MSU JRN 300, Section 004, Spring 2018
Writing
& Reporting News II, 3 credits
Instructor
Omar
Sofradzija (so-FRAD-zee-uh) | omars@msu.edu
|
Cell: 702-271-7983 (voice and text)
Class: 8-9:50 a.m. Tuesdays and
Thursdays, CAS 237
Office
hours Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
and Tuesdays and Thursdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., The State News building, 435 E.
Grand River Ave., 2nd floor (alleyway entrance)
Dates
Jan. 9 to April 26
Class blog
http://jrn300isprettycool.blogspot.com
WELCOME!
I look forward to getting to know you and
working with you. Our goal is to produce work that is good enough to be
published on the J-School news site, Spartan Newsroom:
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/
We
have a challenge. We want to do journalism in ways that are not standard, routine
and boring. Let’s make people laugh, be outraged, think. Let’s make them
smarter. We must do this with journalistic accuracy and fairness. A key part of
accuracy is to reflect the diversity of our communities and the ideas in our
class by including everyone in our work. I appreciate your help in achieving
that.
Using
the skills and values you learned in JRN 200, you will now create multimedia
news sites that will prepare you for 400-level classes. (This syllabus include
the ideas of several MSU journalism professors.) Several important strings tie
the course together: integrity, diversity, writing and your career. This is by
design.
As we cover people in the communities around
MSU, we will focus on:
*
Writing (a building block for all media careers)
*
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, including visual communication
*
Total community coverage (including diverse perspectives)
Success
in Journalism 300 will qualify you for freelancing, internships and jobs later.
Required book
“Associated
Press Stylebook & Libel Manual.” We recommend the app, which is easily
searched. If you use a print book, it should be no more than four years old.
ACADEMIC & JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY
Cheating violates the very natures of journalism and
education to seek truth. I pursue any incidence of cheating I learn about to
protect the reputation of our students, our school and our university. I also
do it to give the student responsible every opportunity to learn to be ethical.
The School of Journalism’s Code of Ethics and Standards is required reading in
your first week. The link is in D2L and here:
Your
work must be your own. It must be original. Fabricated or plagiarized work will
receive a zero. It also can result in an Academic Dishonesty Report with the
university. That will require you to complete online training in ethical
practices before receiving any grade in this class, but it will not improve the
grade. The professor may check stories for originality by using TurnItIn
software.
FORMAT
Our
first class each week will be largely reserved for lectures, discussions,
review of the previous week’s assignments and planning. The second will be
a deadline day for peer editing and production. Expect schedule changes for opportunities
including breaking news. The objectives, the grading plan and focus will not
change.
ASSIGNMENTS
Over
the course of the semester, everyone will cover the same range of work. Each
story must have at least two media (writing, photo, chart, graphic, video,
audio, map) to earn the highest grade. Even a perfect story earns only a 3.0 if
it uses only one medium. Writing may be your secondary emphasis behind video,
audio or photo.
Include source lists with
each story. This means names of sources, their phone numbers and emails so the
professor may contact them to verify parts of your stories and check our
accuracy. Send them to me via email, but do not put them into WordPress (the
content management system in which we will post our stories to the public).
Strive for diversity in your sourcing ad only use INFORMED sources. Random
people, though easy to find, do not make for good stories.
Our
assignments include:
* Seven weekly stories. One community story must come from a
government meeting. Develop an idea for an economy story. Also appreciated are
profiles, explainers, advances, reactions to state or local politics. One of
your stories should be an edited video with proper titling and lower-third
labels. Entertainment, sports, fashion and opinion writing are important, but are
not eligible in this course. Everything we do will help you get better in those
areas, but we do not cover them.
* A
300-word written job shadow report. This should help expand your career network.
Write as an essay, not a news story. Shadow a journalism professional (and not
someone in public relations, advertising, marketing and such). 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 or The
Impact. We do not shadow where we have worked or done internships. That would
defeat the purpose. You are allowed to double up with another student on doing
the job shadow, but you must write your own report.
* The
final project is 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
character-driven elements 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, analysts or professors who have perspective on the
issue. People who do not know the subject are weak sources. Do something
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. We will shape it through the pitch process.
GRADING
Stories
are judged on news value, reporting, accuracy, clarity, mechanics and use of
multi-media. Story deadlines will usually be by the end of class on
Thursdays. Late stories are not accepted and will result in a zero grade.
·
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
·
Street reaction interviews 3 percent
·
Job shadow report
5 percent
·
Teamwork, kindness and participation 8 percent
(Distracting use of social media counts against
participation)
Work
will be graded on a percentage scale:
If you
consistently invest time and effort you will do well. Start with intensity and
keep it up. This is what we are looking for:
4.0 93%+ A newsworthy story with
a good idea, told clearly, cleanly and
in some depth 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 87-92% 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 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. Consistently good mechanics.
3.0 80-86% 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 polishing.
2.5 77-79% Story has problems in organization, focus and sentence
structure. Uses only one medium or has fewer than three named, human sources.
Problems in mechanics.
2.0 70-76% Average. Weak organization or reporting. Errors in
mechanics. Story is told in just one medium. Lacks minimum number of sources or
has weak, uninformed ones, not the kinds required in this class.
1.5 67-69% Weak. The lead does not state the news. Insufficient
sourcing. There are problems in news interpretation. Weak mechanics. Story is
incomplete. Needs substantial rewriting and editing. Cannot be published.
1.0 60-66% 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. We cannot “fix” a fact error
grade with a rewrite.
0.0 Story misses deadline or
contains plagiarism, fabrication or other ethical problem.
Extra credit:
·
You may earn 0.25 toward a story grade
each week by posting a tweet and a Facebook post 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. The eighth story will be graded like your seven weekly assignments and
added to your total.
Deductions
Accuracy
is so important to our professionalism and credibility. Please, please, please be careful. Triple-check names, dates and
numbers. Major fact errors, such as an error in the name of a person, business
or place, or a date or number can result in a 1.0 on an assignment. A story
graded at 1.0 for a fact error is not eligible for a new grade by rewriting it.
If something starts with a capital letter or is a number, check it twice.
Each
mechanical error in spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, or in formatting
your byline will reduce the assignment grade by 0.25 up to a full 1.0 off for
that assignment.
Deadlines:
Stories should be in WordPress by the end of class most Thursdays. We cannot
accept work after deadline.
Rewrites: We
encourage rewrites. You may rewrite up to two weekly stories for re-grading.
Final projects are not eligible. Rewrites must reflect additional sourcing or a
restructuring, not merely correcting edits. Grades of the original and
rewritten stories will be averaged. Rewrites must be submitted within one week
after the instructor grades the original. The final project is not eligible for
a rewrite and rewrites cannot repair fact error grades. There is a final exam
period scheduled for 8-9:45 a.m. Tuesday, May 1 2018, but there is NO EXAM in
this class. Your project takes the place of that.
ATTENDANCE
We
need you and your ideas and edits. Much of what we cover in class is not
duplicated online, and we are not using a textbook, so be in class and be engaged.
Do not schedule interviews or work during class time unless that class day has
previously been scheduled as open lab time. This will be treated as an
unexcused absence. Absences may be excused with a doctor’s note or bereavement.
I will allow two unexcused absences, but that is all. If you miss a quiz and
have an excused absence, you may make it up. Quizzes missed for unexcused
absences cannot be made up. Arrange to get notes from a classmate. Two late
arrivals or early departures equal one absence. Three unexcused absences may
lower your course grade by 0.5. Four unexcused absences lower your grade by
1.0. Five unexcused absences may result in course failure.
Michigan
State’s grief absence request form is here:
http://splife.studentlife.msu.edu/regulations/student-group-regulations-administrative-rulings-all-university-policies-and-selected-ordinances/grief-absence-policy
TEAMS
Although
we work in teams, grades are individual. We work in teams because employers
want you to be good at this. We grade individually because that is how employers
evaluate and determine raises. Teamwork is part of individual evaluations. If
you want to collaborate on an assignment, ask the professor first.
SOURCING
One of
our objectives is to help you get good at interviewing. For that reason, each
story should have sources with heartbeats and names we can publish who come from
different perspectives. A web page does not have a heartbeat, so we need to
talk to actual human beings. We use only named sources. Three well-distributed
sources would be an elected official, an expert who knows about the issue and
someone at the grass-root. 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 is not a source. Good sources whom you can
interview for more than one story save you time. Interviews should be face to
face or by phone, and not email.
To
maintain journalistic independence, do not use relatives, neighbors,
classmates, members of your organizations or friends. This includes Facebook friends. This is because journalistic ethics
require us to be independent. If a friend is the best source for a story, talk to the professor to see if you should
even be doing the story. Using friends and relatives as sources without
disclosing this will be treated as a serious breach of trust.
When
interviewing, be courteous and respectful. Introduce yourself as an MSU
journalism student whose work is published on an online news site. DO NOT SAY THIS IS JUST FOR A CLASS, AS
YOUR STORIES WILL BE POSTED TO A PUBLIC NEWS SITE AND WILL BE SEEN BY THE
GENERAL PUBLIC! Inform the source of how much time the interview will take,
that you intend to publish and thank them.
EXCLUSIVITY (NO DOUBLE-DIPPING)
Work done
for other classes, companies or campus media may not be submitted for
classwork. Professional newsrooms have similar exclusivity 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 TEAMWORK
This
is 8 percent of your grade, more than any individual story. Come to class
job-ready: on time, alert and engaged. Respect all. Exhibit 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 and put it away. There will be breaks during most class days where
you can attend to your social media. Don’t email, text or surf in class unless it
is part of our work. Students say this is disrespectful and distracting. I
agree. There is lots of research that shows that this kind of “multi-tasking”
is ineffective and I see it every semester. This will hurt your learning and
your grade and you might be asked to leave or be counted as absent. I usually
do not to stop class because someone is engaged with devices, but I will note
your lack of participation.
Contribute
to discussions. We value students who help others by showing them how to do
things or offering ideas and contacts. This helps our class, just as it would
help any team.
This is how participation is graded:
93%+ Consistently
contributes good ideas, suggests stories and helps others
87-92% Regularly engaged in class discussions
80-86% Shares ideas if asked, but rarely initiates
77-79% Rarely contributes and usually just reiterates basics
70-76% Often disengaged in class, sometimes doesn’t know what is
being discussed.
67-69% Often into social media, side conversations, other work, sleeping,
eating, etc.
60-66% Distracts others
Below 60%
Disrupts class
DISABILITY
POLICY
MSU
and I are committed to equal opportunity in all programs, services and
activities. If you have a Verified Individual Services Accommodation form, you
are welcome to share that with me at the start of the term. If you don’t wish
to do that right away, that is your choice. But to grant an accommodation, I
must know in advance of the test or project to help you. Accommodations are
granted by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, rcpd.msu.edu.
Please also tell me about allergies.
RELIGIOUS
HOLIDAYS, MILITARY SERVICE
Diversity
and inclusion are values for me personally, for MSU and the School of
Journalism. If religious holidays or military service will require adjustments,
please tell
