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CSJMM Course Structure Diagram with credits (ENG)

These are the essential courses for the two master’s degree program, covering skills that must be mastered for a career in journalism. A passing grade in each of these core courses is required for graduation. There are no electives, either in core courses or skills courses. Brown-bag seminars and the final project also are mandatory.

English Group 2007-09, Class Schedule

1. Reporting and Writing I
   
   This course covers the basics of journalism: What is news; types of news stories; the role of the reporter; where to find sources; the importance of accuracy; attribution; balance and fairness; verification of facts and sources; covering meetings, speeches and news conferences; taking notes; the use of press releases and announcements; interviewing techniques; and the basics of covering a beat, including crime, courts, politics and government, business, education, sports, religion, arts and entertainment.Students will learn how to construct a news story; write a lead; study the importance of clarity; brevity in writing; the use of quotations; writing on deadline; use of words. They will learn to write for print, web and broadcast, both TV and radio.
   
   Students will cover various types of news, either in actual street reporting or in simulated form: accidents, fires, crime, political protests, news conferences, and meetings. In weekly, four-hour labs, students will put their skills to use by doing live and online research, conducting interviews, writing stories and writing to deadline.
   
   Students will be expected to read newspapers, watch and listen to news broadcasts and demonstrate familiarity with local, national and international news events, issues and newsmakers.Some of this work will be published in CSJMM’s online and print student publications. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
   
   ECTS credit – 4
   Total hours – 40 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation : 10%
   Written assignments – 7*10% = 70%
   Test – 10%
   
   
2. Reporting and Writing II
   
   This course expands on Reporting and Writing I and covers more advanced concepts: investigative reporting; writing the interpretive story; enterprise reporting; writing the profile; feature writing; structuring various kinds of stories; developing and cultivating sources; the mechanics of news editing, including editing copy and writing headlines as well as selecting stories and using news judgment.
   
   Students will choose or be assigned a specific beat to cover and will produce stories from their beat, including spot news, longer-form stories and at least one investigative piece. They will develop a source list and do additional reading and research on their chosen beat. In cases where students are covering stories also covered in the professional media, stories may be compared and analyzed.
   
   Professional standards will be enforced for reporting and gathering the news, writing the story and meeting deadlines.
   
   Some of this work will be published in CSJMM’s online and print student publications.
   
   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
   
   ECTS credit – 4
   Total hours – 40 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 10%
   Written assignments – 7*10% = 70%
   Test – 10%
   
   
3. Reporting and Writing III
   
   This course teaches skills in writing opinion (editorials), analysis and columns, with practice in writing the various forms. Students will study examples of well-written and well-argued opinions from international newspapers, and will learn to write and edit editorial and op-ed pieces, some of which may be published in CSJMM publications.
   
   Students will also learn the basics of copyediting and headline writing in this course. They will edit each other’s work.
   
   ECTS credit – 4
   Total hours – 40 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 10%
   Written assignments – 7*10% = 70%
   Test – 10%
   
   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
   
   
4. Professional Standards and Ethics of Journalism
   
   In this course, students will examine the rudiments of fact-based reporting and learn to differentiate between fact-based, straight news reporting and opinion-influenced journalism. The course will explore the role of journalism in a free society; internal press law and its effect on covering the news; and conflicts between journalists and their subjects, including government and business. It will also explore issues such as libel, privacy, prior restraint, and the press’ right to documents and public records in Georgia.
   
   The journalist’s responsibility to report fairly and accurately and without bias will be discussed and analyzed, with specific exercises related to these concepts. Case studies will be used, from Georgia and other countries, and guest speakers will be invited for discussion and debate.
   
   Students will be expected to read, view and analyze local and national news products to apply the lessons of the course to practical situations.
   
   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade in this course.
   
   ECTS credit – 3
   Total hours – 24 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 30%
   Written assignments – 60%
   
   
5. Television Broadcasting
   

   CSJMM will conduct an intensive practical course in all aspects of television news with emphasis on actual newsgathering and production. Students will work with five camera operators from regional, non-state television stations and will get first-hand experience. Topics will include rudiments of the production process, from pre- to post-production; the ethics of television journalism; using the camera effectively; editing techniques; shooting techniques; roles and responsibilities of reporter, cameraman, picture editor, studio director, etc. Students will gain experience in each of these roles and produce actual segments for broadcast.

   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade in this course.
   
   
   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade in this course.
   
   

   ECTS credit – 8
   Total hours – 150 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 50%
   Individual assignments – 8 * 5 = 40%

6. Media Management
   
   An intensive course in the business realities of journalism will be taught in the fall semester. The course includes 6 subjects: Media Management, advertisement, Programming, Producing, , Project Management, and Research methods. The workshops and practical sessions will be held on what it takes to produce a profitable newspaper or run a profitable TV or radio station; the role of advertising; the importance of circulation and distribution; the relationship between the editorial and advertising departments; the importance and techniques of public opinion; and newsroom management techniques. Also the course includes teaching basic techniques and methods of public opinion research and media content/discourse analysis. Students will receive a final evaluation and grade.
   
   ECTS credit – 3
   Total hours – 24 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation : 40%
   Final project - 50%
   
   
7. Radio Fundamentals
   
   Students will gather, write and produce news and features for radio broadcast. The course will cover basic skills on using audio and on preparing broadcasts using digital audio software. Course will include field exercises; students will prepare a final demonstration tape as part of the course. Some of this work will be aired on Radio GIPA FM94.3.Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
   
   ECTS credit – 6
   Total hours – 30 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 40%
   Individual assignments – 5 * 10 = 50%
   
   
8. Design/publication
   
   Students will learn the principles of good design; how to lay out pages and write headlines; the uses of illustration, informational graphics and photography; the basics of desktop publishing and use of software. They will produce publications, both print and electronic, and take the publication process from beginning to end. One of the course outcomes will be production of Brosse Street Journal. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade in this course.
   
   ECTS credit – 3
   Total hours – 24 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Attendance: 10%
   Participation: 80%
   Individual assignments - 10%
   
   
9. Business and Economic Reporting
   
   Students will learn the rudiments of a business story; how to use and interpret numbers and write cogently about economic statistics; how to understand and write about the stock market; how to analyze financial statements; how to interview a Chief Executive Officer; how to cover international trade and economic developments; and how to cover companies large and small and the underground economy.
   Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
   
   ECTS credit – 3
   Total hours – 24 classroom hours
   Assessment system:
   Participation: 35%
   Written assignments - 65%
   
   
10. Media law
    
    The course will focus on the following two aspects of media law: 1) Freedom of expression; 2) Limits of freedom of expression in a democratic society. Both aspects will be discussed in light of the case law of the US Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and Georgian courts.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Test – 100%
    
    Grades will be based on final examination, a written test consisting of 30 questions. Minimum number of
    Questions to be correctly answered will be 20.
    
    
11. Courts and Legal Reporting
    
    Students will learn the structure of the court system in Georgia; how to find stories and cover judicial proceedings; how to develop sources in the courts and throughout the legal system; how to write legal stories without jargon. They will examine the elements of judicial reform and how to cover it.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 20%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 60%
    
    
12. Elections and Politics
    
    This course will show students how to cover local and regional elections and politics thoroughly and fairly, using first-person interviews; informal polling techniques and other reporting tools, including spreadsheets and the Internet. Other topics will include political parties, campaigning, lobbying, campaign financing and making the most of press conferences.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 10%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 3 * 20 = 60%
    Test – 20%
    
    
13. New Media
    
    This covers practical material related to using the Internet as a news outlet as well as a more theoretical examination of the technology’s impact on the media. It will cover the Internet’s history and its impact on the news industry; an introduction to news websites -- what works, what doesn’t and why; collecting news for a multi-media environment; the unique ethical environment of online journalism; software and basic techniques of web design; and operation of The Brosse Street Journal Online
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation & Attendance: 25%
    Task – 25%
    Final project – 50%
    
    
14. Photojournalism
    
    This course is an introduction to news photography and assumes that students have no prior experience with a camera. It starts with the fundamentals and works toward a more advance ideas and techniques. Of the all hours allotted for the course, students will spend at least half that time in the field taking pictures.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation & Attendance: 25%
    Task – 25%
    Final project – 50%
    
    
15. Arts Reporting
    
    Students will study how to cover several spheres of art without having any background education in art. They will understand the links between cultural expression and daily life, develop critical perspective, understand the difference between the arts reviewer and arts critic, different approaches to performing and fine arts, method for reviewing the arts, principles of journalism and what’s different while covering arts, in-depth discussion and tips on covering different arts: movie, television, music, theatre, dance, architecture, sculpture, literature. They’ll develop opinion about the arts; understand the influence of newsmakers in arts. They learn interviewing techniques and journalistic ethics. After completion of the course journalists must be able to think critically and objectively about the arts and culture, have strong news judgment, be able to prepare and conduct interesting interview and report professionally and ethically on the arts and culture.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 20 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 20%
    Written assignments – 80%
    
    
16. Diversity Reporting
    
    This course will make students aware of the issues surrounding the reporting of diversity; understand what are diversity groups (disables, mentally ill, prisoners, HIV positive persons, etc) and how to cover them through personal inquiry, journalistic approach and critical media analysis.
    Students will learn to write balanced, in-depth, multi-sourced stories on topics of diversity (pitch story ideas; develop different story angles; investigate controversial claims; avoid stigmatizing language and hate speech).
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 10%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 3 * 20 = 60%
    Test – 20%
    
    
17. Conflict Reporting
    
    The course enables students to analyze the wars and conflicts and see how the media coverage affected them. Students will learn about the role of a war correspondent, the problems war correspondents face and the constraints they work under; the relationship between governments, the military and the media in wartime. The students will see documentaries about ongoing conflicts. The aim of the course is to inform students about all possible problems they might face while covering conflicts and inform them about advantages and disadvantages of peace reporting.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 90%
    
    
18. Healthcare Reporting
    
    In this course, students will learn elements of a good health story; receive tips for interviewing medical workers and scientists; understand the fraud in medicine. The students develop different story angles and investigate controversial claims in healthcare cases. They’ll study how to avoid stigmatizing language and respect journalistic and medical ethics; generate and present health stories that appeal to the audience; read and interpret scientific studies, statistics and medical documents; basic concepts in public health, epidemiologist, evidence- based medicine. Students completing this course will get confidence and skills in the subject area. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 10%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 3 * 20 = 60%
    Test – 20%
    
    
19. Principles of Journalism
    
    This course will be constructed around nine basic professional and ethical principles stated by Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach in their recent book, "The Elements of Journalism." Each week, the class will discuss two or three of these principles, beginning and ending with the two most important: "a discipline of verification" and "make the significant interesting and relevant."
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 10%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 20%
    Test – 60%
    
    
20. Economics
    
    During the course, micro and macro economic theory and application is taught to students. Short theoretic course covers main topics, such as markets and government, supply and demand, demand and consumer behavior, government taxation and review measuring economic activity. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 2
    Total hours – 20 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 10%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 3 * 10 = 30%
    Final test – 50%
    
    
21. Basics of Democracy
    
    This course introduces students to the history of democracy, thinking. The concepts of liberalism, socialism, and nationalism are discussed cases from Georgian and Caucasian affairs are analyzed. The course is based on “Privilege of my Generation”; a textbook by Zurab Zhvania, For a final project, the students will create and enact a talk-show on the topics discussed during the course. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 80%
    Attendance: 20%
    
    
22. International Relations
    
    
    This course is to introduce the students to the subjects of war and politics and their interrelation, the basis of military-political philosophy of the contemporary world, upon which the states base their political judgment and decisions.
    Students analyze international affairs and international security; they ask in depth questions on national security, military affairs, international relations and armed conflicts. They familiarize with the major sources and authors on the subject that will help them to conduct better analysis or research, prepare interviews, or simply, make better judgments of military and political affairs in the international system.
    The students cover reading materials and prepare essays on the topics. Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 24 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 25%
    Written assignments – 3 * 25 = 75%
    
    
23. Writing in English
    
    The goal of this course is to practice and develop students’ ability to write clearly and expressively in English. It will concentrate on narrative and expository writing, with special emphasis on three elements: structure, descriptive and explanatory detail, and the use of images. The course seeks to improve students’ English vocabulary and grammar, but we will pay more attention to writing with freshness and clarity and holding readers’ interest than to technical use of language.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 36 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Participation: 30%
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 60%
    
    
24. Writing in Georgian
    
    The goal of this course is to practice and develop students’ ability to write clearly and expressively in Georgian. It will concentrate on elements as structure, descriptive and explanatory detail. The course seeks to improve students’ Georgian vocabulary and grammar, and will pay attention to writing with freshness and clarity and holding readers’ interest than to technical use of language.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    ECTS credit – 3
    Total hours – 36 classroom hours
    Assessment system:
    Attendance: 10%
    Written assignments – 60%
    Test – 30%
    
    
25. Readings
    
    This is a seminar-type class. Students will have the class throughout the whole study period. They’ll read the books and articles that provide critical analysis of mass media and had an important influence on the field. Students have to write two-page papers discussing main issues covered in the course. They’ll discuss the issues and readings in the class. The trainer will serve as a moderator of a discussion. The class enables students to gain broader theoretical awareness of the field of mass communication and have critical vision of the most influential theorists and critics of the sphere.
    
    
26. Brown-bag seminars
    
    On a regular basis, a guest lecturer will be invited to discuss a topic of current interest or to provide background on an industry, a current event, public policy or issues including poverty, crime, health care, regional and ethnic conflicts, privatization and international trade. In some cases, students may be asked to write stories on the conversations. Lecturers will include business people, politicians, heads of government agencies, local and foreign journalists and media managers and directors of NGOs, among others.
    
    
27. Production Laboratory
    
    In this course, students put into practice everything they have learned about producing a newspaper and Web site. They design pages, write headlines, paginate pages and get the newspaper ready to go to the printer each month. They also provide content and update The Brosse Street Journal Online. The course meets for at least eight hours per week during the last two weeks of each month.
    
    
    
28. Computer skills
    
    The main goal of the course is to introduce to students basic information about modern computer systems. The students will learn both theory and practice. Familiarity with basic computer skills will enable them to meet further requirements of several disciplines taught in the CSJMM.
    Students will receive a final evaluation and a grade for the course.
    
    
29. English Language skills
    
    This course aims to improve students’ language skills so that they meet high language requirements in the core disciplines taught at CSJMM.
    
    
30. Final Project
    
    Students will prepare an in-depth, long-form enterprise story on a substantial topic that demonstrates acquired abilities in researching, interviewing, reporting and writing for publication or broadcast. The student can choose a mentor, who will assist him/her during the work on the final project. Topics must be presented in a proposal at the beginning of September (1-9) and approved by a chair and committee members. A student has three months, starting from January, 2007 until April 2007 to review the relevant literature, do the field trips, necessary research, etc. and finish the final project. The final project may be in print or broadcast (radio or television) or Web format, and must be deemed by the mentor and the diploma commission to be of professional quality. Outlines must be submitted after approval of the topic is given. Mentor will closely supervise students in developing their final project for publication or broadcast during the final research, drafting and rewriting phase. Students may expect to draft and rewrite their projects as many as three times, and must be prepared to meet strictly enforced deadlines. The deadline for final project defense is May 2008. The final project is required for graduation.
    
    
31. Final Assessment
    
    Students receive final assessment based on the results of a diploma, final project.