Department of English

Journalism isn’t dying -- it’s being reinvented. This course will immerse you in the often messy, always invigorating process of newswriting in the era of BuzzFeed. We’ll use the rich territory of West Philadelphia as our playground, looking for stories that nobody else is covering and turning them into pieces everyone wants to read. Along the way, we’ll learn the skills real journalists are using every day: how to take and edit photos and video, write across a variety of platforms, and use Twitter and other social media to report as well as draw in an audience for our work. The goal is to produce professional-caliber work for timely publication; the environment is essentially a small, hyperlocal newsroom. This course is for students with some journalism experience who want to get a taste of what it’s like to be a professional these days. The class is taught by a seasoned journalist, with visits from local and out-of-town practitioners.