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THE ROADRUNNER

Butte College's Editorially Independent Student Voice

THE ROADRUNNER

Butte College's Editorially Independent Student Voice

THE ROADRUNNER

A newspaper by students, for students.

Welcome to Journalism 2

Journalism 2, or Intro to Newswriting, is an action-packed experience of experimentation in a new style of writing.  I don’t expect you to be an expert, but I do expect you to be courageous and kind to yourself during the learning process. 

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of covering and writing news. Mastering these skills is no simple task. In an age of instant access and Ai generated content, demand for high-quality stories has

never been greater. We are all being lured by the temptation to use Ai tools to avoid intellectual work, but what is gained when writers become prompters?

To resist the temptation, journalists must acquire skills to identify a story and its essential elements, gather information efficiently, place it in a meaningful context and write concise and compelling accounts, sometimes at breathtaking speed. This course is designed to help students acquire such skills and understand how to exercise them wisely. 

Students will learn about the role and responsibility of a journalist in American society through a variety of campus and local community-based reporting and writing assignments. This course will introduce you to the step-by-step process of producing news content, from understanding the concept of news judgment—when an event is news and why- to the research, reporting, writing and dissemination of news in the 21-century news ecosystem. This course will focus on writing, reporting and news judgement. We’ll also learn to produce content across platforms. Students will incorporate social media tools and broadcast news techniques in the reporting and writing process and the dissemination of their work. 

This introduction class is part of the Butte College journalism program that includes print and digital publications. While you are not required to publish your work, if I think the student-run publication team might be interested in an article, I may ask your permission to submit your work to the team.

I look forward to working with you!