Welcome to Public Affairs Reporting

This is newzhound, my incredibly hip class blog. Visit it often to find assignments, discussion items and useful links.

Here's your first assignment:

By 9 a.m. Tuesday (Aug. 29), along with your first story, send me an e-mail with your top three choices for a beat to cover. I’ll let you know your assigned beat by the day’s end. (Make sure the e-mail address is the one you intend to use all semester.) My e-mail address? dennis.swibold@umontana.edu.

The choices are:

1. The local economy
2. Missoula’s K-12 schools
3. Higher education
4. Missoula police and the Missoula County sheriff’s department
5. Local and federal courts
6. Local government
7. Public health
8. Natural resources, energy and the environment
9. Transportation
10. Minorities