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Friday, Noon- 3:45 p.m.
Walker 628

Instructor: Maria Burns Ortiz
Email: mariaburnsortiz@gmail.com
Phone: (260) 402-1172

Office hours: Friday, 11 a.m.- Noon, By appointment

FOR A FULL SEMESTER SCHEDULE, CLICK HERE.
FOR A LIST OF WEEKLY READINGS/ASSIGNMENTS, CLICK HERE.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

From the Emerson Course Catalog:

Understand and learn reporting, writing, and producing online news. Explore, evaluate, and analyze “best practices” of online news publications, online technologies, and their use in digital storytelling and delivery of breaking news. Configure and maintain a blog to critique news sites. Learn to work in a team or individual environment to produce basic multimedia stories.

COURSE GOALS

The Internet has undeniably changed the media landscape. Journalists – no matter their primary medium – need to have a basic grasp of multimedia skills to be relevant in this field. This course will give students an overview of the online news industry and equip them with the basic skills for reporting and creating online news content.

CLASS FORMAT

This course will focus on hands-on learning and content creation. Class meetings will include both lecture and discussion. Students will be expected to participate in these discussions – using assigned readings, personal observations and existing knowledge to contribute to the dialogue. Students will be expected to ask questions as well as form and share opinions.

Students will be required to keep blogs and are encouraged to read and comment on classmates’ blogs to foster an exchange of ideas.

Students will be expected to read/view/study the assigned materials. The vast majority of the works students will be assigned are works of journalism. Students will be expected to analyze the works as individual pieces and within the broader context of journalism.

Students will select a research topic that fits within the course’s subject matter, produce a work of online journalism (text, image, video, audio or multimedia) – that includes interviewing sources – and share their findings with the class in brief presentation at the end of the semester.

GRADING CRITERIA

Grading will be broken down as:
Participation – 25 percent
Discussion – 20 percent
Attendance – 5 percent
Blogs and other assignments – 50 percent
Blogs/Assignments – 45 percent
Commenting on others blogs – 5 percent
Final project – 25 percent
Journalistic work – 15 percent
Presentation – 2.5 percent
Meeting progress deadlines – 7.5 percent

PARTICIPATION

In-class Participation: Students are expected to attend all classes, take part in group discussions and complete in-class exercises. Students should complete all readings and be ready to discuss them in class. Discussion is core to this course. Taking part in class discussion is essential.

Attendance: Because this course only meets once a week, attendance is crucial. Missing more than one class meeting will likely affect your final grade. Missing more than two classes may result in a failing grade.

BLOGS AND OTHER ASSIGNMENTS

Blogs: Students will be required to keep a blog and post assignments to it weekly. Blogs will be graded primarily on content – whether students adhere to the assignment and whether posts reflect informed opinion (based on research, insight gained from readings, observation).

Blogs should be concise – remember, in journalism, longer does always not equal better.

Posts should be up 24 hours before class meets.

As this is an upper-level journalism course, correct grammar (follow AP Style) and structure are expected. Deductions will be taken if blogs are posted late.

Students should also be familiar with classmates’ blogs and comment when warranted to foster discussion.

News track blogs: Students will choose an online news site that they will follow throughout the course of semester. Students with critique the site with an eye toward online elements and new media technology.

Reporting assignments: Other assignments – including reported pieces – will be due throughout the course of the semester. Students will be required to post/publish these assignments to their blog

FINAL PROJECT

Final project: In this semester long project, students will select a topic (to be approved by instructor) and produce a multimedia journalistic work. Students must meet progress deadlines as noted in the syllabus. At the end of the semester, students will give a short presentation to the class on their topic and their piece.

GRADING SCALE

Grading will be done on a 10-point scale. Grading breakdown is as follows:

A – 10-8.1

B – 8-6.1

C – 6-4.1

D – 4-2.1

F – 2-0

MATERIALS

During the semester, you will need access to:

  • A digital video camera (If you are planning to use the Emerson video cameras, you will need an SDHC memory card.)
  • A digital camera (DLSR or point-and-shoot)
  • Digital audio recorder (recommended)
  • A smartphone or non-phone “smart” device with photo capability (i.e. iPod Touch)

PLAGIARISM

From the Emerson College Policy on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is the use of the words and ideas of another as if they were one’s own and without acknowledgment of their source.  Plagiarism is stealing, and constitutes a serious offense against any ethical code, be it scholastic, artistic, or professional.  Plagiarism can be committed intentionally, or it can happen inadvertently, due to careless note-taking, or to a lack of knowledge of the conventions by which sources are credited, or even because of a misunderstanding on what constitutes original thinking.

Plagiarism is unethical in any context, and especially so in college, where the development of personal integrity and original thinking are the primary goals.

Read the entire policy here.

From the Emerson Department of Journalism statement:

There is nothing more central to the credibility of journalism and to the trust of readers, listeners and viewers than the implicit promise that every journalist makes to the public that the information provided is accurate, original and truthful. Journalists who fabricate stories or portions of them, or who steal the work of others and pass it off as their own, undermine not only their careers, but the careers of other journalists, the public’s trust in the Fourth Estate, and the credibility of the entire profession. This department will not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication and/or cheating. If you have a question about attribution, ask.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you have a disability that may impact your performance in this class, please register with the Disability Services Coordinator so that you can work together to develop methods of addressing needed accommodations.

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