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TVR 31200 U.S. v. Stevens Journalists |
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You are the designated legal correspondent for the a major metropolitan newspaper (you get to pick). You have been assigned to write a 500 word article on this high profile case before the SCOTUS. Your assignment is either to
1) focus on the oral arguments, summarizing the key arguments and responses made by each side as well as the kinds of questions asked by the Court. You will do your best to describe journalistically what is going on in the courtroom, especially in terms of the Court's tenor (no cameras in the courtroom). Quotes will be important. You may record the audio if you wish for accuracy in your quotes or for soundbites), but it is not required.
To be successful in this task it is critical that you are familiar with the materials beforehand. I strongly urge you to do the following:
1) carefully read the lower court decisions and any amicus briefs associated with the case
3) read any news stories about the case (recognizing that in there were recent oral arguments before the SCOTUS and this is a pending decision so there are lots of newsstories out there).
4) read examples of legal reporting, in particular Linda Greenhouse's general SCOTUS reporting from the NY Times archives (she doesn't work there anymore), or listen to Mara Liasson's (NPR's political correspondent) general SCOTUS coverage archived on NPR. They should give you some insight as to the kinds of journalistic observations one makes when covering oral arguments or analyzing a SCOTUS decision.
Remember that this 500 words will be the entire assignment for you. That may be less writing than what others are doing, but the quality of journalistic writing, the evidence that you have done the background research (and are not just relying on the materials presented in court, are central to your success.
Journalists must turn in their assignments at the beginning of the class after the oral arguments.
The total points available for this assignment is 100 points. While the amount you may be writing is about 500 words, keep in mind this is 10% of your course grade and your effort to prepare the story should involve a representative amount of work.
Grading Rubric for journalists:
I will be looking for the quality of your writing in terms of journalistic format (if you are not a journalism major, you at least had experience with the inverted pyramid in Media Writing). Don't forget to do a by-line and a headline. If you are doing a video or audio piece, the quality of writing will be assessed appropriate to those genres. (25 pts)
Expectations in terms of content (75 pts)
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Identifies, summarizes the problems, questions or issues before the court
Identifies the context, legal and as relevant, the historical, political, economic, technological, etc., in which the case arose.
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Explains you interpretation (different than opinion) of the background research material and court-presented material.
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Critically analyzes the validity of the arguments made before the Court or in the reasoning of the Court's opinion.
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Draws evidenced-based and logical conclusions about the implications of the positions presented in the oral arguments or in the Court's opinion for the future of publisher's First Amendment rights, the interpretation of any of the tests for First Amendment protection that may have come before the Court and ways in which the decision may or may not establish new precedent.
Contact:Dr.
C.
URL- http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/ncornwell/312/312CrueltyJournalists.html
Revised-Nov. 10, 2009