Intro to Online Journalism

JOUR 352-0101

Philip Merril College of Journalism

Spring 2012

Tuesday, 7-9:45 p.m., KNI 2105

Contact info

Instructor: Alex Newman
Office: None
Office Hours: After class on Tuesday or by appointment.
Phone: Office: 202.216.8968 (between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.) My cell phone is on the printed copy of the syllabus. Email:newman@homefront.tv
AIM:anewmanusat
GCHAT: alex.j.newman

Goals:

This is not a computer class or an art class. It’s a journalism course in which we’ll use computers and readings and discussions to learn about online news publishing. You will learn the basics of HTML code and how to use web-editing, photo-editing and graphics-creation software to build pages. We will discuss credibility and ethics online as well as new strategies for storytelling on the Web. There will be lessons about site structuring and navigation and headline and link writing. You will build a resume package and a news feature. You will also participate in a class blog where we’ll post links to stories and articles on the Web and carry on discussions outside the classroom.

Prerequisites:

JOUR 201 (News Writing and Reporting I) and 202 (News Editing) or the broadcast equivalents.

Assignments & Tests:

Your instructor will supply more detailed instructions on some assignments in class. Assignments are due at the start of each class, unless otherwise noted. Please follow Associated Press style for print on all assignments in this class.

Web Resume
Feb. 28: (5 percent of your grade): Web resume page due at the start of class, on your WordPress site. The html file should include text, subheads, an e-mail address link, at least one external hyperlink, and at least one bulleted list. Each factual mistake will result in one letter-grade deduction, as will each broken link. Assignments lose a full letter grade for each day that they’re late. I will copy edit your resume (on a printout of your file) before you post it to your WordPress site.

Clips Page
*March 6: (5 percent of your grade): “Clips” page due at the start of class on your WordPress site. The clips page should link to published writing or broadcast samples of your previously completed work — news clips, press releases, or links or embeds to published audio or video or multimedia stories. (In other words, this is your online portfolio page.) Please do not link to unpublished work. All links on your pages must work; all text must make sense and be written in AP style for print. Each factual mistake will result in a full letter-grade deduction, as will each broken link. Pages turned in late will lose a full letter grade for each day that they’re late. In general, each clip entry should include a headline that links to your work, and a date. Group clips by publication, using subheads for each publication. Here’s an example from a previous grad student: http://tinairgang.wordpress.com/published-clips/.

Midterm
* March 27: (10 percent of your grade): Midterm

Text of Feature Story
* April 10: (5 percent of grade): Text-only version of your feature story is due at the start of class. (See next item). This is an originally reported story of 500 to 700 words, on a topic previously approved by the teacher. It should be in journalistic style and be worthy of publication. Stories must be original work and must not have been previously published elsewhere. Stories with factual mistakes will be given an automatic F (55 percent). Stories must be accurate, fair and fully reported, and include strong feature leads, nut graphs and transitions.

Multimedia feature package

*May 10: (20 percent of grade): Multimedia feature package due at the start of class in the x drive. This must include an originally reported text story of 500 to 700 words (see above), at least one photo (either shot by you or acquired by you), a well-written photo caption, a headline and at least two related links. In addition, one complementary multimedia element is required: It could be an audio clip you’ve collected, edited and posted; a table of information you’ve compiled and linked to; a Google map you’ve created and linked to; or a photo gallery you’ve built. More specifics to come in class. This must also be uploaded to the college’s assessment site. I’ll explain how in class.

Blog posts
*Throughout the semester: (10 posts worth 30 points each; 30 percent of grade): Blog posts analyzing a specific news Web site (you will choose this in the first week or two); the last three are due during finals week: These blog posts will cumulatively represent an analysis of a news Web site, selected from a list of sites I will circulate in class early in the semester. The posts will be written throughout the semester and published on the WordPress blog you’re creating for this class.

Throughout the semester, you should be posting coherent, well-written thoughts on your blog. Each posting should be 200 to 500 words. All of your analysis should be based on your observations of the site throughout the semester and on background research you’ve conducted on the site. Posts that are subjective should be supported with facts; links and visual screen grabs should be used to illustrate and underscore your points. Factual mistakes –including misspelled proper names and faulty URLs–will result in full letter-grade deductions on that post. Information quoted from other sources – people and paper – should be fully attributed in your text. All work should be your own; plagiarism will not be tolerated. Individual blog posts turned in after deadline lose a full letter grade for each day that they are late. Late final blog posts (the three turned in during finals week) receive an automatic F.

Postings should address the following points, but need not be limited to these. Deadlines:

Due March 20: Introduce us to this site: Its history, audience, ownership, mission and staff. Has it radically changed direction (in content, staffing or business plans) in recent years? Please consult previously written stories and site “about us” or media kit pages, and link and attribute information appropriately.
Due March 27: How well are stories written and presented on the site to make use of the medium? Give specific examples and links.
Due April 3: What big story(ies) has the site covered particularly well, in multimedia? Often these continuing stories are packaged as special reports. Give specific examples and links.
Due April 10: How well does it use photos and graphics, broadcast features (including audio and video and podcasts) and interactive elements (such as chats, blogs, polls, map mashups and info graphics, quizzes and searchable databases)? Give specific examples and links.
Due April 17: How well does the site leverage social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, to help tell stories and interact with readers? Give specific examples and links.
Due April 24: How well does the website use navigation to flag key sections and stories? And are the home page, section fronts and story templates laid out with eye-tracking studies in mind? Give specific examples. For instance, is the navigation consistent from page to page? Is the main navigation bar on the top of the site, under the banner, to conform to findings in eye tracking studies of how users read Web content? Are majors sections of the site just one click away from the home page, to make key content easy to find? Is the corrections page linked to the home page? Are the About Us and the contact pages linked to the home page? Give specifics, please. Is there a dominant headline and photo on the opening screen of the home page?
Due May 1: What other features have you loved or hated and why?
Due between May 10 and May 16: Topic of your choosing.
Due between May 10 and May 16: Page analytics: What did you learn about unique visitors to the site, by studying analytics collected on quantcast.com and alexa.com?
Due between May 10 and May 16: In your final posting, you should tell me what changes editors and publishers might consider to better position themselves for the future (financially and editorially).

*Class participation: (25 percent): Participation comes in two parts. You must attend and contribute in class (10 percent) and complete in-class written assignments (15 percent). These cannot be made up, but the lowest grade will be dropped.

Grading:

Each assignment will be graded for accuracy, meeting of deadlines, substance, presentation/navigation/links (for Web assignments), quality of writing (headlines, story blurbs, photo captions and other text), usability and style. Associate Press print stylebook rules and rules of grammar should be followed on every assignment. Factual errors have serious consequences, as noted on each assignment. Letter-grade deductions will be taken for broken links, including for photos, and for navigation that doesn’t work. All written and Web assignments are due at the start of class, unless specifically instructed otherwise. No excuses, other than the hospitalization of the student or the death of a member of the student’s immediate family, will be accepted for late assignments. A full letter grade will be deducted for each day an assignment is late, except for the final paper, which will receive an F if turned in after deadline.

Attendance:

There is no mandatory attendance policy at the University of Maryland. However, as noted in the “Attendance and Assessment” section of the university’s Academic Requirements and Regulations policy, (see p. 36 of Undergraduate Catalog), “in some courses, attendance and in-class participation are ongoing requirements and an integral part of the work of the course.” JOUR 352 is such a course. In accordance with the college’s policy, there will be no excused absences or lateness for any reason.

Standards, Ethics and Academic Integrity:

Students are expected to adhere to the strictest journalistic and academic standards. For this class, you must do all work yourself, without collaboration with classmates or others, unless I tell you otherwise. Along with certain rights, students also have the responsibility to behave honorably in an academic environment. Academic dishonesty, including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism (including use of unauthorized photos, graphics, text or layout from the Web) will not be tolerated. Adhering to a high ethical standard is of special importance in the world of journalism, where reliability and credibility are the cornerstones of the field. Therefore, the college has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy on academic dishonesty. Any abridgment of the university’s academic integrity standards in a College of Journalism course will be referred directly to the dean. The dean will send all confirmed cases to the university’s Office of Judicial Affairs with a recommendation of expulsion from the university for any violation of the code. To insure this is understood, all students will be required to sign an academic integrity pledge at the beginning of the semester that will cover all assignments in the course.

Books & Materials:

We will be using a combination of required textbooks and handouts (printed and online) in this course:

James C. Foust’s “Online Journalism: Principles and Practices of News for the Web” is available at the campus bookstores and at online bookstores, such as Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual (for print). Please bring the stylebook to class with you to aid in lab work.

Additional Readings:

This syllabus links to various required online reading assignments under the class schedule. In addition, because the field is changing so fast, you’ll be expected to do additional reading to keep up as you see it on Poynter.org or elsewhere in the news industry.

Students With Disabilities:

Students with a specific disability (permanent or temporary, physical or learning) needing special accommodation during the semester should make an appointment to meet with the instructor.

Syllabus