Assignment I – Blog Set Up
Each student will select a news beat and set up and maintain a blog. The blog must have a specific focus (i.e., a subject, a neighborhood, a specific topic).
1. Set up a blog using Word Press. (If you want to use another program, talk to me first.)
2. Select a design that is appropriate for your news beat and blog.
3. Create a compelling title for your publication. It should tell what the blog is about and pull readers in.
4. Create an “About” page or sidebar widget. You must have your full name on your blog. Write one or two lines describing the focus of your blog and telling the audience who you are.
5. Add the following features:
-blog roll with at least five relevant blogs
-archives
-categories and tags
-blog stats
-other widgets that help may flesh out your beat and online publication
6. Make sure your blog allows comments, that your time zone is set correctly (to UTC -4).
For specific instructions, see Setting Up Your Blog.
Points for your Blog Set Up (25 points)
Assignment II – Blog Posts
A total of 20 posts are expected over the course of the semester beginning the week of Sept 26. Weekly blog posts are due by 8:00 p.m. each Saturday. No late work will be accepted. Each post will be graded on content, grammar, spelling, relevance, and when specific kinds of posts are assigned, if they meet the stated objective of the assignment. Blog posts can be brief, but should be informative and accurate.
Points for Blog Posts (200 points total = 10 points each X 20 posts)
5 point for content (Is it interesting, relevant, current, timely?)
5 point for mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, links)
Assignment III: Photo Essay
Create a photo essay covering your “beat” or topic.
Your photo essay must consists of at least 8 images. Use your judgment on how many images are needed to tell your story.
Making your own images is the best approach. Go somewhere and cover an event/topic/person visually. Get full names, first and last. Practice journalistic ethics. Your photographs should show real events, real people, and real places in real time. Do not stage or manipulate your subject or photos.
Make a variety of images that help tell your story. Get a mix of wide, medium, and close-ups. Take more than you need. Make 50 to 100 images. The ones you post should be strong, clear images.
If you are not using your own images, you must get permission and/or give credit to the photographer. Your images MUST NOT violate copyright. Remember: Giving credit does not mean you have permission to use the images. If you are not using your own images, you must be able to make a case that it falls under fair use categories: criticism, commentary, news, teaching or research.
Include captions or text if it is necessary.
Try to tell a story with your images. Think narrative and story. What are you trying to convey?
Grading
Worth 100 Points. Your photo essay must be posted on your site by Saturday, Oct 24. No late work accepted.
The photo essay will be assessed on:
Content
What is the subject of the photographs? Are they related to your topic or beat? Are they informative? Interesting? Do they violate copyright? Do they offer a glimpse into an event, place, person? Do they tell a story?
Presentation
Are images in focus? Are they strong, clear images? Does the presentation fit the subject? Are there necessary captions/text?
Assignment IV: Multimedia Interview
Find a relevant person with something to say about your topic. Aim high. Prepare and research your questions.
Think online. What do you think will be the best way to tell your subject’s story. Q and A? Edited transcript? A segment of the interview? Links? Photos? Audio? Video? A combination of these elements?
Do your interview and gather information in various media formats (text, photos, audio, video). Go prepared. You don’t want to wish you brought a camera or recorder after the fact.
See what you get and then rethink it. Ask again, “what is the best way to tell this story?”
Your multimedia interview will be graded on the following elements:
1. Your person has something relevant and compelling to say about your topic or beat.
2. Write a short paragraph to introduce your subject. Include full name, information on job/school, and a few sentences that sum up the most compelling aspect of the interview.
3. Present your interview with at least two of the following elements: text, photos, audio, and video.
4. Make sure your text is free of typos and grammar and spelling mistakes.
5. Consider using bolds, subheads, etc to break up long segments of text.
6. Provide links to other web sites that will offer readers more information.
7. If you are using photos, make sure your images are clear, strong, and add something to the text. Your photos should be labeled with appropriate captions.
8. If you are using audio, edit your segment to 5 minutes or less.
9. If you are using video, break your interview into multiple clips of 2 minutes or less.
10. Ask yourself: “Is this the best way to present this interview? Would other media elements make it better, richer, or more compelling?”
Assignment V – Interactive
The goal of the interactive assignment is to create an online news feature that would only work on the Web. Try to tell a story or relay information related to your topic without a lot of text. It should allow the user to approach the information in the way the wish, not necessarily the way you present it, or even in a linear way.
You have a few choices for how to approach this assignment:
1. Create a Google map to tell a geographic-based story related to your topic.
2. Create a Dipity timeline to tell a time-based story related to your topic.
3. If you have other ideas, talk to me. I’m open.
Guidelines
1. Map: Create a Google Map that is appropriate for your topic. Your goal is to tell a story in which location or geography is key.
Requirements:
-Create a Google Map with place markers, lines, or shapes. You have to decide how many.
-Write descriptions and reviews, embed links, and post photos or videos for your place markers, lines, or shapes where it is appropriate.
-Combine your original information with third-party content if it helps tell your story.
-Your story does not have to be linear, but it should make sense for the user where ever they begin.
-In your blog post, write a sentence or paragraph that says clearly what your map is about. Give your audience a few tips of things to look for. This short block of text should be either above or below your map in your post.
-Embed your map on your blog. You can make it an individual post or a separate page. It must be completed and online by the deadline.
2. Timeline: Create a Dipity timeline that tells time-based story and a progression of events.
Requirements:
-Create a Dipity timeline with event markers. You have to decide how many.
-The individual events should contain clear information: title, description, date, etc.
-Combine your original information with third-party content if it helps tell your story.
-Make sure that your timeline has a focus. Concrete and specific is better than broad and vague.
-In your blog post, write a sentence or paragraph that says clearly what your time is about. Give your audience a few tips of things to look for.
-Link to you Dipity timeline (the free version of Word Press won’t let you embed.) Make sure it is public so everyone can see it.
Your map or timeline will be assessed on:
-Concept (Is it interesting and/or unique? Does it fit with your topic?)
-Presentation (Does it make sense? Is it clear? Is it informative?)
-Effort (Did you spend time on original reporting and/or looking for a way to tell a new story?)
Points for Interactive (100 points)
