Texas A&M University 3 credits JOUR
COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores methods for locating, verifying and organizing information for use in journalism and related media fields. Examines how reporters, researchers and content creators identify credible sources, interpret data and manage competing forms of evidence. Covers procedures for working with public records, interviews, documents and digital databases. Introduces basic interview techniques and requires a range of interviews. Addresses legal and ethical standards guiding information access, attribution and responsible use. May reference real-world news events and/or disputed claims for purposes of evaluating information practices. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Applies directly to careers in journalism, public communication, strategic media, research and content production where accuracy and credibility are essential. Builds fluency in information gathering and source evaluation for professional settings such as newsrooms, nonprofit advocacy, policy communication and organizational messaging. Supports academic preparation for advanced coursework in reporting, media law, research methods or data journalism. Strengthens civic readiness by reinforcing principles of evidence-based decision-making in public discourse. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Considers how information is not merely "found" but actively selected, framed and interpreted through methodological choices. Highlights differences between rumor, opinion and verifiable fact, while showing how even credible sources may present information with limitations or bias. Considers that responsible information gathering requires transparency in process as much as accuracy in outcome. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include source credibility and verification; interviewing and data collection methods; public records and open-source intelligence; fact-checking and revision protocols; digital search strategies; statistical interpretation and data visualization; legal frameworks governing access and privacy including public records legislation at the federal and state levels; ethical considerations in handling sensitive or incomplete information. May draw on journalism, government documents, nonprofit reports or corporate communications when relevant to understanding differences in information intent and reliability. Prerequisites: Grade of C or better in JOUR 102; freshman or sophomore classification; enrollment in JOUR major, USLA-BA-JNS concentration or JOUR minor; or approval of program director.
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