As I stated in class, we won't be traveling to class Wednesday because we are all likely to die horrible snowy deaths if we try. But we will have classwork, albeit within the confines of our cozy homes. So DO NOT COME TO CLASS ON WEDNESDAY! BUT DO COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING WORK!
Your first task is to read the latest entries in this blog, starting with all January entries. Most are entitled, "Basic Ledes," same as the assignment slug those blog posts will be critiquing. Normally, we'll review those blog posts in class, but given the weather, fuggetaboudit.
Your first independent study assignment will be to write ledes based on content on p. 173-176. Please write ledes for City Beat #1-2, State Beat #1 and National Beat #1. Just like Monday's in-class assignment, all you need to do is a lede.
Please slug the assignment as city ledes. When you finish, email your attached Word document to omars@msu.edu. Your deadline is noon Wednesday.
Also by noon Wednesday, I will post a homework lede-writing exercise that will be due by 11 p.m. Thursday. Please be sure to check the latest blog posts at that time for the details of that assignment, including text pages, assignment numbers and the assignment slug.
I expect by midday Thursday I will have new blog posts critiquing your Wednesday lede-writing assignment. Please hold off on working on/finishing the Thursday assignment until you've had a chance to consider further critiques.
Also, by next Monday please read Reporting For The Media Chapter 10 (p. 242-271). It's a short chapter so this should not be a big problem.
As we touched on Monday, this week you also need to be working on coming up with your first out-of-class story idea. Next Monday you will be given a tip sheet that will need to be filled out and returned to me on Wednesday detailing your idea. These are the categories you'll have to quantify:
STORY TOPIC: Describe in a few sentences what this story is about.
NEWS VALUE: Describe the news angle you are exploring. Refer to news values from class or from textbooks. Explain how your story is relevant, interesting and useful.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS: Describe in a few sentences which readers will be interested in or affected by your story.
STORY SOURCES; List a primary interview source and at least two other interview sources. Give names, titles, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and Web URLs for each source.
DOCUMENTARY SOURCES: List print and online sources you plan to rely on in writing your story.
SOURCE CREDIBILITY AND EXPERTISE: Why are these good sources? How are they appropriate and available for the story?
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Disclose any/all conflicts of interest you may have. Do you have a personal interest in this topic and/or sources? If so, what are they?
MULTIMEDIA/GRAPHIC COMPONENT: Not a part of this exercise. Skip this.
PUBLICATION POTENTIAL: What publications or media might be interested in printing or posting this story? What are your chances of publication or distribution?
STORY ALTERNATIVES: If the planned story does not work out, what will you do instead? Will the planned story be modified? Will an entirely different story be needed? Explain fallback plans briefly.
If anyone has any questions about any of this stuff, please email me at omars@msu.edu or call my office number at 517-432-3009.
I hope we all survive the Snowpacolypse and see next Monday. If not, nice knowing ya!
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