Introduction:

News organizations these days, including magazines, newspapers, and online ventures, are organized into beats, sections, and/or “verticals.” A vertical is the modern shorthand for a section of a website dedicated to a specific subject, such as an industry or aspect of culture or whatnot.

Learning objectives:

• Design your own website in WordPress to reflect your expertise and professional interests.
• Examine verticals in professional publications to understand strategy and audience.
• Take the first steps to develop verticals on the class website.

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Read portfolio requirements.
• Find a vertical or website related to your own interests, something you look at regularly either by visiting the site or through social media. Write a short blog post about it and post in the coursework blog using the Module 2 category and the tag “vertical” by August 22.
• Build initial WordPress site using WordPress.com or purchasing your own domain. Post the domain and a short description of it using the Module 2 category and the tag “portfolio” by August 26.
• Find a vertical or website related to your beat and write a short blog post about it on your vertical page on the class website using the appropriate category and the tag “vertical” by August 24.

Reflective:

• Class discussion August 23: Portfolio requirements, beat categories, experts
• Class discussion August 25: Suggs absent; free time to write portfolio site critiques (add comments to at least two of your classmates’ domains) and interview contacts

Exploratory

• Revise your own WordPress site based on feedback from peers and from me by August 29.
• Find one of the people on your beat and interview him or her in person or over the phone about the beat. Ask specific questions about how the world (the community, the profession) whatever is changing as well as ideas for profiles, stories about news and interesting innovations. Post a transcript of the interview as a blog post using your beat category and the tag “first interview” by August 29.

Introduction: Knowledge is rarely just a Google away. You need to be able to find stories and sources from social media, from official online sources, and from previous stories, many of which are hidden in online databases.

Learning objectives:

• Use social media to find experts and people engaged in your beat both locally and globally.
• Use the Web to find news sites, organizations, and previous stories written about your beat.
• Use news databases to find archival stories about your beat.

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Watch this video about doing database research:

• Find three older stories (pre-2013) from your beat using Lexis-Nexis and/or NewsBank. Write a blog post summarizing the stories and they are interesting or relevant today using the appropriate category and the tag “old stories” by August 31.
• Find a total of 10 sources (individuals, local experts, national experts) on social media and embed their profiles in a blog post on your beat vertical using the appropriate category and the tag “social media” by Sept. 2
• Find five organizations (news media, think tanks, nonprofits, businesses, local government, etc.) producing information useful and relevant for your beat. Post links (use hyperlinks, don’t paste in URLs) using the appropriate category and the tag “organizations” by Sept. 2.

Reflective:

• Class discussion August 30: Research scavenger hunt and categories
• Class discussion September 1: Interviews and story brainstorming

Exploratory

• Follow-up research: Find five more stories from any time period relevant to your beat as you define it. Summarize them in a short blog post in your beat vertical using the tag “more research” by Sept. 5.
• Come up with at least 10 story ideas for your beat and list them in one-sentence summaries in a blog post on your beat vertical titled “brainstorming” by Sept. 5.

Introduction:

The process of coming up with story ideas is a combination of working in your head and working the beat itself to learn about the stories in the world. We develop wild and vague ideas, do research and reporting to see whether there’s “anything there,” and go out and report them. A budget is a list of stories that explains what the story is about, summarizes what’s been written about it in the past, and how you plan to go about reporting it, i.e. who you’ll talk to and what challenges you might find.

Learning objectives:

• Brainstorm potential story ideas
• Refine ideas into solid stories
• Develop budget and work plan for each story.

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Clark, part IV, especially tools 40-46
• Check out these student budget proposals and using Clark’s suggestions to offer three ideas that would make them better in a Module 4 post with the tag “budget critiques” by Sept. 7
• Brainstorming list:
  • Expand your brainstorming list to at least 20 story ideas for your beat. These can be one sentence or even a sentence fragment
  • Of those 20, take six that fit the assigned story categories (2 per category) and expand them into a full paragraph explain what the story is about and what local people or organizations are involved in them.
  • Put both the big list and the small list in a post on your beat page with the appropriate category and the tag “brainstorming list” by Sept. 7.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Sept. 6: Issue blog post, budget readings, sample budgets
• Class discussion Sept. 8 Discussing brainstorming lists; provide written feedback by Friday evening, Sept. 9.
• Sept. 13: Budget conferences (sign up here)
• Sept. 15: Budget conferences (sign up here)

Exploratory

• Budget for A and B choices for profile, news analysis and pick-your-own stories. Put in a Dropbox Paper doc and send to me by Sept. 12
• Revise budget following story conferences.

Introduction:

Writing is a crucial skill, but we now need at least basic production skills across multiple platforms. We will kick the tires on some basic forms for multimedia projects, and you’ll complete one for this class.

Learning objectives:

• Evaluate different multimedia projects
• Develop multimedia skills
• Propose a multimedia project for your beat
• Revise that project based on feedback

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Blaine chapter 3, 10-14, 24
• Tufte handout
• Video on podcasts:

• Listen to a podcast geared toward current events and culture. I’d suggest one of the Slate.com or NPR podcasts. Write a short blog post in the linking to the one you chose and explaining why you chose it, what you liked about it. Include a list of interview segments and voiceovers. Tag your post “podcast” and post it in Module 5 by Sept 19.
• Find an example of an infographic from a news story. The New York Times’s Upshot vertical and http://fivethirtyeight.com are good choices. Write a short blog post in the coursework category linking to the one you chose and explaining why you chose it, what you liked about it, and which of Tufte’s principles it used. Tag your post “infographic” and post it in Module 5 by Sept 19.
• Find an example of a photo package (not just individual shots in the text, but a gallery or slideshow). Write a short blog post in the coursework category explaining why you chose it, what you liked about it, and what you think could have been strong in either the image or the caption. Tag your post “photos” post it in Module 5 by Sept 21.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Sept. 20: Podcasts and infographics
• Class discussion Sept. 22: Photos
• Class discussion Sept. 27: Audio work time
• Class discussion Sept. 29: Work time for profile interviews

Exploratory

• Record an interview with a classmate about his or her passion and edit it into an audio profile along the lines details in the video above. It should be 2-4 minutes in length and saved in mp3 format, ideally using Adobe Audition. Upload it to SoundCloud and post a link in the Module 5 category with the tag “audio profile” by Sept. 28.
• Conduct two interviews for your profile story and put transcripts in a Dropbox Paper document shared with me by Sept. 30.
• Add your multimedia project proposal to your budget by Sept. 30.
• Poynter tests due by Oct. 1.

Introduction:

The key to this course, as you’ve probably discovered already, is getting out into the world and getting people to talk to you. Usually it’s a pretty straightforward process, although you will inevitably run across some jerks out there. In this module we’ll strategize about how to select, plan, and execute interviews.

Learning objectives:

• Develop plans for reporting
• Conduct interviews
• Double-check facts
• The ethics of interviewing

Steps to completion:

Background:

• CNN guide to interviewing
• CJR art of interviewing
• Take a story from the Don van Natta list or elsewhere and make a list of all the people whose voices appear in the story and what role they play in the writing (e.g., subject, closely involved with subject, local community context, national/global context). Post a summary of the story and your list in the Module 6 category with the tag “voices” by. Oct. 3.
• Consider your audio interview with your classmate in light of the CNN and Columbia Journalism Review readings. What questions do you wish you had asked? What worked well with your approach and what could you have done better? Write this up in a short blog post with the tag [spelling corrected] “interview postmortem” by Oct. 3.
• Read “The Accidental Ethicist” to discuss Thursday, Oct. 6. You may need to be on campus to access; here’s an alternate URL.
• Finish all (minimum of 5) interviews for your profile story and send transcripts to me along with research as a reporting package in Dropbox Paper by Oct. 7.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Oct. 4: Interviewing basics
• Class discussion Oct. 6: Finding the best voices
• Class discussion Oct. 11: Interviews and ethics
• Class discussion Oct. 13: Work time for profile story

Exploratory

• Profile story due by Oct. 14.

 

Introduction:

We are transitioning from gathering material—reporting—to writing. We’ll start at the top of the story with the key elements that will hook readers in: the headline (hed), lead paragraph/section (lede), and the paragraph that previews the story, the nut graf.

Learning objectives:

• Identify heds, ledes and nut grafs in other work
• Critique heds, ledes and nut grafs
• Write heds, ledes, and nut grafs for own stories

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Readings:
  • Roy Peter Clark on suitcase ledes
  • Really bad ledes
  • Really good ledes
• Lede video

• Nut graf video

• Find a story from the Don van Natta list or elsewhere with a great lede. Using the categories in the lede video, what kind of lead is it? Does do what Edward R. Murrow told Nancy Dickerson a lede should do?* What drew you to it? Write a short blog post linking to the story and evaluating the ledes in the Module 7 category using the “lede” tag by Oct. 17.
• I will assign you a partner in the class. Critique each other’s profile’s ledes and nut grafs along the following lines:
  • What kind of lede is it?
  • Does it highlight the main character in the story?
  • Does it draw the reader into the story?
  • Does it work with the headline?
  • Does the nut graf hook you in and make you want to read the rest of the story?
  • Share with your partner and me as Dropbox Paper by Oct. 19.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Oct. 18: Effective ledes and nut grafs
• Class discussion Oct. 20: Discuss peer revisions and finalize top matter

Exploratory

• Story packages for news analysis and pick-your-own stories due Nov. 1
• Ledes and nut grafs for same due Nov. 4.

* See the Dropbox Paper doc I shared with you at the beginning of the semester

Introduction: 

Ultimately your goal with any story is to make it so compelling that your reader gets all the way through it. That means, of course, structuring it coherently and giving it a beginning, middle, and end.

Learning objectives:

• Understanding how great writers structure stories
• Critiquing the structure of peers’ stories
• Applying lessons on structure to own work

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Read “The Things that Carried Him” and develop a paragraph by paragraph outline of it, summarizing each graf. Post in Module 8 with the tag “outline” by Oct. 24.
• Writing Tools Part III
• John McPhee: Beyond the picnic-table crisis
• Find a story from the Don van Natta list or elsewhere. Find an example of the advice offered by Clark or Blaine and write a short blog post explaining in Module 8 with the tag “structure advice” by Oct. 26.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Oct. 25: Discussing structure
• Class discussion Oct. 27: Peer discussion on structure

Exploratory

• Complete draft of news analysis due 11.9.
• Complete draft of pick-em due 11.11.
• Revise profile by 11.14

Introduction:

Editing is not merely messing with someone else’s work; it’s an integral part of making sure that the written product is accurate, clear, and impactful. Bell (and I) divide editing into two phases: microediting (critiquing words and sentences for grammar, mechanics, and impact) and macroediting (critiquing paragraphs and story sections for coherence, logical flow, structure, and impact). And fact-checking is critically important. We will be studying peer edits as a means of learning how to edit ourselves.

Learning objectives:

• Refreshing knowledge of grammar, mechanics
• Understanding style, both conceptually and practically
• Editing peers with respect for their voice but commitment to clarity and coherence
• Perfecting one’s own work

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Bell, introduction and chapter 1
• Bell, chapter 2
• Microedit a classmate’s (I will assign) profile in a new file and share with me and the author. Try one of the techniques suggested by Bell. Did it make a difference? Would you do it again or try something else? Write a short blog post about the experience by Nov. 4 in the Module 9 category using the “microediting” tag.
• Macroedit a classmate’s (I will assign) profile in a new file and share with me and the author. Use the principles suggested by Bell as well as the checklist I will give you. Write a short blog post about the experience by Nov. 11 in the Module 9 category using the “macroediting” tag.

Reflective:

• Class discussion Nov. 1: Microediting
• Class discussion Nov. 3: Microediting practice
• Class discussion Nov. 8: Macroediting
• Class discussion Nov. 10: Macroediting practice

Exploratory

• Final drafts of news analysis and pick-em stories due Nov. 18.

Introduction: To be honest, this is mostly a workshop for multimedia projects.

Learning objectives:

Editing and production of multimedia projects.

Steps to completion:

Complete multimedia projects

Background:

Reflective:

• Class Nov. 15 and Nov. 17 will be multimedia production workshops.

Exploratory

• Final project due Nov. 18.

Introduction: This will be an overall guide to the semester, getting you oriented to the craft of feature (i.e., magazine writing) and the organization of the course.

Learning objectives:

• Getting oriented to reporting
• Comfort using WordPress and Dropbox Paper
• First steps learning about beats

Steps to completion:

Background:

• Review syllabus, schedule, course website
• Finish the class survey if you haven’t already by August 15.
• Day 1 assignment
• In class on August 16, you received a slip of paper with a question on it. In class on August 18, ask each of your classmates that question. Then, using the posts with their names on them, contribute to a profile. Profiles should be logically coherent and factual; you’ll just have to build them in concert with all of your classmates. For an example, I asked myself all these questions and built this interview with the answers:

It’ll be a little chaotic, but it should be fun. Let me know if you have any problems. You should be able to get the profiles finished by the end of class, but certainly by August 19. (My final product is under Suggs’ notes.)

Reflective:

• Class discussion August 11: Day 1
• Class discussion August 16: Review syllabus; introduction to beats and stories; day 1
• Class discussion August 18: Classmate profiles

Exploratory

• Write a blog post describing what you know about your beat, what your experiences (if any) with it are, and what sorts of things you find interesting about it. Post in your beat page by using the appropriate category and the tag “where I’m at” by August 24th.