JOURNALISM 325/625
CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
The Washington and Annapolis Bureau Semesters
Fall 2006
Section 0101 (D.C.) and 0201 (Annapolis)
TWThF, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or as story needs demand.
Instructors:
Adrianne Flynn (D.C.), Tony Barbieri (Annapolis)
E-mail: aflynn@jmail.umd.edu, tbarbieri@jmail.umd.edu
Telephone numbers:
Adrianne: (h) 301-949-9139; bureau: 202-628-1677; campus, 301-405-7247; or cell (use judiciously, please) 301-512-0074.
Tony: (h) 410-243-4503; bureau 301-858-5431 or 410-626-1008; campus 301-405-7247; or cell 410-916-2280.
Office Hours:
On Mondays by appointment, or during bureau hours.
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to the fall 2006 semester of Capital News Service. This is a full-time reporting job, one that will give you the unusual opportunity to work as a Washington or Maryland State House correspondent early in your career.
You should be enrolled for six credits for your bureau work in Washington or Annapolis (JOUR 325 or 625) and, unless you have taken them already, another six credits for the seminars: three each for the journalism (JOUR 462 or 762) and public affairs (PUAF 706) seminars, which meet every Monday during the regular semester.
You are carrying a tough course load, so you should not attempt to work another job, accept an internship or take other classes this semester. Stipends will be given to each of you at the end of the semester to defray your travel costs. The stipend is non-negotiable: $500 per bureau student. You lose your stipend, however, if you lose your office or building keys. Hang on to them.
EXPECTATIONS:
Although you will not be paid a salary for your work in the bureau, we expect you to treat your assignment as you would a professional job. You will report four days a week to Washington or Annapolis -- Tuesday through Friday -- unless assigned otherwise.
You are expected to report on those days around 9 a.m., but no later than 9:30 a.m. Lateness is inexcusable and WILL ADVERSELY AFFECT YOUR GRADE. Attendance is mandatory and absences WILL ADVERSELY AFFECT YOUR GRADE. If an emergency arises and you cannot get in on time, or if illness will prevent you from getting in at all, call your editor at home or call the bureau by 9 a.m. so that we can juggle assignments.
Normally, you will be working eight-hour days. If you have a particularly late day because of a late-breaking story, we will try to arrange for you to come in late or leave early on another day.
In addition to the CNS print bureaus in Annapolis and Washington, the college produces broadcast and online news under the flag Maryland Newsline. You will be called on from time to time to work with reporters in the other bureaus or you may be interviewed for broadcast on a story you are working on. Do it. Cooperation among all reporters in all bureaus is a requirement, not an option.
We will hold regular staff meetings to discuss business, gripe, compare war stories, help each other solve problems and generally develop the collegial spirit that is critical to a small news bureau.
REQUIRED READING:
All bureau students should be well read on issues in Annapolis and Washington. They should have read "The Associated Press Guide to News Writing," by Rene J. Cappon, and "Numbers in the Newsroom," by Sarah Cohen, by the first day of classes.
D.C. bureau students should have read "Congressional Odyssey," by T.R. Reid, by the first day of class. They are also expected to read "Inside the Beltway," by Don Campbell and Wendell Cochran. If necessary, D.C. reporters should also read a primer on the federal government.
Annapolis bureau students should have read "The Maryland Legislator's Handbook" and "Government Services in Maryland," Vols. 1 and 2 of the legislative handbook series published by the Maryland General Assembly and available in the Annapolis bureau or from Legislative Services at the Annapolis State House. They should also be familiar with the Maryland Manual, which is available in the bureau and online. Annapolis students should also read "The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect" by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel.
During the bureau, you are expected to read state and federal stories in The (Baltimore) Sun or The Washington Post each day before you arrive. Washington reporters will also find The Washington Times, Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call and The Hill useful. Annapolis reporters should read state and local stories in The (Annapolis) Capital, the Daily Record and the Friday editions of The Gazette.
Students will also be responsible for a certain area of the state or a specific congressional district, and they should regularly read the newspapers from those areas of the state to keep up with the issues there. Most client papers are delivered to the bureaus.
You should own a copy of the AP Stylebook, if you do not already, for your use in the bureau this semester and in your careers. The bureau does not supply stylebooks.
GRADES:
You will be given separate grades for your work in the bureau and in the seminars. To get good grades in all three courses, attendance is mandatory. The bureau directors grade your work in the bureaus. Your seminar instructors will grade your performances in the seminars.
In the bureaus, you will get an informal mid-term evaluation, in which we will discuss your strengths and weaknesses. Your final grade will be based on numerous factors, including: your interviewing, reporting and writing skills (including story construction, spelling, style and grammar skills, and an ability to translate complex subjects into readable copy); accuracy; your ability to meet deadlines; your ability to generate story ideas; your ability to deliver those stories, and complete all other assignments as well; your work habits, time management, attendance, punctuality and attitude; and, especially, any improvement.
Students typically produce one to two stories a week, more when daily news is heavy, fewer when they are working on features and projects. Students who have not done so in previous classes in the college must pass the test of basic math required by the college. Failure to pass the test after three tries will lower your final grade.
Students will be judged on their ability to handle different types of stories, including breaking news, trend and/or investigative pieces, light features, a personality profile and a computer-assisted project for those who have taken that class.
DRESS CODE:
Dress as you would for a paying job as a congressional or legislative reporter. Men must wear long pants, a sports jacket and a tie. Or a business suit. (You cannot get onto the floor of the State House or into the floor-access area in the Capitol without the jacket.) Women should wear a skirt, dress or dress slacks. (If you wear slacks, you may need a jacket as well for floor areas of the Capitol.) Sneakers or jeans are never appropriate, for men or women. If a story takes you to a place where business dress would be inappropriate -- a trip aboard a crab boat for example -- you may, with permission from your editor, dress accordingly.
YOUR DAILY ROUTINE:
When you arrive at 9 a.m., check your mail slot or desk top for assignments, messages or clippings. You will get a beat-related e-mail address for your time in the bureaus. Check it. All students should check the daybooks, listings of the day's events that move on the AP wire. You should get in the habit of checking the daybook before you leave at night, so both you and your editor have an idea of what's coming up, and again in the morning for any new developments.
Annapolis bureau students should look at legislative calendars, available in the State House and online, of upcoming committee hearings and, during session, action on the floor of the legislature. D.C. bureau students should check hearing schedules in Congressional Quarterly, in The Washington Times’ Washington Daybook and other daybooks, all of which will be posted daily in the bureau.
If you do not have a daily assignment, start working your beat, calling sources for any breaking news or any updates or previous stories. If you learn of something going on, let your editor know about it. Don't assume we know everything that's happening in Annapolis and Washington. The editor/reporter relationship is a partnership, and reporter initiative is a big ingredient.
When your editor assigns you a story, he or she will discuss with you what is likely to happen at the event and what you should look out for. You will be given a tentative length for your story, a slug and a deadline. We also might talk about potential sources. You will be expected to meet -- or beat -- your deadline for the story.
When you've finished writing your story, print it out twice. Keep one printout in a file for yourself. Give the other to your editor. If time permits, we will mark up the hard copy and make suggestions for changes. Please follow those suggestions, rework your copy, then put the story on the public or shared-drive in the computer and let your editor know it’s there. If time does not permit, print a copy for yourself, put a copy of your story on the public-drive and let your editor know it's there.
When your editor is ready to work on your story, you will be called to the office and will sit nearby as he or she works through the piece. Occasionally, the editor will point out desired revisions and ask you to make them at your own desk. If the story is without major problems, it will be edited on the spot. If you have questions about changes, speak up!
Most of our stories should be edited and sent by 6 p.m. to meet the deadlines of our subscribers.
On days you are not covering a breaking story, you will be expected to work on enterprise: feature stories, profiles or projects. We'll jointly come up with ideas for these stories.
Some days, you will be assistant bureau chief, a rotating job discussed in another handout. ABC duties will be much of your job on those days, but you are still expected to work your beat as well.
STORY FILING GUIDELINES:
There is a format for filing stories. Learn the coding and adhere to it, as you would at any reporting job you hold. Stories must be formatted this way before we can put them on the wire, and your failure to do so just slows down the process. The top of each story should look like this:
^CNS-Slots Showdown,580<
^Governor, House Speaker Make Little Progress in Meeting on Slot Machines<
^By YOUR NAME=
^Capital News Service=
ANNAPOLIS- (or WASHINGTON) The story starts here.
The words after CNS- are the slug. It will be two words. If your editor gives you a slug, stick with it -- changing “Slots Showdown” to “Leaders Meet” just confuses things, for us and for our clients. The number after the slug is the word count for the story. (Click 'Tools,' then click 'Word Count.') The next line is a short headline describing the story. Below that is your name -- in capital letters -- followed by Capital News Service, in upper and lower case. The dateline follows in capital letters.
Note the carets, arrows and equal signs in the example above and code your stories accordingly. End all of your stories with the designation, -30-.
Unless you are on an extremely tight deadline and the editor is demanding your copy that minute, you will be expected to spell-check your stories and read them over one last time before filing them. There's no excuse for sloppy copy.
LISTS AND CLIPS:
Each bureau keeps a list of its stories in a database on the shared drive. Please list your stories on the day they move, using the slug we give. Then, as we get clips back from client papers, add that paper's name, the date and the page where your story appeared. Do this often, to keep the list up to date and to keep yourself from the hours of work you will face if you let this chore back up.
At the beginning of the semester, you will be given a memo from the previous reporter who had your beat, as well as a list of sources compiled by earlier students. You are expected to maintain the list, adding names, titles and telephone numbers of sources you talk to regularly, and updating or deleting outdated entries. Your updated source list will be handed over to students next semester.
Most clients send us complimentary copies of their papers, which is how we track your clips. The ABC will be responsible for clipping CNS stories out of these papers each day and putting them in the author’s mailbox. Take good care of your clips: Not only will they help you get internships or real jobs, but your grade is partially dependent on the clip packet you file at the end of the semester.
Photocopy the single, best version of each of your stories. Don’t let this chore back up. All students have to turn in a complete clips packet at the end of the semester, and master's students also have to assemble a clips packet for their MJ Day committee to graduate. (MJ Day will be discussed separately.)
At the end of the bureau, you will be required to turn over your packet of clips, your source list and your beat memo to the next reporter. For the few stories that are not picked up by clients, print the version from the Maryland Newsline web site. (But do it: The clips packet is a course requirement.)
Try to save complete tear sheets of exceptionally good stories, or those that get prominent play in client papers, so that we can post them in the bureaus or college, or enter them in writing contests.
LOGISTICS:
The Annapolis bureau is located in Suite 301, 48 Maryland Ave., Annapolis. It is critical, should you be the last to leave the building at night, that you lock the bureau door. Annapolis commuters may park at the Navy Stadium lot at Rowe Boulevard and Taylor Avenue (Free to state employees and with a free shuttle to downtown), or the nine-hour parking zone on King George Street, if you can snag a space before they fill up early in the morning.
The Washington bureau is located in Suite 950 of the National Press Building, at the corner of 14th and F streets NW. The door locks automatically, so carry your key with you. Given the expense of parking downtown, we urge students to use Metro to get to work and assignments when they can. The nearest Metro station is Metro Center. Capitol Hill is a quick ride: Take the Orange Line to Capitol South for the House side of the Hill, the Red Line to Union Station for the Senate side.
COMPUTERS:
Each of you will have your own computer to work on for the semester. These computers are linked within each bureau through a server to allow shared access to files. Your bureau director will give you a brief explanation of how the computers work and where files should be stored.
Should you have computer problems, talk to your bureau director immediately. If the director can't be reached -- which should be rare -- call the college's computer guru, Clint Bucco, at 301-405-2402. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX THE COMPUTER YOURSELF. And DO NOT EVER TOUCH THE SERVERS in either bureau without express permission from your bureau director or Mr. Bucco.
Also, please do not download programs without permission from your bureau director.
TELEPHONES:
We have no office secretary or receptionist -- everyone is expected to share in handling visitors, answering calls and taking messages.
When taking a message, be sure to get the caller's name, phone number, message, day and time of call. When answering any call, please say “Capital News Service” and your full name. If someone asks who we are, say something like this: “CNS is a student-staffed news service operated by the University of Maryland's Merrill College of Journalism. We cover state and federal government for newspapers throughout Maryland and in Washington, with a specific focus on Maryland issues.”
If you pick up the phone to make a call and get a series of short beeps before the dial tone, it means there's a message in the voicemail system. Check it! It may well be a call that you or one of your colleagues needs for a story. Directions for checking voicemail will be posted in each bureau.
Personal long-distance calls may not be made on CNS lines. The business office takes a very close look at our phone bills.
Annapolis lines: The main telephone number is 410-626-1008 and it is the best number to give to sources, since there are four lines at that number and much less chance that someone will get a busy signal when they call. The fax number is 410-626-1013.
We also have two other lines that are local to the Baltimore and Washington metro areas. When making calls to one of those areas, please use one of those lines if possible, to help keep our phone bills down. The Washington line is 301-858-5431. The Baltimore line is 410-269-0310.
You are likely to get a lot of calls for The Capital, the Annapolis evening paper. The polite thing to do is to provide the caller with The Capital's numbers, which you'll want to keep handy at your desk: 268-5000 (main switchboard), 268-4800 (circulation) and 268-7000 (classified advertising).
D.C. lines: The main number is 202-628-1677, which has four lines attached to it. Our fax number is 202-628-1676. When dialing the Annapolis bureau, please whenever possible call at 301-858-5431 -- using this special "local" line saves the college money.
SUBSCRIBERS:
Thirteen daily newspapers subscribe to our service -- including The Washington Post, The (Baltimore) Sun and The Washington Times -- along with scores of weeklies, broadcast and online clients. You will be given information about clients during orientation. Familiarize yourself with the client newspapers and keep them in mind when reporting or writing a story.
JOURNALISM STANDARDS:
You are expected to abide by the university honor code. Cases of fabrication or plagiarism will earn you an F for this course and a referral to the Office of Judicial Programs with a recommendation for expulsion from the program.
You are also expected to follow the journalism standards you learned in earlier classes. Please check the separate handout in your folder pertaining to use of direct quotations. In addition:
· Sources should be named. An unnamed source will be allowed ONLY if he or she is essential to your story, and you have exhausted every other potential source who might speak on the record. Before you use an unnamed source, you must find a second one who will independently verify the information. You must identify any unnamed source to your editor -- it will go no further -- and be prepared to justify why you granted anonymity.
· Occasionally, sources will ask to speak to you on background or off the record. Before agreeing to either condition, discuss the ground rules with the source beforehand so you are sure you both understand the limits (see below), and honor any such promises. Then talk to your editor, but know that he or she may not allow you to use information gained in this way.
· Make sure you and your source understand the terms the same way. “On background” generally means you will use their quotes or information in the story, but will not name them. Typically, you will negotiate an identifying title, such as a Democratic House staffer. “Off the record” means a source wants to give you guidance for your story, but does not want the information to appear in your story. Such comments often lead to another source who will give you the same information on the record, which you can attribute to the second source.
· To repeat: You must make sure that you and your source understand EXACTLY what it is that you can use and in what way prior to publication.
A FINAL NOTE:
Any students with disabilities requiring special accommodations should talk to their editor privately.
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