JRN 300: That's All, Folks

Everything is in. Nothing left to do. I'll do the math on your base grades, and then I'll make any adjustments based on extra credit, and that's that. Your grades will be locked in, and soon you'll be finding out exactly what you got.

The only thing left for you to do (if you haven't done it already) is evaluate this class via the SIRS online teacher evaluation site. Please take a few minutes to let us know how this online version of JRN 300 went, what we should keep doing, and what could be better.

Plus, there's only one thing for me to do, and that's to thank each of you for spending a semester with me. I enjoyed working with each and every one of you. I really did.

Everyone comes into JRN 300 at a different starting point. Some have some journalistic experience; others don't have much. A few people have a natural talent; others need that talent cultivated a bit before it becomes apparent.

No matter where and how you started, I got to see improvement. Growth. Little everyday victories. Some defeats, but also renewed efforts to overcome those losses.

No matter if you did great in this class or just eked by, remember this is just one step in a larger journey: one toward the day after graduation. Between now and then you'll build on the skills you learned here. You'll improve. You'll get more comfortable doing this. Things will seem more natural as you do them (like AP style).

If journalism was easy to learn, it would be a two-week certificate class at the local community college, and not a four-year major. This is just an early step in that longer trip to your careers and independent lives.

You're on your way. If there's anything I can do to help along the way, please don't hesitate to ask. (All because our class is done doesn't mean I'm not willing to help!)

Good luck to everyone in the coming semester, and one last time, thank you.

JRN 300 Reminder: Your Turn To Grade Me!

Student Instruction Rating System (SIRS Online) collects student feedback on courses and instruction at MSU.  Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS Online) forms will be available for your students to submit feedback during the dates indicated:

     JRN  300  730:  7/31/2017 - 8/30/2017 (SIRS only)


Direct students to https://sirsonline.msu.edu.

Students are required to complete the SIRS Online form OR indicate within that form that they decline to participate.  Otherwise, final grades (for courses using SIRS Online) will be sequestered for seven days following the course grade submission deadline for this semester.

Rating information collected by SIRS Online is reported in summary form only and cannot be linked to individual student responses. Student anonymity is carefully protected.

JRN 300: My Availability This Week

I will be out of the office and unavailable from the morning of Thursday, Aug. 10 through the night of Sunday, Aug. 13. If there is something you absolutely need to see me or talk tome about now, please do so no later than the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 9. Otherwise, I will reply to any messages when I return on the morning of Monday, Aug. 14. Thanks!

Job Shadows: What You Saw, Part 1

Here's a sampling of some of the various job shadows done by you all. Take a look and see what you can learn from everyone's visits. There's a lot of good stuff here to help you decide what you want to do with your lives; what you need to be doing to get there; and what to expect when you do get there.

We will add more job shadow reports to the blog as they are completed. Please give each one of these a quick read, will you?

*****

I have spent half a day with Laura Hessen, the producer for The Guy Gordon Show on WJR 760. The first thing that she does once she arrives in her office is gather news stories that may be interesting for the listeners. Once she has a good amount of news, she presents them to Guy Gordon and, together, they decide which ones to tackle. At this point Laura tries to contact the writers of the articles or other people of interest. Once she has a rundown, Guy Gordon begins to prepare for the interviews by reading the articles and other literature on the topic. In the meantime Laura and her engineer go to the studio and prepare for the show. At 3:00 pm the show begins and the phone starts to ring. The producer decide which callers to put on the air and answers any question the listener might have on the topic.  The show goes by very quickly between the callers and the directions Laura has to give to Guy. Once the show is over, the producer books some guests for the next day or helps Guy Gordon do commercials. This opportunity was eye-opening for me as it fits perfectly what I want to do. I would like to work for the broadcasting industry in the future and WJR has a great name in the business. I learned many valuable lessons during these few short hours. The way the producer books guests is quick and very friendly yet she did not leave them any chance to say no. When deciding what callers to put on air she is meticulous and chooses people that may reflect different points of view. Overall it was very interesting and I have learned a lot about how to produce a show. 

**************

I shadowed Don Postles, the evening news anchor at WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo, New York. Don first showed me around the newsroom and everyone’s offices and cubicles. I saw assignment editors, video and audio editing booths, sound recording booths, the control room with the technical producer who puts on the show and the actual news studio. The news studio looked like every other news studio that I have seen pretty much, there’s cameras that are robotic and there are teleprompters connected to them. There’s an anchor desk for the anchor’s, there’s a sports section where the sports reporters read their report and then there’s a weather section with a green screen. There was one stage manager and he was showing me how the cameras move on their own as the technical producer in the back moves them. I met reporter Jenn Schanz who told me she is from Michigan and her brother went to Michigan State. I will be in contact with her about future stories. I met the sports department including the sports director and two other sports reporters who go out on location and film stories (University of Buffalo football, Bills, Sabres) which is very exciting. Don Postles is one of the oldest anchors still at Channel 4 and went to American University in Washington. Don is joined by his co-anchor Jacqui Walker, who also went to Michigan State, so we bonded over football! I then sat and watched a live filming of the 5 o’clock news, 5:30 p.m. news, and 6 o’clock news. I met Nalina Shapiro, another anchor at Channel 4, and it was so cool to see her read off the teleprompter but also make it sound so natural and interesting. I enjoy news studios and watching them film live news stations and I’ve been in news studios a lot so I am comfortable there. I one day hope to be up there filming my own sports segment on the evening news! Channel 4 felt like home and I love to continue to meet people and network.

*******************

Today, I spent several hours shadowing Alexander Alusheff, a business reporter for the Lansing State Journal. I chose Alex and the LSJ because, last semester, I interview his wife (Abigail Welsh-Alusheff) at the Livingston Daily.

My experience at the Livingston Daily was, in a nutshell, disturbing. New management had recently made serious cuts, gutting the journalism and editorial staff. Not six months after my shadow appointment with Abigail, she left the Livingston Daily to specialize in inbound marketing. Whether this decision was related to changes made by Gannett or not, I’m not sure.

Gannett owns the Livingston Daily, LSJ, the Detroit Free Press, and USA Today. They also own a number of smaller newspapers across Michigan. When I shadowed at the Livingston Daily, I saw the negative parts of this business structure. Writers and editors were cut, the newsroom was nearly empty, and important story flew by unattended.

This afternoon, I bore witness to some of the positive parts of this business structure. Or, at the very least, the positive aspects of working for Gannett.

The LSJ newsroom is impeccably organized, with large monitors sharing page views and other statistics for each published story from a Gannett newspaper. Writers are judged based on views, not on their word count. According to Alex, the minimum number of views per month is 60,000. This encourages writers to communicate with their editors about what stories perform well and what stories don’t. There is no auto-pilot. Every story counts.

I met seven other reporters at LSJ, all of whom were positive about their experience. I also traveled with Alex for an interview, which took place at a real estate office in Okemos. The story focus was on REO Town, which I found poetic, since I just finished a story on REO Town myself. I was impressed by the level of respect given to LSJ reporters. I didn’t note the same respect in Livingston County, where the residents are clearly upset with the organization of the paper and the management of staff.

Despite this positive experience, I still wouldn’t consider working for a newspaper full-time. I think reporting is impressive and necessary but, as I chatted with each reporter about what I do, I found each reporter was just as impressed with my work as I was with theirs. It was validating, especially when a conversation about SEO (a prime focus of my work) began.

Overall, I enjoyed my afternoon at LSJ. Maybe working as a freelance writer and working in a newsroom aren’t all that different, after all.

****************

JRN 300: About Those Pictures ...

Two things we want in all pictures are humanity (people) and animation (activity). Specifically, we want people who are named in the story doing whatever the story is about.

So, if we're doing a story about a guy who eBays stuff to make money, we can get a pic of the person on their computer, doing eBay postings and/or eBay sales. If we have a story about the minimum age, maybe we get pictures of one of the interview subjects at their job,flipping burgers or waiting tables or whatever.

Regardless, we need to make sure we have humanity and animation. Just taking pictures of buildings or signs or things without people or activity are a sure way to come up with a photo that adds nothing to the story. 

JRN 300: Your Turn To Grade Me!

Student Instruction Rating System (SIRS Online) collects student feedback on courses and instruction at MSU.  Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS Online) forms will be available for your students to submit feedback during the dates indicated:

     JRN  300  730:  7/31/2017 - 8/30/2017 (SIRS only)


Direct students to https://sirsonline.msu.edu.

Students are required to complete the SIRS Online form OR indicate within that form that they decline to participate.  Otherwise, final grades (for courses using SIRS Online) will be sequestered for seven days following the course grade submission deadline for this semester.

Rating information collected by SIRS Online is reported in summary form only and cannot be linked to individual student responses. Student anonymity is carefully protected.

JRN 300: A Good Example ...

,.. of a well-reported story is here:

http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/07/as-technology-improves-businesses-does-it-hinder-personal-interaction/

Again, the things I'm looking at most are range of sources, and here we have a good range of source drivers, affected sources and neutral experts.

That's what we want. And it's not simply to plug people into those categories; it's to make sure that we are exploring a story broadly enough for us to get all sides. And then we make sense of the news, based on those perspectives.

JRN 300: Fatals Are A Fatal Problem

Fatals are what we call fact errors. And a fatal can be any type of error: misspelling a proper noun, like a name or a title. Missing a digit in a number. Having the wrong word in a quote.

Is that being nit-picky? No; that's journalism. Giving people accurate information that has been carefully vetted is what we do. Otherwise, journalism will be viewed as unreliable and untrustworthy by the audience.

There is no such thing as a "small" error in journalism. After all, the audience is fair to ask that if we can't get a "small" thing right, why would they trust us to get the "big" things right? Any error eradicates our credibility.

News is information people use, and like other things we use they need to be right 100 percent of the time. We would avoid an ATM machine that spit out the correct amount of money only 99 percent of the time. We'd throw away a GPS that was wrong one of every 10 times. When it comes to names and dates and starting times and quotes, the audience holds us to the same standard.

So do journalism bosses. At my last newspaper job in Las Vegas, our fatals rule was that in any one calendar year, a second fatal would get a reporter a written reprimand, a third meant you had to file a corrective plan of action on how you would avoid fatals going forward, a fourth would get you suspended and a fifth would get you fired.

And that was on me writing 250 stories a year! That's how serious it is.

So if I were to simply let fatals slide in this class, I would be doing you a huge disservice by letting you move up into the real world and letting you pay the price there. We need to recognize this here and now, and we need to fix it here and now.

Learning to write isn't journalism. Learning to organize information isn't all of journalism. Putting in a system of checking facts before, during and after writing and organizing information is what makes this kind of writing and organizing known as journalism.

Still, while this is discouraging, let's not get discouraged. The whole point of these exercises -- and getting fatals, too -- is to learn by doing, reviewing what was done, learning what could be done better, and then applying those lessons the next time.

And that's what we're going to do here, by redoubling our efforts to carefully fact-check everything we write.

Earlier this semester in some blog posts, I posted an accuracy checklist and a list of ways to avoid inaccuracies. I would strongly suggest that you revisit those two posts, and begin incorporating its suggestions in your writing routines.

Remember this: journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.  

JRN 300 Reminder: Filing Your Work

As indicated in a blog post at the start of this month, I'm having some email problems that aren't your fault, but that you can help solve. While students all migrated to a new MSU email system last fall, some faculty (including me) are still waiting to be switched.

The problem is, when you send me an email form the new system that I get in the old systems, quite often attachments end up getting scrambled or locked, making it impossible for me to open them. In recent days, I am getting locked out of ALL attachments coming from a student MSU email account.

So, I'm asking you to send any emails with attachments from anything but your msu.edu email address. Please send me attachments from a Gmail account or anything else but not an MSU.edu account. You are still okay sending it to MY own MSU.edu account.

That way, I can get your work on time and be able to grade it in an expedient manner. Thanks for the help!

JRN 300: My Availability

FYI, I will be out of the office and unavailable from Thursday, July 27 through Sunday night, July 30. If there's something you absolutely need to see me about, please do so no later than Wednesday, July 26. Thanks!

Final Project: Some Good News, Some Bad News

Here's the good news: I received final project drafts from many of you by the 9 a.m. Monday, July 24 deadline.

The bad news is, not everyone sent me a draft. Worse yet, some have yet to send me a proposal for the final project.

This is a huge problem.

Why? Refer to the syllabus. The final project is 25 percent of your final semester grade. But your aren't just graded on the actual final project; you are being graded on both the final project pitch (5 percent of your final semester grade) and the draft (10 percent of your final semester grade) in addition to the actual final project (15 percent of your final semester grade).

One reason for that is that the final project is such a huge part of your semester grade, we wanted to spread out the grade into multiple segments, so that one bad day wouldn't necessarily kill you.

But two probably will. And I must warn you now, not turning in an adequately-reported final project on a topic preapproved by me by the deadline of no later than 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15 will make it virtually impossible for you to pass this class.

Please see me ASAP is you have any questions or concerns. 

Weekly Story #5: An Overview

Overall we did okay, but once again the biggest problem was range of sources.

Too often, we had one side of the story, but not the other. We wrote about something or somebody but then never talked to that affected person or group. And we were sorely lacking in neutral experts overall. So our sourcing was too narrow.

A good example of broad sourcing are these stories (click below to see):

http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/07/flea-market-and-antique-stores-lansing/

... and ...

http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/07/as-long-as-there-is-a-beach-tourists-will-find-their-way-to-this-florida-resort-town/

The range of sources in each story is great: there is a subject driver (a shop owner, a resort publicist). There is an affected subject (a shopper, a tourist). And there is a neutral expert (a marketing professor, a hospitality professor) to help contextualize what the others said.

There's also a range of mediums: we have pictures, we have a map, etc..

Really, it's not necessarily the volume of sources that we are looking at. It's the range: are we deeply and broadly exploring the subject area?

Plus, please note ALL info was gained first-hand, from sources and such. There is no taking things from other media, which we should NEVER do. Media can't just take from other media; at some point, someone has to do their own reporting. It's okay that we look at other media, see who their sources are and then content those sources directly ourselves, but we should NOT be citing other media.

If you need some refreshers on soured and sourcing, see the earlier blog posts that are linked below:

Sources, we need a range

Neutral experts; WTF is that?

Neutral experts: imagine if ...

Hope this helps!

JRN 300: Final Project Reminder

Just a reminder that your final project draft is due to me no later than 9 a.m. Monday, July 24 to omars@msu.edu, as noted in the publication schedule blog post from last month.

Also noted in that post and your syllabus is that you are being graded on your draft. It will be 25 percent of your final project grade. I will primarily evaluate you based on the depth of your reporting to date.

I should also note that drafts must be on approved topics. The final project topic pitch deadline was last month, and I still don't have pitches from everyone. You were also graded on your pitches. If you still haven't submitted one, you have lost points on it, but you still need to send it to me and I need to approve it before you can work on and submit a draft by the draft deadline.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me ASAP.

JRN 300: Classes You Can Take After This One

JRN 300: Where To Find Me, And Filing Your Work

Starting Monday, my office is moving from Room 360 in the Communications Arts and Sciences Building to the State News Building, 2nd Floor at 435 E. Grand River Ave., alleyway entrance. My availability is still by appointment, and I can still be reached at omars@msu.edu and 702-271-7983.

Plus, I'm having some email problems that aren't your fault, but that you can help solve. While students all migrated to a new MSU email system last fall, some faculty (including me) are still waiting to be switched. The problem is, when you send me an email form the new system thatI get in the old systems, quite often attachments end up getting scrambled or locked, making it impossible for me to open them.

So, I'm asking you to send any emails with attachments from anything but your msu.edu email address. Please send me attachments from a Gmail account or anything else. that way, I can get your work on time and be able to grade it in an expedient manner.

Thanks for the help!

JRN 300: Want To Pass This Class?

Then don't miss deadlines. Ever.

Many of you have been great in this regard. Thank you. I know it's not easy. But that's journalism. Some of you, though, have not been good at this. At all. And as we pass the halfway mark of the semester, that's a huge problem.

First, this is a deadline business. Your ability to get and keep a job in media will greatly depend on being super-reliable with meeting deadlines. Ever watch the 11 o'clock news and see the anchor start with, Welcome to the news! Give us a minute, we're still finishing a script? Of course not. The news always starts at 11, and they always have the newscast filled with news.

That's because anyone who gives off even a hint of not being 100 percent reliable with deadlines is either fired right away or never hired in the first place. Trust me, as a professional journalist I saw a new reporter get fired after she missed deadline on her first story.

At some point in a journalism career, we tell ourselves, I don't believe I'm paid to write or be on camera or whatever. It's soooo easy! Well, that's because that stuff is easy. The hard stuff is coming up with willing sources that say meaningful things to you by deadline so you have a story to write or a live shot to front. That's the skill we have to perfect here.

Second, we don't have many assignments in this class, so each assignment weighs heavily toward your final grade. Each weekly story is worth 7 percent of your grade. You will even be graded on your final project story pitches! and final project story drafts (please see syllabus for details)!

So really, any missed deadline and any missed assignment will cause damage to your final grade. And having multiple missed assignments will put you at serious risk of flunking this class.

I won't accept a bunch of make-ups at the end of the semester. The time to file your work is on deadline. Keep up with the deadlines, or don't be surprised at the end of the semester when things don't work out well for you.

Weekly Story #2: An Overview

Overall we did okay, but once again the biggest problem was range of sources.

Too often, we had one side of the story, but not the other. We wrote about something or somebody but then never talked to that affected person or group. And we were sorely lacking in neutral experts overall. So our sourcing was too narrow.

A good example of broad sourcing is this story (click below to see):

http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/06/virginias-chesapeake-bay-faces-environmental-issues/

The story only contains three sources, which was the minimum number. But the range is great: there is a subject driver (someone from a program working to protect the bay). There is an affected subject (a beach-goer). And there is a neutral expert (an environmental professor) to help contextualize what the others said.

There's also a range of mediums: we have pictures, and we have a chart.

Really, it's not necessarily the volume of sources that we are looking at. It's the range: are we deeply and broadly exploring the subject area?

Plus, please note ALL info was gained first-hand, from sources and such. There is no taking things from other media, which we should NEVER do. Media can't just take from other media; at some point, someone has to do their own reporting. It's okay that we look at other media, see who their sources are and then content those sources directly ourselves, but we should NOT be citing other media.

If you need some refreshers on soured and sourcing, see the earlier blog posts that are linked below:

Sources, we need a range

Neutral experts; WTF is that?

Neutral experts: imagine if ...

Hope this helps!

JRN 300: Deadline Reminder

Please make sure you are CAREFULLY reviewing deadlines from the publication schedule post. For example, this week we had TWO story pitches due, due to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. Please look at the WHOLE calendar and make sure you know ALL due dates. There are other irregular due dates coming up, Make sure you know ALL of them NOW. "I didn't know" will NOT be an excuse for missed work.

Weekly Story #1: Watch Those Fatals!

Any sort of a fact error in this class is known as a fatal fact error; that is, is you have ANY fact error in your story, then your final grade for the assignment may be a 1.0, even if everything else is perfect.

That's because there is no such thing as a small error: even a small mismate gives a reader reason to ask, "If they got this small thing wrong, what big things are they messing up?"

In a recent assignment, someone who did an otherwise-fine story got a poor grade because of two fatals: in one instance, they misspelled a city's name, and in a second instance they said an incident happened in one city when in fact it happened in the city next door.

To avoid such problems, we need to be sure not to simply run spell check; we need to check out every noun (person, place or thing)m, every title, every number, every address, every date to make sure what we wrote was what we intended to write: is what's in my story matching what's in my notes?

Then, we must check all of that make sure what we intended to write was correct in the first place. Do a quick Google check of everything and make sure what was in your notes wasn't wrong info given to you, or info you noted incorrectly.

If you're looking for specific proofreading strategies, please refer to related blog posts from earlier this semester.

Either way, make sure you don't have any fatals. Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.

Weekly Story #1: An Overview

Overall, we did okay with our first round of weekly stories, which you can see at the Spartan newsroom Web site here (and I do urge you to look around at some of the other stories being posted). The biggest problem -- besides getting used to the process in general and WordPress specifically -- was range of sources.

Too often, we had one side of the story, but not the other. We wrote about something or somebody but then never talked to that affected person or group. And we were sorely lacking in neutral experts overall. So our sourcing was too narrow.

A good example of broad sourcing is this story (click below to see):

Traffic jams today, smooth driving tomorrow in Virginia

The story only contains three sources, which was the minimum number. But the range is great: there is a subject driver (someone from the transportation department doing the road work). There is an affected subject (a driver affected by the road work). And there is a neutral expert (a civil engineering professor) to help contextualize what the others said.

There's also a range of mediums: we have pictures, and we have a chart.

Really, it's not necessarily the volume of sources that we are looking at. It's the range: are we deeply and broadly exploring the subject area?

Plus, please note ALL info was gained first-hand, from sources and such. There is no taking things from other media, which we should NEVER do. Media can't just take from other media; at some point, someone has to do their own reporting. It's okay that we look at other media, see who their sources are and then content those sources directly ourselves, but we should NOT be citing other media.

If you need some refreshers on soured and sourcing, see the earlier blog posts that are linked below:

Sources, we need a range

Neutral experts; WTF is that?

Neutral experts: imagine if ...

Hope this helps!

Weekly Story #1: Pointers On Filing Your Stories

Okay, so this was our first time doing our weekly routine. Like many things you do the first time, there are hiccups and headaches. Here, we will go over some of the more frequent ones and see if we can get things smoothed out for our second and subsequent weekly stories: 

• Your story and visuals need to be filed directly to the Spartan Newsroom WordPress account. Your source lists are the thing that gets emailed to me, not your actual stories.
• DO NOT write in visual mode on WordPress. It ends up leaving a ton of extraneous coding when I try to edit it, making it impossible to read. Here's a screen shot of what it looks like:

.. and this is what it looked like on visual (where I can't do all the editing I need to do):

Can you read the text version with all that coding (that DOES NOT appear when you write a story in the text mode)? I sure as hell can't. So, please make sure you are writing in the text mode, located on the tab in the upper right corner.

• Write headlines down style; that is, only capitalize the start of a headline and proper nouns. Write it like this: Man bites dog in Chicago; not this: Man Bites Dog In Chicago
• Add captions in the media library, not on the post page.
• With captions, don't forget to include a credit line: photo by your name here. And for graphics and charts, add a source of your information: chart by your name here. Source: name of source of information.
• Upload pictures and charts and fact boxes to the media library, and then insert them into your story in the visual mode.
• Before sending your story, be sure to update the status tab in the upper right corner to "Send to Omar." And only then email me your source list. When I see a source list in my mailbox and a story set to "Send to Omar," it tells me it is done and ready to be edited, graded and published.
• Your login can be found at http://news.jrn.msu.edu/wp-admin
• There, use your MSU email address as your login and your temporary password as your password.
• Directions for how to use WordPress are here: http://news.jrn.msu.edu/student-journalist-resources/the-wordpress-dashboard/
• Questions? Let me know ASAP.

Weekly Story #1: A Very Serious Problem

We are having a serious issue with some people not meeting pitch deadlines. Worse, we have some people missing weekly stories.

These are huge problems, people.

First, keep in mind there aren't many assignments this semester, so each weekly story (and your final project) are huge when it comes to your final grade. Half of your final grade will be based on weekly stories, with each weekly story making up 7 percent of your final grade.

That means if you miss one weekly story, you can get no more than 93 percent of possible points (which equals a 3.5) for this class, even if you 4.0 everything else. If you miss two, that caps your highest possible grade at a 3.0 (or 87 percent of possible points) even if you 4.0 everything else.

And odds are you won't 4.0 everything else, so you can drop those grades by at least 0.5.

The final project is 25 percent of your final grade, so missing the pitch deadline and/or the final project deadline will mean you at best can only get a 1.5 for the semester.

Story pitch deadlines will affect those grades as well. First, I will dock you for missing a deadline. second, you by missing your original deadline will give yourself less time to work on a story, and the thing we most need to do well in this class is as much time as possible to work on our stories and contact a broad range of sources.

The reason we so strictly enforce deadlines is because missing even one deadline is unacceptable in the real world. Ever flip on the 11 o'clock news and have the anchor say, welcome to the news! Hold on a minute; we're still finishing up some stuff? 

Of course not. That's because anyone with even a whiff of missing a deadline is either fired right away or never hired in the first place.

Case in point: early in my career a sportswriter at the first real newspaper I worked at missed her deadline. She just froze up. I still remember the editor on the phone with her, calmly telling her that's okay; he would mail her final paycheck to her and she could just mail back her laptop; no need for her to come back in ever again.

Seriously.

You see, as long as you turn in something an editor can work with that. Massage it, breathe life into it. They may be angry at you for it being a piece of junk, but a piece of junk can be salvaged.

But an editor can't work with nothing. And in the real world, that TV news producer is counting on you to turn in something approximating your assignment so he or she can fill the 50 seconds of the newscast for which they are counting on your story. Or a newspaper editor is counting on you to fill those 15 column inches on deadline. There is no backup; they need your story.

That's the habit we need to get down pat. That's the standard we are going to enforce here. Please, no more missed deadlines. Or expect the worse come final grades.

JRN 300: Examples of Final Projects

Here are some examples of final projects from past classes of mine. The topics are trend and issue stories like the ones you are doing, but generally these were the best, most ambitious topics likeliest to have the most interest and audience reach.

One big difference between a weekly story and a final project is the depth of reporting. Please note these stories have no fewer than six people quoted and/or paraphrased, along with lots of data and multiple neutral experts.

Really, a final project is just a weekly story on steroids. An ambitious topic; lots and lots of reporting; and a deep dive into the subject matter.

For a peek, click on the links below.

Lansing's South Side struggling, but improving

Plans for express bus service in Meridian Township

"Schools of choice" in Meridian Township

Please don't forget that final project pitches are due no later than 9 a.m. Thursday, June 29 to omars@msu.edu! Your job shadow pitch is due then as well.

JRN 300: Story Publishing Note

Please DO NOT go back into stories once I have published them. The window for making changes is before I publish your story. Making changes after they are posted puts your story at risk of having errors and libel added to them without having been properly edited.

JRN 300: Patient But Persistent

Recently I received this email from one of youze:

Hey Omar,

So I have e-mailed my contacts multiple times and tried calling them, however none have picked up or responded. Should I just keep trying or wait for them to respond because I don't want to annoy them or feel like they have to give me a bs answer.

This was my response:

This is a common frustration for journalists. You should both keep trying to reach them, and at the same time start looking for backup sources to contact. The worst thing that happens in that situation is too many people get back to you, which is a good problem. It's not their job to get back to us, but it is our job to have something usable by deadline. So be polite but persistent, and seek backups immediately.

Best, Omar

That's the reality of the business. As professional journalists we aren't paid to write or shoot video or do stand-ups; that's the easy stuff. What we are paid for is solving the problem of finding relevant people to talk to and then actually getting them to talk to us before deadline.  That's the skill we need to refine here.

Is there a magic approach to get people to call you back and talk to you? No. It's very case by case, just like a first date approach with one person doesn't work with another, and it can be hard to predict what will work.

So, what we need to do is be polite but persistent with primary sources: don't just email; call them. Don't just call them; stop by their office. Don't just wait on a return call; make a follow-up call.

Then, immediately after we put out our first round of calls to primary sources; immediately identify and reach out to secondary sources. Don't wait for your primary sources to first blow you off; again, the worst thing that happens is too many people call you back before deadline, and you have a huge amount of material to choose from for your story.

It beats the hack out of the alternative: nobody calls you back, and you're staring at the clock minutes before deal dine with nothing to write.

JRN 300: Some Story-Filing Instructions

Just some things to keep in mind when filing your weekly stories:

• You will write and file your stories in WordPress
• Be sure to write in the text mode and NOT the visual mode (in the tab on the upper right corner of the writing screen). Visual mode is good for reviewing copy and tweaking visual elements, but if you write in visual you will add a bunch of distracting coding to the text mode, making it hard for me to edit your work.
• No need for a byline; one will be automatically generated from your profile.
• Make sure you have a strong range of sources, as noted in earlier blog posts. That should include people affected by what you're writing about, people in charge of the issue you're writing about, and neutral experts.
• Sourcing rules count regardless of medium. Videos, podcasts and ASFs must have quoted and attributed sources fitting the necessary range.
• Neutral experts can be from anywhere; they do NOT need to be from MSU. They just need to be expert in your subject, have no stake in the outcome and be able to helpfully contextualize the info you found.
• EVERY story MUST have pictures taken by you and some sort of chart/graphic/fact box created by you. The latter could be as simple as a locator map, so don't necessarily overthink it.
• Photos, charts and graphic should be uploaded to the media library, and then added from the media library to your story. Be sure to include credit lines (photo by .... information provided by .... ) and captions. Those should be added via the media library page.
• In visual mode, you can position and resize photos using the tabs on the page.
• Videos should be uploaded to YouTube or another hosting site and then embedded in a WordPress file. In WordPress include a 100-200 word text synopsis of the video and a screen grab from your video as your image.
• When finished, go to the pulldown menu on the upper right side of the page, go to the "status" tab and set it as "send to Omar." Then SAVE (or it won't send) and close the file. "Send to Omar" means it I finished and ready for me to edit, grade and post.
• Also when finished, send me an email with the first and last names, phone numbers and email addresses for all your sources. I will be randomly contacting sources for proof of accuracy and that you actually spoke with them. ALL sources MUST provide this info or they may not be used. No anonymous sources.
• Make sure your sources understand this is NOT just for a class; what they say can and may be posted to a public news Web site run by MSU that will be seen by anyone, anywhere and can be found by Google and can be seen forever.
• Questions? Let me know. And good luck! 

JRN 300: Weekly Story Reminder

Don't forget that your weekly stories:

• Should be about something in your beat area
• Should be about a trend or issue, and not an event or happening
• Must have a topic pre-approved by me
• Should have a range of sources, as noted in earlier posts
• MUST have at least three human sources who you interviewed
• Should be reported ENTIRELY first-hand, with interviews done directly by YOU and stats and data YOU found yourself. No citations of other media, articles, books, etc. 
• Should include pictures, charts and/or fact boxes created by YOU, and not some other source
• Pictures and charts must have captions and an attribution line: photo by Charlie Brown, illustration by Joe Schmo, etc.
• Will be published to a public news Web site! Make sure sources understand what they offer will be used for a public news Web site. This is NOT just for a class!

JRN 300: Ap Style Quiz Follow-Up

For that assignment, my intent was for you to get a refresher on some common AP style points and a reintroduction to your AP stylebook, to which I will expect you to confirm this summer.

Because that was the intent, if you turned in the quiz you got an automatic 4.0. If you did not, your grade is a 0.0. There will be no makeup opportunity, and that will damage your final grade in this class. As I noted earlier, we have so few assignments in this class and since journalism is a deadline business, we cannot miss ANY deadline.

Here are some key points I want you to take out of the AP quiz:

• Generally numbers one through nine are spelled out like that: one and nine. Ten and above n numeric form: 10, 11, 12.
• An exception to that is when a number starts a sentence. Then, numbers should be spelled out: Twelve days ago, I died.
• Another exception is ages. They should always be in numeric form: a 4-year-old.
• When you have a numbered street address, abbreviate direction and type of byway: Omar lives at 123 N. Sesame St.
• When there is no number in the address, spell it all out: Omar lives on North Sesame Street.
• Money should generally be in numeric form, led by the dollar symbol and not followed by the word dollar: Omar lost $10,000 at the casino.
• Punctuation goes inside of quote marks, like this: "Omar is dumb," said Omar's mother. "Why?" Omar asked.
• Do NOT use quote makes of italics around the names of periodicals (publications that come out on a scheduled basis, like newspapers and magazines). It's just The Detroit Free Press, not "The Detroit Free Press" or The Detroit Free Press.
• Do put quote marks around content pieces that just come out once, like books and movies. Again, not italics.