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.