Syllabus

Introduction to Online Journalism
JOUR3098, Fall 2008
Tues./Thurs., 8-9:15 a.m.
Arjona 433
Instructor: Marie K. Shanahan, mshanahan@courant.com, 860-241-6519.
AIM: mariekshan, Yahoo IM: mariekshan
Office Hours: Tuesdays: 9:15 – 10 a.m.
Virtual Office Hours: By appointment, please email request.
http://jour3098.wordpress.com

REQUIRED TEXT

Foust, James C. Online Journalism: Principles and Practices of News For the Web. Second Edition. Scottsdale, Ariz.: Holcomb Hathaway, 2009. Available at UConn Co-op Bookstore.

Briggs, Mark. Journalism 2.0: How To Survive And Thrive. J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, 2007. Downloadable PDF.

OVERVIEW

As a field of study and as a profession, online journalism is emerging and evolving. The practice of journalism is adapting to new communication technologies, as well as the changing habits of information consumers. This seminar is designed to provide students with a practical and theoretical foundation in online journalism, online storytelling and online production. The course is also intended to build upon students’ journalistic skills – writing, reporting, editing, interviewing, research and use of technology.

Before class each week, students are expected to complete a short set of readings from the required texts and articles provided by the instructor. Discussion questions regarding the readings will be posted on this blog. Students are expected to respond to the questions using this blog, integrating the ideas presented in the readings, their own experience and any outside sources. A variety of other small assignments, such as digital media imaging and sound design, will also be required. Through this process, students will learn and practice basic HTML, Photoshop skills, multimedia production, site architecture, blogging, and how text, images, audio and video integrate on a web page. You will also learn how to find and evaluate information online

Please note that this syllabus represents a tentative schedule and will most likely change as the semester progresses. Changes will be announced on this page, so please bookmark this URL.

CLASS MEETINGS

We will have a total of 20 graded class meetings. Your presence and participation in these classes will make up 20 percent of your total grade. Attendance is mandatory to receive a passing grade in this course. If you must miss class, you must contact me ahead of time via email and/or telephone.

THIS BLOG

This blog is a public research journal, and your writing will be open to the rest of the class and the world. Don’t post any personal information you don’t want made public. For this class, you are required to post assignments and comments to this blog to gain experience participating in an online conversation and producing content online. Due dates for responses will be listed. All posts are timestamped and logged.

For our online conversations to be successful, please read what others have written. Your required post may be a response to another student’s post. Use quotes, citations and hyperlinks to support your ideas. Spelling, grammar and style count. This is a journalism class and you should make the most of any and all writing opportunites. Your writing should follow AP Style. Blog participation will count for 40 percent of your final grade.

MIDTERM

The midterm will assesses your basic proficiency and understanding of interactive journalistic tools, terminology and theory covered in this course so far. The midterm will make up 10 percent of your final grade.

FINAL PROJECT

Students will plan and complete one web reporting project. Students will meet with the instructor by midterm to identify project theme and justify its newsworthiness. Students will conduct research and interviews using appropriate sources, write and edit, employ technology to organize the components into a smart, engaging online story package, and meet assigned deadlines. The final project will be presented to the class on the day of the final exam and make up 30 percent of your final grade.

PLAGIARISM

Do not plagiarize! Plagiarism involves using another’s language, ideas, or other original material without acknowledging its source, as if it were one’s own work. Plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics and is detrimental to academic integrity and professional reputation. If you make use of another’s ideas, citations must be included. If you make use of words and phrases that are substantially similar to another’s work, you must provide attribution. If you make use of phrases that are identical to another’s, regardless of the length of the phrase, you must place these in quotations. Failure to properly cite constitutes academic misconduct, and will result in a failing grade in the course. Remember: ignorance is not an acceptable excuse.

Here are resources to help in understanding what constitutes plagiarism:
UConn Plagiarism Tutorial
How to Recognize Plagiarism
How to Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism Online Quiz

Module 1: INTRODUCTIONS & OVERVIEW
Aug. 26 - Today’s information climate; Modern Role of the Journalist; digital literacy survey; becoming blog authors.

Readings & Exercises (due Aug. 28)

Blog Assignment (due Aug. 28)

  • Create your “introductory” post on blog. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Why journalism? What are you hoping to get out of this class? Your post should include a list and explanation of at least three of your favorite websites you use to get “the news” (hard news, features, entertainment, sports, or aggregators like Google news & Yahoo news)

Aug. 28 – Class Lecture/Discussion: Basic HTML, the modern role of the journalist.

Readings (due Sept 2. )

  • Foust, James. Chapter 1.
  • Jankowski, N. & van Selm, M. (2001). Traditional news media online: an examination of added value. Television News Research: Recent European Approaches and Findings. Berlin, Quintessence Publishing Co. Available on PDF. Please read from page 2: Reader Use & Assessment to the top of page 5.

Blog Assignment (due Sept. 2, 8 a.m.)

  • Markup your introductory post with HTML. Add some formatting (bold, italics). Add hyperlinks, specifically to the news websites you listed. Comment on at least one other student’s introductory post (or mine!).

Module 2: ADDING VALUE
Sept. 2 – Discussion of added value. How do your favorite news websites add value? Also, a Photoshop Primer.

Readings (due Sept. 4)

  • Foust, James. Chapter 1. (The book is now available)
  • Briggs, Chapter 8 – Shooting and Managing Digital Photos.

Blog Assignment (due Sept. 4)

  • Use Photoshop and HTML to add a .jpg picture of yourself to your WordPress profile and to your introductory post. Also, create a new .jpg header for this blog. The image should be 770 pixels x 220 pixels. Please email the .jpg header to instructor by 7:30 a.m. Your headers will be featured on this blog each week.
  • Browse your three favorite news websites. Find two specific examples of how they “added value” to a recent online news story. Be prepared to share these examples at the beginning of our next class. (For extra credit, post a new entry – with hyperlinks – about this topic on our class blog. Save a tree! Use the blog to organize and share your thoughts, instead of paper.)

Sept. 4 – Lecture/Class Discussion: Web 2.0. We sign up for Wikipedia & delicious.

Readings (due Sept. 9)

Blog Assignment (due Sept. 9)

  • How is online journalism’s new “participatory” model different from traditional journalism? Do you use Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Myspace, Digg.com? Do your friends? How often? What is the appeal of these sites, especially to young people? 300-400 words. Hyperlinks and/photos (can be screen grabs) are encouraged.
  • Change an entry on Wikipedia and link to it at the bottom of your blog post.
  • Add some bookmarks (including this blog) to your new Delicious account.

Module 3 – TOOLS, TERMINOLOGY & TECH TOYS
Sept. 9 - Acronyms and more!

Readings (due Sept. 11)

  • Briggs, Chapter 1 – FTP, MB, RSS, Oh My! and Chapter 3 – Tools & Toys.
  • Foust, Chapter 2 – Tools & Terminology and Chapter 3 – Authoring & Managing Web Sites.

Blog Assignment

  • Respond to at least one other student’s blog post about Web 2.0 (due Sept. 11)
  • Write a short feature story (400-500 words) about tech toys. Interview at least three people about their tech toys – iPods, mobile phones, GPS, TIVO, Wii, etc. How have these people incorporated technology into their daily lives? How are they using these tech toys to send or retrieve information? For example, do they read news on their mobile phone? Do they download podcasts and listen to news reports on their iPods? Do they check email from their blackberries? Do they subscribe to SMS (text messaging) news alerts? Is their tech toy use mostly for entertainment and/or social connections? Have tech toys changed their information consumption habits. Do they like the “always-on world? Do they like that the consumer has more control? Your post should include hyperlinks and at least one photo. (due Sept. 16)

Sept. 11 – Snapshot Comparison: How news organizations used the web to cover the 7th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Readings (due Sept. 16)

Module 4 – News Online: Writing For The Web, Blogs, Conversation
Sept. 16 – What is News? Writing/Reporting For The Web.
Guest Speaker: Hilda Munoz, web reporter, Hartford Courant

Readings (Due Sept. 18)

  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 6 – How To Report News For the Web.
  • Foust, James. Chapter 7 – Writing and Editing Online

Blog Assignments

  • Respond to at least one other student’s “Tech Toys” blog post with details about which tech toys you use and how. Have tech toys changed your information consumption habits? (Due Sept 18)
  • Based on the readings and your interview with Hilda Munoz of the Hartford Courant, write a 400-word story that explains the best practices to follow when writing for the web. Explain how you might apply these best practices to different story types: Breaking news. A explanatory news story with a lot of numbers. A sports game story. An entertainment feature. Your post should be formatted for easy reading online, include quotes and a couple of hyperlinks to good online writing examples. (Due Sept. 23)

Sept. 18 – Writing Good Web Headlines, SEO, Usability.

Readings (reference for your Sept. 30 writing assignment)

Module 5 – Writing For the Web II: Blogging.
Sept. 23 – Guest Speaker: Shawn Courchesne, blogger & multimedia sports reporter

Reading Assignment (Due Sept. 25)

  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 5 – How To Blog.

Blog Assignment (Due Sept. 30)

  • Based on recent readings, lecture and interviews with at least one journalist blogger, explain how the “rise of the blog” is changing the practice of journalism. How are journalists changing blogs? Quotes from journalist bloggers, citations from the readings, hyperlinks to examples, photos, including screen grabs, and other “added value” items are strongly encouraged. Your post should be formatted for easy reading online. 400 words.

Sept. 25 - Lecture: A Blogging Primer.

Assignment:

  • Research your final project proposal. Be prepared to pitch at least two possible ideas to instructor on Sept. 30. Bring ideas in writing.
  • Respond to at least one other student’s blogging post about “Writing for the Web.” (due Sept. 30)

Module 6 – MIDTERM
Sept. 30 – Review – Acronyms, basic HTML, Photoshop skills, added value, writing for the web. Discussion of final project proposals.

Assignment

  • Respond to at least one other student’s “Rise of The Blog” post. (Due Oct. 2).
  • Study for the midterm.

Oct. 2 – Midterm Exam

Module 7 – ONLINE RESEARCH / MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING
Oct. 7 – Web Shells, Evaluating Sources, Smart Surfing.

“The Web is infinitely deep and all points on it are connected. That means stories no longer stand alone. They’re embedded in a matrix—a Web shell—that connects to stories done in the past, to data, to all the players and organizations involved in the story or the issue addressed, and to resources.”

“Every story belongs in a Web shell, the area where journalists express their role as managers of information and news in the form of searchable databases, backgrounders, maps and links to resources, archives and research.” — Jane Ellen Stevens

Reading Assignments: (due Oct. 9)

Blog Assignment (due Oct. 9)

  • Create a resource page and/or web shell for a topic/issue. It can be your proposed final project topic or something else. Evaluate your sources. Include at least 10 hyperlinks. Each link featured should include a description of the information you are linking to and what it offers. Your post should include some “screen grabs” – images of the sites that are cropped and resized to be 200 pixels wide and aligned to the left. Format your copy so it is easy to read online.

Oct. 9 – Multimedia Storytelling

Reading Assignments: (due Oct. 14)

Module 8 – STORYBOARDING
Oct. 14 – Team Storyboarding workshop.

Reading Assignment (due Oct. 16)

  • Foust, James, Chapter 8, Using Links in Online Stories

Blog Assignment (due Oct. 16)

  • Evaluate and comment on at least one other student’s “web shell.”
  • Prepare a storyboard for your final project.

Oct. 16 – Final project topics due. Present storyboard for final project for class discussion.

Assignments (due Oct 21)

  • Start researching/reporting for final project. Email instructor 10 links related to your final project topic.

  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 7 – Digital Audio and Podcasting
  • Foust, James. Chapter 10 – Gathering and Editing Images, Audio and Video.

Module 9 – ONLINE AUDIO
Oct. 21 – Audio Production Workshop – Audacity

Reading Assignments (due Oct 23)

Blog Assignment (due Oct 23)

  • Download iTunes (if you don’t have it already). Listen to one or two journalist-produced podcasts (news or sports or entertainment). Comment/compare your audio experience on the blog. Characteristics to consider: production quality, content quality, length, online extras?

Oct. 23 – Lecture: Online Audio, Podcasting.

Assignments (due Oct 28)

  • Post two short audio clips that you have edited to the class blog. Blog text should be written and formatted to introduce/explain/entice users to click on the audio clips. OR, for major points, produce the EXTRA CREDIT flash audio slideshow that was emailed to you.
  • McGuire, Mary. Ethical Guidelines for Editing Audio. The Canadian Journalism Project: Sept. 2007. http://jsource.ca/english_new/detail.php?id=1638
  • Tompkins, Al. “Best Practices: How Online Video Improves Journalism.” Poynter Online. May 2008. http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=143996

Module 10 – ONLINE VIDEO
Oct. 28 – Guest Speaker, Alan Chaniewski, Videographer, Hartford Courant.

Reading Assignments (due Oct 30)

  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 9 – Shooting Video for News & Feature Stories.
  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 10 – Basic Video Editing

Oct. 30 – Online Video Production Workshop – iMovie.

Assignments (due Nov. 4)

  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 11 – Writing Scripts, Doing Voice-overs
  • Create a YouTube or Vimeo account. Upload a video you have created/edited. Embed the video on the class blog with explanatory text and a SEO headline.

Module 11 – FLASH & SOUNDSLIDES
Nov. 4 – IT’S ELECTION DAY!

Reading Assignments (due Nov. 6)

Blog Assignment (due Nov. 5)

Nov. 6 – Lecture: Putting it all together in Flash – text, images, audio, video. Flash Workshop

Module 12 – ALT JOURNALISM & USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Nov. 11 – Alternative ways to present information to audiences. Google Maps/Mashups. Quizzes. Twitter. Email Alerts. Photo Galleries. Mobile Applications. Databases. Archives. Review.

Reading Assignment (Due Nov. 13)

  • Foust, James, Chapter 9 – Multimedia and User-Generated Content

Nov. 13 – QUIZ. At the start of class, there will be a 30-minute quiz on the material assigned since the midterm: evaluating sources, storyboarding, podcasting, best practices for producing online audio/video/flash. Then we will watch “Steal This Film II.” (2006). Directed by Jamie King. Produced by The League of Noble Peers. Running Time: 32 minutes

Assignments (Due Nov. 18)

  • Foust, James. Chapter 11 – Legal and Ethical Issues
  • Felton, Edward. (2004). Rip, mix, burn, sue: Technology, politics, and the fight to control digital media. Princeton University President’s Lecture Series, no. 1. http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~felten/rip/ (listen to the podcast, or read the transcript)
  • Blog assignment (Due Nov 18): As all content goes digital, it is now easy for anyone and everyone to RIP/REMIX/PUBLISH words, pictures, audio and video originally created by others into “new” content. How can journalists survive/thrive in this type of information climate? What are the implications for traditional news organizations and for you as a young journalist breaking into the field? Is this free-for-all good/bad or something inbetween? 400 words. Please attribute your sources, use SEO headlines, hyperlinks, screen grabs, etc.

Module 13 – ETHICAL ISSUES
Nov. 18 – In-class Discussion: User Generated Content. Copyright. Ownership. Creative Commons.

Reading Assignments (Due Nov. 20)

Blog Assignment / Final Project Update

  • Post an intelligent comment on at least one other student’s RIP/REMIX/PUBLISH blog entry.
  • Are you gathering content for your final project? Only a few weeks to go! You should have 1-2 components of your final project compiled by Nov. 20. These components can include, for example: list of researched facts with attribution; completed interviews with multiple human sources; a gallery of photos or other multimedia content. Come to class Nov. 20 with an update.

Nov. 20 – Democracy. Handling corrections. Anonymity. Final project updates.

Final Reading Assignments (Due Dec. 2)

  • Foust, James. Chapter 12 – Opportunities and Challenges
  • Briggs, Mark. Chapter 12 – Putting It All Together

Module 14 – THE STATE OF THE NEWS MEDIA, FINAL PROJECT WORKSHOPS
Dec. 2 – State Of The News Media Wrap Up. Evaluations. Final Project workshop.

Dec. 4 – Final Project workshop.

Congratulations!

  • You’ve earned your very own UConn homepage.

FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
Dec. 13 – In-class presentations on exam day. 12:30 – 3 p.m.

This syllabus is copyrighted material, property of Marie K. Shanahan. Not to be reproduced without prior written consent from the author.

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