This class will use very little paper. The student will be able to write competently in a journalistic style at a level acceptable to a professional media outlet, be it a newspaper, advertising agency, radio or television station public relations agency or a new media outlet such as the World Wide Web. It is not an advanced course specific to the student's area of interest. Students are expected to attend all class sessions. As this class moves very quickly, missing even a single session will place the student at a serious disadvantage.
Assignments tend to stretch from one day to the next.
Missing the first part of an assignment one day might mean the student will be unable to complete the assignment the next. A large part of the grade comes from in-class writing assignments either begun or completed during the class period. As this is a progressive skills course, grades at the end of the course weigh more heavily than those at the first. Don't panic early on. An important part of writing for the media is learning to write under the pressure of deadline, therefore, it is non-negotiable in this class.