Guide for Students Introduction to Journalism

Transcription

1 Guide for Students Introduction to Journalism Welcome to Introduction to Journalism. This unique 16 week class uses an innovative, collaborative approach to introduce the fundamentals of journalism in an interactive, fast paced online format. Each week, you will: Complete an Independent Study component, consisting of readings and online courses and exercises Join a Webcast to hear a live lecture (you can submit your questions before or during lectures) with a different guest faculty member each Tuesday Join your study group for a discussion and to complete assignments and compare your findings with other students work Join a live chat every Thursday Take a weekly quiz to test your knowledge Possibly attend a weekly lab and complete assignments as required by your university. Please check with your department coordinator or section instructor for details. Materials specific to each week will become available as the semester progresses. To access each week s materials, click on the week s menu in the main course navigation pane. When you click on the numbered Week menu, you ll open the main landing page for that week. Each week s landing page includes the same elements: Independent Study, Live Lecture, Study Group Work, Live Chat and Test. This document guides you through these sections and explains what you need to do to complete each week s tasks. Independent Study You can open the Independent Study landing page from the main navigation menu. You can also navigate to each element of the Independent Study from the main landing page. The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 1

2 Each week, you will have two essays to read, one written by the course instructor, Aly Colón, and contributor Chip Scanlan. These essays introduce the topic and main concepts for the week. Read these first. Most weeks, the Independent Study section includes a resources section with a selection of websites and additional readings related to the week s topic. Each Independent Study section also includes your Virtual Textbook assignment. Each Virtual Textbook landing page describes a study module developed by NewsU. Most of these are mini courses that you will need to work through on your own reading material, answering questions and participating in activities. Some Virtual Textbook modules are Webinar replays that you can watch. Every week, you ll do at least one Virtual Textbook assignment; several weeks, you ll have two. Each module will take anywhere from 1 3 hours to complete. The Virtual Textbook page has a link that launches the NewsU module. These modules were developed by NewsU and are available to students outside the course framework as well as being a part of your Introduction to Journalism course. Each module follows a unique format and design. In some of them, you will need to click an additional button from the introductory page. When you wish to return to the main course, scroll down to the bottom of any page in the NewsU module and click on the return box: The modules are: Week 1 Week 2 Journalism Basics Reporting, writing, editing and producing multimedia reports are basic journalism skills. This module provides an overview of these skills and introduces some basic principles of journalism. Understanding Media Media messages employ a variety of means to persuade the audience to buy a product or accept a viewpoint. This module helps you become a critical consumer of media and better able to make informed decisions. News Sense: The Building Blocks of News Learn what is news (and what is not news). Encounter the basic questions a thorough news story must answer: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 2

3 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Introduction to Reporting (Part One) You ll learn how to define a beat and develop sources in the community or area you are covering as you work through three sections of Introduction to Reporting. The Interview Proper preparation is crucial to the success of an interview. This module gives you some tips for conducting interesting interviews and a chance to practice. The Writer s Workbench: 50 Tools You Can Use Short essays in this module offer tips to improve your writing and teach new skills to help you grow as a writer. Order of the Word: The Secret to Powerful Prose (Webinar replay) This one hour Webinar replay illustrates the power of position and teaches you how to place each word for maximum effect. The Lead Lab Explore the Lead Lab to learn how to write leads that will keep readers engaged. Try your hand at writing leads and compare notes with fellow students. Beyond the Inverted Pyramid Explore new and nontraditional ways to present information and learn which types of alternative formats work best with each type of news story. Handling Race and Ethnicity Confront your own assumptions about race and ethnicity and learn precise, non stereotypical ways to describe the people you cover. Introduction to Reporting (Part Two) You ll return to Introduction to Reporting to learn how to further develop resources in your beat or community. Cleaning Your Copy Sloppy copy undermines your credibility! Identify your weak areas and learn to clean up your copy. Get Me Rewrite Revising your own work can be tough but reviewing your work and finetuning it strengthens your writing. Learn how to build scaffolding and when to remove it. Online Media Law: The Basics for Bloggers and Other Publishers This module focuses on defamation, privacy and copyright law to identify some red flags. Knowing what you can and cannot do will keep you from crossing legal lines in gathering and publishing information online. The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 3

4 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Newsgathering Law & Liability What should you promise a source? Can you use documents that someone surreptitiously got for you? This module helps you through a maze of situations and scenarios you might face while gathering information. Note to California State Fullerton students: You will learn about writing media releases this week. See your course or lab instructor for information. Introduction to Ethical Decision Making The right choice is not always obvious. But the Ten Questions presented in this module will equip you to make ethical decisions when confronted with the dilemmas that could crop up in your journalism career. Five Steps to Multimedia Storytelling Learn to create a storyboard and map out a multimedia package in this module. You ll also learn about basic equipment necessary for your future as a backpack journalist. Anatomy of Newspaper As businesses, newspapers face unique challenges. This module explores these challenges, introduces the many constituents that newspapers serve and describes common business models. Anatomy of a Multimedia News Organization Online multimedia companies follow different structures and approaches. Learn about some possibilities and explore the challenges and responsibilities of the different departments that make up a multimedia news organization. This week, we wrap up the course with a panel discussion on the future of journalism. There is no Virtual Textbook module this week. You may stop working before you finish a module and come back later, and you may review these modules as many times as you d like. When you complete the module (or simply want to return to Introduction to Journalism), scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the Return box. You ll reenter the Virtual Textbook page you were on before launching the module. You can also exit the module by clicking on the My NewsU link at the top of any page:. To re enter the module and resume or review the material, launch it again from the Virtual Textbook page and navigate to the section you wish to complete or review. The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 4

5 Live Lecture The Live Lecture landing page features a description of the lecture, a box where you can enter a question you want to ask the lecturer, a link to the lecture and links to any notes or handouts that accompany the lecture. The lectures are offered twice each Tuesday, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern Time. By 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays, a replay of the lecture will be posted. The link to the replay will appear on the Live Lecture landing page, in place of the original link to the live event. The lectures use Adobe Flash software to play (either live or replay) and cannot be downloaded. Before beginning the course, please make sure that you have a Flash enabled device available. Study Group Work You have been assigned to a study group with other students from your university. Each study group is identified by a color. Click on the badge that appears in your dashboard to see a list of the students in your group. Click on either the Study Group Work link in the navigation menu or the assignment or discussion link in the Study Group Work section of the main weekly landing page to access the Study Group Work landing page. When you enter the Study Group Work landing page, you ll be able to access all the study group discussions by clicking on Join the conversation link. To join in your group s conversation, click on the link for your color. Here, you can post your comments and respond to other students posts. You may click on the links for other study groups to eavesdrop on their discussions. The Study Group Work landing page also offers a link to the weekly assignment: Add your work. Click on the link for your study group (by color) to post your completed assignment. You may view and comment The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 5

6 on the work posted by other students in your group here, too. This is an excellent way to share ideas and compare different approaches to the weekly assignments. You can view work posted by students in other study groups by following the links for the other colors. The instructor for your section at your university will receive your completed assignments; these are considered in calculating your course grade. Live Chat A live chat is held each Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Open the Live Chat landing page from the main navigation menu or the main landing page to join the chat. Then, click on the link. You may enter the chat room up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the chat. After the chat, by 5 p.m. each Thursday, the link to the chat room will be replaced with a link to a transcript of the chat. If you miss the live event, you can read through the transcript so see what was discussed! Test A quiz will be posted every Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You must complete each week s quiz before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time each Sunday. Tests will include questions on the week s lecture, readings, Virtual Textbook assignment and other assigned materials. Review all of these materials before you start the quiz. When you begin, you have 30 minutes to complete the quiz. You may take each quiz only once. Make sure that you are prepared and have time to complete the quiz before you start it. Your quiz scores are reported to the instructor of your section of the course at your university and become a part of your course grade. The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 6

7 Weekly Checklist Each week, go through this checklist to make sure you ve completed everything: Have you: Read Aly s essay? Read Chip s essay? Reviewed and explored the week s resources? Completed the self directed course(s) and other Virtual Textbook materials? Attended the Live Lecture or listened to the replay? Completed and turned in the Study Group Work assignment? Completed and turned in your Lab assignment, if you have one from your school? Posted comments to the Study Group discussion? Read other students contributions? Joined the Thursday Live Chat? Taken the weekly quiz? Technical Support If you have any questions on how to use this course or you encounter technical problems, our support personnel at J101@newsu.org. You may also call Customer Support at and ask for help with Introduction to Journalism. If You Are Interested in a J101 Partnership If think your school might be interested in an Introduction to Journalism e learning partnership, us at info@newsu.org. You may also call The Poynter Institute at and ask for Howard Finberg or Vicki Krueger The Poynter Institute Fall 2011 Page 7