SCHOOL OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS

FLORIDA FOCUS: WUSF-TV Newsbreak MMC 4936

Spring 2009
Mondays through Thursdays 2 – 5:00 p.m. CIS 1010 & Studio B
Class time: M- T/R 2-3:30 pm Lecture/Broadcast Prep
Studio/Control Room 3:30 - 5:00 pm M-R Taping/Post-Broadcast Meeting

The USF School of Mass Communications complies with national accrediting standards designed to help prepare students to understand and relate to issues of interest to women and minorities in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial and otherwise diverse society.

Course description

MMC 4936 allows news and production students learn how to put together a professional mini newscast that airs in the 13th largest media market in the nation. All professional product created in this class will serve as resume tape material for the students’ post graduation job search.
This course is a 100% “hands on” course. To do well in this course and to get the best possible paper resume and resume tape out of the class, you need to approach this class as if it were an entry level real world television industry job.

Course purpose

For the news/editorial students, this course will focus on reporting, writing and formatting of a mini newscast. You are expected to learn how to pitch story ideas that are appropriate for your broadcast outlet’s (WUSF-TV) target audience and physical broadcast reach. You are expected to be able to write under deadline pressure within a specific time limit. You are also expected to come up with a lead story that is worthy of being a lead and put together a newscast rundown where the stories have flow and “go together.”

News/editorial students will participate in the course as writers, anchors, producers, and reporters. News students are also required to shoot and edit and to run teleprompter and are responsible for one hard news reporter package.

For the production students, this course will focus on directing and technical directing, being the tape operator, running the audio board, working as studio camera operator, and performing as photojournalists, videotape editors, graphics designers and general production assistants/writers. Production students are also responsible for one hard news reporter package and therefore are required to learn how to pitch an appropriate story idea for your broadcast outlet (WUSF-TV).

All product created in this class has to meet the professional standards of WUSF and be able to be broadcast in the 13th largest market in the country. Your instructors will request changes in your work and make the final judgments about the quality and “airability” of the material you produce.

For more, contact the current lead instructor: Lhyvarin@cas.usf.edu .