Assignments

Week one —Lecture: Components of the Story, e.g., accuracy, attribution, fairness, clarity, etc.Reading: Chapters 1-4 of the text.AP Style reading: abbreviations; addresses, capitalization, datelines, titles, numerals and punctuation.—Lecture: defining news; the paper and its partsClass Structure: This course is divided into three segments — news writing, broadcast and magazine — so assignments are also grouped by segment. Please check the class schedule before jumping into these assignments; I may skip over a few of the news writing assignments listed below — or add a few — as the semester progresses, depending on how quickly you pick up on writing leads and news stories, etc.Deadlines: All assignments due by 6 a.m. Saturday of the week they are assigned, unless otherwise noted. Please post all assignments on your blog unless otherwise directed; please use the assignment name as the title of your blog post.Ongoing Assignments:Top News blog posts: Select a top news story and identify news values; click here for details (weekly for the first 6 weeks of class, due Saturdays, 2/2 - 3/8)Copy Edit the World: Find and correct errors in published materials; click here for details (25 points total — first 10 points due 2/23; next 15 points due 3/16)Topical Blog Posts (weekly for four weeks, April 19 through week of May 10) – write a short (150-200 words) blog post on a JMC activity, event or guest speaker or on a media-related news event or trend, or on a specific topic requested by the instructor.NEWS WRITING SEGMENTLead-writing exercises:Leads 1 (3 starter leads) Leads 2 (air crash) Leads 3 (Chevy Chase, Amtrak) Leads 4 (Smoking Wheels, Missing Boy) Leads 5 (Pipefitter, Car Accident - delayed and immediate ID)Find That Lead — Read p. 44-45 in text (describing the different kinds of leads), then find two examples of leads that are not basic/summary news leads. Identify what kind of leads you’ve found and post them on your blog. Two feature leads (Squirrelly Situation & Alarming Event) Focus story structure (Football Injuries)News writing exercises:Inverted Pyramid exercise News Story #1 (Firefighters) News Story #2 (Cathedral Robbery) News Story #3 (Gas Line Break) News Story #4 (Carjacker) News Story #5 (Runaway Truck) News Story #6 (Toilet Seat)Final News Writing Project: Real News ReportingMajor Projects:Write a Profile (due 3/8, submit via email as Word or text attachment). Review pages 73-83 of text and listen to podcasts on interviewing and working with quotes. Then interview someone (not a close friend or family member) and write a 350-to-500-word profile about that person.Real-Life Reporting News Story or Feature (due 3/15, submit via email as Word or text attachment). Cover/attend an on-campus or local meeting or event; write a 350-to-500-word news story or news feature with at least three sources (note: meeting or event must be newsworthy!).BROADCAST SEGMENTBroadcast Project: Rewrite your “real news” story for broadcast — your choice: radio/audio/podcast or TV/video format. For examples of broadcast format, see pages 165, 169 and 171, and p. 174, Exercise 3, in the text. (Alternatively, you may choose to adapt another original news story or news feature you’ve written for this class for this project.) Here are the four steps required to complete this project:Write your 60-second audio or video script (submit as a hard copy).Record your 60-second audio or video using iMovie, Garageband or Audacity in the JMC computer lab or the SJSU Academic Success Center in the old Clark Library (or use your own software).Compress and export your audio or video file, then upload it to the web (sign up for YouTube or another video hosting site, or Podomatic or other audio/podcast hosting site).Post a link to your audio or video file on your blog.Alternative Broadcast Project: If you do not have access to audio/video software, and are unable to come to campus to record this assignment, please complete Exercise 3 on p. 174 in the text. However, instead of using the “dog story” provided in that exercise, please rewrite your own “real news” story (or other original news story or news feature you’ve written for this class) for broadcast. As noted in Exercise 3, you will:Write a 45-second radio story (post on blog)Write a 90-second television package, using split-page script format (please email to instructor, since you can’t post it in two-column format on your blog).Hint: Be sure to check out the “dog story” script examples on page 303 in text for broadcast style and format.MAGAZINE SEGMENTWrite a blog post about a magazine you like. Discuss its target audience, focus and writing style/tone; include a link to magazine’s online site. (200-250 words)Write a short column (topical commentary, personal meditation or “slice of life” narrative — see p. 131 in text for examples) and post on your blog. (200-250 words)For some examples of columns, check out Newsweek’s “Voices” web page. The “My Turn” columns (at lower right on web page) are good examples for this assignments — they’re “personal meditation” columns written by regular folks. Columnist Anna Quindlen also usually writes “personal meditation” columns and topical commentaries.Submit a brief memo (see Resources link for “How to write a memo”) on the topic of your proposed Magazine Project.Find that lead exercise (listed on this page under “Lead-writing exercises”)Focus story structure exercise (listed under “Lead-writing exercises” — also see blog post on focus story structure)Magazine Project: This is a three-part assignment. You will write a short magazine-style piece, develop a short-form info box or graphic to accompany it, and write a broadcast script about it. This is your final major project for this class. Please see the class schedule for your section for deadlines. Here are the parts of this project:Magazine-style piece: Your choice of topic. You can write a short feature story or profile, an editorial or commentary, or a review (movie, theater, music/concert, restaurant, book, etc.). (500-600 words, see Ch. 6 in text)To accompany your magazine piece, develop a short-form info box or graphic, such as a fast-facts box, list or graphic extra (25-150 words, see p. 128-129 & 133 in text).Finally, write a 60-second broadcast script (approx. 125 words, audio or video format) based on your magazine project. Record it using iMovie, Garageband or comparable software, upload it to YouTube, blip.tv, Pod-O-matic or other web hosting site, and post it on your blog. (See broadcast segment for directions; same alternative assignment applies for s.80 students.)