SALEM STATE COLLEGE, Spring 2006
COM 325: Sports Writing
Meeting time/place: WF 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., SB 206A
Professor Brett M. Rhyne
telephone: 978-542-7088
e-mail: brett.rhyne@salemstate.edu
office: MH100B
Office hours: Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m., and by appointment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Catalogue description: A study of the communications media from a variety of
perspectives – historical, psychological, economic, political and social, as well as of the
moral and legal issues raised by technological developments. Course will explore theories of communications with particular application to the analysis of contemporary media.
Global goals: This course is a low-level elective in the communications curriculum; it is
open to students in all three concentrations. The course aims to help students understand how sports writing at times follows the practices and conventions of traditional journalism and at times creates its own practices and conventions. Students will have opportunities to work with both print and broadcast forms of sports journalism. In this course, students work to become better, more professional sportswriters and
sportscasters.
Instructional objectives: By course’s end, students should be able to (a) show
proficiency in sports beat reporting, journalistic style and AP style usage by having
written five stories: two games stories, a notebook, a preview/review and a column; (b)
exhibit some aptitude at broadcasting, by working with a partner to sportscast one athletic event, alternating as play-by-play and color commentary announcers; and (c) better understand sports journalism as a profession and begin to form their own ideas about the relationship between sports writing and news writing.
Structure: As the course name suggests, this is a writing course. Students will follow
Salem State College teams as beats: you will choose a beat of a team that plays regularly this semester; attend the games of those teams; and file five stories about those teams. All assignments will be e-mailed to the instructor for comments and grading. Please take this work seriously; the instructor may, at his discretion, forward selected stories on to the appropriate section editor at The Salem State Log for publication. Your grade in this course is based solely on your work for this course, and is not contingent whatsoever on having your work appear in the student newspaper.
Laptop policy: Your laptop computer can be an important educational resource for this
class, but is not essential. If you do choose to bring your laptop to class — say, for taking notes — please use it appropriately and responsibly. Appropriate laptop-related behaviors include making sure your laptop battery is charged before coming to class; keeping the sound muted at all times; being punctual so as to avoid disrupting class when setting up your laptop; closing your laptop during class discussions, video/film viewings or when I ask you to; and not using instant message programs, Web browsers, media players or any program not directly related to the course during class time. If you choose not to follow these rules/procedures, you will be asked to leave and withdraw from the class. I reserve the right to expand on these rules and procedures during the semester. Please see me if you have any questions or concerns with these rules/procedures or if you need to discuss the use of the laptop with me.
REQUIRED TEXTS
The Boston Globe, daily
Steve Wilstein, Associated Press Sports Writing Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 2001.
Norman Goldstein, ed., AP Stylebook and Libel Manual (APS)
CLASS MEMBERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
Grading values are in parentheses.
Entry/exit exams (10%). Students will take entry and exit exams to gauge their progress
throughout the course.
Deadlines. As at a professional newspaper, the meeting of deadlines is tantamount in this course. If a student misses a deadline for filing his or her story, the student will receive no credit for the assignment. Only under extenuating circumstances, communicated in advance of deadline, may this condition be changed. Deadlines for game stories only are Sundays at 6 p.m.; deadlines for all other stories are on Fridays prior to class.
Filing stories: Please file all stories electronically as a Word (.doc), Rich Text (.rtf) or
Text (.txt) attachment to me at brett.rhyne@salemstate.edu. All stories must include a
slug — as the file name and in the e-mail subject line — and this header:
Your by-line: Roger Angell
Course/Instructor: COM 325/Rhyne
Date: Jan. 20, 2005
SLUG: SPO-womens_hoops.81.8.doc
Word count/inches 500 words
Writing assignments (50%). Five stories of various sports forms: a preview or review,
two game stories, a notebook and a column. Students will come to class prepared to
discuss the activity on their beat each week.
Beats:
GROUP A: Men’s & Women’s Swimming: 11/12 – 2/19; Women’s hoops: 11/18 – 2/25;
Hockey: 11/18 – 2/18; Men’s hoops: 11/19 – 2/25.
GROUP B: Men’s lacrosse; Men’s tennis: 3/27 – 5/7; Baseball: 3/21 – 5/7; Softball: 3/21
– 5/7; Golf; Track & field.
Broadcasting assignments (20%). Working in pairs, students will share the play-andplay
and color commentary responsibilities of one Viking game.
Read the Boston Globe every day. Ideally, journalists read at least three daily
newspapers, as well as other weekly, biweekly and monthly news periodicals. Please read the Boston Globe’s main sheet (front section) and sports section every day, including Sundays.
Sports/news/style quizzes (10%). Weekly quizzes based on the events of the day as
reported in the Boston Globe and on sports writers’ knowledge of AP style.
Class participation (20%). Being able to express your ideas about stories (yours and
others’) is an essential part of our craft. Class participation is mandatory.
Attendance & responsibility. Attendance is mandatory for all scheduled class meetings.
If for some reason you can’t make a class, please let me know in advance. Students are
responsible for all work, including assignments they miss due to absence. If you miss a
class, please be sure to get what you’ve missed from one of your classmates.
SECTION 504
Salem State College is committed to providing equal access to the educational experience for all students in compliance with Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and to providing all reasonable academic
accommodations, aids, and adjustments. Any student who has a documented disability
requiring accommodation, aid, or adjustment should speak with the instructor
immediately. Students with disabilities who have not done so should provide
documentation to and schedule an appointment with the Officer for Students with
Disabilities and obtain appropriate services.
