Syllabus
The 2020 class schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. News events WILL play a role in weekly class discussions and assignments. The schedule of topics/issues will be updated based on news and guest speakers. Students should BE PREPARED to discuss current issues in journalism and issues in sports, and how they would approach covering them.
Instructor: Jena Janovy (jena.janovy@gmail.com), 860-766-6265 (at ESPN), 860-836-0266 (cell)
Classes: Thursdays, 5:45 p.m. – 8:15 p.m., Integrated Learning Center
Office hours: Thursdays, 5ish p.m. in the Journalism offices
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CLASS BREAKDOWN
Assignments: (30 percent of your grade.) Students will have a mix of oral presentations and blog assignments during the semester.
Class participation: (30 percent of your grade.) Participation on your blog and in class will be integral to your success in the class.
Final STORY: (40 percent of your grade.) For your final, you will report, write and produce a multimedia storytelling package about an issue, develop a social strategy for distribution and present your final during the last class.
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Week 1: Jan. 23
Review syllabus, introductions and overview.
The range of news topics in sports — mental health, performance-enhancing drugs, money, gambling, cheating, college conference realignment, the BCS, bowl games, conflicts of interest, sex scandal, homophobia, racism, safety, crime, labor, concussions, etc. — requires journalists to be prepared to determine how those issues will be covered. In doing so, journalists face their own collection of ethical, legal and financial questions, their own potential conflicts of interest, their own bosses and internal company political pressures. We’ll explore those issues, as well as how we handle reporting about those topics.
GROUND RULES
Deadline means just that. Deadline. Meet them. If you don’t, you don’t get a grade for that assignment. Period.
Spelling: Spell someone’s name wrong, you don’t get credit for that assignment. That’s automatic.
Plagiarism: Don’t do it. See the university policy: http://www.umass.edu/academichonesty/
Your participation is vital to your success in this class. Can’t emphasize this enough.
Writing and blog assignments. These will be made regularly, sometimes weekly.
YOUR FINAL: For the final paper, you will need to come up with a story idea that explores one of our main themes during the semester. You’ll report and write that story — NOT a paper, but a STORY — and produce an accompanying multimedia element (video, audio, interactive graphic, photo gallery, etc.) as part of the package. You’ll present in class and be asked to explain your choice, why it matters to you, why it should matter to sports fans and how, as a journalist, you went about covering that issue. You’ll work on your final throughout the semester in consult with me and with your assigned peer editor.
Be aware: Read. Ask questions. Engage in conversation. Don’t be shy.
Be skeptical: Don’t believe everything you read. Don’t believe every answer. Don’t buy in to the narrative or mythology. Don’t believe what other people tell you to be true. Don’t be shy about asking more questions.
Be transparent: First, always make sure you identify yourself. Be truthful about your intentions. Be honest about your quest for information. Explore your motives. Be able to explain them, too. Be prepared to answer questions about what you’re doing, why and how.
Conflicts of Interest: Disclose potential conflicts. State any business connections, family ties, etc. Here’s an example of a form that has been used to declare these. I’m not asking you to sign this, but it gives you a glimpse into what would arise as an issue. Please see me if you have anything that rises to the level of a conflict of interest this semester. umass.conflictofinterestform_sportsjournalism.2019.
Trust your instincts. If you see something, DO something.
Janovy’s Biggest Rule Of All Time — NO. 1: “Talk about” is not a question. “Talk about” is not a question. “Talk about” is not a question.
Rule No. 2 — The most fundamental ground rule: No cheering in the press box. Google “no cheering in the press box” … do some basic reading, you’ll find a lot on the issue. If you’re in this class, check your fan baggage at the door. Or go talk with Steve Fox.
Assignment 1: Write an analysis of what you believe to be the most pressing sports issue of our time, and why — 500 words. DEADLINE: Email it to me (gmail), post it to your blog and hand in a hard copy at start of next class.
Assignment 2: Create the following if you haven’t already, and send me links to the following by next class:
* Your own blog (either open to the public through WordPress or Blogger or private through UMass.) This is where you will file your blog writing assignments.
* Your email.
* Your Twitter account (Follow UMass athletics; UMass athletes; Boston Globe Sports; New York Times Sports, ESPN.com, The Associated Press, USA Today sports; MassLive Sports, etc.).
Assignment 3: ESPN senior writer Wayne Drehs will be our guest speaker Jan. 30. Write 10 questions for Wayne – about his reporting, his writing, his approaches to finding ideas, how he interviews, how he works on a print piece while also doing the TV script, etc… and write a story proposal to pitch to him. Post it to your blog. NOTE change in subject/guest speaker on Jan. 30: David S. Kraft, executive editor, ESPN news operations, spoke about how ESPN managed the breaking news of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash.
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Week 2: Jan. 30
Janovy’s Rule No. 3 — Report, report, report.
Guest speaker: David S. Kraft
Assignment 1: Watch the Super Bowl and make a list of any stereotypical, coded or flat-out racially/culturally/socially offensive words or phrases you hear before, during and after the game, including commercials. Pay particular attention to “code.” Print out your list and bring it to class Feb. 6.
Assignment 2: Bonnie D. Ford and T.J. Quinn are our guest speakers Feb. 6. Write 10 questions — five for Bonnie and five for T.J. — in advance of their visit; and write a story proposal to pitch to one of them. Post it to your blog.
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Week 3: Feb. 6
Janovy’s Rule No. 4: Never assume
Guest Speakers: Bonnie D. Ford and T.J. Quinn
Covering performance-enhancing drugs in sports — baseball, Lance Armstrong, international sports, and more. International reporting. Investigative reporting.
A few recommended links:
BONNIE
Kari Swenson pod: http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=28108790
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/27156746/journey-judge-rosemarie-aquilina
Petra Kvitova: http://www.espn.com/espnw/feature/23912758/wimbledon-champ-petra-kvitova-remarkable-comeback-knife-attack
Boston Marathon bombings – Portrait of a Rescue: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story?_slug_=portrait-rescue&id=9868852&redirected=true
T.J.
Skaggs: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27647263/sources-skaggs-death-subject-dea-probe
BONNIE
Petra Kvitova is holding her own
Allison Schmitt: Out of the blue
USADA’s “reasoned decision”
Lance Armstrong case:
— Case closed: Armstrong doped. Analysis
— USADA’s actions start series of events. Story
T.J.
Inside the battle against Russian influence at FIFA
Notebook shows Pete Rose bet on baseball as a player
PEDs in baseball:
— Documents link players to PEDs. Story
— Bosch’s tangle of ties and titles. Story
Assignment: Katie Barnes is our guest speaker Feb. 13. Write 10 questions for Katie in advance of their visit; and write a story proposal to pitch to them. Post it to your blog before class.
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Week 4: Feb. 13
Janovy’s Rule No. 5: Get an idea, not just a topic.
Guest speaker: Katie Barnes
Katie Barnes covers sports and culture for ESPN. They are a writer, speaker and thinker. According to their blog: Katie Barnes (they/them/their) is an award winning journalist for espnW.com, espn.com and ESPN the Magazine, covering culture, LGBTQ issues, women’s basketball, collegiate softball and women’s combat sports. Since joining ESPN in August 2015, Katie has written on myriad topics, such as transgender athletes, campus sexual assault, sports leagues incursion into public policy, racial justice, Hollywood stunt doubles, and whatever else their editor throws at them. Katie studied American Studies, History, and Russian Studies at St. Olaf College, and Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University (OH), and thus believes that no degree is prophetic. A retired fanfiction writer, Katie now enjoys writing with their name attached, but wears their fandom as a badge of honor. Calzona is their OTP (though they have a soft spot for Clexa). In addition to espnW.com, you can find their work at Feministing.com, Outsports.com, Curvemag.com, Ebony.com, and MTV News. Katie actually likes cornfields, and thinks there is nothing better than a summer night’s drive through the Indiana countryside. When not transcribing a mountain of interviews, you can usually find Katie hanging out with their partner and cats, Atticus and Zora, attempting to write for fun, or playing video games.
Stories:
Assignment: Howard Bryant will be our guest speaker on Feb. 20. Write 10 questions for Howard and post to your blog. Then write one idea pitch — could be for a feature, profile or column/commentary — to present to Howard. Post all of that to your blog before class.
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Week 5: Feb. 20
Guest speaker: Howard Bryant, ESPN
Assignment: NFL editor Alisha Miller will be our guest speaker on Feb. 27. Alisha manages writers for the AFC and NFC East. Write 10 questions for Alisha in advance of her visit, and a story proposal to pitch to her. Post all of that to your blog.
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Week 6: Feb. 27
Janovy’s Rule No. 6 — Prepare
Guest speaker: Alisha Miller
Assignment: Elaine Teng and Dotun Akintoye are our guest speakers March 5. Write 10 questions for Elaine and Dotun in advance of their visit; and write a story proposal to pitch to them. Post it to your blog.
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Week 7: March 5
Janovy’s Rule No. 7 — When in doubt do vs. when in doubt don’t.
Guest speakers: Elaine Teng and Dotun Akintoye
Class subjects: Longform editing and writing, managing projects; International Enterprise; Women’s World Cup; Olympics; combat sports
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Week 8: March 12 [UPDATED SYLLABUS PER PANDEMIC]
Coronavirus: No class tonight
Janovy’s Rule No. 8: Think before you share.
Assignment 1: Pursue green light from Jena on your finals pitch.
Assignment 2: Following discussion of your finals ideas in class, you need to do the following: Write a memo to your story editor and me — include your story pitch, the reason you want to do this particular story, any pre-reporting research you’ve done, the names/bios of any primary sources you plan to reach out to, any other relevant info about how you propose to pursue, etc., and DELIVER that to your editor and me by the END OF THE DAY next WEDNESDAY. Doing this will be the final step to getting a green light for your finals idea … and the sooner you get a green light, the sooner you can officially begin. So you don’t have to wait until next Wednesday. That’s just your deadline.
Writer-Editor pairs: To be assigned
Class plan tonight: Final green lights on finals; discuss social media guidelines; watch League of Denial.
Social media guidelines:
- Think before you tweet/post/share.
- Think before you retweet/repost/share.
- Don’t break news on a social platform, per your company policy.
- It’s always, always better to be right than to be first.
- Always exercise care, compassion, discretion and respect for colleagues, business partners and fans/readers/viewers.
- When in doubt, don’t.
- When you’re “out on the town,” put the phone down.
- Keep internal/confidential stuff confidential.
- Don’t post/share/tweet proprietary company info.
- Read it before you share it/tweet it.
Assignment 1: Begin reporting for your finals. Check in with your story editor. By Wednesday, March 18, send a detailed reporting memo to your story editor and me with a status update and any key reporting notes, questions or challenges. Use your time during this two-week break to get as much done as possible so you come back from spring break with a great start. Your final also must include a multimedia element (video, audio, interactive, graphic, etc. … something beyond photos) and a social media strategy plan. Begin to include those in your notes to your story editor and include updates on those in your memo due March 18. First draft of your final should be filed to your story editor no later than noon on Friday, April 17. Suggest you look at mid-April to file first draft earlier.
Assignment 3: Watch League of Denial in advance of Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru in April.
Assignment 4: Please be safe during spring break.
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Week 9: March 19 — SPRING BREAK, NO CLASS
Assignment 1: Enjoy your spring break.
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Week 10: March 26
First of all, I hope each of you is doing well and taking care of yourself and your loved ones. Not gonna sugar coat it … our world has changed, our lives have changed. I’ll have additional updates in the coming days, but for now, please practice social distancing, wash your hands, follow the news and do what you need to do to take care of yourself.
As I sort out how the rest of our semester will work, what we’ll do and how we’ll do it, rest assured that we’ll do the best we can to make it as meaningful as possible. Much of what we do in this class revolves around visits from guest speakers — and how we do that has changed. As I sort through our options, I need to know how many of you have regular access to the Internet where you are, and could join a video conference. Or, whether a conference call would work better for you. And if our regular class time would still work to meet up for a conference call, or whether that has changed for any of you because of other demands on your time.
If you could, by Friday, please send me an email with the answers to those questions — and any update on the latest from your world and how you’re doing.
Thanks, and take good care.
UPDATE: Hi all — hope this finds you all well.
Good news — Liz Merrill has agree to do a class session with us tomorrow night (on March 26). Am working on confirming the time with her — and whether she can do a video conference or whether it’ll be by phone. Will update.
Meanwhile, stay safe, take care and talk soon,
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Week 11: April 2
Hey everyone — hope this finds you well.
We WILL do another zoom class this week — Thursday, 7-8:30p ET.
Our guest is Alisha Miller, a senior editor in the NFL group. She oversees coverage of the AFC and NFC East divisions.
I’ll send you a link in a separate email. Hope you can join.
I’ll also have an update on your finals.
Guest speaker: Alisha Miller
Assignment: 10 questions
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Week 12: April 9
Hi everyone — am pleased to report that ESPN senior writer Wayne Drehs will join us Thursday night. Plan on 7 – 8:30p ET … same time as the past two weeks. I’ll send a link out that morning.
Meanwhile — and Wayne, please share anything you’d like them to see before your visit — here are a few pieces he’s done over the years in advance of our conversation Thursday night.
Talk soon.Jena
The Tenement: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/20970472/tragic-death-unc-mascot-gives-life-four-donor-recipients
I postponed open-heart surgery for the Cubs: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17964573/drehs-postponed-open-heart-surgery-cubs
Rob Mendez: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/25983010/who-says-rob-mendez-head-football-coach
Michael Phelps: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/25983010/who-says-rob-mendez-head-football-coach
Lindsey Vonn: http://www.espn.com/espnw/feature/22331122/broken-bones-torn-knees-us-skier-lindsey-vonn-fearless-heading-pyeongchang-winter-olympics
Bode Miller: https://www.espn.com/olympics/winter/2014/alpine/story/_/id/10397253/five-olympic-medalist-bode-miller-turning-life-espn-magazine
Ray of Hope: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/20970472/tragic-death-unc-mascot-gives-life-four-donor-recipients
Guest speaker: Wayne Drehs
Assignment: 10 questions
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Week 13: April 16
Hi all — happy to report that Aish Kumar will join us tomorrow night, plus we’re hoping for a return of Elizabeth Merrill and Katie Barnes (hoping they can join us!)!!!
Same time — 7-8:30p ET and I’ll send a meeting invite link tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a few stories from Aish for you to read:
Chanel Miller: https://www.espn.com/espnw/story/_/id/28962824/from-survivor-activist-chanel-miller-taking-toxic-sports-culture-task
Sarah Thomas: https://www.espn.com/espnw/sport/story/_/id/27919764/the-inspiring-true-story-record-breaking-death-defying-54-hour-swim-english-channel
Chess grandmaster: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess
The Hurricane: https://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/story/_/id/27073873/103-year-old-runner-julia-hurricane-hawkins-bikes-bucket-list-brooklyn-bridge
Mary Keitany: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/27957731/inside-mind-new-york-city-marathon-champ-mary-keitany
Herb Douglas: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/29034494/herb-douglas-oldest-living-african-american-olympic-medalist-year-postponement
See you tomorrow night!
Guest speakers: Aish Kumar, Katie Barnes, Liz Merrill
Assignment: 10 questions
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Week 14: April 23
Hi everyone,
I’m excited to let you know we have Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru scheduled for class this Thursday evening at our usual time — 7-8:30p ET. Mark and Steve are brothers, award-winning investigative reporters and all-around great people and I can’t wait for you to meet them. In the meantime, please do the following:
Watch the Frontline “League of Denial.” It’s amazing and will take two hours: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/
You can also read their book, League of Denial, which is tremendous and won many awards. Mark also co-authored Game of Shadows. And Steve, who won a Pulitzer Prize as a correspondent for The Washington Post covering the Iraq war, has written Big Boy Rules and The Duke of Havana.
Some other links:
Coronavirus coverage:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29039140/bay-area-official-49ers-sharks-return-local-call
Here’s the Mainwaring piece Mark worked on over the past year-plus with Mike Kessler, Drago, etc:
Here’s Steve’s phenomenal Syria piece:
These guys are amazing and you’ll love their visit.
Assignment: File draft of finals project to your peer editor by noon on Friday, April 24. Finals plus multimedia plus social media strategy are due to Jena by noon on Monday, April 27. Social media strategy is a one-page explanation of what you actually did, how you did it, what your approach was, etc.
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Week 15: April 30
Each student will have 15 minutes to summarize final, its key points/findings and present the multimedia package.
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Issues in Sports Journalism | Janovy 2020 