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Professor Patricia Thomas
Phone: 706-542-1210
Email: pthomas@uga.edu
Office: Room 254, Grady College
Office hours: Monday 1-4, Wednesday 1:30-4, Thursday 1-4
Website: http://www.grady.uga.edu/knighthealth/
Writing Coach: Kimberly Davis, kddavis@uga.edu, 706-542-8390, Room 256
Office hours: Monday 9-12, or by appointment (schedule is posted)
Administrator: Anettra Mapp, amapp@uga.edu, 706-542-8506, Room 252
Introduction
The first mission of this graduate-level course is equipping you to write accurate, timely, interesting and credible articles for audiences large or small. You will learn to report critically and write clearly about health and medical information that originates with peer-reviewed journals, scientific meetings, government and institutional sources, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, watchdog groups and academic experts. In addition, you and a photojournalism student will collaborate on a short audio slide show.
Your second challenge is exploring connections between health and wealth in Athens-Clarke County and the South, generating stories that are relevant and important for communities here.
As you know, most professional reporters are assigned by editors to cover a specific beat. For this class you have luxury of choosing your own from the list posted at http://jrmc8350.blogspot.com. The list will also be distributed at the first class meeting. Select a beat that strikes you as important, rich in story ideas, and wildly interesting: if the subject isn’t personally compelling this could feel like a very long semester.
I am available to talk about your works in progress during office hours or by appointment, and writing coach Kimberly Davis can help you organize, draft and revise your stories. I edit completed assignments in great detail.
This class is a seminar with readings, discussions, lectures by me and by guests, and workshop sessions devoted to your reporting, writing and editing. You are strongly encouraged to market your articles to publications including – but not limited to – Red & Black, Athens Banner Herald, Athens Magazine, The Flagpole, Athena and Athens Parent.
Requirements and grading
Punctuality and attendance are expected for both regularly scheduled class meetings and required activities. You are expected to complete assigned readings on time, participate in discussions, and behave in a professional and collegial manner at all times.
You will complete, on deadline, the following:
- One news story triggered by a recent scientific report (500-800 words)
- One locally reported feature article (1,000 – 1,500 words), produced in collaboration with photojournalism students. You and your partner will use this material to create a 2-3 minute audio slide show.
- One news story about research presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) national meeting in New Orleans (500-800 words)
- One op-ed or first-person piece (500-700 words) reported in New Orleans
In addition, you are required to:
- Write a weekly blog about developments on your beat. Your comments can incorporate text, pictures, links to relevant stories, sources and resources, video – whatever best captures news from peer-reviewed journals, government agencies, corporations, and the popular press. These blogs will be publicly available on the Grady College web site and at blogspot.com.
- Visit blogs written by fellow students and post three comments each week.
This course requires the following activities outside regular class meetings:
- A “ride-along” with Athens-Clarke County Police officers, introducing you to neighborhoods where poverty and poor health are endemic. You must complete this before the second class meeting on August 29.
- A group tour of laboratory facilities at UGA and/or USDA, which will supplant one class meeting.
- A five-day, expense-paid reporting trip to New Orleans (November 10-14). You must sign up for this trip by August 31. We will spend one day reporting on the AAO meeting at the Morial Convention Center and two days examining health care in New Orleans, touring hospitals and clinics, interviewing public health experts, and meeting with reporters who covered Katrina and its aftermath. Two of your articles will incorporate research from this trip.
- Collaborating with one or more advanced photojournalism students in Mark Johnson’s JOUR 3710 class to prepare a feature package suitable for print and digital publication.
Seventy-five percent of your final grade will come from the four writing assignments; the remainder will be based on the audio slide show, 15 weeks of blogs, participation in class activities and discussions, collaboration with photojournalists, and collegiality. There are no exams.
Academic Honesty: All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Students are responsible for informing themselves about these standards before performing any academic work.” Full text may be found at http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm
Reading materials
Required text:
Victor Cohn and Lewis Cope, News & Numbers: A guide to reporting statistical claims and controversies in health and other fields – Second Edition. Blackwell Publishing, 2001.
Newspapers and magazines:
Because you can’t write what you don’t read, this course requires you to keep up with health and medical news. Excellent sources include Tuesday’s Science Times section in the New York Times and the email digest of science stories distributed by the Los Angeles Times (contact science@latimes.com to sign up).
Bookmark www.healthnewsreview.org and http://ksjtracker.mit.edu and visit frequently. On the first, scientific experts rate the quality of articles in major publications; on the second, experienced journalists peer review one another’s work. If you want to understand why some stories are better than others, these sites can help.
You should also read print and digital outlets where you will be pitching your stories: Red & Black, Athens Banner-Herald, Flagpole, Athens Magazine, Athena, Athens Parent. Much of this material is available online.
KnightHealth resources:
Current and back issues of selected peer-reviewed scientific journals and popular periodicals are available in the Drewry Room. Medical textbooks and other hardback references are shelved in Room 256. These will help you keep up with your beat, frame ideas, prepare for interviews, research stories and check facts.
Tentative Course Schedule
(The syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.)
Class #1 – August 22
Introduction: Think globally, write locally
Discussion of course logistics, plans
Guest speaker: District Health Director Dr. Claude Burnett – Hot topics in public health in Athens-Clarke County and a classic journal article.
Readings:
Cohn & Cope – Chapters 1-3
HP Koo , GH Dunteman, C George, Y Green and M Vincent. “Reducing adolescent pregnancy through a school- and community-based intervention: Denmark, South Carolina, revisited.” Family Planning Perspectives, vol 26 no 5, Sept/Oct 1994
Class #2 – August 29
Lecture: Reading like a reporter
Discussion of ride-along and pitches for first news story
Guest speaker: Dr. Daniel G. Colley, professor of microbiology and director, Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases – What reporters need to know about covering infectious diseases
Readings:
Cohn & Cope – Chapters 4-6
N Wade, “Study finds genetic key to a kind of glaucoma,” NY Times, Aug 10, 2007.
J Marx, “High-risk glaucoma gene found in Nordic studies,” Science 317:735, Aug 10, 2007
G Thorleifson et alia, “Common sequence variants in the LOXL1 gene confer susceptibility to exfoliation glaucoma,” Science 317 Aug 10, 2007
Reuters, “Chickenpox vaccine loses effectiveness in study,” March 15, 2007
SS Chaves, P Gargiullo, JX Zhahg, R Civen, D Guris, L Mascola and JF Seward, “Loss of vaccine-induced immunity to varicella over time,” New England Journal of Medicine 356;11, 1121-1129
Class #3 – September 5
Lecture: Interviewing like a reporter – asking the right questions, listening to what people say (and don’t say)
Panel of local health experts ( 10:45-12:05):
Readings:
Gastel, B – photocopy of chapter 4, Health Writer’s Handbook
Zinsser, W – photocopy of chapter 12, On Writing Well
Browse www.supportpath.com for ideas about finding patients, families to interview.
Class #4 – September 12
Assignment due: news story based on peer-reviewed journal
Meet with Mark Johnson and advanced photojournalism students ( 9:00 – 10:00 am)
Discussion: Writing the long feature.
Guest lecture ( 10:45-12): Dr. Rebecca Mullis, department head, Family and Consumer Sciences -- What reporters need to know about covering nutrition and nutrition policy
Readings:
M Moses, “Readers Consume What They See,” Poynter Online, Jan 17, 2001
B Yeoman, “Is the U.S. Government Making Children Fat?” Nieman Reports, special issue 2004
Article chosen by Dr. Mullis
Class # 5 – September 19
Brainstorming session with Grady Professional-in-Residence Jim Alred, New Media Director, Rome ( Ga.) News-Tribune. Long features that work in print and online, research across platforms, pitching to editors.
Panel of local editors ( 10:45– 12:00):
- Jason Winders, Editor, Athens Banner-Herald
- Melissa Hanna, OnlineAthens news director
- Alison Floyd, assistant news editor ABH
- Ed Morales and Juanita Cousins, Red & Black
- Pete McCommons, Editor, The Flagpole
- Margaret Blanchard, Editor, Athens Magazine
- Helen Fosgate, editor, Georgia Research
- Shannon Howell, Editor, Athens Parent/Athena
Class #6 – September 26
Discussion: Covering poverty, race and health disparities
Guest lecture (10:30-12): Dr. Steve Valeika, assistant professor, College of Public Health -- What reporters need to know about covering epidemiology
Readings:
Cohn & Cope – Chapters 7 and 9
Readings: “Swamp Nurse” by Katherine Boo, The New Yorker
Readings: “Life at the Top in America Isn’t Just Better, It’s Longer,” Janny Scott, New York Times
Article selected by Dr. Valeika
Class #7 – October 3
Guest lecture and discussion: Andy Miller, reporter for Medicine, Environment, Science and Health team, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Readings: “A Hidden Shame: Danger and Death in Georgia’s Mental Hospitals,” a six-part series (January-June 2007) available at www.ajc.com under “special projects”
Class #8 – October 10
Field trip to USDA Food Safety Inspection Service Laboratory for Eastern US – 9:30 – 12:00
Overview by Dr. Joseph Hill, Director, and tours of microbiology, chemistry and pathology laboratories.
Readings: www.fsis.usda.gov news releases for previous 2-3 weeks and recent news coverage of food safety
“Who We Are and What We Do: Eastern Laboratory,” from The Opus (June 2007)
Class #9 – October 17
Assignment due: draft of long feature and first edit for photographers
Workshop: peer editing of drafts
Discussion: revising your work, pitching the story.
Reading:
Mediabistro.com, photocopy of “What Worked,” chapter 8 from Get a Freelance Life
J Hart, photocopy of “Mechanics,” chapter 11 from A Writer’s Coach
Class # 10 – October 24
Assignment due: one-page pitch for long feature
Discussion: interviewing, writing, fact-checking and selling stories.
Guest lecture ( 10:45-12:00): Dr. Anne Glass, associate director, UGA Institute of Gerontology – What reporters need to know about the health of older Georgians
Readings:
News stories to come
Article selected by Dr. Glass
Class #11 – October 31
Discussion: writing and placing op-ed and opinion pieces, refining feature pitches
Guest lecture ( 10:30-12:00): Jane Hansen, former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Covering New Orleans
Readings:
Rudowitz, Rowland, and Shartzer “Hurricane Katrina and the Health System,” Health Affairs, July-Nov 20063
J Hansen, “Through Hell and High Water,” reprinted from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2005.
Class # 12 – November 7
Assignment due: Long feature text and pictures; audio slide show
Discussion: Covering scientific meetings, associations, interest groups
Guest lecture ( 10:45-12:00): Margie Mason, AP medical reporter, Hanoi, Vietnam – Reporting on outbreaks and disasters
Readings:
Program for American Academy of Ophthalmology
Articles by Margie Mason
Gastel, B – photocopy of chapter 3 from Health Writer’s Handbook
Class # 13 -- November 14
NO CLASS
Leave Athens for New Orleans on Saturday, November 10
Return to Athens on Wednesday, November 14
NO CLASS – November 21
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Class # 14 – November 28
Assignment due: AAO news story
Discussion: Covering the quality of medical care
Press conference ( 10:45 – 12): We question four College of Public Health PhD students about the health platforms of presidential candidates.
Readings:
Cohn & Cope – Chapters 8 and 10
Charles Ornstein lecture and links posted at www.grady.uga.edu:16080/KnightHealth/GNAT/Ornstein
Class #15 – December 5 (last class)
Assignment due: op-ed or first-person piece
Guest Lecture ( 9:05 – 10:30): Dr. Angela Fertig, associate professor, College of Public Health – An economist looks at the drug industry
Discussion: Debriefing, post-mortem long feature, AAO news story.
Readings:
Article selected by Dr. Fertig
To view Student Portfolios published during Fall 2007
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