1. Inserting Featured and Top Images into Articles

1. Rules and Regulations
2. Flickr
3. Tineye

1. Byline, Source Citations, and Image Attribution
2. Categories

1. WUBTESSH (Google News)
2. News Style (Headlines, Breaking News, News Briefs, Opinion)

1. Setting up TweetDeck

1. Using TweetDeck to Write Breaking News

1. First Daily Breaking News Assignment (250 Words)

1. Introduction to Citizen Journalism

1. The Purpose of Journalism
2. Journalism: Citizen v. Professional
3. How Journalists Find Their Stories
4. Hard and Feature News Stories
5. The Basic News Story (Finding the focus)

1. What Is the Story About
2. How Are Readers or Viewers Affected
3. How Would You Tell the Story to a Friend

1. Elements of the Basic News Story (The Inverted Pyramid)

1. Headline
2. Lead (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How)
3. The difference between a thesis sentence and a lead (lede)
4. Nut Graph
5. Quotes
6. Impact
7. Attribution
8. Context/Background
9. Elaboration
10. Ending
11. Fairness and Accuracy
12. Visuals
13. Summary Blurb

1. Origin of the Printing Press: Johannes Gutenberg (lecture)
2. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Antigone (Students get into character and read aloud)
2. Oedipus the King (Story Summarized)
3. Write a 250-word Article-Style Essay About Antigone and Oedipus
4. The Federalist Papers

1. What Is In a Name (Etymology)

1. Orientation Into Greek & Latin Prefixes and Roots
2. What Does Your Name Mean

1. Etymology Article Assigned

1. Patronymic

1. Discussion on Primary Class Project: Windy City Highlights Magazine

 

• Evergreen Articles

 

1. Theme
2. Story Idea Brainstorming
3. Assign Articles

1. Plagiarism

1. Copyrights
2. Effective Paraphrasing Techniques
3. Introduction to Copyscape Software. Plagiarism Checker Used By Editors.
4. Instructions for Resolving Copyscape Issues on Articles
5. Paraphrasing Exercise

1. Assignment Editor Issues Daily Writing Assignments
2. Boldly Inclusive (What does it mean)
3. Journalism Interns Complete Daily Performance Form

1. Administrators review daily performance forms.
2. Lead Instructor schedules one on one review of at least one article from each intern and provides them with a performance review.

1. Performance review determination letter (Is program a good fit).

 

Week 2

1. Week 1 in Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Introduction to AP Rules & Grammar Protocols

1. Associated Press Style Book
2. Word Choice and the Writer’s Bible (Thesaurus Solution)
3. Just Commas (When and how to use commas, semicolons, and colons and oxford comma.)

1. Just Commas (9 Basic Rules to Master Comma Usage)

1. Introduction to Interviewing

1. Difference Between Hard-News, Crisis Driven, and Straight News Interviews
2. Tools Needed
3. What is Business Casual Clothing and Why Dressing Appropriately Is Necessary
4. Laws and Rules for Taping Another Person
5. Effective Listening Technique
6. Summarizing Interview and Creating Report

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Discuss Individual Progress on Research
2. Prepare Interview Questions for Assigned Interviewee
3. Meet With Instructor to Review Questions
4. Schedule Interview (interview due week 3)

1.   Writing An Effective Lead

1. Six Elements of a Strong Lead
2. Active vs Passive Voice

1. WUBTESSH Writing Assignments

1. Introduction to Civics

1. Federal Branches of Government
2. Federal Hierarchy
3. Discuss the House of Representatives and Senate

1. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Candide, by Voltaire
2. Write a 250-word Article-Style Essay About Candide
3. The Federalist Papers
4. Recommended Reading List (See footnote)

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review Last Week’s Words
2. New Greek & Latin word list introduced

1. Introduction to the First Amendment

1. Fake News
2. Sensationalist News
3. Yellow Journalism
4. Propaganda

1. Field Trip to Local Newspaper (The Sun-Times or Chicago Tribune)

 

Week 3

1. Week 2 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Solon (By Plutarch: Plutarch means – riches, wealth, master)
2. Write a 500-word report about Solon
3. The Federalist Papers: Cont.

1. State of Illinois Civics

1. State Branches of Government
2. State Hierarchy  

1. View “Kill the Messenger”

1. After Film Discussion
2. Write 200 word article-style essay about the subject of the film.

1. Introduce Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

1. Understand the origin of FOIA
2. How and Why the FOIA Is Used by Journalists
3. Article style essay on FOIA

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review Words from weeks 1 & 2
2. Introduce new words

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Review editor’s comments
2. Meet individually with instructor

1. Journalists’ Legal Responsibilities

1. Journalists Code of Ethics
2. Libel and Actual Malice
3. Invasion of Privacy

 

Week 4

1. Week 3 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review words from weeks 1-3
2. Introduce New Words

1. City of Chicago Civics

1. City Government Branches
2. City Government Hierarchy      

1. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Tiberius Gracchus
2. Write a 200-word Article-style essay about the story
3. The Federalist Papers: Cont.
4. Federalist Discussion

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Review editor’s comments
2. Meet individually with instructor

1. Using New WordPress Tools

1. Rules for and how to insert list using bullet points
2. Rules for and how to use Subheadings
3. Rules for and how to use quoteboxes

1. Inserting Videos into Article
2. Adding Inset Images
3. Introduction to Social Media (Short is in, Blogs are in, and Tweets are in)

1. Reporting with Social Media
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

1. Blogs

1. Blogs in Public Relations and Marketing
2. User Generated – Content (citizen journalism)
3. How to Write Blogs

1. Sources and Online Research

1. News Releases
2. Contacting primary sources
3. Community and Campus Leaders
4. Fairness: find sources who have opposing points of view
5. Primary and Secondary Sources
6. Blogs (These are usually opinion articles)
7. Anonymous Sources
8. Matchmaking: ask source who else you might contact
9. Administration Assistants: Beat (a specific area of coverage)

1. Education
2. Government
3. Police

1. Public Records (Primary Source)

1. Political Contributions (searchable database)
2. Real Estate Records
3. Voter Registration Records
4. Fish and Game Licenses
5. Salaries of County Employees
6. County Government Expenses
7. Corporate Records
8. Court Records
9. Military Records
10. Personal Property Loans
11. Motor Vehicle Registrations
12. Building Records and Housing Permits
13. Police and Fire Department Records
14. Water Records
15. School District Records

 

Week 5

1. Week 4 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)

1. Weather Reporting

1. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Gaius Gracchus
2. Write a 200-Word Article-Style Essay About the Story
3. The Federalist Papers: Cont.

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review words from weeks 1-4
2. Introduce new words

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Review editor’s comments
2. Meet individually with instructor

1. Story Organization

1. Stages of the Writing Process

1. Conceive the Idea
2. Collect the Information
3. Construct the Story
4. Plan an Order
5. Correct the Story

1. Storytelling and Feature Techniques

1. Narrative Writing
2. Reading to Write
3. Reporting Tools
4. Writing Tools

1. Theme (a concept that gives the story meaning)

1. Descriptive Techniques

1. Avoiding Adjectives (News Writing)
2. Use Analogies
3. Limit Physical Descriptions
4. Avoid Sexist/Racist Descriptions
5. Show People in Action
6. Use Lively Verbs
7. Set the Scene
8. Narrative Techniques
9. Create Tone

1. Public Relations Writing

1. Past, Present and Future
2. Writing Skills for Press Releases

1. Target your audience
2. Find a newsworthy angle
3. Identify the news element in the headline and lead
4. Use inverted pyramid order
5. Include keywords that can be picked up by a search engine
6. Keep information factual
7. Use active voice (who did what, not what was done to whom)
8. Use present tense whenever possible

 

Week 6

1. Week 5 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Caesar
2. Write a 200-word Article-style essay about the story
3. The Federalist Papers: Cont.
4. Write a 600-word Article-style essay on The Federalist Paper

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review Words From Weeks 1-5
2. Introduce New Words

1. Speeches, News Conferences and Meetings

1. Media Manipulations
2. Preparation (prepare for event)

1. Getting speeches in advance
2. Getting full quotes

1. Stories About Meetings

1. Open-Meeting laws

1. Understanding the System

1. Who makes the final decision

1. Writing the Advance

1. Knowing what is going to happen (writing about it)

1. Covering the Meeting

1. Check items on the agenda
2. Get names of those making comments
3. Stay until the end

1. Writing the Story

1. Type of Meeting and Location
2. Know the vote on any major issue
3. Know what the next step is
4. Impact on readers
5. Background of the Issues

1. Crime and Punishment

1. Records
2. Previous Criminal Records
3. Records of Juvenile Offenders
4. Use of Names

1. Should names be withheld

1. Person of interest

1. Withholding name of crime victim to protect privacy
2. Always get the full name (double check spelling)

1. Wording of Accusations

1. All people are innocent until they proved guilty in a court of law
2. Do not convict a person erroneously (being charged with a crime is not the same as being guilty (she was arrested in connection of a crime)
3. Use official charges when possible

1. Alleged

1. Avoid alleged whenever possible (don’t be the source of allegation)
2. Site person making allegation

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Pre-Final Edits and Review of Articles
2. Moving Toward Publication

1. Press Releases

1. Review elements of a press release
2. Why press releases are important and how they are used
3. Proper set up and structure for professional press releases
4. Writing a press release

 

Week 7

1. Week 6 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Pericles
2. Write a 200-word Article-style essay about the story

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Review Words From Weeks 1-6

1. Windy City Highlights Magazine

1. Read Articles Aloud in Class
2. Final Edits
3. Meet With Instructor to Review

1. Prepare for Finals Week

1. Discuss Requirements for Graduation

1. Comprehensive Exam
2. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots
3. 200 Word Breaking News Article (Weather, Earthquakes, or Fires)
4. 500 Word WUBTESSH Article

 

Week 8

1. Week 7 Review

1. Review Quiz

1. Daily Breaking News Stories (TweetDeck)
2. Weekly In-Class Reading

1. Romulus
2. Write a 200-word Article-style essay about the story
3. Ancient Myths and Legends (not required but recommended)

1. Greek and Latin Prefixes and Roots

1. Final Exam

1. Writing Finals

1. 200 Word Breaking News Article (Weather, Earthquakes, or Fires)
2. 500 Word WUBTESSH Article

 

• Students Evaluate TNS Instructors

 

1. Comprehensive Exam

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

St. Agatha’s News School’s long term plans is to develop the following in house job positions.

 

Part-time Faculty, Journalism

 

The Journalism track at “The News School” invites expressions of interest in part-time faculty teaching opportunities. Part-time teaching opportunities are available throughout the academic year, including summer sessions for our bootcamp program. FMG certified writers with expertise that matches course scheduling needs will need to contact us for interview. Academic course schedules fluctuate from quarter to quarter and the department will work with selected individuals to determine a quarterly schedule.

 

Junior Copywriter

 

You’ll work across several clients (and new business pitch opportunities), writing copy for print, email, web, video, social, and more. But you’ll also get to brainstorm, concept, map content, craft presentations/pitches, outline, research, laugh, eat candy, and collaborate with design, account, development and strategy teams.

You’ll also need to:

1) Collaborate with account & strategy to understand briefs and core messages

2) Self-learn about new products, services, target audiences, news, etc. that will help direct your work

3) Work under pressure to manage workloads effectively

4) Be ready to help your fellow team members take on overflow work

5) Help develop concepts with other members of the creative team
6) Speak up and share ideas in brainstorms and with your design partners(s)
7) Write engaging, persuasive copy that tells the right story and speaks to the right audiences
8) Adapt easily to write within different brand voices and relevant tones

 

Breaking News/Traffic/Weather Reporter

 

• Focuses on providing timely and useful information to commuters planning their drives to and from work, as well as to those already en route by maintaining contact with external sources of information or by observing traffic from air or land vehicle.
  • Announces the latest accidents and hold-ups.
  • Reads traffic reports, commercials and public service messages to listeners on the radio from a variety of intake sources; canvasses local, state and national traffic news to determine significance and prioritization.
  • Identifies, researches, and creates copy regarding traffic and weather to feature
• Manages gathered information: keeps all the facts straight, makes sure details are accurate and current and tracks any changes.
  • In designated Hub stations, gathers and provides coverage for stations in multiple cities/locations.
  • Maintains crucial deadlines in order to provide traffic/weather/breaking news updates in a timely fashion.
  • May prepare written content, visual images, audio material and video footage for websites, blogs or other social-media platforms.
  • May require flexibility in work schedules.

 

News Writer

 

Writing stories and teases; writing for on-air and on-line; working with reporters and photographers in the field; desktop video editing; reviewing feed tapes; posting text and video to the internet; and gathering information on late stories.  In addition to writing for the video and graphics available, the Writer will contribute creative ideas for broadcasts and websites

 

Campaign Specialist

 

1. Provide post-sales support to the entire digital Sales Team by processing all digital revenue through the order management system, reserving all types of inventory, monitoring the delivering of display campaigns and reporting on campaign performance throughout the life of the order.
2. Secure and process ad creative, verifying the ad specs, while ensuring TNS business rules are met and advertiser expectations are clear.
3. Ability to use Media Math in relation to the industry (Gross vs. Net/CPM/eCPM).
   Optimize campaigns to enhance performance and deliver on the promises made to the advertiser.
4. Assist with billing issues and support collection efforts, to ensure that revenue is received in a timely manner.
5. Must be able to prioritize multiple assignments with a high degree of accuracy, and function quickly in a fast paced, deadline oriented environment.
6. Execute change requests and revisions to digital campaigns to meet deadlines and ensure stellar campaign performance.
7. Must be able to handle all aspects of customer service including anticipating the customer’s needs, building relationships, and exceeding the customer’s expectations.
8. Use problem solving skills to resolve escalated technical issues and provide timely solutions.
9. Stay abreast of tronc digital products, industry topics, trends and ad serving solutions, acting as subject matter expert to support the Sales Teams and the rest of the Digital Ad Operations department.
10. Must understand business objectives and advertisers’ goals and KPIs to maximize revenue and advertiser performance.
11. Work with the Ad Ops Manager to identify process efficiencies to improve customer satisfaction, turnaround time, and create cost savings.
    Perform other duties as assigned by management.

 

Sports Reporter

 

1. Primary responsibility is to deliver the sports segment in an engaging, creative and dynamic manner during newscasts
2. Responsible for factual sports information and producing online News presentations.
3. Provide input to the publication regarding sports content
4. Write sports stories, teases and sports news briefs
5. Incorporate all graphics, banners, scores, and other content into the sports online products.
6. Be engaged in TNS’s social media efforts by posting and sharing sports related content and sending relevant Sports info push alerts

 

Investigative News Reporter,

 

1. Generate long and short-term investigative News projects and content for online publications
2. Research, write and present investigative News stories in English
3. Contribute research, investigate and develop stories for investigative unit
4. Provide investigative News content across all of TNS’s digital and print platforms
5. Develop and maintain sources that will generate exclusive story content and News reports
6. Work with News management to consistently provide factual, ethical and compelling investigative News content.

 

Criminal Justice Reporter

 

1. The criminal justice reporter will work with other reporters and  the senior editor of the Criminal Justice Desk. They will work independently on an assigned beat, while also collaborating with other members of the team on stories, projects and investigations.
2. The criminal justice team will be focused on all layers of our criminal justice system — from policing, courts, detention, juvenile justice, prisons and recidivism, to the vast network of relevant social and human services. It’s a wide and fertile field, and we want to cover those issues in creative and provocative ways that inspire and inform and hold institutions of government accountable.

 

Political Reporter  

 

Report on U.S.  politics. Report on national issues as they impact our region. We’re looking for a reporter who knows where to dig, researches and pitches stories, work sources to break news and tells compelling stories on every platform.

 

_________________________________________________________________________

As my writing and abilities are unique I have many interests and know I can lend assistance in many areas.

 

Although I have written about sports when needed it is not my forte.

Depending on scheduling, my hours are flexible with some weeks allowing for more hours than others.  

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Social Media Strategist Internship

 

Week 1

 

1. ISP (Internet Service Provider)
2. Understanding branding

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Week 2

1. Review

1. Quiz on week 1 material

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Week 3

1. Review

1. Quiz on week 2 material

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Week 4

1. Review

1. Review material from weeks 1-3
2. Prepare for certification exam

1. Develop your personal brand and completing student resume

1. Compile employment and/or volunteer positions – dates, supervisor, tasks or projects completed
2. Compile school information, courses of study (as applies to job search i.e., if writing is desired job then English would be the course of study), dates, special projects or extra curricular activities.
3. Compile TNS intern project list, dates, supervisor’s name
4. Meet with instructor once lists are complete to create resume

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