"Organizing Your Class" by Chris Roush
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Transcript of "Organizing Your Class" by Chris Roush
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Organizing your Class
Chris Roush [email protected]
Jan. 2, 2013 Business Journalism Professors Seminar
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Outside the classroom n Let’s not kid ourselves – we’re not
going to teach students everything they need to know.
n Students have told me that some of the best ways they learned about the importance of business reporting was when they engaged in real-life experiences.
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Projects n “Business reporting” classes can easily
contain a final project, or some sort of other project.
n Can count for 20% or 30% of a student’s grade.
n These projects can run a wide gamut of ideas and requirements.
n But each of them emphasizes what it’s like to be a business reporter.
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The major article
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Project idea No. 1 n If there are a number of
publicly traded companies within an hour of your campus, consider compiling a list of them.
n Require each student to pick one of these companies.
n Will have to write magazine-length article about the company by the end of the semester.
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Project idea No. 1 n Can be effective if your
class is focusing on reading SEC filings and trying to find news.
n Students can be writing assignments throughout the semester on their final project company.
n Forces students to interact with IR and PR staff.
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Project idea No. 1 n Many students will get the
opportunity to interview the CEO or other high-ranking officials.
n Forced to become knowledgeable about a company that may have technical aspects.
n And they will need to come up with a good story angle focused on strategy or some other corporate issue.
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Project idea No. 1 n Give the students the list of companies on the
first day of class, and tell them they have two or three weeks to pick their companies.
n Many will want to pick early to get the best companies. This puts students in competition with each other.
n Also forces students to go ahead and request SEC filings and annual report from company.
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Project idea No. 1 n By middle of semester,
require students to write a one-page memo about what they think they’ll final paper will be about.
n Gives you the chance to be their “editor” and fine-tune idea, suggest sources or tell them if they’re off base.
n Forces students to do work throughout the semester instead of waiting until end.
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Project idea No. 1 n Doesn’t necessarily have to be companies in
area. n At Washington & Lee, had students write
about public companies with location in Lexington, Va.
n One student wrote great story about CVS and shortage of pharmacists in some markets.
n Another wrote about Barnes & Noble vs. independent book stores.
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Project idea No. 1 n Students learn how to take information
from a number of different sources and coalesce it into one story.
n Can spend one class period talking to them about magazine story format and structure.
n Some students can get these stories published.
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News conference competition
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Project idea No. 2 n Another project that can
be very effective in teaching students the relationship between business reporters and companies is the mock press conference competition.
n Puts students in face-to-face combat.
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Project idea No. 2 n Have run this mock news conference
competition for each of the past six years in a variety of formats: W&L vs. Virginia, Richmond vs. Virginia, UNC vs. Virginia and UNC vs. UNC.
n In each situation, business reporting students have been assigned to ask questions about a specific company.
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Project idea No. 2 n Pick with the biz school
professor. n Try to pick companies that
have been in the news in the past year, or have a crisis situation.
n Past examples include Ford, Coca-Cola, Merck, Krispy Kreme and Microsoft.
n Business school students play the part of the CEOs, CFOs, presidents and PR people of these companies.
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Project idea No. 2 n Business school students spend weeks
preparing a press release and developing prepared answers to expected questions.
n Journalism students don’t get notified of what company they’re assigned to cover until week of news conference.
n Try to make it as realistic as possible. Hold news conferences at biz school – their turf.
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Project idea No. 2 n Limit news conferences
to 30 minutes apiece, and have each group sit in room so that they can learn from all of the news conferences.
n Once it’s over, have biz school students sit with journalism students so that they can compare notes and strategies.
n Professors can provide critique as well.
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Project idea No. 2 n Have recently used PR and business
journalists in the community to critique the performance as well.
n They love being involved in such a project, and students will listen more to the pros than to their professors.
n Try to keep it as positive as possible. Constructive criticism.
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Project idea No. 2 n Business reporting students are graded on
this assignment based on several factors: 1. The story they write based on the press
conference. 2. How well they asked questions. 3. How well they researched and represented
the media outlet that they represent.
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Project idea No. 2 n Mock news conference can be held on a
Friday afternoon or a Saturday morning when students don’t have classes.
n Give them one class period off in return. n Many students have never participated in a
news conference. n This project teaches them how to think on
their feet. They don’t receive press release or know what’s going to be covered beforehand.
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The roundtable
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Project idea No. 3 n Another project idea for a
business reporting class is to hold a roundtable discussion between the students and local business leaders.
n Talk to your local paper about a business news topic that has generated some controversy or comments from the local business community.
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Project idea No. 3 n Then, ask the paper’s biz
editor for some sources in that industry that might participate in a roundtable discussion with your class.
n Send letters to those people inviting them to a two-hour event.
n Make it clear that this is a learning experience.
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Project idea No. 3 n In April 2005, organized roundtable for
Business Reporting class to discuss The News & Observer’s coverage of the local pharmaceutical industry.
n Roundtable attracted company CEOs, board members, executives, PR people, as well as consultants and professors.
n Attempted to bring a wide variety of viewpoints to the table.
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Project idea No. 3 n Students were required to research coverage
from the past six months of the paper and send articles to the roundtable participants.
n Then, students were required to ask questions during the roundtable to facilitate the discussion.
n N&O biz editor and ombudsman sat in the room, but were not allowed to talk.
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Project idea No. 3 n Professor may have to step in to
get the discussion back on track sometimes, or to keep one person from dominating discussion.
n After roundtable is over, students required to write reports about how newspaper can improve its coverage.
n Reports are graded, but also sent to the biz editor.
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Project idea No. 3 n What this roundtable project does is show
students the effect of what they write, and how important it is to have good relationships with company sources.
n Also shows them the importance of accuracy in their coverage.
n Roundtable participants enjoy the opportunity to vent – with sometimes valid complaints.
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Project idea No. 3 n Roundtables have been held by university
professors on a number of topics with the help of the APME National Credibility Roundtables Project.
n Tips and handouts can be downloaded here: http://www.apme-credibility.org/
n Roundtable often results in coverage by paper as well. N&O ombudsman wrote column.
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Project idea No. 3 n The downside to the
roundtable is that it takes a lot of effort by the professor.
n Roundtable participants respond more positively when they receive a phone call or letter from professor instead of students.
n Can also take some time to get “buy in” by the local media outlet.
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Conclusion n The outside project, or outside-class
assignments can provide more perspective to students than writing stories all semester.
n Provides students with the big picture of business journalism.
n Also makes them realize the connection between what they write and how sources react.