Presentation about student newspaper course at San Francisco State University presented at Associated Collegiate Press convention in LA Feb. 19, 2016

1. Contact:
rkanigel@gmail.com
The Student Newspaper Course
Putting the Pieces Together
Rachele Kanigel
San Francisco State University

2. JOUR 609 Publication
Lab
Newspaper production course in a journalism
department
All students required to take at least once, most
take at least twice
Prerequisites: Newswriting + Reporting
(reporter/editors)
OR Newswriting + Photojournalism 2
(photographers)

3. Staff
10-15 editors
10-25 reporters
6-15 photographers
1-3 designers (sometimes not enrolled in class –
they may take independent study)

4. Publication
Website updated daily
Newspaper distributed weekly on Wednesdays
10,000 circulation

7. Class Structure
Class meets twice a week, Mondays & Fridays
9:35-10:50 a.m.
Mondays: Story pitches
Wednesdays: Critiques, workshops, guest
lecturers, discussions of ethical issues, panel
discussions, brainstorming sessions, project
planning sessions
Last 15 minutes of every class reporters & editors
meet

8. Grading reporters
Minimum requirements:
15 stories (roughly one per week)
20 production hours (distributing the paper,
copyediting, writing headlines, background
research for someone else’s story, man-on-the-street
interviews)
Weekly story pitches
Reporters turn in three portfolios, each after about 5
weeks

9. Grading reporters
Portfolio includes:
Original draft of each story and story as it
appeared online or in print
Memo for each story explaining how story
originated, problems encountered, how reporter
and editor worked together
Weekly beat memos (story ideas)
Production hours log
Self-evaluation form
Evaluation of editors

10. Grading reporters
Point system:
Portfolio 1 Up to 25 points
Portfolio 2 Up to 25 points
Portfolio 3 Up to 25 points
Beat Report Up to 5 points
Class participation Up to 5 points
Beat handoff Up to 5 points
Production hours (20) 1/2 point per hour
Bonus points 1 for each weekly award
Total Up to 100

11. All work is graded AFTER PUBLICATION so there
is no problem with prior review.

12. Class activities
Small group discussions
Students meet in small groups to select:
 Best headline
 Best story
 Best lede
 Best opinion piece (editorial, column, review)
 Best photo
 Best page design
and address the question: What could we have done
better this week:

13. Class activities
Story hunt
Send groups of 3 (a mix of editors, reporters,
photographers, designers) out on a story hunt to a
different building or area of campus. Each group
has to find:
 An upcoming event
 A profile subject
 A subject for a multimedia story
 A news story
Each team reports back to the whole staff.

14. Class activities
Brainstorming session
Students meet in small groups to generate story
ideas.
Ask:
 What’s challenging about being a student?
 What frustrates you about this school?
 How does the economy/budget cuts/upcoming
election, etc. affect students on this campus?
Have each group make a list of topics/issues and then
turn them into story ideas

15. Class activities
Meet your readers
Have staffers go out in pairs with a stack of
newspapers (or fliers for the website) to different
areas of campus.
Instruct each pair to introduce themselves and the
newspaper to passersby and engage potential
readers in conversation. Ask:
 Are you familiar with the newspaper?
 Do you read it? Regularly or occasionally?
 What do you like about the newspaper?
 What don’t you like about it?
 What stories should we cover?

16. Textbook
Instructors can
order a free
examination copy at
wiley.com

17. Resources
 Golden Gate Xpress can be viewed at
http://goldengatexpress.org/
 Syllabus available for download at
http://issuu.com/rachelekanigel/docs/sfsustudent
newspapersyllabus
 Contact rkanigel@gmail.com