Republic of the Philippines

Stratford International School

J. Catolico Avenue, Lagao General Santos City

Course Syllabus: Campus Journalism

Course Description: This course promotes the development and growth of campus
journalism as a means to strengthen ethical values, encourage creative thinking,
and develop moral character and personal discipline among the students. It
encourages and train students on how to produce and manage a school paper.
This is also a practical course to students who are beginners in the journalism
field and who want to improve their journalistic skills.

Learning Outcomes (LO): At the end of the course, the students can:
A. Cognitive (Knowledge) :
1. Discuss the ethical standards of campus journalism and the extent
of freedom of the press.
2. Describe the different sections of a school paper.
3. Compare the different news writing techniques and formats.
B. Affective (Attitude) :
1. Strengthen moral character through campus news papering.
2. Recognize the role of the campus press as a “watchdog” and a
fiscalizer.
C. Psychomotor (Skills):
1. Develop their journalistic skills .
2. Design a well-balanced publication.

Grading System:
Exam – 40%
Assignment – 20%
Class Participation – 15%
Quizzes – 15%
Attendance – 10%
Other Requirements:
School Newspaper
Reporting

Learning Plan:
TOPIC WEEK# LEARNING ACTIVITES
I. Fundamental Concepts on 1-2 Reporting
Journalism Activity
 Scope and Nature of
Journalism
  Journalism versus
Literature
 Tenets of Journalism
 Killers of Balanced
Reporting
 Functions and Duties
of the Press
 Limitations of the
Press
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
II. The Campus Paper and the 3-4 Reporting
Publication Staff Discussion
 The National Quiz
Newspaper
 The Campus Paper
 A Brief History of
Campus Journalism
 Functions of campus
Papers
 Aid to Students
 Aid to School and
Community
 Parts of the Campus
Paper
 Parts of Front Page
 Parts of Editorial Page
 The Sports page
 Selection of the
Publication Staff
 Duties and
Responsibilities of the
Publication Staff
 The Publication’s
Policies
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
III. The News: A 5-6 Reporting
Backgrounder Activity
 Understanding News Discussion
 News in School Papers
 Characteristics of a
Good News
 Types of News Stories Prelim
  Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
IV. Stairway to News Writing: 7-8 Reporting
Techniques and Principles Activity
 Sources of News Discussion
 More Sources of News
 Rules of Thumb in
News Gathering
 Stages in Interview
 Steps in Conducting
the Interview
 Structure of News
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
V. Getting Started: Crafting 9-10 Reporting
the Good Lead Discussion
 Parts of the News Quiz
 The Lead
 Major Classifications
of Lead
 Kinds of Grammatical
Beginning Lead
 Reason for Using
Novelty lead
 Rules of Thumb in
Lead Writing
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
VI. In Focus: Writing the 11-12 Reporting
Whole News Story Discussion
 More Concepts on Activity
News Writing Quiz
 Qualities of News
 The Do’s of News
Writing Style
 The Dont’s of News
Writing Style
 Transitional Devices
 The Mystery in
Winning News Writing
Competitions
 Other Winning Tips in
News Writing Contest
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
VII. Creativity Matters: 13-14 Reporting
Writing Feature Articles Discussion
 Feature Story: Its Quiz
Concepts and Nature
 Characteristics of
feature Stories
 Feature Flourishes in
 Qualities of a well-
written feature story
 Hard News and feature
story contrasted
 Types of feature
stories
 The effective feature
writer
 Sources of features
 The stages of writing a
feature story
 Writing the feature
story
 Rules of thumb in Midterm
writing the
introduction
 Writing introduction:
techniques and
samples
 The nut graph
 The body of the feature
article
 Paragraph
development
 How to end the feature
article
 Writing title of feature
stories
 Tips for beginning
feature writers
 Feature writing contest
tips
 Sample feature articles
 Mental gymnastics
 Synapse strengtheners
VIII. Scuffle of Opinions: 15-16 Reporting
Writing Editorials Discussion
 Editorial: Its
 Definitions and
Concepts
 Other Characteristics
of an Editorial
 Functions of Editorial
 Types of Editorial
 Editorial Structure
 Duties of an Editorial
Writer
 Crafting the Editorial:
Suggestions for
Students
 Editorial Writing: A
Sample Structure
 Some techniques in
beginning the editorial
 Some techniques in
ending the editorial
 Some techniques in
persuasion
 Letters to the Editors
 Sample Editorial with
Analysis
 Analysis of Editorial
 Mental Gymnastics
 Synapse Strengtheners
IX. Personal Viewpoint: 17 Reporting
Writing Columns Discussion
 Column Writing: Its Activity
Nature and Concepts Quiz
 Types of Columns
 Tips in Writing a Column
 Suggestions for
Beginning Columnists
 Some more tips on
columns writing
 Sample columns
 Mental gymnastics
 Synapse strengtheners
X. Copyediting: Cleaning the 18 Reporting
copy & Writing the Headline Discussion
 Copyediting defined Activity
 Editing
 Proofreading
 Copyediting or
 copyreading
 The desk and the desk
work
 The work process
 Procedures in
copyreading
 Journalistic writing
 Tips for accurate
reporting and editing
 Omitting verbal
deadwoods
 Avoiding redundancies
 Using simple words
 Concrete and precise
writing
 The headline
 Functions of headlnes
 Guidelines in headline
writing
 Headline vocabulary
 Mechanics of headline
writing
 Headline patterns
 Reminders to editors
 Mental gymnastics
 Synapse strengtheners Finals
XI. Publication Style Guide: A 19 Discussion
Sample Quiz
 Uses of titles
 Spelling
 Quotations
 Use of numbers
 Capitalization
 Use of punctuation
 Mental gymnastics
 Synapse strengtheners

Reference:
B. Ferdinand, MAED. Campus Journalism: Within your reach. A worktext for Journalist
Wannabees in the Campus.