JRN 300: Welcome To the Fall 2015 Edition!

Seriously, welcome. I'm glad to have you here. Let's talk about this class in greater detail.

First, a little about me. You can just call me Omar, since (as you can see from the syllabus) my last name is a mess. I've been at MSU for the past eight years, formerly advising at The State News and currently teaching JRN 200, 300 and 400. Before that, I was a professional journalist for 17 years, most recently in Las Vegas, and I've covered everything from car crashes to Hurricane Katrina.

And in those 17 years I learned a lot, namely this: in journalism we learn by doing. That is, we report and write, then we review what we did well and what we could have done better, then we put those lessons in practice the next time around. Each day in those 17 years I got better, some days more than others. You don't learn journalism passively.

To that end, during this semester we will do journalism, for real. For this class the MSU journalism school has set up various public Web news sites that are actually read by the public. The content -- news stories, videos, multimedia reports, photos, podcasts; everything -- come entirely from you, as do story ideas.

That means we will learn beat coverage in this class. The geographic area or topic you cover is called a beat, and within a beat reporters must learn to develop sources, scout for story ideas, develop a working knowledge of your beat, etc. We will learn that by doing that: by being assigned a beat, and then mining it for story ideas and stories.

With all these assignments, we are going to be strict in two particular ways. First, ANY factual error -- even just one misspelled name or incorrect number! -- will automatically result in an assignment grade of 1.0, no matter how well you otherwise did the work.

That's not an arbitrary thing because I'm mean. Rather, it's to emphasize an important point: journalism isn't about writing, it's about getting it right. We write in journalism not for personal expression, but to share information that is relevant, interesting and/or useful to your audience. And if the purpose is to share information, it must be accurate. Wrong info is hardly interesting, relevant or useful to anyone.

Also, errors can be dangerous to your career. When I was working in Vegas, my paper had a five-error-per-year rule. After the first error, you'd get a verbal reprimand. The second one got you a letter in your file. After the third, you had to outline a corrective plan of action. The fourth got you an unpaid suspension. And the fifth got you fired. And this was while I was writing over 200 stories a year! Gulp.

I'm not saying this to scare you; rather, it is to motivate you to have good fact-checking habits in place so it never gets that drastic. (I was never fired during my professional career and I'm not a genius, so I know it can be done, and done easily), and to impress upon you that truth is the cornerstone of what we do.

Odds are you're going to have a "fatal" (as we call 'em). That's okay; it happens sometimes, especially in the first half of the semester when everything is new and good habits are still being built. Don't be scared of 'em and don't fret; just learn how you can do a better job of fact-checking, and become aware of some common traps that lead people into fatals.

Second, we are going to enforce deadlines to the second. So, let's say an assignment is due at 9 a.m. sharp, and it's time-stamped on my email as having been received at 9 a.m. and four seconds. I will unmercifully grade that assignment as late, and late assignments automatically get a 0.0.

Again, I'm not doing that to be a jerk. There's a journalistic reason for that. And that this is a deadline business in which we can NEVER miss a deadline. Ever. If you're writing a script for the 11 p.m. news, the scripts have to be in before 11 p.m., each and every time. After all, you've never flipped on the news and hard the anchor say, "Welcome to the 11 o'clock news. Just give us a minute and we'll get back to you." It's because people who blow deadlines are immediately exiled, so we have to start building a habit of never missing deadlines.

I'd rather have you learn that lesson here than during your first (or would it be, last?) job.

Okay, I know all of this can sound intimidating. And I can't promise that you won't have frustrations, especially early on. But these things I can guarantee you: first, YOU CAN DO THIS! I'm not asking you to lift a two-ton truck over your head; I'm asking you to master skills that have been mastered before. And I know you can master them because you are a student at a Big Ten school. That tells me all I need to know about whether you have the talent. You do.

But that doesn't mean that you'll come out firing on all cylinders on the first day. Starting something new is hard, even when it's something you have the talent in which to shine. I mean, the first time Michael Phelps ever went swimming, he probably needed floaties and such. It didn't mean he wouldn't eventually become the greatest swimmer of all time. It just meant that he had to learn how to bring his skills out. That's what we'll do here, too.

Second, I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO DO THIS ALONE! I'm here to help. I'll offer you tricks and techniques on how to avoid fatals and get assignments in on time and structure your stories properly and do kick-ass reporting. We're in this together, and I've shepherded plenty of people through this class before. I know we can do this.

So if you have a day that's frustrating, don't get frustrated. Don't punch a wall or drop the class. Just learn the lessons on how to do better the next time, and then do just that.

Again, that's how we learn in journalism. And that's how we'll learn this semester. Just stick with it, and I'll be there for you.

JRN 300: Our News Sites Include ...

Listen Up, Lansing which covers the City of Lansing.

Old Town Lansing Times, which covers the Old Town neighborhood in Lansing. 

Lansing Township News, which covers Lansing Township (not city) government and unincorporated areas around Lansing.

Clinton County Chatter, which covers that county and the city of St. Johns.

The Bath-DeWitt Connection, which covers Bath Township and the city of DeWitt in Clinton County.

Living in the Ledge, which covers the town of Grand Ledge.

The Ingham County Chronicle, which covers Ingham County at large (and not specifically the cities of East Lansing, Williamston and Mason, each of which has dedicated news sites).

The Holt Journal, covering the town of Holt.

JRN 300: Your Fall 2015 Syllabus

JRN 300: Public Affairs Reporting

FALL 2015, SECTIONS 1 (8-9:50 A.M.) AND 2 (12:40-2:30 P.M.), TUESDAYS/THURSDAYS, CAS 237

Instructor: Omar Sofradzija (so-FRAD-zee-uh)

Office: CAS 360

Office hours: 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays

Email:  omars@msu.edu      

Cell Phone: (702) 271-7983

On Facebook: facebook.com/omars81

On Twitter: @omars81

On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in.omars81

A NOTE: While the syllabus accurately describes the content that will be discussed and acted upon this semester, the sequence and dates are subject – and likely – to change. This is a departmental syllabus that will be tweaked to best fit the needs of this class section while adhering to class goals and grade outlines. Please carefully take note of assignments and due dates as these are announced during the course of the semester, and PLEASE READ THIS SYLLABUS CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY. You will be responsible for knowing the content and course structure from the time the semester begins. “I didn’t know we had to do that” will NOT be an acceptable excuse, if the subject matter is contained within this syllabus.

*****

Let’s make this one of the most fulfilling courses you’ll take. Few careers offer the excitement and the chance to really make a difference in people’s lives. That is just what we will do this semester.

Journalism is in its greatest time of change since the invention of the printing press. Now everyone can publish. But the skills to do powerful journalism belong to just a few. You are becoming one of those few. You will help invent the new journalism.

The School of Journalism continuously reviews JRN 200, 300 and 400 to be a progressive sequence. The ideas and experience of many professors stand behind your instructor. Using the skills and values you have learned, you will now create multimedia news sites for communities. This will build on what you learned in 200 and prepare you for 400.

We design and tested JRN 300 to help you learn to gather news from real sources and to disseminate it in writing, photos, video and graphics through websites and social media in the most effective combination. You will tell stories for and about communities that are hungry for coverage. Pay attention to the diversity of your community and look for it on many levels. Gender? Race? Religion? Age? The best sites reflect the total community. Success lies outside of your comfort zone.

We will focus on:

* Writing (a career building block for all)

* Reporting (the fundamental skill of interviewing that makes your work unique)

* Critical thinking (the ability to analyze and to question)

* Digital skills (to find, gather and convey information)

* Storytelling (powerful communication)

Success now will qualify you for freelancing, internships and jobs.

Required

* “Associated Press Stylebook & Libel Manual,” 2013 or newer

* A camera or cellphone that shoots photos and video

Suggested

* Read The New York Times, the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News or the Lansing State Journal daily. Also follow The State News. Seek stories about how journalism is changing, as it is occurring quickly.

ACADEMIC & JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY

The School of Journalism’s Code of Ethics and Standards is required reading in your first week. The ethics policy is also in our online course folder. You must do your own work on all assignments. If you cheat, fabricate or plagiarize, you will receive a 0.0 on the assignment and the instructor will file an Academic Dishonesty Report about the incident with the Dean’s Office. You will be required to complete online training in ethical practices before receiving any grade in this course. Dishonesty reflects poorly on the person who does it but, worse, it hurts others MSU students, faculty and the School of Journalism. The professor can check stories for originality by using TurnItIn software. YOu can check your writing, to, by posting a draft of your story in D2L. There is a folder there for this.

FORMAT

Our first meeting each week will be largely reserved for lectures, discussions and planning. The second will be a deadline day for editing and production. This will give you time to cover Monday or Tuesday meetings and have them in. Expect schedule changes for opportunities including breaking news, but our objectives, grading plan and focus will not change. At the start of Wednesday classes, have your story for the week in the Google Drive folder you share with the professor. Google Drive is not for notes or unfinished stories.

ASSIGNMENTS

Because we are organized into teams that cover communities, we will not all be doing the same stories in the same week. While one team member might be covering a school board meeting, another might be covering the city council or township board. Over the course of the semester, everyone will cover the same range of work. Stories must have at least two media (writing, photo, chart, graphic, video, audio) to earn the highest grade. Even a perfect story can earn only a 3.0 if it uses only one medium. If you wish, you may make writing your secondary emphasis behind video, audio or photo.

Source lists accompany each story. Include phone numbers and emails for sources so the professor may contact them. Do not post these to WordPress.

After your story is edited you will receive a provisional grade. You will get credit for the grade if you post your story on WordPress with the proper categories plus links to it from your team’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Stories must be posted within three days of the returned edit or the grade will decline.

These are our assignments:

* Write about for three organizations, companies or groups locations for our community directories.

* Then there will be seven weekly stories. One must be a government meeting. Another must be a school board meeting. A third must be a local economy story. Other stories can be to localize state or national issues, cover local politics, or features on profiles. Sports stories, entertainment, fashion and opinion writing are important, but do not submit them for this course. Everything we do will help you get better in those fields, but we do not cover them.

* A 300-word job shadow report. This should help you build your network. Write as an essay, not a news story. Write about whom you shadowed, what they do, what they like and do not like about their job, your thoughts on which parts of the job you would and would not like. We do not shadow relatives, students or campus media such as The State News, WKAR of The Impact. This is not due until late in the semester but we highly recommend you get this done early.

* The final project, an issue-oriented multimedia news-feature or trend story. Broad subject areas include education, transportation, law enforcement, the environment and growth. Local leaders in government, schools, business, volunteerism and the like will be some of your sources. Human interest or a character-driven story will be essential to carrying it along, so you will need a couple of grass-roots people. One or more sources should be outside experts such as state officials or professors who have perspective on the issue. Do something that is issue-oriented rather than a one-time event, an advancer or something that is merely descriptive and lacks a news angle. You can start thinking right away about what you'd like to do. Choose something you're really interested in to make this a great project.

Accuracy is so important to our professionalism and credibility! Please, please learn to be careful. Triple-check names, dates and numbers. Major fact errors, especially an error in the name of a person, business or place, can result in a 1.0 on an assignment. Every semester people disappoint themselves by working hard on stories but making careless mistakes. If the name is capitalized, any misspelling can be a fact error. Check those especially. Persistent problems with style, punctuation and grammar will lower your grade. Learn from the edits I give you.

GRADING

Stories are judged on news value, reporting, accuracy, clarity, writing, mechanics and use of multi-media. Stories are not accepted after deadline.

       Seven public affairs stories                49 percent

       Major-issue feature project                25 percent

• 5 percent for proposal
• 5 percent for rough draft
• 15 percent for completed project

       In-class exercises and quizzes (4)       5 percent

       Midterm                                               5 percent

       Community directory                          3 percent

       Job shadow report                                  5 percent

       Class participation and teamwork          8 percent

Work will be evaluated on a 4.0 scale.

If you consistently invest time and effort you will succeed. Start with intensity and keep it up. This is what we are looking for:

4.0: A newsworthy story told clearly and cleanly with four or more varied, knowledgeable sources employing at least three media. These might be text, photos (with original captions and a map or graphic, slideshow, video or audio, depending on what best tells the story. Uses elements like subheads and block quotes to hold readers. Completely accurate, well-organized, solid grammar, punctuation and style and links to relevant resources.

3.5: A clear, well-written story with three good human sources and, in addition to the text, links and visual elements—either your original photos or graphics—high up on the Web page. (You may incorporate handout photos with permission from the owner, but these typically cannot count as your original work Get in the habit of shooting or making a visual element—even a good head shot—with everything you do. Elements like subheads and block quotes are included to good effect. Consistently good mechanics.

3.0: Better-than-average report based on solid reporting with three relevant sources. Story answers questions readers want to know. Writing is accurate, but copy needs rewriting and polishing before it can be published.

2.5: On time and a little above average. Story has some problems with organization, focus and sentence structure. Uses only one medium or has fewer than three named, human sources. Problems with writing mechanics have caused .25-point deductions.

2.0: Average. Basic organizational writing and reporting deficiencies. Mechanical difficulties. Story lacks minimum sources or has weak ones; used only one medium. The story is not of the type required in this class. (For example, a story about a game or something that is not from your beat.)

1.5: Weak. The lead does not state the news. Insufficient sourcing. There are problems in news interpretation. Weak mechanics. Story goes off track or is incomplete. Needs substantial rewriting and editing.

1.0: Major fact error. Or, lacks fundamental reporting and writing. Problems might include omission of key facts, several deductions for errors in AP style, spelling or punctuation. Poor news judgment. Weak sourcing. Needs substantial rethinking. Cannot be published.

0.0: Story misses deadline or contains plagiarism or fabrication.

Extra credit:

·         You may earn .25 toward a story grade each week by posting a tweet and a Facebook post on your team’s sites about a current or upcoming news or event.

·         You may also earn half the grade of a weekly assignment (2.0) by attending an outside lecture approved by the instructor. Limit of two.

·         You may do an eighth story for extra credit. It will be graded like your seven weekly assignments and added to your total. 

Deductions

Errors in the name of a person, place or business or number will result in a 1.0 grade with further deductions possible. If it starts with a capital letter or is a number, check twice.

Each mechanical error in spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, or in formatting your byline will reduce the assignment grade by .25 up to a full 1.0 off for that assignment.

Put stories into WordPress within 48 hours after they are edited, or get a 1.0 deduction.

Deadlines: Stories must be in by deadline. This class is run like a newsroom. Late stories can mean a zero on that assignment.

Rewrites: You may rewrite two stories for re-grading. A rewrite must reflect additional content such as new sources or information, not merely correcting mistakes or edits. A rewrite might also mean restructuring your story. Grades on the original and rewritten stories will be averaged to determine the final grade on that assignment. Rewrites and a copy of the graded original must be submitted within one week after the instructor grades the original.

To receive full credit, work must be posted on our news sites within three days of when it is returned. There is a 1.0 deduction per story for not posting promptly. Final packages must be posted by the time of the final exam.

There is no final exam.

ATTENDANCE

We need you for peer edits and for your ideas. Much of the material we cover in class is not duplicated online, and we are not using a textbook, so you need to be in class and engaged. Do not schedule interviews or work during class time. They will typically be treated as unexcused absences. There is room for emergencies, but that is all. Two late arrivals or early departures equal one absence. Three unexcused absences may lower your final course grade by 0.5. Four unexcused absences lower your final grade by 1.0. Five unexcused absences may result in course failure. Absences may be excused with a doctor’s note or the death of a loved one.

TEAMS

Your team will cover a community with extensive fieldwork. You should visit your community in person each week. The only way to get to know a place and its people is to be there. People will invite you into their homes and offices, tell you about their biggest hopes, dreams and disappointments and they will trust you with their stories. This is an honor and a responsibility. Use initiative to find stories by talking to people, reading, listening and watching. If you say, “I can't find (the source, a copy of the budget, etc. …)” you probably need to spend more time on your beat. Students who do stories one at a time invariably run into a problem and might miss a deadline. Successful reporting cannot be done online or by phone. Success requires a sustained time commitment from the beginning of the semester. Make sure you have the time to succeed.

Although we will work in teams, grades are based on individual work. We work in teams because that is how most places of business work. We are graded individually because that is how employers evaluate and determine raises. Teamwork is part of individual evaluations.

THE KEYS TO SUCCESS

• Be organized.
• Talk to people.
• Find some super sources early.
• Work on more than one story at a time.

SOURCING

Our goal is to get you good at finding and interviewing sources. For that reason, each story should have three sources who have heartbeats and names we can publish. (A web page does not have a heartbeat; we do not use unnamed sources.) Here is an example of three well-distributed sources: The mayor or a council member, an expert who knows about the issues, people who will be affected by the decision. Interviews should be in person or, as a second resort, by phone. Email and texts are discouraged. Someone whose quote you hear at a public meeting is not a source. Interview them after or outside the meeting. Something you read online or in a book may be used, but it is not a source. Do develop good sources whom you can interview more than once during the semester. They can save you time.

To maintain journalistic independence, do not use relatives, roommates, classmates and friends as sources. This includes your Facebook friends. We don’t interview friends and family because ethical journalists maintain independence. If a friend is the best source for a story, talk to the professor to see if you should even be doing the story. If you use sources without revealing that you have close ties to them, this could be treated as a violation of trust.

EXCLUSIVITY (NO DOUBLE-DIPPING)

Work for other classes or campus publications cannot be used for a grade here. Professional newsrooms have similar rules. It would be unfair for one student to use campus activities for grades when others can’t. However, if another news outlet wants to republish work you do for our newsroom, talk to the professor.

PARTICIPATION AND CONDUCT

This is 8 percent of your grade, more than any individual story. Come to class job-ready: on time, alert and engaged. Show respect to all. This is basic workplace professionalism.

MSU's Code of Teaching Responsibility says appropriate conduct involves “the right of faculty members to conduct classes, and of students to participate in those classes, without interference or disruption.” If a student's behavior interferes with teaching and learning, the student may be required to leave the classroom and could be referred to the student judicial affairs office for a disciplinary hearing.

Silence your phone before you come to class and put it where it will not distract you or others. There is a break halfway through each class where you can attend to your phone and social media. Don’t e-mail, text or surf in class unless it is part of our work. Otherwise, you might be asked to leave or you might be counted as absent. The professor is not inclined to stop class because you are engaged with your devices, but will see it and note as a lack of participation. Absences are not figured into this grade.

Engage in discussions. We want to hear you. This is how you contribute. We value students who help others by showing them how to do things or offering contacts and ideas. This helps in class, just as it would on any team. 

When interviewing, be courteous and respectful. Introduce yourself as an MSU journalism student working for an online news site, informing the source of how much time the interview will take, that your intend to publish and thanking them.

DISABILITY POLICY

Michigan State University is committed to equal opportunity in all programs, services and activities. Requests for accommodations by persons with disabilities may be made by contacting the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, rcpd.msu.edu. If you have a Verified Individual Services Accommodation form, please give it to the instructor at the start of the term or two weeks prior to the date of the test, project, etc.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

We respect and value the diversity that each of us brings to MSU. If religious holidays require alternative arrangements to do your work, speak to the instructor in advance.