Welcome to JEM 200 – Media Writing
JEM 200 Media Writing is the first professional course in the curriculum of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee.
In this course, students are introduced to writing for the media — a basic skill that is common to all forms of media. Students should also gain an understanding of news and information and the important role that they play in society. Journalists are those professionally entrusted with offering our society information that is accurate and credible and doing so in a timely fashion. This task cannot be duplicated by any group in society.
This course emphasizes professional skills, attitude and demeanor. Students are expected to acquire and display all three. They should take their work seriously. The should work honestly and with a sense of integrity. They should attend all lab and lecture meetings, and they should be on time. All of these things have high value in the world of professional journalism, and students should have the intelligence and maturity to understand and develop these habits and characteristics.
Click on the image above to go to the page with the attendance form.
Attendance
Students in any university course are expected to do three things: prepare, attend and engage.
Those who cannot or choose not to do these things in this course will not be successful.
Students are given ample opportunity to prepare themselves for all phases of this course, particularly the lecture section. Lecture notes are posted on this website, and those notes should be reviewed before attending the lecture.
Lecture attendance is expected of all JEM 200 students. We have specific attendance polices that you should be aware of. They are spelled out on the attendance page. You are also required to fill out and submit a form on that page showing that you have read and understood these policies.
Even though the lecture may have as many as 150 people in attendance, that does not preclude engagement. Students are certainly welcome to ask questions or express opinions to the entire class at any time during the lecture period. Even when they do not choose to do this, they should be constantly questioning what is being said and trying to analyze the principles, skills and concepts that are being discussed.
Students are encouraged to bring their laptops or other devices and tweet the lecture. They should use the hashtag #jem200.
Writing for the Mass Media
The text
The texts for this course are Writing for the Mass Media (8th edition) and the AP Stylebook. You should purchase these books and bring them to your lab sections; you will not need to bring them to the lecture. If you would like to order Writing for the Mass Media from Amazon, click on the image to the right.
The Tennessee Journalist (TNJN.com)
The Tennessee Journalist is the student-operated news web site of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media. It is part of the curriculum of the School, and any course in the School may use TNJN as it sees fit. Posting decisions are made by the student staff of the site. The Tennessee Journalist is a founding member of the Intercollegiate Online News Network .
News
News is information that is timely, interesting and significant. The information has to be in a form appropriate for the medium in which it is carried. To be able to produce news, a journalist must be able to report and to write.
Video introduction to JEM 200
Introduction to JEM 200 from Jim Stovall on Vimeo.
This is a video introduction to JEM 200 Introduction to media writing, a journalism course at the University of Tennessee. The video tells a little about what is covered in the course and what instructors try to teach.
