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.
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