Columbia University School of Journalism

Two written assignments, or one written assignment and an open-book final exam, are required for the course. For those students doing two written assignments, they are due on March 6 and April 17. For those doing one written assignment, it is due by April 17. Even if the class schedule changes, the written assignments are due on these dates unless the instructor advises otherwise. Students may choose from any of the topics below, or suggest their own topic.

All assignments are expected to be thoroughly spell-checked, grammar-checked and edited. Assignments should be submitted electronically to the instructor at tjk17@columbia.edu. Put the assignment's text in the message; do not use attachments. Electronic submission  allows the instructor to easily intersperse comments into your text, and to e-mail the corrected assignment back to you as soon as it is ready. Be certain to retain a copy of everything you submit. (When assignments require supporting material, such as news clippings, these may be submitted electronically or on paper.)

1. NEWS SECTION ANALYSIS. Select one day's international news section of a U.S. or foreign newspaper that carries a substantial amount of foreign news, or a daily U.S. or international television or radio news broadcast that includes substantial foreign content. Analyze the news items the editors have selected, with an eye to these questions: Are there any items that should have been shorter or longer, in view of readers/listeners' likely interest levels? Could they be better juxtaposed with each other? Could any of them have been made more relevant to its target audience by emphasizing local connections? If you had to cut some items because of space or time constraints, what would you cut and why? What stories suggest a need for more thorough workups that the newspaper or broadcaster might do in the future? Provide neatly assembled photocopies, printouts or recordings of the material you are critiquing. (Make sure the material is clearly labeled with your name!) Length: 1,000 words. Non-English-language material needs to be translated, unless it's in French, Spanish or Russian.  

2. DIFFERENT MEDIA, DIFFERENT IMPRESSIONS: Select an international issue that has received substantial coverage in the press, and show how different media have given it different portrayals, reflecting their own points of view or sense of what's important. How do the portrayals differ, from one news organization to another, in terms of how much sympathy is given to the groups or actors, how their motives are explained and how the historical issues involved are analyzed? How are quotes, word selection, context, sources and comparisons to other events used to create these impressions?  Use news columns for your analysis, not commentary pieces. Provide neatly assembled photocopies, printouts or recordings of the material you are critiquing. (Make sure the material is clearly labeled with your name!) Length: 1,000 words. Non-English-language material needs to be translated, unless it's in French, Spanish or Russian.  

3. THE EFFECT OF NEWS COVERAGE: Identify an international crisis in which, in your view, heavy press coverage led to outside military or humanitarian intervention that might not otherwise have intervened. Then identify an international crisis that received heavy press coverage and where intervention was possible, but in which no intervention was forthcoming. Discuss why coverage had an effect in one case but not the other. In the latter case, might a different kind of coverage have had a greater effect?

The following choices are aimed primarily at students with journalistic experience. Others should speak with the instructor before undertaking them:

4. SPOT NEWS FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURE. In New York or vicinity, make contact with a foreign ethnic, religious, cultural or political group that you have no previous experience with. Find a current spot-news issue (e.g., a current controversy, a contest for leadership, a decision that needs to be made, a coming event) that has a news peg in coming weeks. Write a 650-word spot news story (or produce a three-minute broadcast piece or a four-element Web layout) on the issue. Your story should have strong context on the group and the significance of the issue. If the group has a controversial point of view, make sure your story has references to the other side of the issue. Accompany your work with an explanation (500 words would be about right) of how you found the group, what difficulties you had in getting close to the group and the story and how you handled the challenge. The explanation is just for my background and information; it's not designed to be publishable and I won't be correcting the explanation for style. You may also do an analytical piece or feature on the group if you wish, but without editorializing.

5. ANALYSIS PIECE ON INTERNATIONAL NEWS. Write a 650-word analysis on a current international issue that most readers will not be familiar with. Take a clear point of view (e.g., how the situation came to be, how it's most likely to evolve), but stop short of editorializing. Let your use of facts speak largely for themselves. You may use an occasional quote, but the voice should primarily be yours.

Other topics may be substituted with the permission of the instructor.