Best way to get into Journalism!

Good: The video lectures cover a nice variety of topics giving you a good introduction of journalism, ethics, and other important considerations for becoming a journalist.

Bad: The entire course feels hastily put together. Some of the videos have summarizing points, which is helpful when taking notes, but they flash on the screen briefly, then cut to a closeup of the lecturer, then cut back to the summery points so quickly that you can't copy them down and it becomes super distracting.

The quizzes are a joke. They usually consist of 1-3 questions with two answers each and once choice so outrageous that they don't take any thought at all to complete. You could just skip to the quizzes without watching a single lecture and "ace" them easily.

The assignments are also a joke. They ask for 1-2 sentence answers max! Some of them ask you to "use more than one word" to respond. I've taken free courses on here than involve 1000 word essays and then at least you're forced to process the information in the lectures. You can pass this course without watching a single lecture and that's a travesty to Michigan State.

It is full of typos and oversights that could have been avoided if they had once person run through the course as a quality control. One of the quizzes has the answer included right beneath the question as a typo! The simple assignments are described in 3 different places, sometimes with conflicting instructions. They tell you what to do and how to review your peers in one section and then the actually assignment has different instructions on what to do than the page prior so you end up unsure of what the assignment actually wants you to do. For example: the final assignment at firsts asks you how to engage with your audience, and then you click next and the SAME question is now asking you how you distribute content. Did they even try??

In Summery: The content in the lectures are a good but shallow overview of journalism, but don't expect to be challenged to do anything but fill in ovals and regurgitate questions.

Not too much to learn here.

The content is very good and the lecturers are excellent. Being a business journalist without academic training in journalism I learnt a lot and learnt the necessary skillls I use daily.

This course is just awesome and I'm glad I was a part of this unique learning experience! I would love to thank all the instructors. Many thanks for creating and supporting this course!

It' s not only about giving information to learners but also for keeping them inspired. Plutarch said, that the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled and I feel like that's how teachers in this course also see the educational process. This course (even it's just a first part of big specialization) already helped me to find my own way in journalism and I will be taking next courses of this specialization, for sure.

Students, it you hesitate about enrolling this course, don't hesitate, just do it!

I tend to not have a positive view of online education in general, but am pleasantly surprised by this course. Joe Grimm in particular is inspired and inspiring, particularly when covering the ethical foundations of journalism and keeping up with media's changes in response to evolving technology. Furthermore I now have more respect for the aspirations of media as a profession, as a means to serve and engage with the public rather than necessarily advance an agenda. I've also noticed that a few of my classmates seem to embody the "nobility" of the profession with them as evidenced by some social-justice oriented news ideas that I hope they some day complete.

As a beginning course in journalism, this has been a true experience for me. I learned more than I thought I would about ethics, professionalism, and how to be true to your story.

Outstanding! A fully immersed succinct package. Structured for engagement and retention. Excellent focus on ethics and values. Well prepared lectures and slides. Kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Highly recommend this one. I'll be signing up for the entire specialization.

Tools you learn will be handy even if you aren't going into the news field directly: if you are social media manager, website content admin, newsletter editor...

5 Full Stars. Thank you.

A highly informative, applicable& easy to follow course by absolutely knowledgeable professors. The thorough, well-organized& engaging course content reflects the the professionalism & the extensive knowledge of the professors in this field. Really looking forward to enrolling in other courses by the same professors & Michigan State University . Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to learn from you.

Very good because it is taught about all the basics of journalists. Various case studies also train me to be able to think more with the mindset of a journalist. I highly recommend this class.

The quality control of the course is not very good. Some videos repeat the same take twice. Some questions are misplaced. Some of the peer review prompts are placed as questions for the student, which causes confusion.

The lecturers are very little personal. i.e I dont connect with them so I dont get too inspired and loose motivation with this particular course (not the subject).

I feel a bit like in a sausage machine, yet there are not enough students on the course to review my assignments, or for me to review assignments. I keep on having to go back to, a for me completed course, to see if there is anyone I can review to get my certificate.

This goes for all of the courses in the series, regretfully.

I really loved the additional reading on journalistic ethics and values. I wasn't aware of how journalists arrived at a decision regarding why or why shouldn't a news report be published. But my curiosity has waned towards the end when it came to social media and audience engagement. These topics weren't justified. Without enough information and leaving a lot of open ends, it was like being left at the altar. If those things are beyond the scope of this course then I would recommend listing suggested readings and way forward.

There are some grammar mistakes or less explanations about the questions or the homeworks. Its so hard to focus to videos because of that bad green mask. Hire somebody to do it professionally. I like the teachers and the content of the courses, but the information for the assignments are not enough for an ESL. I finished the course, but still my page has not yet updated, and I couldn't find more information about my schedule. Id like to more control of my page and more touch to the instructors, if its possible. Thank you

I did like the course, it was informative. However, there didn't seem to be enough interaction with the professors themselves, and the grading by peers didn't make me feel like I really deserved the grade I got. The quizzes were also really easy, which again, made me feel like I didn't deserve the grade. It would be great if we could have at least one short paper graded by the professors themselves with a limit of words so it wouldn't take up too much of their time.

Would have liked more practical work. How to write a lead? Etc. I am hoping the rest of the courses in this program are a bit more practical. While I appreciate the theory, etc, at the end of the day I want to write as much as possible and get feedback on the writing.

This is 1 of 5 courses under Specialization for Journalism. I take the Specialization by installment payment (pay per each course). I found this course explains clearly on the general standards and the noble encouraging purpose and application on what journalism is all about. It is very informative to me and I am happy that I choose this Specialization and looking forward to learn the next lesson.

Excellent course for anyone that needs to understand the principles of journalism and how it is changing rapidly in a digital world. The lectures and assessments are geared towards practical skills in journalism such as interviewing, recording and broadcasting. The course should provide students and practicing journalists a solid foundation in the values that drive good journalism.

The course gave me some valuable background and context about the field of journalism. I'm happy with my day job, for now, yet hope to develop a sideline or second career in journalism, specializing in writing about the environment, science, and bioethics. In the process of completing the course, I developed some ideas for stories that I can

I learned a lot in this course. The professors are very clear and their explanations are easy to understand. I don't think that, after this course, I am able to write a professional report or anything like that, but I did gain quite a few basic concepts of journalism and am able to write better now than I did before. Recommend this!

Great, encouraging introduction to becoming a journalist. This course divides up and introduces types of journalism, which helped me understand which job I am looking for. I also really appreciated assignments that allowed me to interact with other learners - I loved reading news ideas from students like me all over the world!

Very well organized and explained. The ideas were easy to understand and follow as a native English speaker but was also inclusive for foreign learners as well. Gave a great introduction to Journalism and Ethics. I also appreciated that the length of the course was manageable for someone with a full time job.

I really enjoyed learning all of the different parts dealing with Journalism. I thought that the videos and the light reading made for a great learning experience. Thanks, Denise Shannon.

This teaches the basics of news and some simple things like how to interview and gather information. This information is very helpful and super informative. This helped me out so much!

Excellent course material and good learner participation. I think a stronger instructor presence will round it off nicely (even if only in the forums). Great presentation Mr Grimm!

As a guest writer for over 2 years and writing 70+ articles, with no prior formal training, I found this to be very refreshing to understand key concepts of journalism, especially on fairness, accuracy to promote credibility.

This is a good course for those who not only beginners but people who written before and want to hone their values and concepts in journalism.

This course is to the point the lessons are designed so that they can be accessible and they're broken down into smaller pieces so that they're not too much . the exercises are interesting since you have to keep in mind what you want to do with journalism yourself. They help you to organize this idea you might have in your mind or think about it.