Newspaper Organization And Management

Communications 390

Instructor Tomi McCutchen Parrish

Prerequisite: Comm. 200 (News Writing)

Text: Media Management in the Age of Giants: Business Dynamics of Journalism, Dennis F. Herrick (Iowa State Press, a Blackwell Publishing Company, 2003)

Grading scale: Grading will be based on the points earned. Letter grades will be given according to the following numbers of final points:

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

All Communications majors must make a C or better in order to avoid retaking the course. Please note that all assigned work must be completed and turned in on time for a student to receive any grade in this course.

Attendance: It is essential and mandatory. Be here and be on time.

Makeup and late work: Neither is allowed, unless, of course, Armageddon occurs or the "Big One" strikes on the New Madrid fault line. If we suddenly are faced with either situation, or something equally disastrous, I expect you to grab a pen and notebook (or camera and tape recorder) and start reporting. It's your job.

Cheating: Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Cheating on exercises or copying a previous or current student’s work will certainly result in a zero for the assignment without a chance to redo the work and, depending on the severity of the offense, could result in a zero for the course. Plagiarism is defined as using or stealing others’ work and presenting it as your own. You should be careful, particularly when you begin to write stories for The Pacer, to correctly cite all sources. Example: Finding a movie review on a Web site, then copying it and pasting it into a file, changing a couple of sentences and putting your byline on it, then submitting it to The Pacer for print, is considered plagiarism. If you wish to be sure that you are not guilty of plagiarism, please do not hesitate to consult with me on how to use others’ words in an appropriate manner. As with any other form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment and could result in a zero for the course. If you’ve read your Student Handbook, you already know that plagiarism is a cardinal sin in the academic world and could get you expelled from the university.

Extra credit: I give few extra credit opportunities in this class. If I do assign extra credit work, it will have a due date, just like any other assignment. No extra credit will be given beyond the last day of classes.

Reminder: If you have any questions or concerns about the content or direction of this course, or your progress in it, please do not hesitate to contact me. Any discussions we have are privileged and will not affect your grades. I prefer to keep problems to a minimum.

For those students who, for physical reasons, must ride the elevator, I will be tolerant of problems that arise when the elevator is not working. Be sure to tell me if such a situation exists or occurs.