Department of English
Ben Bradlee, the late legendary editor of The Washington Post, said that political journalism is “the first rough draft of history” — an opportunity to report and write about the tumultuous civic life of this nation as it unfolds in real time. Accordingly, in this course, we’ll spend much of our time feeding off the news during a time of arguably unprecedented turbulence — for our politics and certainly for journalism.
Political journalists are tasked as never before with making smart judgments, supporting their analyses with empirical reportage, and communicating those judgments in clear language. They must cut through the clutter and engage the reader — smartly and often entertainingly — in a climate where fact-based journalism itself is in crisis. The dictionary definition of “truth” is under relentless assault. Legacy gatekeepers like the Washington Post and the New York Times are being profoundly — often adversely — affected, and many credentialed journalists are seeking out independent platforms like Substack.
Key questions for this course: (1) Is traditionally objective “both sides” journalism up to the task of watchdogging the newsmakers in an era when democracy itself is under serious threat? (2) Is it feasible to provide “balanced” coverage of the two major parties — when many members of one party are openly working to undermine democracy? (3) Given the rising popularity — and perhaps predominance — of “alternative” partisan media, is the audience/readership for fact-based journalism shrinking, and if so, how should fact-based journalists respond to that?
This course could not be more timely. Only true “junkies” of national politics — those who follow the news closely, and those who aspire to write about it — are likely to love this course. Students who are passionate about writing and politics will track the national news week by week, and write posts that will be workshopped in class.
At a time when Americans are more awash in political news (real and rumored) than ever, the goal of this course is to help students master the craft of writing clear, responsible, incisive, substantive, and engaging analysis — and backing it up with factual research/reporting. The hope is that students can live off the news and develop their “earned voice” via effective writing, reporting, thinking, and communication.