Commentary on Sunday Morning

Paterson Quits the Race - Reporters Analyze the Politics

Assignment #6

NY Times: City Seeks to Close 15 Day Care Centers in Budget Cut

February 4, 2010

By JULIE BOSMAN

More than a half-dozen gentrified neighborhoods in Brooklyn would lose subsidized day care centers for low-income families under proposed city budget cuts, Bloomberg administration officials said Wednesday.

A list of the 15 day care centers that are scheduled to close in July, 10 of them in Brooklyn, was released by the Administration for Children’s Services, and the agency tried to head off protests by unions, elected officials and families that have vowed to fight the closings.

City officials countered that most of the centers to be closed are in neighborhoods that no longer need as many slots for children in low-income families.

Those neighborhoods include Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill, according to the list of day care centers provided by Children’s Services; 324 other centers will stay open.

Another New York Times Story About Gov. Paterson

LECTURE #4: COVERING THE COURTS

Assignment #5

Assignment #5: Read the Larry Seabrook Indictment

Larry Seabrook Indictment

Inside City Hall, Feb. 12, 2010

Prof. Louis on MSNBC

Assignment #3: - Click "Read More" for Helpful Lecture Notes

How Much Stimulus Does a Dollar of Federal Spending Buy?

CLASS SYLLABUS

News Reporting II

JOU 136

Spring 2010, Monday 6 pm– 8:30 pm

Room M416

Professor Errol Louis

Tel. 212-210-1954

Email: errollouis@gmail.com

This course provides an intensive study of actual newsroom problems and the preparation of long, complex stories, such as:

• The meaning, origins and effects of the national economic crisis and the efforts to cure it
• The 2010 elections
• Sentencing reform in New York State
• Year Two of the Obama administration

We will focus on multi-platform reporting for stories in print, radio, television and/or online media.

We will examine the power structure of New York – the formal and informal institutions and arrangements that govern and shape life in our city. We will study the formal powers of the “inner circle” of urban government, including the mayor, city council, state agencies, etc. We will also define and analyze the powers of the “supporting cast,” which includes the media, community organizations, lobbyists, labor unions and New York’s corporate, cultural, religious and civic organizations.

Throughout the course, we will study and consider how these players clash, compete and cooperate to tackle major city problems, including use planning, economic development, public safety, school governance, waste management and the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.

Includes field assignments that require students to report stories off campus, as well as in-class writing assignments. Quizzes will be administered regularly.

Required Texts:

Bruce Berg, New York City Politics (Rutgers U. Press)

Jane Jacobs, The Death & Life of Great American Cities (Vintage)

Pete Hamill, News is a Verb (Library of Contemporary Thought)

Recommended Texts:

Robert Caro, The Power Broker (Vintage)

Online Resources:

Class information will be posted on a class blog, http://liujournalism.blogspot.com

It will include links to other blogs and websites.

Course Requirements

The required reading will take us through nearly all of Berg’s New York City Politics and Jacobs’ Death & Life of Great American Cities: simply reading through these books in their entirety is encouraged. Key reports and articles will be added to the required reading from time to time.

In addition to the assigned reading, you will be required to keep up with current events in city life. The simplest way to do this is to read or scan the newspapers each day, including my column in the Daily News, which runs every Thursday and Sunday.

Course Meetings

Unless the school calendar says otherwise, we will meet every Monday from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. If possible, you should check your email and/or the class blog on the day of class; in the event I am delayed or must cancel class, that is how I will communicate with you.

Exams

There will be an in-class midterm exam on March 2nd and an in-class final on May 4. We will also have frequent in-class quizzes. There will be a special assignment on April 27, when class will coincide with an on-campus panel. Students will perform team coverage of the event that will include print stories, audio interviews and live blogging.

Grades

Grades will be a combination of class participation (30%), quizzes and take-home assignments (20%) and the midterm and final exams (50%).

Honesty/Plagiarism Policy

As the LIU handbook puts it: “You must not intentionally adopt or reproduce ideas, words or statements of another person without acknowledgment. You must give due credit to the originality of others and honestly pay your literary debts. You should acknowledge indebtedness a) whenever quoting another person’s actual words; b) whenever using another person’s ideas, opinions or theories; c) whenever borrowing facts, statistics or other illustrative material unless the information is of common knowledge.”

Academic dishonesty will result in an F for the assignment or for the entire course, depending on the severity of the misconduct. If you have questions or are unsure about a particular practice, please ask me before you turn in the assignment.

Contact Information

The best way to reach me is by sending an email to errollouis@gmail.com. My work phone number is 212.210.1954 and my cell accepts txt messages.

I generally answer my phone when in the office, but urgent messages should go to the cell.