Blogging: 10%
Throughout the course of the class, you will be expected to blog times… A blog post a week You do not have to blog about this class or about journalism school. You want to post as a professional or about a topic that you find important. This is also a great way for you to develop and enhance your presence on the web. When you post a blog, you want to think of your audience as peers in the journalism world (or whatever niche you want to write about) along with potential future employers and co-workers. One time this semester, you will be required to post a blog on the 8 Goes Green blog to give you an opportunity to see what it is like to blog on a professional level.
News from the ‘Net: 10%
You will have one week assigned to present News from the ‘Net in class or online during the semester. Turn in an outline of your presentation via email to Jen to help document the information you gathered. Be prepared to present some of the most recent developments in technology and online journalism. (You can find many links in the presentations page)
Projects: 30%
Project #1 – Your ePortfolio, first version due September 27, final by December 10
The portfolio must include examples of work you have created using Photoshop and Illustrator. (Extra credit for Flash project work.)
Project #2 – 8 Goes Green Blog post – Due on specific dates you are assigned [Extra credit if you can use things you've learned from lynda.com into your post]
Project #3 – Online industry profile – Due November 29 (WARNING right after Thanksgiving!)
Anything that is turned in late is docked 5 points a day unless there is a very good reason.
Newsroom Performance: 20%
You will be required to edit daily stories during weekly shifts at KOMU.com. You will also team with advanced reporters advanced stories as an editor or reporter on a weekly or extended period of time.
(These are deadlines, feel free to complete these assignments at a quicker pace if you want)
Your weekly work will also be reviewed by newsroom faculty and staff.
Practical Project/Capstone Project: 30%
This project is defined at the beginning of this syllabus. You will need to present sometime this Summer.
The research presentation must be presented to KOMU newsroom managers or any other person or people affected by the project.
Masters Students:
You have a chance to work with 2010-11 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow David Herzog with his Open Missouri project. You can learn more about it by reading this. Herzog is looking for grad students who can help build data card catalog. His work coincides with the growing popularity of open government where data is easily accessible to the public. You can learn more about open government here. Another growing term is “Government 2.0″ – you can learn more about the implications of social media and open government by reading this.
OR
You will quickly learn how fast the technology world is changing. Help start an annotated bibliography of books and articles focused the effect of new technology on journalism. Remember, annotations are descriptive and critical to expose the author’s point of view, clarity and authority. Use this exercise to help you understand how you can use new technology in a journalism career.
OR
Conduct research with working professionals in the online journalism industry to learn newsroom workflow and communication processes. You need to create a case study about three newsrooms and how they deliver the news to news consumers in non-traditional ways. (That means you can work on case studies with any type of newsroom as long as it has a heavy focus on web, social media and/or mobile-first news delivery)
Due December 10.
If you do not complete this assignment, you will not pass the course.