Courses in Practical Journalism Reporting, Editing, Advertising, Administration, Printing and Allied Subjects OFFERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 111 ! University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champa Oak Street / University of Illinois Library Urbana -Champaign Oak Street THE REPORTER From Collier’s Weekly Tugged by some centripetal force to wher- ever there is a clash of human passions, he is always “on the spot.” Unlike his brother, the novelist, who fashions out of the furnace of his mind at painstaking in- tervals some finely modeled bit of porce- lain, the furnace of this man’s soul is al- ways at full draft. Into it is flung day by day all the inflammable stuff of life — the mixed ingredients of heroism, murder, revolution, passionate love. And steadily, inexorable, it is poured out again, uncrit- ical of itself, slag and ore, half drivel and half literature. The recompense he works for is to have his fellows workers say “Good story.” His only critic is “the desk.” To-day, yesterday’s “good story” is lighting the morning fire in a thousand tenements. Anonymity, which guards him from self-consciousness, stands also mock- ingly between him and fame. He snatches his friendships like his meals, as stokers must strike up their friendships between shifts when the Mauretania is “out for a record.” Yet there is no freemasonry like this. From behind the scenes he makes the puppets of the world’s stage dance for us. But we can suspect his smile, as he surveys our antics, to be something be- tween pity and contempt. SCOPE AND EQUIPMENT Men and women intending to enter newspaper work as a pro- fession or as a stepping-stone to higher literary endeavor are given in the Department of Journalism the opportunity for that special- ized training which has long been accorded other professions. The department offers technical courses in the Sophomore, Junior and Senior years, makes requirements as to preparatory courses in the Freshman year, and recommends supplementary courses to be pursued during the four years. The aim of the department is to bridge over the two extremes in education — the German conception of specialization and the Eng- lish idea of culture. Three-fourths of the student’s time will be given up to purely liberal arts courses — history, English, political science, philosophy and psychology — yet the journalism courses will send him out with a profession. This appeals to high school graduates who wish for more culture, but who feel that they must choose their vocation at once and begin specialization, thus sacri- ficing breadth for strength. The University Daily Kansan , published by the students of the University, while it is in no way under the control of the depart- ment faculty, affords every opportunity for students to put the theory of the classroom into practice. From reporter to editor-in- chief, the student learns at first hand the organization of the news- paper office, becomes familiar with the mechanical, economic and ethical problems, and acquires speed and accuracy in reportorial work and editorial supervision. Instruction in business manage- ment, particularly the science of cost finding, is emphasized, the department believing that editorial efficiency, in the Kansas field at least, is vitally dependent upon a practical understanding of modern publishing problems. The newspaper is an ever unfold- ing encyclopedia; an unbound book forever issuing; never finished and always new'. Did you ever stop to think that millions have no litera ture, no school and almost no pul- pit but the press? Not one man in ten reads books, but every one of us except the very helpless poor satiates himself every day with the paper. It is parent, school, college, theater, pulpit, example, counsellor, all in one. Every drop of our blood is colored by it. — Henry Ward Beecher. Department of Journalism The laboratory of the department has all the facilities that go to make up a modern “back office.” It is equipped with type- setting machines, a linotype and a monotype, a complete com- posing room, a book and newspaper press, and a battery of jobbers. An engraving plant and bindery will be installed as soon as possi- ble. Thirty-six metropolitan dailies, representing the great news- paper personalities of the world, are received, together with the leading national weeklies and magazines. Five hundred Kansas papers also reach the laboratory regularly. These current peri- odicals are the text books of the various classes. Newspaper publishers and writers appear regularly as lecturers before classes. Experts in advertising, circulation management and business management give single lectures or short lecture courses. Credits received from the Department of Journalism are accept- ed towards making up the student’s total of 120 hours credit re- quired for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Under prescribed con- ditionsthey are also accepted in other Schools. Those wishing to take work in Journalism, but being short on entrance credits necessary to meet the regular University require- ments, may apply to the Committee on Unclassed Students for permission to do special work. If such persons are of age, have had practical newspaper experience, and satisfy the committee of their fitness to enter the Journalism courses they may be admitted. Many students are able to make all or a part of their expenses while in the University by work in the printing department, in the mailing room, and by corresponding for metropolitan papers. As in general, much depends on the ability and energy of the individ- ual student. A newspaper can drop the same thought into a thousand minds at the same moment. A newspaper is an adviser who does not re- quire to be sought, but comes to you briefly every day of common weal, without distracting your private affairs. Newspapers, therefore, become more necessary in proportion as men become more equal individuals, and more to be feared. To suppose that they only serve to protect freedoom would be * to diminish their importance; they maintain civilization. — De Tocqueville. University of Kansas DESCRIPTION OF COURSES THE NEWSPAPER: MATERIALS AND METHODS First Semester, Three Hours, Two Sections at 10 and 11:15 General survey of American newspaper, class periodicals, de- velopment of purpose from instruction, through information and entertainment to a blending of the three; relation of material to method, value of rhetorical principles. News; news elements and sources, the structure of the news story, the interview in news, nomenclature, and common faults of beginners. Human interest story, emphasis of form in newspaper writing, kinship of human interest story and short story, where journalism touches literature. Feature story; variety of material, biographical, adventure, liter- ary, popularizing science, enlivening statistics, etc; freedom in form; relation of Sunday feature to magazine feature with histor- ical study of the invasion of news field by militant “muck-raking” magazine and retaliation of Sunday newspaper; women’s and chil- dren’s feature sections. Editorial; varied appeal, emotional and intellectual types, editorial features. Head-writing; purpose, psychology of the head-line, science of head-building, editorial as- pect. Copy-reading, theory and practice. Gathering campus news and practice in handling the above forms. THE NEWSPAPER: ORGANIZATION Second Semester, Three Hours, Two Sections at 10 and 11:15 Historical development of the administrative side of the Amer- ican newspaper and the influence of modern business methods of system and efficiency on the publishing industry and editorial de- Department of Journalism partment. Scheme of organization from owner to office boy. The editor-in-chief, relation to owner, duties and qualifications, powers and responsibilities, the passing of personal journalism. Manag- ing editor. City editor. Reporter. Departmental editors, Tel- egraph, Exchange, Sunday, Sporting, Society, Financial. War, Washington, and Special Correspondents. The press associations, co-operative vs. private, economic and social aspects, suit to dis- solve the Associated Press, foreign associations. Country corres- pondents. City press bureaus. News syndicates. Cartooning. The mechanical side, composing, press, and stereotyping depart- ments. The advertising department. The circulation depart- ment. Opportunities in journalism for women. Some tendencies in American journalism. Continuation of practical work of gath- ering news and copy-reading. COMPARATIVE JOURNALISM First Semester , Two Hours , at 11:15 Intensive study of great newspaper personalities, including twenty-four newspapers representing all types in American journal- ism. A preliminary survey is made of the elements that go to make up a newspaper individuality — its physical qualities and typogra- phy, its relative proportions of news of each class, its use of human interest material and feature stories, its handling of editorial mat- ter, its display and classified advertising, its display of the news and make up of pages, its use of illustrations, and its style of writing shown in news, editorial or other matter. Each member of the class makes a thorough study of one paper and reports his results fully in the form of statistics. He also presents his final estimate of the purposes, the spirit, the dynamic quality, and the ethical ideals of his paper, and its value to its readers, its community, and the University of Kansas country at large. He makes a continuous comparison of his paper with the others being studied by the class. Frequent special papers are worked out by students on such subjects as, “The first pages of newspapers,” “Sunday sections,” “Partisanship in newspapers,” “Earning ability of newspapers,” etc. Special lectures are given on the press in foreign countries. The object of the course is partly cultural but primarily to broaden the student’s conception of the newspaper and its function and to help form his ideals of newspaper making. HISTORY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM Second Semester , Two Hours , at 11:15 Introductory lectures are given covering such subjects as the “Spread of information before printing,” and “The invention of the printing art and its introduction into England.” A rapid survey is made of the beginnings and development of newspaper publish- ing in England, with special attention to the struggle for freedom of the press, down to the time of Perry, Stuart and Walter, and the birth of the modern press. American journalism is considered in its beginnings at Boston and later in other colonies. The news and editorial character of the provincial press. Influence of the press in the pre-Revolutionary period. The part played by newspapers in shaping the form of government adopted in the United States. Influences working against freedom of the press in the early periods and the effect of such memorable contests as that of Peter Zenger. The political party press. The cheap press. The independent newspaper. Placing the emphasis on the news. The rise of the press in the South and West. The Civil War impetus to news- papers. The modern newspaper. The growth of sensationalism. The lives and work of great newspaper editors past and present. Department of Journalism Changes in two hundred years as regards the workers in the news- paper field, the mechanical side of publishing, the financial support of newspapers, their ethical standards, their purposes, their rela- tions to government, church and society. INTERPRETATION OF THE NEWS First Semester , Two Hours , at 10:15 Editorial writing; a study of current events in politics, science and discovery, religion and ethics, literature and art, drama and music. The object of the course is to train students to seize upon the essentials of daily events and comment upon them intelli- gently and intelligibly. Students will prepare weekly dummy of the world’s news after the manner of the Literary Digest and the Independent , and a monthly resume after the manner of Current Opinion and the Review of Reviews. A brief historical survey of the methods of expressing editorial opinion familiarizes the student with the tendencies both to emphasize and to neglect this side of the newspaper. Present efforts to popularize the editorial page are considered, together with the practice of injecting opinion into the news columns. Editorial matter appearing in the newspapers is studied from the standpoint of purpose, subject, style and tone. The forms of writing — exposition, argument, description, narration, persuasion — are studied with reference to their effectiveness for editorial use in gaining the understanding of the reader and secur- ing belief, sympathy, and action. The best practice as to placing and displaying editorial matter is considered and the approved styles of make-up of the editorial page are studied, with the purpose of developing the student’s appreciation of editorial effectiveness. University of Kansas INTERPRETATION OF THE NEWS Second Semester , Two hours, at 10:15 Continuation of above, with emphasis on the practical work of writing editorial matter for publication. Students are assisted in selecting subjects of genuine interest and writing comment thereon with a view to producing a definite effect. They are re- quired to use with discrimination and judgment such controversial weapons as sarcasm, irony, ridicule, satire, and innuendo, and to find occasion to exemplify in their writing the various dynamic forms between simple refutation and exhortation or emotional appeal . A critical study is made of the editorial paragraph in its various types and the members of the class are given daily practice in applying the principles of successful paragraphing. Auxiliary editorial matter such as newspaper verse and cartooning receive special attention. Current cartoons are classified according to their pur- pose and style and suggestions for cartoons on daily events are discussed. The central idea of the course is to develop the stu- dent’s ability to use to the best advantage all the dynamic possi- bilities of a newspaper. ADVERTISING First Semester , Three Hours, at 11:15 A study of the principles of effective newspaper, magazine, bill- board, street car, and novelty advertising. Advertising regarded as a science based on psychology. The creative power of publicity. Good and bad advertising copy. Pictorial advertising. Mail order and follow-up systems. “Keying” advertisements or the mathematics of returns. A study of the historical development of advertising in business is the subject matter of a portion of the Department of Journalism course. The relation of advertising to marketing or distributing goods. Advertising and the price of commodities. Advertising as a social influence. The effectiveness of advertising as it is dependent upon an understanding of human emotions, instincts, and will. The use of suggestion. The means of habit formation. The elements in an advertising problem — consumer, commodity, competition, timeliness, mediums. The container. Trade marks. Coupons. Advertising contracts. Legislation affecting adver- tising. Publisher’s responsibility for advertisements and other ethical and business questions. ADVERTISING Second Semester, Three Hours , at 11:15 Application of theory to practice by the preparation of adver- tising copy and the planning of advertising campaigns. Students will investigate varied problems of local merchants and suggest methods of salesmanship through publicity. Practice will be afforded in selling advertising space in University and other pub- lications. In order that the student may be thoroughly equipped for practical work, a careful study is made of the physical materials in advertising — styles of type, the point system, borders, engravings papers and inks. The principles of correct typographical display are considered both from the standpoint of the typographical artist and the message to be delivered. The principles of compo- sition and style in writing; the preparation of the layout; copy for illustrations, are other subjects of study in the course. University of Kansas NEWSPAPER ADMINISTRATION First Semester , Two Hours , at 9 A course for the student who expects to own a newspaper or to work in the business departments. The business side of newspa- per publishing. How to judge a newspaper field and arrive at the value of a newspaper property . The equipment of a newspaper plant, with reference to cost and efficiency and the probable de- mands of the business. The expense of publishing a paper and its sources of income. The newspaper circulation, how obtained, and how circulation records should be kept. How to collect subscrip- tion accounts. The value of circulation schemes and their disad- vantages — prize contests, premiums, bargain days, etc. The ad- vertising in a newspaper. Its character as news matter. The flat rate. The scientific rate based on elements of regularity, size, duration and composition. The selling of advertising space. The keeping of advertising records and accounts. Foreign advertising. Competitive mail-order advertising. How an advertising medium should advertise itself. Practice is afforded students in handling subscription campaigns for University publications, writing publici- ty material and follow-up letters, and assisting in mail collections, also in keeping advertising records and general business records according to model forms furnished by the department. NEWSPAPER ADMINISTRATION Second Semester, Two Hours , at 9 A continuation of above with special emphasis on the sci- ence of cost finding and efficiency. The equipment and operation of a job printing plant. The necessity of keeping the printing business separate from the newspaper. The departments , of a I — Department of Journalism printing plant. The sources of expense. How the hour-cost in the different departments is ascertained. The method of deter- mining the cost of a job. The individual job record. Stock in- ventory and record. Paper stock used in printing, involving the study of the methods of paper making. The fixing of prices on the printed job. The problems of competition. Students will have practice in keeping the daily records in the printing plant of the department operated by a scientific cost system. Special at- tention will be given to the cost of the daily and monthly publica- tions issued from the department press in order that students may become thoroughly equipped to undertake the publication of a newspaper as well as to direct a modern printing plant operated under the cost system. THE SHORT STORY First Semester , Three Hours , at 8 A study of short prose fiction in relation to Sunday feature and magazine making, with especial emphasis on the importance of form or manner in all phases of newspaper work. A historical sur- vey of the short-story form, from the crude attempts at narrative of the early Hebrew, Egyptian and Arabian tales, through the Gesta Romanorum, Apulieus, Boccaccio, Aesop and Le Fontaine, Chaucer, the Grimm brothers and Anderson, Hoffman, Zschokke, Merimee, Gautier, Daudet, Balzac, Voltaire, Scott, Addison, Ir- ving, Poe, Hawthorne, Turgeniff, Stevenson, etc., to De Maupas- sant, Conan Doyle, “O. Henry” and Kipling. Comparison of short- story form and novelette, tale, sketch, biography, scenario and epi- sode. Kinds of short stories. The structure of the short story, theme and detective; plot, plot development, setting, characters and characterization, title and special characteristics. University of Kansas THE SHORT STORY Second Semester , Three Hours , at 8 A critical study of 400 representative short stories, with prac- tical work in gathering campus materials, constructing and sketch- ing plots, delineating and developing characters. Ten short stories analyzed by the laboratory method. Lectures on qualifications and preparation for authorship, finding a market for magazine material, preparing manuscripts, the “journalesque” quality of the short story, tendencies toward impressionism, allegory and mysticism. A comparison of the short story and the drama will afford opportunity for the student to get training in literary and dramatic criticism. EDITORIAL PROBLEMS AND POLICIES First Semester , Three Hours , by Appointment A study of the ethical qualities that make for an ideal newspa- per, with an exhaustive analysis of the common faults that cause newspapers to lose the respect of their readers. The status of the newspaper : its relation to the public and to its owner. The news- paper as a personality with or without character. The handling of crime from the standpoint of its deterrent and suggestive possibil- ities. Why a newspaper cannot tell the truth, together with some suggestions as to how the truth may be approximated. The sup- pression of news. The psychology of “yellow” journalism. Dis- cussion of the everyday problems of corrections, communications, complimentary tickets, etc. Relation of advertising columns to editorial influence, with a discussion of the ethical effect of circu- lation premiums, etc. Department of Journalism EDITORIAL PROBLEMS AND POLICIES Second Semester , Three Hours by Appointment The newspaper as a quasi-public utility, with a survey of the proposed national and state legislation looking to its control. The question of an endowed national newspaper, with a study of the problems arising in a municipal press. A comparison of libel laws in various states and England with emphasis on the question of libel and privileged communications in Kansas. Preparation of a code of ethics for the press after the manner of medicine and law. Some social aspects of American journalism. EDITORIAL PRACTICE First Semester , Two Hours , by Appointment Practical work in collecting, preparing and editing matter for dailies, weeklies, and class periodicals. Students as managing editors will plan campaigns for social and civic betterment, with an eye to the co-operation of the various departments of a news- paper, such as news, telegraph, exchange, editorial page, and spe- cial features. Daily practice in rapid copy-reading and head- writing. A study of proportion and display, with work in plan- ning assignments for reporters, follow-up stories of latent interest and other problems of an editorial executive. EDITORIAL PRACTICE Second Semester , Two Hours by Appointment A continuation of the first semester's work. University of Kansas TENDENCIES IN AMERICAN JOURNALISM First Semester , One Hour , at 1±:30 Wednesday This course is designed for those who do not intend to follow journalism, but who wish an appreciation of the modern newspaper as a social influence — the psychology of its power, its aspect as a public utility, the various plans for its control. A survey of the development of the American press ; present day problems, such as the handling of crime, the proposed plan for an endowed press ; and a discussion of various suggested state and national remedies. This course is not open to students who have had Editorial Prob- lems and Policies. MECHANICS OF PRINTING Both Semesters , Three Hours , by Appointment Two lectures and eight hours laboratory weekly. Students are instructed in value of type faces by actual work in composing room; taught to set type, make up and lock up forms, estimate costs; judge quantities and qualities of paper, inks; read proof, etc. This class will work on the mechanical end of the University publica- tions. The courses in printing are designed, first, to give the stu- dent a better knowledge of the mechanical department of a news- paper, that he may be better fitted for editorial supervision; second, to equip those students who plan to own country papers ; third, to re-inforce rhetorical principles of mass, proportion, accuracy, em- phasis, contrast, harmony, unity and variety, by practical work with type faces. Give me but the liberty of the press, and I will give to the min- ister a venal House of Peers — I will give him a corrupt and servile House of Commons — I will give him the full sway of the patron age of office — I will give him the whole house of ministerial influ- ence — I will give him all the power that place can confer upon him to Purchase up submission and over- awe resistance — and yet, armed with the liberty of the press, I will go forth to meet him undismayed — I will attack the mighty fabric he has reared with that mightier engine — I will shake down from its height corruption, and bury it amidst the ruins of the abuses it was meant to shelter, — Sheridan. Department of Journalism THE ART OF PRINTING Second Semester , Two Hours , by Appointment Two lectures and five hours laboratory weekly, a study of ty- pography as a graphic art with lectures on history of printing and development of various type families, practical work in designing advertisements, title pages, etc; and study of color schemes. STATE SERVICE WORK The University of Kansas utilizes the by-product of its teach- ing apparatus whenever possible. Its bacteriological and chem- ical laboratories, its shops and libraries, its medical laboratories and research fellowships are used to assist various industries and professions of the state. Following out this policy the Depart- ment of Journalism places its equipment and resources at the service of Kansas editors and publishers. A clearing house is maintained where buyers and sellers of newspaper properties may be brought together. The Department assists printers in estimating technical jobs, and acts as arbitrator in disputes involving legal work. It furnishes cost system blanks, assists in installing system and efficiency methods by correspondence, and hopes to be able to place a man in the field to help with this work at first hand. It uses its monotype at odd hours to cast up job type which it exchanges for the Kansas editor’s worn out material. It maintains a bureau of information from which editors and others may obtain concise reports on any phase of University work. The journalist’s opportunity is beyond es- timate. To him are given the keys of every study, the entry to every family, the ear of every citizen when at ease and in his most receptive moods — powers of ap proach and of persuasion beyond those of the Protestant pastor or the Catholic con- fessor. He is by no means a prophet, but, reverently be it said, he is a voice in the wilderness preparing the way. He is by no means a priest, but his words carry wider and further than the priest’s, and he preaches the gospel of humanity. He is not a king, but he nurtures and trains the king, and the land is ruled by the public opinion he evokes and shapes. If you value this good land the Lord- has given us, look well to the nurture and training of your king, — Hon. Whitelaw Reid. 3 0112 105656547 Departmento^Journalism Press UNIVERSITY 5 OF Z KANSAS uawre:nce: