OXFORD STORIES INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA WRITING … · basics of photography, video, slideshows and audio. You will report and write stories. You'll learn how to gather information,

The University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media

Journalism 102: Introduction to Multimedia Writing Spring 2020

Professor: LaReeca Rucker

Oxford Stories: https://oxfordstories.net

Class Blog Where Assignments Are Posted: http://rebelreporting.wordpress.com/

Instructor: Email: [email protected]

Office: Farley Hall: Second Floor: Name is on door.

Office Hours: 2-3 p.m. Email for an appointment.

Section 4: MWF 11 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. Room 138 Writing Lab

Section 5: MWF 1 to 1:50 p.m. Room 3 Lab

Class Social Media: @oxfordstories1 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

UM School of Journalism and New Media social media: @umjourimc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow for announcements about events, scholarships, fellowships, internships, job opportunities.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Congratulations! You’ve just been hired as a reporter for Oxford Stories at OxfordStories.net, a news site for two 102 classes covering Oxford and Mississippi. In this simulated newsroom, you'll help create a digital publication. Each week, you'll write stories and create multimedia that will be used as content for the WordPress site. You can share your stories via social media with friends and family.

Each semester, Oxford Stories has a new theme. This year, we are taking a look at the Oxford Arts Scene. In the fall, we explored the idea of the creation of an Oxford Arts District on University Avenue in a series of student stories on the topic. This semester, we’re going to explore the Oxford arts scene even more.

Your assignments in this class are called MISSIONS and CHALLENGES. MISSIONS are the bigger assignments – such as stories – that each count about 10 percent of your grade usually. CHALLENGES are smaller in-class and out-of-class assignments you will be given. Each one will lead to a deeper understanding of the newsgathering process, and you will learn how to utilize multimedia to tell stories both in print and online. You’ll get an introduction to many Adobe programs, and you’ll learn how to use WordPress, a website content management system used by many newspapers and magazines.

Think of Journalism 102 as a serious immersive “game” or interactive reality challenge competition. You can also think of it as an introductory boot camp for journalism. We will learn mostly by doing, and your smartphone will be your primary tool. Students will exercise news judgment, find and evaluate story ideas, identify and interview sources, edit and copy edit, and create original journalistic work. We’ll also advance your understanding of the role of ethics and diversity in the field.

This class is structured as an internship class, so if you think you did well in the class, you may want to list it as an internship on your resume. The focus will be on interviewing, writing news and features, and preparing for entry-level reporting assignments. Students will also learn the basics of photography, video, slideshows and audio. You will report and write stories. You'll learn how to gather information, interview people and write effectively in a variety of story formats and styles.

Writing is a central focus of this class, because learning to write quickly and clearly is equally important for print, broadcast and multimedia journalists. It’s also important in marketing and advertising. But you will be expected to learn the basics of several computer programs. You will receive MISSIONS or CHALLENGES almost every week, and we will write during class on deadline. Your stories will incorporate a variety of multimedia elements, such as photos, slideshows, audio, video and social media.

Students who follow the rules, have all the required elements for their stories, and come up with original story ideas may see their work published to OxfordStories.net and/or on another site that will soon launch. I'll also share your stories on the Oxford Stories Facebook and Twitter sites so you can share them with others. If you don’t share your work on social media, how will anyone find it to read it?

At the end of the semester, students will participate in an awards ceremony comparable to the Mississippi Press Association Better Newspaper Contest Awards. Students will receive awards

based on OxfordStories.net website statistics. One of the awards is Social Media Reporter of the Year, which is based entirely on whose stories were read by the most people.

Not all stories will be published on OxfordStories.net – only the ones that make the cut. They must have all the required elements, a strong lead and require little editing on my part. I’m also seeking original ideas that we haven’t written about before. Search our website to see if we’ve already written about your story ideas. Students will be asked to revise your work at times so it is ready for publication.

This is not a class where we only write about sports if we want to be a sports reporter. You may aspire to be a music reporter, but we won't only write about music. You will be asked to challenge yourself by writing on a variety of topics. If I ask you to broaden your topics, and you refuse, points will be deducted from your stories.

NOTE: This course requires a solid grasp of English grammar.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS

• Rebooting the Basics: A Creative Pivot Back to Old School Journalism in the Digital Age, by LaReeca Rucker: Electronic textbook Link: https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/rebooting-basics-creative-pivot-back-old-school- journalism-digital-age Note: In the past, we have used a book that costs around $200. This electronic textbook condenses a lot of information and is based on student questions and issues that have arisen in the last five years of teaching beginning journalism classes. There are a lot of things that we don’t have time to cover during the short 50 minute classes, so this book is a way for me to continue to have a conversation with you all semester long and to encourage you.

• A recent copy of The Associated Press Stylebook. ISBN-10: 0465021875. It is recommended that you bring this to every class and use it when writing every story. OR download the AP Stylebook app for iPhone or iPad. You may purchase online access or a smartphone app at apstylebook.com, and the text is available at the UM bookstore and online from a variety of websites. The UM library offers a free version of the online AP Stylebook.

• We will primarily use our smartphones because that’s what journalists do today. Feel free to use this with other cameras or equipment you might have. If you don't have a smartphone, the school has small video cameras (Flips and Kodak Zi8s) and other equipment available for checkout. The photos you take should be at least 1MB.

• Notebooks and pens. Please take notes and write down information so I don’t have to repeat it.

• Follow OxfordStories1 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Your stories will be posted here after I edit them, and you can share them.

• A YouTube or Vimeo account for uploading video. All students with a UM e-mail account also have access to a YouTube account.

• Your school email address. I will send you an invitation to become an author for OxfordStories.net. You must sign up for a WordPress account. (There is an option that allows you to sign up for a username without a blog. We will do this in class. This is free. If you pay for it, you are doing it wrong.)

• A folder for class handouts, printouts, background stories, homework and other material. Bring it to every class. I usually give a lot of handouts.

• 8 GB or higher flash drive, external hard drive or something to store your photos, videos and other media. You will need to store your media on this so that you won’t lose it, and so that you can use it with different computers. You may not always have access to the same computer when you are working on your video project.

• You may want to consider subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud during this semester, where you’ll have access to the Adobe Programs if you’d like to work on some of your projects at home. The computers in class also have these programs installed.

COMMUNICATION POLICY

It is better to email me at [email protected] than call. If students email me, I will try my best to respond within a 24-hour period. I expect the same courtesy if I email students with a question about their work. If I email you with a question about your work or a test, and I don’t hear from you within three days, I will assume that you chose not to respond. If I don’t hear from you within a week, I will assume you have dropped the course.

Your grades will be posted on Blackboard. They won’t all be averaged there because I will also have to factor in grades like attendance and class participation. But they will be posted there to inform you what they are. I will also send messages through Blackboard about your work. You cannot use the excuse that you didn’t get the message because you didn’t check Blackboard or your email. Check Blackboard and your email daily for messages.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course the students will:

• Recognize and articulate good story ideas • Find and cultivate sources. • Interview people – in person and by phone • Write both hard news and soft news • Understand the importance of diversity in reporting stories and selecting sources • Incorporate the use of technology in news-gathering using photography, video and audio • Apply copy editing rules for grammar, punctuation, spelling and The Associated Press

style • Produce a mix of hard news and feature stories. • Gain a better understanding of current events and the importance of staying abreast of

news.

• Read the assigned chapters of your textbook. • Learn how to use WordPress as a content management system • Get an introduction to many Adobe programs.

IMPORTANT RULES

• Interview at least two people for each story and provide the names, phone numbers and an e-mail address for each. Three is better than two. It’s always better to do more than is asked.

• Follow directions in class about where photos and video should be placed in your blog posts.

• Follow directions about how your byline with your email should be typed.

• Shoot at least three original photos (wide shots, medium shots, close-ups, detail shots, portraits) for each assignment to accompany your story. Do not submit any photos or art that are not your own work. Don’t submit photos or art that isn’t good.

• Stay abreast of local, state and national current events.

• Complete reading assignments.

• Come to class. Class is mandatory just like real jobs. Miss class, and you will fail. • Participate in class discussions.

• Turn in work on deadline.

• Make revisions to work in a timely manner.

• Show effort. It's more important to show effort in this class when working with multimedia

than it is to be an ace at it.

• Have a positive attitude.

TIPS FOR TURNING IN HOMEWORK

• All homework must be posted in “DRAFT MODE” to OxfordStories.net by the day it is due. We will discuss how to do this in class. If you don't, you get a zero. Don’t PUBLISH your stories. I will do that after they have been read.

• You must also turn in a hard copy of your work. Print it out and bring it to me the day your assignment is due. If you don't, you get a zero. I WILL NOT grade work without a hard copy. You don’t need to print out the photos in the hard copy. Make sure you have this printed out before you get to class. Don’t waste class time printing out assignments. The printer is loud and disrupts the class. If it disrupts the class too much, I will turn it off. Sometimes, it does not have paper because the previous classes have used it all.

• Save the original, large file sizes of your photographs. You may be asked for one later if it is selected to be printed in the newspaper.

1. Photos posted to Oxford Stories should be optimized. We will go over this in class. * Horizontal photos must be 72 dpi by 20 inches wide. * Vertical photos must be 72 dpi by 15 inches long. * (This size is generally small enough for the Internet and large enough for print.) * If possible, use a photo editing program like Photoshop to optimize, or reduce the size of your photo files, before posting them, but hang on to the large size files in case you are asked for them later.

TIME MANAGEMENT

It is very important to come to class. If you miss, chances are you are going to miss some small instruction that I have given the class that is vital to how your work is turned in. This could result in failing an assignment. Parking is challenging, but it can’t be an excuse for missing or being late for class. I have a faculty tag and can’t find a parking place in the faculty parking lot sometimes. Come early if necessary to ensure that you find a parking space.

Deadlines are also challenging in the world of journalism, but they are part of the job. This class requires you to work on deadline. Make sure you turn in your work on time. Failure to meet the deadline results in a 0.

Attendance is important. If you think you are probably going to have excessive absences, I would encourage you to take a different class. If you miss more than four days of this class, you will likely lose a letter grade or fail.

REBEL REPORTING

This is our class website. It’s where I will post links to some of your assignments. I VERBALLY tell students during class what their assignments are. SOMETIMES, I also post these things as a BACKUP on the class blog. It is very important that you don’t solely rely on the blog. This is because I may tell you something during class that isn’t published to the blog. The blog is a backup. And it serves as a notetaking tool. But what I tell you verbally during class is what you should be paying attention to regarding your assignments. I use this blog sometimes because it is easier for me to send a group text message with a link to the blog, rather than typing it out.

COURSE GRADING SCALE

The grading scale I use is below. You must receive at least a C to move on to the next level journalism course. A is excellent, superior and above average. B is good, solid work that is above average. C is average or satisfactory. D is below average. F is failure.

Please be sure to understand this grading scale. A C is not a bad grade, but it is average work.

Weighted total

90% or more - A

80-89% - B

70-79% - C

60-69% - D

Below 60% - F

• Grades are based on correct or incorrect use of AP Style, spelling, grammar; whether or not your photos or video are blurry, shaky or the sound is unclear; writing quality; and whether or not you have followed the rules, among other things.

• When you interview people, DO NOT tell them that their comments are “just for a class.” Identify yourself as a student reporter for OxfordStories.net and tell them their story could be published on the site. (If they seem like they don’t want to be interviewed, it’s a good idea to find someone else who is more comfortable being interviewed for the story. Fifty percent of people you ask are going to love the idea of telling their story; and 50 percent won’t.)

• Keep track of your grades: Students are responsible for remaining aware of individual grades and doing the math to figure out how they’re faring in class at any given time.

• Always turn in all your assignments, even if you don't feel that you did well on one of them. A 50 is a lot easier to pull up than a zero. Always turn in something. Come talk to me if you feel like you have gotten off track.

• You cannot make up any of the quizzes that you miss for absences because they are like pop quizzes.

GRADING

• I will try to grade your work and give it back to you as soon as possible. However, this semester, I will have around 200 writing students, and I will be helping each of them edit their work in an effort to help them become published writers.

• Each assignment you are given contributes to your final grade.

• Students will receive a 0 for late or missing work. No excuses.

• Failing to do one of the assignments, may result in losing 10 to 20 percent of your grade. This is not a good idea.

• If you are arguing at the end of the semester that you should have received an A or a certain grade, that’s usually a good indication that you did not earn the desired grade. Otherwise, it would be very clear, and there would be nothing to argue about.

• I sometimes give five extra points on assignments if I feel that the student exceeded expectations.

ASSIGNMENT WEIGHTS FOR FINAL GRADES

Figure: Chart with list of all MISSIONS, or major assignments, not including CHALLENGES or quizzes. Dates could change.

The student’s grades for this class are posted on Blackboard so that they may know how they did on each assignment, but it is the student’s responsibility to keep up with his/her grades and do the math to average them.

Student grades will be averaged according to their weights in the following chart at mid-term and for your final grade.

That means that every grade does not count the same. A quiz grade would not count as much as MISSION. Most MISSIONS are 10 to 20 percent of your grade.

The Total column on Blackboard is not an average column. It only shows the number of assignments a student has completed.

It is important for you to read the grading section of your syllabus and understand how it will be calculated. If you do not understand that your grades will be weighted and averaged, please email me during the first week of classes.

MISSION GRADE PERCENTAGE

DATE DUE

STORY IDEAS RESEARCH REPORT 5%

MISSION 1: PHOTO ASSIGNMENT 10%

MISSION 2: STORY 1 10%



MISSION 5: COLUMN 10%

MISSON 6: VIDEO STORY 10%

MISSION 7: FINAL STORY 20%

QUIZZES, ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION 15%

TOTAL 100%

COURSE POLICIES

Deadlines: Journalists must learn to produce quality work on deadline. For this reason, I do not accept late work. If it’s late, it’s a zero. Twenty percent of your grade is based on whether you meet deadlines, class participation and quizzes. If you aren't in class when a quiz is given, you fail the quiz. Quizzes are like pop quizzes. Deadlines may be the single most important thing in the journalism process. We are serious about them.

Because you are given the story topics up front, asked to come up with story ideas, make contacts early, and work ahead, health issues, sickness or absences cannot be used as an excuse for late work. If you miss a story, I will probably tell you the assignment was 10 percent of your grade and say: “Let this be a reminder to turn your work in on time in the future.” Mental health issues are also health issues.

You will learn, if you haven't already, that it can sometimes be hard to contact busy sources. That is why I have included a section that offers insight about future assignments. That's also why we will do several exercises this semester to help you think of story ideas ahead of time. Plan accordingly and work ahead. Reach out to people now that you may want to interview for stories. Don't wait until the week the MISSION is assigned to begin. That's too late.

Turning in Assignments: These policies are designed to prevent grading errors and to use class time effectively:

• Assignments should be typed and ready to turn in at the beginning of class. You may print out a copy of your story and turn it in as a hard copy. I don't need a print out of your photos. I will view your multimedia work online in your blog post.

• Assignments must also be posted to OxfordStories.net with multimedia by the date they are due, which will usually be each Wednesday. You will have at least one week to complete some MISSIONS, and two or more weeks for others.

• Always publish your work in “DRAFT” mode to the website. I will decide whether to publish it on the OxfordStories.net website.

• Please staple multi-page assignments. Failing to do this will result in a point deduction. I won't have a stapler. This is your responsibility. If it isn't stapled, part of your assignment could be lost. They cost $1.

• Emailed assignments will not be accepted, unless I ask you to email them, and I probably will not ask. I have too many students to deal with emailed assignments.

• You may turn any MISSION OR CHALLENGE early if you need to during a class. This rule does not apply to quizzes, which are like pop quizzes. Let me know that you are turning it in early and e-mail me about it also. Pop quizzes cannot be made up.

STORY SOURCES

• You must interview at least two professional or expert sources for every story unless I tell you otherwise. You may interview more than two if you choose. If the interview for either source did not provide substantial information for your story, it will not count. An example of this would be a quote you pull from a website, or a one-sentence quote from someone that provides little information. Another example would be asking your friend to

comment on whether he likes the food at the restaurant you are writing about. If you don't have two valuable sources that support your story, your story will be considered a one-source story, and up to 50 points may be deducted. A story with only one source is only half a story.

• You must NOT interview your main subjects via email. You must provide an audio file of your interviews with the main subject of your story. This means you have to select people to interview who you can spend at least an hour with. The file should indicate that you spent at least an hour interviewing your main subject. I will ask you to submit the audio files to a Google Drive folder for each MISSION. This is also a good way to work on collecting good audio for your multimedia stories and for podcasts.

• Provide the names, phone numbers and email addresses of your interview sources. Put them at the end of your story on your hardcopy, not online. I may need to contact them to fact check something in your story. If you rely on a lawsuit, a police report, or any other document for facts, you must be able to produce that document (or a copy) if I ask.

• Friends, family members, classmates, boyfriends/girlfriends, sorority sisters/fraternity brothers, people who work at the sorority or fraternity house, and journalism faculty and administrators are not acceptable interview sources unless you have discussed your reasons for interviewing them with me first. Using any of these without permission could lead to a zero on an assignment. There must be a good reason you are interviewing them for a story. You are news reporters. Explore the world. Seek adventure. Interview people you don't know and tell us something NEW.

• We will hold budget meetings so we don't duplicate stories. You must pitch the stories you are working on. If you don't tell me in class, email me and let me know so that we can avoid duplication. Failure to let me know could mean failing the assignment.

• We will not be writing stories that are about sororities, fraternities, sorority elections, sorority house mothers, the ASB, campus elections, etc. These are not stories you would typically find in a newspaper or off-campus publication. We are doing professional work. Try to find off-campus stories in Oxford, North Mississippi and Mississippi that real newspapers might want to run.

• Don’t write stories about events unless I approve the story idea and we discuss how to approach it. We want our work to have some longevity because it may not be published to our website or in other publications right away. We don't want it to be outdated before it's potentially published. You may attend an event and find someone interesting to interview for a feature story, but don’t focus on the event itself. Focus on the person.

• You must attribute all sources. If the information in your story comes from an interview, tell us who said it. You can do this by saying, “John Doe said” or “according to John Doe.” Do the same if you use any information from a website, such as facts or statistics. You can say, “According to cars.com, there were 850 fatalities last year . . . “ The facts included in your stories must come from someone or something. Who? What? Let us know.

• We are not blogging in this class. We are turning in our journalism wok through a content management system that is used to create websites. Your stories must be written as news stories unless I ask otherwise. Do not write your opinion or commentary in stories.

You must attribute a source or sources for ALL the information in your stories. None of it can be your opinion. An example: You're doing a business story on a local restaurant, and you write, “Go out and eat at Tom's restaurant” or “Tom's restaurant serves the best catfish in town” somewhere in your story. Don't do this. No opinions. Be objective.

• If you have a sports announcer voice in your head when you’re writing, and you use words like “I,” “We,” and “Me,” we’ll work to break you of that habit this semester. Read a few journalism stories – not columns. Look at the style of the stories. And remember one of the most important rules of journalism: The story isn’t about you. The story is about the people you are writing about. Be humble. It’s not about you. It’s about the people you are interviewing.

• Avoid stories about students unless you have found an amazing story that hasn’t been written about before. Search our site to see if it has been written about. You must get out in the town and interview people who are not students and who are not affiliated with the university. Seek professionals and experts to interview for your stories.

ATTENDANCE

Class attendance is mandatory. Your absence will affect your class participation grade.

• Involuntary Drop: Under U.S. Department of Education guidelines, regardless of other attendance policies specific to this course, any enrolled student whose attendance is not recorded during the first two weeks will be administratively dropped from the class roll.

• If you have an anticipated and excusable absence, such as jury duty, military service, certain university-related events, religious observations or scheduled medical procedures, please contact me in advance about meeting deadlines and making up work. You must follow the same guidelines as other students.

• If you have an unanticipated absence, such as an illness, your child’s illness, a death of a friend or family member, an accident, or other family issues, please notify me as soon as reasonably possible about making up any missed work. You must follow the same guidelines as other students, including rules about turning your work in on time or receiving a 0.

• If a student has an accident and cannot attend class, they cannot just withdraw from one class. They must withdraw from all classes. Students must be able to attend class to complete the coursework. If you have already used all your days, you must follow the same rules about attendance that other students must follow.

• If you choose to go on a three-week vacation to Europe while this class is in session, the same rules will apply to you about absences that apply to other students.

• If a health issue, mental health issue, medical condition, accident, legal problems or another issue will prevent you from attending class or completing assignments on time, you must immediately arrange a meeting with me. If I don't hear from you after you've missed more than two classes, I will assume you have no interest in continuing in the class. I will assume the same if you don't reply to my email within a couple of days. You must follow the same guidelines as the other students, including the rules about turning

your work in on time or receiving a 0.

• You must provide documentation for both anticipated and unanticipated absences.

• If you have other obligations that you choose to prioritize over class - such as a wedding, family reunion or job interview - plan accordingly by turning in assignments early, checking the class website or emailing me about your work. Since these absences are not excused and merit no special accommodations, please do not tell me about them.

• The fastest way to fail this course - or pretty much any class - is by missing multiple sessions. Come to class. Since every lesson builds on something else, including learning video with Adobe Premiere, you will miss something if you don't come to class, and you will become frustrated that you are lost. This also counts toward your class participation grade.

• If you miss more than four classes, there is a good chance you will fail this class.

• If you are late for class, and I have already called the roll and marked absences, you will be counted as absent for that class. It is often hard to find parking spaces on campus. Leave home early if you must but be in class on time.

• If you leave class before the class is over, you will be counted absent.

• You can miss four days of class for any reason. I do not need an excuse for those days. Any absences greater than four will be considered “excessive” absences, and points will be deducted from your class participation grade.

EMAIL: Check the email address that you provide for this class. I may communicate important information about the course through e-mail, including additional readings. I will probably email you often to ask questions about your stories. I can also answer any questions and help you come up with questions to ask for your story or story ideas pretty quickly.

OXFORD STORIES ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER and INSTAGRAM: Find and “like” Oxford Stories @OxfordStories1.

REVISIONS: Writing for a publication, broadcast or online outlet involves writing, rewriting and rewriting again. You will be asked to revise stories until they are polished as professional work. When you submit a story, I may sometimes ask you to revise the story. Your rewrite should fundamentally improve your story. It may well require additional reporting. The goal is to have your work published by OxfordStories.net and other publications. If you don’t do the proper revisions, your grade will not be raised.

CELL PHONES: Please turn off your cell phones in class unless asked to use them. Also, make sure the ringer is off.

ETHICS The relationship between news consumers and reporters is based on trust. This

classroom is also based on trust. I assume that every student will behave with integrity and honesty. What does this mean? It means that every assignment you turn in is 100 percent original work produced by you. This is important because it may appear in a real publication.

Fabrication and plagiarism are unacceptable for any student, but particularly bad for journalists. Students who plagiarize or fabricate any assignment may receive an F for the entire course. Ignorance of plagiarism is not an excuse. If you are uncertain about correct attribution, please contact me via email, phone or in-person during class.

• All incidents of plagiarism will also be reported to the university’s Academic Discipline Committee. Plagiarism is defined on Page 7 of the current “University of Mississippi Handbook of Standards” (the M Book), here: www.dosolemiss.com/page.php?parent_id=&page_id=106769.

• Plagiarism includes copying articles, text or quotations from websites without citation. For example, you cannot copy a quote from someone from a website and include it in your story without telling us what publication or website the quote came from, what it was regarding, and when it was published. Fabrication includes making up facts, details or sources. Changing quotations is another form of fabrication. If you put words in between quotation marks (“”) and attribute them to a given individual, you are pledging that you spoke to that person (or emailed) and that the person said those exact words.

• “Recycling” papers or turning in the same paper you wrote for another class or for an outside publication is also an act of academic dishonesty. These papers also receive zeros and are reported to the Academic Discipline Committee.

• Once again, you cannot interview any family members for your stories in this class. That is a conflict of interest in journalism. There are a zillion other people in the world you can interview. That is as lazy as you can get and will result in a 0.

BEHAVIOR IN CLASS

• This is my classroom. I’m the boss.

• Students are encouraged to express a variety of opinions when we discuss current events as long as they do it respectfully. I welcome diverse opinions – conservative views, liberal views, etc. I’m interested in getting to know you, and I like to hear differing viewpoints.

• Be kind. This is always a good rule of practice.

• Be present. Don’t constantly feed your media addiction unless it’s part of an assignment.

• Participate in class. I value your opinion and originality. I want to get to know you this semester.

• Always strive to exceed expectations.

• Take your work and words seriously. You never know who you might touch in some small way.

• No browsing the web on computers or using social media unless authorized.

• Don't install anything on the computers.

• No food or drink is allowed in class.

• Be respectful of the teacher and other classmates. Treat people the way you would want to be treated. Show that you can work well with others.

• If you're sitting next to someone with a negative attitude, feel free to move at any time. Don't let another student ruin your classroom experience.

• If you’re taking this class with a friend, don’t let your friend’s attitude rub off on you, unless they have a positive attitude. I’ve seen this happen several times. Some students who were initially doing well failed the class because they were negatively influenced by a friend, who was not doing well and failed.

• If you have any issues with other students, you may come to me and discuss them confidentially.

• It’s OK to disagree with other people regarding their political views. It is not OK to yell at other students, curse them, tell them their opinions are stupid. This is aggressive behavior. The first time it happens, I will ask you to stop during class. The second time it happens, I will ask you to come and see me in my office so we can discuss it. The third time will be a meeting with you, me and the assistant dean.

• It is not OK to use curse words when addressing others in the classroom. That is highly disrespectful.

• You cannot bring your girlfriend, boyfriend, or friends in general to class with you unless they are a registered member of the class. They will be asked to leave.

• Sometimes group social media activity among students has been reported by students who found discussions offensive. This must be reported to administrators. Be cautious about your use of social media.

BEHAVIOR OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM/PROFESSIONALISM - Your behavior out in the field reflects not only on you, but on your classmates and the School of Journalism and New Media. Please be polite and respectful while you’re reporting. Keep appointed meeting times, dress appropriately, represent yourself honestly, quote people accurately and fairly, etc. If you are corresponding with others, use SpellCheck and correct grammar and punctuation. You will lose credibility as a professional if you don’t.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT: The Department of Journalism is committed to diversity in the classroom, in its publication, and in its various organizations and components. Faculty and staff recognize that the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of their colleagues and students are best served through respect toward gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, culture and other personal characteristics. In addition, the department is

committed to taking a leadership position that calls for promoting a commitment to diversity in and out of the classroom and in the practice of journalism.

CIVILITY & RESPECT: The classroom should be a lively place in which students feel free to exchange ideas and challenge the logic of their classmates and their professor. Please do so in a civil manner. Refrain from name calling, ridicule, or personal attacks.

POLICIES RELATED TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: It is the responsibility of any student with a disability, who requests a reasonable accommodation, to contact the Office of Student Disability Services (915-7128). Contact will be made by that office, through the candidate to the instructor of this class. The instructor will then be happy to work with the candidate so that a reasonable accommodation can be made.

FLEXIBILITY CLAUSE: I may alter class assignments, policies or other elements of the syllabus depending on student experience and needs.

THINGS THAT WILL PUT YOU A STEP AHEAD

•Familiarize yourself with the Rebel Reporting class blog at https://rebelreporting.wordpress.com/

Come up with story ideas for each of the MISSIONS ahead of time and begin making calls or sending emails to potential sources to touch base with them for future interviews.

Familiarize yourself with OxfordStories.net.

Be sure to read the assigned chapters of your book each week.

Keep up with current events. Begin reading news stories if you haven’t already. In order to come up with good news ideas or remain cutting edge in any business, you have to be able to move the conversation forward. You can’t do this without being a newshound and following news trends.

Part 2 LIST OF MISSIONS

The following is a list of MISSIONS you will likely be doing, although the list is subject to change. Go ahead and start thinking of story ideas. Make some calls.

Try to avoid campus and student stories unless you have an AMAZING story idea that hasn’t been written before. Your job this semester is to immerse yourself in the community and state as a reporter and find story ideas there outside of your bubble. Try to come up with story ideas that have not been written about before. Search OxfordStories.net to see if we have written about the story before. If we have, avoid it or come up with a fresh angle.

• Instagram Photo Hunt – Students may be given a list of photos ideas and asked to artistically shoot a photo for each description that is Instagram worthy, write cutlines, publish some to social media and later create a video slideshow with them. This is an

important assignment because we will be working with these same photos all semester in different ways. Some of them will also be published to the school’s social media accounts, so we need Instagram worthy photos.

• Arts, Entertainment, Food, Books, Music, Film, Fashion or Television Feature Story - Write a story about an artist, entertainer, chef, writer, actor, director, model, designer or business owner that fits one of the above categories. Who can you write about that might inspire others in some way? Do a complete story about this person. You should try to find someone for this story that you can revisit throughout the semester for your video story. Perhaps you could follow this person throughout the semester collecting photos, interviews and video at different times and locations and put it together for your video project.

Try to find someone who will let you follow them and do a mini documentary on them throughout the semester. One of the questions you should ask them is: Do you think Oxford has a growing arts scene? Why or why not?

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

• Business, Innovation, Science or Technology Story – Write about the latest restaurant, new local businesses, or a national business trend you see happening inside or outside of Mississippi. (Avoid chain businesses.) Remember that News is about what’s NEWs.

Could you find an interesting business owner to interview about his company? What business or leadership advice can they offer readers? Are there any interesting science or technology companies or products you could write about? What about science or tech research?

Do a little internet research on the topic and see what potential stories are out there. Reach out to companies through the press section of their websites. Who or what can you write about that might provide valuable information to readers that will help them or inspire them?

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

• Oxford Arts District Class Project Solutions Journalism Story – You will be asked to research a city or town outside of Mississippi with a thriving arts scene. Students will reach out to city leaders in that town to ask them questions about their arts scene or district. Hopefully, you can collect a few ideas that might be implemented in Oxford. Who could you interview for this story? You’ll research and find local, state, regional and national citizens and experts to interview for your story. We will talk more about this assignment during class, but go ahead and put on your thinking caps. Do some research about who you could interview in your town or city. I will provide students with a list of question to ask the people they interview.

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

• Video Story – You will be asked to revisit your first assignment and turn your story into a mini-documentary about an artistic person. Create a video feature story or short documentary. Interview your main subject and shoot b-roll of them for your video story. Shoot still photos.

Use your voice or their voice as a voiceover. Work in Adobe Premiere to create the package. (You should aim to have this shot by mid-term so you can get a head start working on it during Friday’s tech classes.)

The Oxford Film Festival accepts student entries. Who knows? Maybe you could create a short film and enter it later. They also have a specific festival for food-related short films. I’m hoping to compile some of your work and create a documentary.

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

• Column – Research and write an opinion column on an issue that you care about, or write a general interest column about some aspect of your life. This could be anything from your experiences studying abroad, working at a summer job, deciding to attend the University of Mississippi, a life lesson you learned, or it could be a serious topic such as commentary on racism in America or gun laws. If you write an opinion column, be sure to research your topic using legitimate sources, and provide facts that support your story.

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

• Politics, Race, Class, Gender or Important Issue Story – This will be your final project due the day of your final exam. You should have three interview sources. Identify an issue that is important to you that also affects citizens inside and outside the South. Zero in on a topic that interests you and think of a new angle and way to explore the story.

A question can become the angle of your story. So what question do you have that hasn’t been thoroughly answered? Who can you interview to get those answers?

Research the story thoroughly. Find facts and statistics from legitimate websites and information sources in addition to your interviews. Find an expert for your story through Internet research. What or whom can you write about that might provide valuable information to readers that will help them or inspire them? What can you write about that will change the world in some small way with your words.

Your Story Idea ____________________________________________________

Course Outline: Planned Assignments, Readings,

Video Tutorials

You will have at least a week to complete each assignment, sometimes more. Assignments listed below may change, so always refer to the class blog for assignments and due dates.

Figure: Chart with Course Outline

Section

Complete By

Topic covered

Assignments

Classes Begin Getting Started

Wednesday, Jan. 22 is the first day of class.

Wednesday, Jan. 22 – Sunday, Jan. 26

Let’s get to know each other!

First week of class. We will go over the syllabus and begin to learn the basics of WordPress.

You’ll be asked to take the syllabus quiz this week and write your bio for our website.

CHALLENGE: Write your own bio. This will appear on our website and possibly on the school’s social media account. We like to tell others about our students. You’ll be given instructions for this assignment.

Lesson 1

Monday, Jan. 27 – Sunday, Feb. 2

Read Chapter 1-3: Rebooting the Basics – These are short chapters that are usually only a couple of pages.

Journalism exercises. Posting to WordPress. Photo rule basics. Lighting.

Each week, you will be asked to read specific chapters from the book. A weekly quiz will be based in part on those readings.

Please read your book and prepare for a quiz and discussion the following week on those chapters.

STORY IDEA RESEARCH PAPER - Assigned Monday, Jan. 27.

Lesson 2 Monday, Feb, 3 – Sunday, Feb. 9

Journalism exercises. Introduction to Photoshop and photo editing.

MISSION 1 – Instagram photo hunt assigned Monday, Feb. 3.

Lesson 3 Monday, Feb. 10 – Sunday, Feb. 16

Read Chapter 4-7: Rebooting the Basics Please do the reading

assignments listed here and

Journalism exercises. Introduction to Photoshop and photo editing. Optimizing photos for the web.

prepare for a quiz the following week.

MISSION 1 – Instagram photo hunt due Wednesday, Feb. 12.

MISSION 2 – Story 1 assigned Monday, Feb. 10.

Lesson 4 Monday, Feb. 17 – Sunday, Feb. 23

Read Chapter 8-12: Rebooting the Basics

Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Audition and audio editing. Recording and editing a clip. Downloading music that is free to use for projects.

Please do the reading assignments listed here and prepare for a quiz the following week.

STORY IDEA RESEARCH PAPER – due Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Mid-Term Exam Week

Monday, Feb. 24 – Sunday, March 1

Read Chapter 4: Inside Reporting Read Chapter 13-16: Rebooting the Basics

Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Setup. Folders. Basics. Panels. Working with Media. Premiere Toolbar. Creating a slideshow and intro.


MISSION 3 - Story assigned 2 Monday, Feb. 24.

MISSION 2 - Story 1 due Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Lesson 5

Monday, March 2 – Sunday, March 8


Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Adding music. Free Music Archive.


(Mid-Term Grades will be posted by Monday, March 2. Usually, they are just based on the grade of your first MISSIONS.)

Spring Break Monday, March 9 –

It’s Spring Break!

It’s Spring Break!

Sunday, March 15

Lesson 6

Monday, March 16 – Sunday, March 22


Journalism exercises. Current events. Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Adding a voice track.

MISSION 4 - Story 3 assigned Monday, March 16.

MISSION 3 - Story 2 due Wednesday, March 18.

It’s also a good idea to have the footage shot for your VIDEO STORY at this time so you can work with it during class.

Lesson 7

Monday, March 23– Sunday, March 29

Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Working with layered video and music. Adding an interview.


Lesson 8

Monday, March 30 – Sunday, April 5


Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Working with layered video and music. Adding an interview. Introduction to Adobe Audition.


MISSION 5 - Video Story assigned Monday, March 30.

MISSION 4 - Story 3 due Wednesday, April 1.

Lesson 9 Monday, April 6 – Sunday, April 12


Journalism exercises. Introduction to Adobe Premiere. Working with titles and text overlay. Social video.


(Write a Review. Details will be provided.)

Lesson 10

Monday, April 13 – Sunday, April 19


Part of the week will spent as video labs.


MISSION 6 – Column assigned Monday, April 13.

MISSION 5 - Video Story due Wednesday, April 15.

Lesson 11

Monday, April 20 – Sunday, April 26


Part of the week will be spent as video labs.


MISSION 6 – Column due Wednesday, April 22.

MISSION 7 - Final Story assigned Monday, April 20.

Lesson 12

Monday, April 27 – Sunday, May 3

Read Chapter 11: Inside Reporting Read Chapter 37: Rebooting the Basics

Journalism exercises. Creating a website or page to host your work.


Classes end.

Final Exams

Final Exam Week

Your final story project will be due on the day of your final exam.

MISSION 7 - Final Story Project due the day of your final exam.

Documents

OXFORD STORIES INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA WRITING … · basics of photography, video, slideshows and audio. You will report and write stories. You'll learn how to gather information,