JOUR320 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Abbie Bennett JOUR320 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/18/2024	Abbie is a great instructor for JOUR320! In order to pass this class, you must do six outside assignments based on a geographic beat and get five clips published by verified media outlets over the course of the semester (-3 percentage points from your final grade for every clip you fail to complete). GET YOUR CLIPS DONE EARLY! THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS TO HAVE THOSE HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER She knows that it is a super intense class and the "weed out" class for journalism majors at Maryland, so she does everything she can to ease you into the semester so that your major assignments don't feel like they're coming out of nowhere. She's still an active, working journalist so she gives great insight into a day in the life in the industry and treats you more like a co-worker than a student. Obviously, JOUR320 will be difficult and work-heavy no matter who you take it with, that's just the way the course is designed, but Abbie absolutely makes the experience better.
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/08/2024	This class is tough but taking it with Zremski is going to be the most rewarding and valuable. He gives great feedback on assignments and is very understanding of students' needs, and has an answer to pretty much every question about journalism that you could ask.
Clarence Williams JOUR320 Anonymous 06/20/2024	I'm going to start this off by saying that your experience in Professor Williams's class will depend heavily on your ability to "buy into" his style. JOUR320 is already one of the most jarring classes for students in the major, and his class may at first seem like it is making it even harder. This is because he wants you to reach out and talk to him, and if you want to have any chance of doing well in this class you have to do that. The class's structure is designed to force you to communicate with both him as your editor and with the people contributing to your beat assignments, and he is constantly reinforcing this through his words and class materials. He may seem intimidating at first, but I promise he is not, and he wants to talk to each one of his students. His style is unorthodox, but as someone who took the time to adapt to it and get to know him, I can safely say that it offers a truly unique and fulfilling experience. Assignments are complicated and intimidating at times, but they become much more manageable and enjoyable if you are in communication with him consistently, as a journalist would be at a publication. He also does not post assignment details on ELMS and announces all assignments in class, so you have to be paying attention and taking notes so you don't miss vital information. All of this is done to simulate the experience of being a reporter, and although it can be hard to adapt to at first, it has truly helped me develop positive habits for reporting. Additionally, he focuses a lot on intangible qualities and emotional intelligence as well, which personally helped me become a much more comfortable reporter and interviewer. It is also almost never too late to reach out and talk to him, but he expects accountability and honesty. The most important thing that student's need to know about Professor Williams is that if you are able to show him that you are committed to his class, it will not only be much easier but you will have also gained a committed and empathetic mentor who will do everything within his power to help you succeed. ALSO DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR PUBLISHED CLIPS!
Clarence Williams JOUR320 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/28/2024	Professor Williams is a tough professor, I won't lie. However, I would say that he is one of the best professors I have ever had. Though he can be harsh, his constructive feedback has significantly helped me. Going into 320, I wasn't prepared and didn't have much experience. It was an issue at first, but the more I worked with him, things started to make more sense. He is always available to help via Zoom or a phone call. The live edits are especially helpful. The deadlines creep up fast, but if you stay in touch with him and, most importantly, are honest with him, he almost always will give an extension if needed. At the end of the year, you will complete a profile and enterprise story, each worth 10% of your final grade. Start talking to him as soon as possible to see what advice he has to offer. The only reason for the four stars is that he doesn't use ELMS, which can be very frustrating. Sometimes, I forgot about an out-of-class assignment because he just told us in class and didn't post it anywhere. This resulted in me feeling like I had to rush through the assignment at the last minute and not do my best work. Although this is an adjustment to what most college students are used to, it is manageable. Overall, I think he is a great professor, and if you're up for a challenge and want to improve your craft, take the course with him.
Clarence Williams JOUR320 Anonymous 05/17/2024	For starters, let me just say that this class is incredibly difficult. If you want to take an easier route in the short-term I would not fault you, as the other 320 professors have been known to be less harsh on work. He is a guy who will rarely give you a straight answer, rather ask questions to get you to think of the answer yourself. He can be a little intimidating at first and will probably scare the shit out of you, but he's genuinely a nice guy. With that said, let me just say that Clarence is one of the best professors I have ever had. He has not only taught me a lot about journalism but a lot about myself. Your writing and reporting improves drastically in his class, but you have to buy in because he is not an easy A nor do people rarely get A-'s. He is not a powerpoint professor, rather using different strategies to get learning across. He makes himself very available to meet with students and get to know them, but beware it is usually at an incredibly late hour and every time you text him you will have to say who you are. I understand why everyone is not a fan of him but genuinely if you want to become a better writer, reporter, and thinker, he is your guy.
Clarence Williams JOUR320 Anonymous 05/17/2024	I'm going to start this off by saying that your experience in Professor Williams's class will depend heavily on your ability to "buy into" his style. JOUR320 is already one of the most jarring classes for students in the major, and his class may at first seem like it is making it even harder. This is because he wants you to reach out and talk to him, and if you want to have any chance of doing well in this class you have to do that. The class's structure is designed to force you to communicate with both him as your editor and with the people contributing to your beat assignments, and he is constantly reinforcing this through his words and class materials. He may seem intimidating at first, but I promise he is not, and he wants to talk to each one of his students. His style is unorthodox, but as someone who took the time to adapt to it and get to know him, I can safely say that it offers a truly unique and fulfilling experience. Assignments are complicated and intimidating at times, but they become much more manageable and enjoyable if you are in communication with him consistently, as a journalist would be at a publication. He also does not post assignment details on ELMS and announces all assignments in class, so you have to be paying attention and taking notes so you don't miss vital information. All of this is done to simulate the experience of being a reporter, and although it can be hard to adapt to at first, it has truly helped me develop positive habits for reporting. Additionally, he focuses a lot on intangible qualities and emotional intelligence as well, which personally helped me become a much more comfortable reporter and interviewer. It is also almost never too late to reach out and talk to him, but he expects accountability and honesty. The most important thing that student's need to know about Professor Williams is that if you are able to show him that you are committed to his class, it will not only be much easier but you will have also gained a committed and empathetic mentor who will do everything within his power to help you succeed. ALSO DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR PUBLISHED CLIPS!
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	Take 320 with him, he is by far the best option.
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2023	If you're going to take JOUR320, take it with Jerry. There's no better option. He cares deeply about his students and is excessively accommodating to his students' needs. At the end of the day, he's looking to do one thing: improve the abilities of his students. This class will be tough no matter who you take, so you might as well be taught by the guy who cares the most.
David Lightman JOUR320 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2023	Really knowledgeable! He is a bit tough, but as long as you show up you will be fine. He understands 8 a.m. is early so he doesn't ask much of you so classtime is pretty chill. I recommend taking him, you'll learn a lot!
David Lightman JOUR320 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2023	Okay, so I had him for an 8 a.m class and at first I was so scared of him. He seemed like an old, cranky guy who didn't take crap from anyone. BUT, I honestly grew to like him. He really cared about your performance and improving your skills. Don't get me wrong, he would scold you if you walked in even 30 seconds late and would take off a lotttt of points for using passive voice. (DON'T USE PASSIVE!!) As long as you put in the work and communicate with the prof, you will be fine. He expresses all of his expectations on the first day so be sure to listen to that. This class is not as hard as some people make it out to seem. Reach out to your sources early is the best tip I can give and text/email the prof if you need any help (or if ur running late!! he WILL scold you in front of the class so TEXT HIM!!!!)
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/26/2023	Professor Zremski is the most amazing professor I've ever had. I learned a lot from his class and he is very knowledgable on the journalism industry. The class is extremely tough but I was able to do well by attending class (he does care about attendance), by following clear directions on all the assignments, and getting all the required clips (and the additional ones). He tries his best to accommodate all his students and sets clear expectations for the class.
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/13/2023	This is a hard class. No matter who you take it’s probably gonna be a struggle. But I do think Zremski is one of the better options. He’s a tough grader, but you’ll become a better writer thanks to his class. He knows a ton about the industry and is easy to talk to.
Clarence Williams JOUR320 Anonymous 04/26/2023	I’ll start by saying that Clarence is a genuinely nice person and I’ve learned a lot from his class. He is pretty reachable, giving students his phone number and inviting them to text him at all hours of the day. However, it feels to me as if he makes an already difficult class unnecessarily more difficult. He doesn’t post assignments on ELMS which makes it hard to understand what is needed, good note taking is a must because of this. The main thing that I found tough was that it seemed like some other professors were very flexible with what their students wanted to write about, this didn’t seem like the case here. The profile story at the end of the semester is made unnecessarily complicated by very strict guidelines. Is his class the worst thing in the world? No. Would I personally take him again? Also no.
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/01/2021	As far as J320 goes… Jerry’s honestly one of your best bets. Obviously grading is going to be strenuous, but he’s been one of the most understanding and accommodating professors I’ve had— willing to give extensions if you need it and drops lots of Merrill F’s. He wants you to succeed!! :)
Jerry Zremski JOUR320 Expecting an A TerpD 01/16/2020	Jerry is a great professor and in 320 he was much more willing to work with students on their clip requirements than other professors for the course. He does grade harshly, but his grades are fair. Multiple assignments dropped at the end of the semester and a few of them were easy A's so that made it a bit easier to do well in the class. Definitely recommend taking 320 with him if possible!
Thomas Linthicum JOUR320 Anonymous 05/14/2014	Really great guy, exceptionally knowledgable and experienced in journalism. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to writing and reporting, and you'll learn a lot from him. Here's the stats: - NO BEAT: that's a pretty big one. From what I hear, all of the other J320 teachers assign beats for outside weekly assignments, but Linthicum doesn't. So you can go to attend a CP meeting for the government meeting story, and you don't even have to leave campus for half of the other stories. - teaching style: alternating between in-class assignments and class discussion. Once a week you'll have an in-class assignment (usually a speaker for ~40 min and around an hour to write a ~300-500 word story). The other day, you'll be discussing methods for a new weekly story topic (health story, business story, profile, police story, etc.). He likes writing lists on the board of techniques for reporting and things to make sure you include in the story. - grading style: fair. He's not especially harsh. He'll be looking at your diction and language style and calling you out on any weirdly-phrased sentences or grammar issues, but it's not like an exact amount of points off for errors (he grades by letter grades, so A+ is 100, A is 95, A- is 90, B+ is 88, etc.). Missing essential facts is a C+, factual error is an F, and he DOES give A+ as well as F. So fact-check! (ESPECIALLY on in-class assignments) Overall, Linthicum's a great teacher. It's still J320, so it'll be tough. Just make sure you've got a plan for getting in your 10 clips before the last class and you'll be alright.
David Lightman JOUR320 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 08/21/2012	Amazing professor. Extremely hard, and not always nice if you don't live up to his expectations. But taught me a ton about reporting and inspired me to work hard. Very challenging professor though, only take him if you want that extra challenge.
David Lightman JOUR320 Anonymous 12/16/2009	Be warned: he does not give you the whole semester to get your 10 clips. He gives you until the first week of December, so get your clips early!! Also, he makes you pick a "beat" which is a location in the area, like Greenbelt. You have to write lots of stories for your beat, such as a review of a council meeting and a profile of a business. Choose wisely. Anyway, he is great teacher and you will learn a lot in his class but it is very hard. Forget giving 110%, you need to give 210% to pass this class. I'm not kidding!

Abbie Bennett
JOUR320

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/18/2024

Abbie is a great instructor for JOUR320! In order to pass this class, you must do six outside assignments based on a geographic beat and get five clips published by verified media outlets over the course of the semester (-3 percentage points from your final grade for every clip you fail to complete). *GET YOUR CLIPS DONE EARLY! THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS TO HAVE THOSE HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER* She knows that it is a super intense class and the "weed out" class for journalism majors at Maryland, so she does everything she can to ease you into the semester so that your major assignments don't feel like they're coming out of nowhere. She's still an active, working journalist so she gives great insight into a day in the life in the industry and treats you more like a co-worker than a student. Obviously, JOUR320 will be difficult and work-heavy no matter who you take it with, that's just the way the course is designed, but Abbie absolutely makes the experience better.

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/08/2024

This class is tough but taking it with Zremski is going to be the most rewarding and valuable. He gives great feedback on assignments and is very understanding of students' needs, and has an answer to pretty much every question about journalism that you could ask.

Clarence Williams
JOUR320

Anonymous
06/20/2024

I'm going to start this off by saying that your experience in Professor Williams's class will depend heavily on your ability to "buy into" his style. JOUR320 is already one of the most jarring classes for students in the major, and his class may at first seem like it is making it even harder. This is because he wants you to reach out and talk to him, and if you want to have any chance of doing well in this class you have to do that. The class's structure is designed to force you to communicate with both him as your editor and with the people contributing to your beat assignments, and he is constantly reinforcing this through his words and class materials. He may seem intimidating at first, but I promise he is not, and he wants to talk to each one of his students. His style is unorthodox, but as someone who took the time to adapt to it and get to know him, I can safely say that it offers a truly unique and fulfilling experience. Assignments are complicated and intimidating at times, but they become much more manageable and enjoyable if you are in communication with him consistently, as a journalist would be at a publication. He also does not post assignment details on ELMS and announces all assignments in class, so you have to be paying attention and taking notes so you don't miss vital information. All of this is done to simulate the experience of being a reporter, and although it can be hard to adapt to at first, it has truly helped me develop positive habits for reporting. Additionally, he focuses a lot on intangible qualities and emotional intelligence as well, which personally helped me become a much more comfortable reporter and interviewer. It is also almost never too late to reach out and talk to him, but he expects accountability and honesty. The most important thing that student's need to know about Professor Williams is that if you are able to show him that you are committed to his class, it will not only be much easier but you will have also gained a committed and empathetic mentor who will do everything within his power to help you succeed. ALSO DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR PUBLISHED CLIPS!

Clarence Williams
JOUR320

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/28/2024

Professor Williams is a tough professor, I won't lie. However, I would say that he is one of the best professors I have ever had. Though he can be harsh, his constructive feedback has significantly helped me. Going into 320, I wasn't prepared and didn't have much experience. It was an issue at first, but the more I worked with him, things started to make more sense. He is always available to help via Zoom or a phone call. The live edits are especially helpful. The deadlines creep up fast, but if you stay in touch with him and, most importantly, are honest with him, he almost always will give an extension if needed. At the end of the year, you will complete a profile and enterprise story, each worth 10% of your final grade. Start talking to him as soon as possible to see what advice he has to offer. The only reason for the four stars is that he doesn't use ELMS, which can be very frustrating. Sometimes, I forgot about an out-of-class assignment because he just told us in class and didn't post it anywhere. This resulted in me feeling like I had to rush through the assignment at the last minute and not do my best work. Although this is an adjustment to what most college students are used to, it is manageable. Overall, I think he is a great professor, and if you're up for a challenge and want to improve your craft, take the course with him.

Clarence Williams
JOUR320

Anonymous
05/17/2024

For starters, let me just say that this class is incredibly difficult. If you want to take an easier route in the short-term I would not fault you, as the other 320 professors have been known to be less harsh on work. He is a guy who will rarely give you a straight answer, rather ask questions to get you to think of the answer yourself. He can be a little intimidating at first and will probably scare the shit out of you, but he's genuinely a nice guy. With that said, let me just say that Clarence is one of the best professors I have ever had. He has not only taught me a lot about journalism but a lot about myself. Your writing and reporting improves drastically in his class, but you have to buy in because he is not an easy A nor do people rarely get A-'s. He is not a powerpoint professor, rather using different strategies to get learning across. He makes himself very available to meet with students and get to know them, but beware it is usually at an incredibly late hour and every time you text him you will have to say who you are. I understand why everyone is not a fan of him but genuinely if you want to become a better writer, reporter, and thinker, he is your guy.

Clarence Williams
JOUR320

Anonymous
05/17/2024

I'm going to start this off by saying that your experience in Professor Williams's class will depend heavily on your ability to "buy into" his style. JOUR320 is already one of the most jarring classes for students in the major, and his class may at first seem like it is making it even harder. This is because he wants you to reach out and talk to him, and if you want to have any chance of doing well in this class you have to do that. The class's structure is designed to force you to communicate with both him as your editor and with the people contributing to your beat assignments, and he is constantly reinforcing this through his words and class materials. He may seem intimidating at first, but I promise he is not, and he wants to talk to each one of his students. His style is unorthodox, but as someone who took the time to adapt to it and get to know him, I can safely say that it offers a truly unique and fulfilling experience. Assignments are complicated and intimidating at times, but they become much more manageable and enjoyable if you are in communication with him consistently, as a journalist would be at a publication. He also does not post assignment details on ELMS and announces all assignments in class, so you have to be paying attention and taking notes so you don't miss vital information. All of this is done to simulate the experience of being a reporter, and although it can be hard to adapt to at first, it has truly helped me develop positive habits for reporting. Additionally, he focuses a lot on intangible qualities and emotional intelligence as well, which personally helped me become a much more comfortable reporter and interviewer. It is also almost never too late to reach out and talk to him, but he expects accountability and honesty. The most important thing that student's need to know about Professor Williams is that if you are able to show him that you are committed to his class, it will not only be much easier but you will have also gained a committed and empathetic mentor who will do everything within his power to help you succeed. ALSO DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR PUBLISHED CLIPS!

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2024

Take 320 with him, he is by far the best option.

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2023

If you're going to take JOUR320, take it with Jerry. There's no better option. He cares deeply about his students and is excessively accommodating to his students' needs. At the end of the day, he's looking to do one thing: improve the abilities of his students. This class will be tough no matter who you take, so you might as well be taught by the guy who cares the most.

David Lightman
JOUR320

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Really knowledgeable! He is a bit tough, but as long as you show up you will be fine. He understands 8 a.m. is early so he doesn't ask much of you so classtime is pretty chill. I recommend taking him, you'll learn a lot!

David Lightman
JOUR320

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/09/2023

Okay, so I had him for an 8 a.m class and at first I was so scared of him. He seemed like an old, cranky guy who didn't take crap from anyone. BUT, I honestly grew to like him. He really cared about your performance and improving your skills. Don't get me wrong, he would scold you if you walked in even 30 seconds late and would take off a lotttt of points for using passive voice. (DON'T USE PASSIVE!!) As long as you put in the work and communicate with the prof, you will be fine. He expresses all of his expectations on the first day so be sure to listen to that. This class is not as hard as some people make it out to seem. Reach out to your sources early is the best tip I can give and text/email the prof if you need any help (or if ur running late!! he WILL scold you in front of the class so TEXT HIM!!!!)

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/26/2023

Professor Zremski is the most amazing professor I've ever had. I learned a lot from his class and he is very knowledgable on the journalism industry. The class is extremely tough but I was able to do well by attending class (he does care about attendance), by following clear directions on all the assignments, and getting all the required clips (and the additional ones). He tries his best to accommodate all his students and sets clear expectations for the class.

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/13/2023

This is a hard class. No matter who you take it’s probably gonna be a struggle. But I do think Zremski is one of the better options. He’s a tough grader, but you’ll become a better writer thanks to his class. He knows a ton about the industry and is easy to talk to.

Clarence Williams
JOUR320

Anonymous
04/26/2023

I’ll start by saying that Clarence is a genuinely nice person and I’ve learned a lot from his class. He is pretty reachable, giving students his phone number and inviting them to text him at all hours of the day. However, it feels to me as if he makes an already difficult class unnecessarily more difficult. He doesn’t post assignments on ELMS which makes it hard to understand what is needed, good note taking is a must because of this. The main thing that I found tough was that it seemed like some other professors were very flexible with what their students wanted to write about, this didn’t seem like the case here. The profile story at the end of the semester is made unnecessarily complicated by very strict guidelines. Is his class the worst thing in the world? No. Would I personally take him again? Also no.

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/01/2021

As far as J320 goes… Jerry’s honestly one of your best bets. Obviously grading is going to be strenuous, but he’s been one of the most understanding and accommodating professors I’ve had— willing to give extensions if you need it and drops lots of Merrill F’s. He wants you to succeed!! :)

Jerry Zremski
JOUR320

Expecting an A
TerpD
01/16/2020

Jerry is a great professor and in 320 he was much more willing to work with students on their clip requirements than other professors for the course. He does grade harshly, but his grades are fair. Multiple assignments dropped at the end of the semester and a few of them were easy A's so that made it a bit easier to do well in the class. Definitely recommend taking 320 with him if possible!

Thomas Linthicum
JOUR320

Anonymous
05/14/2014

Really great guy, exceptionally knowledgable and experienced in journalism. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to writing and reporting, and you'll learn a lot from him. Here's the stats: - NO BEAT: that's a pretty big one. From what I hear, all of the other J320 teachers assign beats for outside weekly assignments, but Linthicum doesn't. So you can go to attend a CP meeting for the government meeting story, and you don't even have to leave campus for half of the other stories. - teaching style: alternating between in-class assignments and class discussion. Once a week you'll have an in-class assignment (usually a speaker for ~40 min and around an hour to write a ~300-500 word story). The other day, you'll be discussing methods for a new weekly story topic (health story, business story, profile, police story, etc.). He likes writing lists on the board of techniques for reporting and things to make sure you include in the story. - grading style: fair. He's not especially harsh. He'll be looking at your diction and language style and calling you out on any weirdly-phrased sentences or grammar issues, but it's not like an exact amount of points off for errors (he grades by letter grades, so A+ is 100, A is 95, A- is 90, B+ is 88, etc.). Missing essential facts is a C+, factual error is an F, and he DOES give A+ as well as F. So fact-check! (ESPECIALLY on in-class assignments) Overall, Linthicum's a great teacher. It's still J320, so it'll be tough. Just make sure you've got a plan for getting in your 10 clips before the last class and you'll be alright.

David Lightman
JOUR320

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
08/21/2012

Amazing professor. Extremely hard, and not always nice if you don't live up to his expectations. But taught me a ton about reporting and inspired me to work hard. Very challenging professor though, only take him if you want that extra challenge.

David Lightman
JOUR320

Anonymous
12/16/2009

Be warned: he does not give you the whole semester to get your 10 clips. He gives you until the first week of December, so get your clips early!! Also, he makes you pick a "beat" which is a location in the area, like Greenbelt. You have to write lots of stories for your beat, such as a review of a council meeting and a profile of a business. Choose wisely. Anyway, he is great teacher and you will learn a lot in his class but it is very hard. Forget giving 110%, you need to give 210% to pass this class. I'm not kidding!

Reviews for JOUR320