Neutral Experts: One Last Look

You can find one anywhere, as shown here (in the second story) and here.

Out-Of-Class #3: A Review

I felt like we kind of stopped making progress on this one. Instead of a range of sources, many stories just had voices from one side of an issue, but not the other. Many lacked neutral experts that would have helped readers decide which side was closer to the truth. Still some issues with a lack of attribution, allowing readers to know where we got the information. Too often we told readers something, but failed to show them quotes or data providing evidence for the point being made.

Plus, we had a fatal. In one story, we wrote MSU has almost 40,000 students. I think you may have gotten that stat from a student you quoted. Even though that was the person's quote, we should still double-check out facts to make sure what we were told was right.

And a quick check of MSU's Web site found that the school currently has almost 50,000 students. That's a fatal, then.

Let's think back to the first few days of class, when I shared with you this saying:

If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

What it meant was, if you are told something, then go find evidence to support what was told. In the case of your mom, it would be proof that she really loves you, such as documentation (holiday cards she got you every year, expressing her love of you) and interviews (relatives and friends who say she always talks about how much she loves you) and facts (she has never missed getting you a birthday gift, supporting the idea that she really loves you).

We really needed to do that here. Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.

JRN 200: Your Turn To Grade Me!

Student Instruction Rating System (SIRS Online) collects student feedback on courses and instruction at MSU.  Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS Online) forms will soon be available for students in this class (JRN 200, Sec. 005) to submit feedback.


The link is here, and it goes live April 15 through May 15.

Students are required to complete the SIRS Online form OR indicate within that form that they decline to participate.  Otherwise, final grades (for courses using SIRS Online) will be sequestered for seven days following the course grade submission deadline for this semester.

Rating information collected by SIRS Online is reported in summary form only and cannot be linked to individual student responses. Student anonymity is carefully protected.

OOC #2: A Recap

Generally, we made good progress. Unfortunately, in one rewrite we had a fatal. And as we're reviewing every fatal this semester, let's take a look at this one:

In the rewrite, we referred to Carnegie Mellon as a writer. In fact, Carnegie Mellon is the name of a university.

And that's a fatal. Let's please be sure we understand what we are writing before we start writing. Plus, in this particular assignment the Carnegie Mellon reference came from a Web source, after I had asked us to replace the Web sources with human sources we could interview first-hand.

If we had spoken to people directly, it would have been much easier to determine that the name was not that of a person, but of a school. This is another reason to try to talk directly to as many sources as possible; so you can get clarity and ask questions on anything that we're unclear on.

Now, the good news was this: since the fatal was in the rewrite, I do NOT average the grade to come up with a final grade. Instead, your original grade becomes the final grade.

That's because I don't want to discourage you from doing rewrites. If you were at risk of having a fatal in the rewrite bring your grade down from your original grade, then that would be a disincentive from doing a rewrite.

Hopefully, this is the last fatal we have to review this term. Let's please try our best to make it that way.

Ethics: 9/11, The Falling Man, ect.

There's a fine line between showing readers the brutal truth of a situation so that they understand the powerful truth of any story, and showing readers a truth so brutal that readers ignore the point you were trying to make and instead question your judgment.

I can think of no better example of this than the so-called Falling man photo, taken by an Associated Press photographer during the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and published by The New York Times the next day.

This remarkable article from Esquire Magazine in 2003 offers a summation of the complex and contradictory forces at play in deciding if running the image was the absolute right thing or the incredibly wrong thing to do.

If you were an editor on Sept. 11, what would you have done? And why?

Likewise, what would you do if you were a photographer covering an African famine and you came across a starving girl being stalked by a vulture? That was a real-world decision for one photog, and it may have led to his own unfortunate end.

Finally, what would you do if you were the photographer who took this award-winning pic?

Let's talk it out.

Vid/Blogs/Tweets #2: Let's Take A Look!

FYI, I graded these fairly lightly. Like the first assignment, I'm less worried with crispness and details and more concerned with attempts to execute the basics, and necessary elements like B-roll and captions and, of course, content.

And in this review, we will look at the videos and blog posts and tweets together, since they are all on the same topic. Let's look to see how certain mediums emphasized certain parts of each story.

(Now, some people did NOT turn anything in for at least one part of this assignment. Remember we talked about having more heavily-weighed assignments later in the semester? This was one of those assignments. It total, these assignments equal about TEN practice stories in weight.)

(So, if you are one of those people, you and I should be talking about doing some extra-credit multimedia assignments, to try to pull up your grade. If these assignments -- or any out-of-class work, for that matter -- stand as 0.0s, your final grade will take a serious hit. Please try to extra-credit your way to a better grade by showing me you can execute these concepts in practice.)


Back to the review: here we go, in order in which the assignments were turned in (just so you know I'm not picking on you by making you first again, Ali):

Ali: war protesters video and preview and recap and tweets #200protesters

The vid had a nice mix of B-roll, but it could have used a more solid introduction via a title slide or narration to tell us what we're looking at.

Mandi: Chinese culture at MSU video and preview and recap and tweets #chmsu

Good range of interviews between a Chinese student and a domestic student and an expert! But each blog post should have different hyperlinks, instead of simply using the same ones in each.

Darien: Student-athlete life video and preview and recap and tweets #msustudenathlete

The tweet stream was something different: instead of trying to recap the subject, it was a Top 11 list (plus a lede tweet) of what one student-athlete loves about his chosen path. ("Girls" was #4, FYI.) What do you guys think; does it work?

Whitney: pets on campus video and preview and recap and tweets #jrn200hammy

Narration at the start of the video solidly sets up the rest of the story.

Anne: new sorority video and preview and recap and tweets #sigmaalphamsu

You don't need to do both narration and captioning of the same content; just pick one. Also, while you should use a name caption when first interviewing someone, you don't need subsequent name captions. In print we do need subsequent attribution to know who is being quoted. But on video, we have another cue: the person's face, who we already saw in connection with the original name caption.

Strong and very broad use of hyperlinks here:

Preview

Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority, wants to join Michigan State Universities Panhellenic Council.

The Panhellenic Council governs the 13 existing sororities on campus and helps run events such as Greek Week, Safe Halloween, and formal recruitment.

Sigma Alpha is located at 336 Oakhill Ave, and currently has 66 active members with 12 membership candidates to join this semester, Amanda Sumerix, their current president said.

By joining The Panhellenic Council, they will be able to be involved in such events and would allow potential new members to see their chapter during recruitment, and potentially higher numbers.

There are agricultural Fraternities that are part of The Interfraternity Council, a similar council, that benefit from being included in IFC which makes it a parallel for a sorority of the same interest to join possibly.

Review

Sigma Alpha, is to be an associate member of Michigan State Universities Panhellenic Council starting in Fall of 2013.

The By-Laws state that an associate member acts as every other chapter, although they may not vote on matters such as expansion.  They usually do not participate in formal recruitment.

Chapters such as Sigma Delta Tau at MSU are also considered an associated member and only are involved in the first day of formal recruitment, Spirit Day, then followed by open bidding.

MSU's sigma alpha will be only the eighth chapter out of 56 nationally to be considered  part of their Universities Panhellenic Council, according to their national website.

The Panhellenic Council has not currently began the formal process for Sigma Alpha to become part, but the conversational portion is complete and there will now be an open conversational meeting and procedural vote to proceed with their membership.

(Yes, we had some problems finding the "public" setting here. So we improvised. And that's what we do in journalism; we figure out a way to make things work, even when they don't.)

Dan: general education video and preview and recap and tweets #jrngened

The online news posts on the merits of general education courses are cleaved in a logical way: one represents the student perspective, and the other the faculty angle.

Colin: dorm life video and preview and recap and tweets #dorm200

Sometimes, we lock in too long on the head shot of someone we're interviewing. Here, we lock in too long on pretty inactive B-roll intended to break up that kind of head shot. We'd be better off showing more varied B-roll or a more active single stretch of B-roll. We don't want to simply go from one dull shot to another dull shot.

Karilynn: fake IDs video and preview and recap and tweets #jrn200fakeids

Good use of hyperlinks in the tweets. But one doesn't work. After posting tweets or blog posts, always check and make sure your links work!

Thrishanna: major vs. money video and preview and recap and tweets #moneyvsmajor

The video was one interview subject short of the two-person requirement, plus it lacked B-roll. What B-roll can you do with such a vague topic? you may ask. Easy: think about what the crux of the story is about: a decision people make about their time on-campus. So, you could get generic campus shots: people walking around campus, a class listening to a lecture, a student going online to register for classes, ect. If you break down a B-roll quest to the most basic elements, you can usually come up with some generic but related B-roll.

Plus, good hyperlinks to related articles in the preview story! But, like with a traditional print story, try to avoid first-person references in the review.

Tyler: IM sports video and preview and recap and tweets #jrn200imsports

Yes, the video quality isn't great. But let's ignore that. The structure was good, though I wish the shooting angles would have been better (and can the one guy at least get off his laptop while he's being interviewed? It's almost like he's telling the viewer, "Naah, this ain't that important. I can't even bother to close my laptop to talk to you."

Charlene: dance marathon video and preview and recap and tweets #msudancefever

Again, let's make sure we're not simply mimicking hyperlinks between blogs.

Yuehan: service learning video and preview and recap and tweets #jrn200sl

Don't overload captions with too much information; keep identification captions simple and easy to read. Also, even though they are intended to be red sequentially, be sure to treat the preview and recap as separate stories. That means correctly citing first attributions in the recap, even if the person was mentioned in the preview.

Thomas: Kickstarter app video and preview and recap and tweets #plmlt

The video really needs a more detailed opening caption or narration -- kinda like a lede -- so that the viewer knows what the first interview subject is talking about when she starts with, "Obviously ..." Well, it's not obvious yet to the viewer. We also needed some in-interview B-roll. Here, try to match the sound to the B-roll. When the speaker talks about an app, show the app at work on a phone. When the speaker talks about customer-friendly businesses, show a local business place. Good tweet stream.

Kaylonni: MSU diversity video and preview and recap and tweets #welovediversitymsu

Try to incorporate some habits from written story organization, like telling and showing by pairing telling statements up with supporting quotes. A tweet making a statement like, MSU students would love to see more multicultural events here on campus, should be paired with a quote that supports that conclusion, like "We need to advertise and push multicultural programs," said Kuwaiti student.

The medium is different, but many of the principles we've worked on all semester still apply. It's still journalism -- and all the related principles -- whether we're typing or shooting or tweeting or whatever.

Obits: Just A Few Things

Let's remember this lesson from the first few days of class: journalists do not use euphemisms -- words or terms used in place of more direct terms or words -- instead, we use direct language.

In the case of this assignment, that means we don't say someone passed away,which is a euphemism for dying. So we simply say they died.

Plus, we should have capitalized the names of the medals he earned: the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Why? Because those are the specific names of specific medals. And we capitalize specific names. Which is why a certain person is Terrence Austin and not terrence austin, and why a certain type of car is a Ford Mustang and not a ford mustang.

Also, one last AP style check: when we have multiple people with the same last name in a story, then we throw out the usual AP Style rule where in first identification we use first and last names, and from then on just the last name.

Instead, in these instances we use the first and last names throughout, for every person who shares the same last name. Including the deceased, in this case.

Now, you don't need to start using the full name after the first reference until you actually hit a second Austin in your story. But once you do, its firsts and lasts the rest of the way.

Also, you would know you should capitalize Marines if you looked in your AP Style Book under the heading of, Marines.

Finally, I wish I could say we had a fatal-free assignment, but we did not. In one case, in a quote we misspelled him" as "hi." Any inaccuracy in a quote is a fatal, and since the misspelling of "him" created a correctly-spelled but unintended "hi," this fatal wouldn't have been caught by spell check.

Similarly, in a second case inside of a quote we misspelled "caused" as "cause." Again, any change of a direct quote is simply not acceptable, no matter how small or seemingly innocuous.

If it's inside of quotation marks, then it's exactly what they said, and how they said it. No leeway, and no exceptions, and no close-enoughs. 

MM #1: In General ...

Good job by most folks on this first round of multimedia work! If you do not receive a grade email for me this week, you can assume you received 4.0s on each segment, each of which counts as a practice story grade on this assignment (but will weigh much more on future assignments).

Vid #1: Your Work!

And off we go!

Ali

The edits between items in Ali's vids are a little too abrupt, but that's not an uncommon problem in a first video.

Colin

The subjects were a bit distant. Don't be afraid to bring the camera up to them.

Dan

Good mix of B-roll, and nice job in jumping from one interview to another quickly, so it feels more like a conversation where people jump in and out, instead of having one person drone on, then the next.

Darien

The camera angles could be better-executed, but you have the concepts right.

Mandi

B-roll needn't be video; you can also use still images, like you do here.

Thrishanna

Be sure to get good, clear audio!

Charlene


Again, audio! Plus, it may have been helpful to have some narration as sort of a lede over the opening B-roll, just so we don't have a long period of no sound, and so the viewer knows what you'[re getting at. Just like a written story, we don't want a viewer to have to wait and guess what a vid is about; they should know right away.

Tyler

Don't be afraid to use B-roll in the middle of an interview segment, and not just as transitional B-roll between different interview segments.

Kaylonni


I know you're working with basic equipment, so I'm not very concerned with video quality. But in terms of concept, we could have used some B-roll to break up single interview segments while the subject keeps talking, just to break up that tedious shot of someone droning on.

Karilynn

Nice structure and good sound, but two things: first, this is a general news story for a general audience, so avoid the direct and opinionated statement at the end (though I appreciate the sentiment). Second, there was a fatal in the spelling of Yuehan Liu's first name. Let's be sure that we're following the EXACT same fact-checking standards as we have in print. The medium is different, but why we do it and the standards we're trying to execute are not.

Ariel

Just like in print stories we need attribution, we also do in video. Who are the interview subjects? Why are they talking about this subject? We could really use some attributing captions here.

Thomas

Audio, right? And B-roll? Captions?

Yuehan

Nice audio! Nice use of still pictures as B-roll!

Vid #1: If You Need Some B-roll ...

Then we've got that B-roll!

Blogs/Tweets #1: Your Work!

Let's take a look:

Ali: CATA bus preview and recap and tweets #200CATAbusprobz

With Ali's tweets, we'd preper to have more shared observations and fewer opinions and feelings. Treat it like a news item; it's about what you see, not what you think.

Tyler: video game football preview and review and tweets #JRN200NCAA13

Karilynn: procrastination preview and review and tweets #hwisnotfunJRN200

Again, I would have preferred you wrote/tweeted about something you were observing, rather than something you were doing.

Colin: basketball tourney preview and recap and tweets  #BIG200

Good tweet stream here.

Dan: basketball tourney preview and recap and tweets #jrnisfun

Very good use of varied hyperlinks offering background info and visuals. I know it's social media, but still watch your spelling. It's "wrap" and not "rap" if you're talking about wrapping things up.

Whitney: frozen yogurt trip preview and recap and tweets #JRN200FROYO

Darien: basketball game preview and recap and tweets #clevelandsreckoning

Nice use of hyperlinks, but what about variety beyond biographies? Like, game highlights? We went waaay beyond 12 tweets here but that's good! Twelve was the assignment minimum; use as many tweets as you need to tell the story. And I enjoyed your friends' tweets, too.

Mandi: weather preview and recap and tweets #msuweather

The recap essentially repeated the preview; our best option was to use the last paragraph of the recap as the starting point for a new post, maybe looking forward to what the weather will be in the near future.

Anne: basketball tournament preview and recap:

Preview

Today March Madness will kick off with the pairing of number three seed Michigan State University and number 14 seed Valparaiso. 

The game taking place at the Palace of Auburn Hills, will tip-off at 12:15 pm.

MSU is the favorite with players such as Adrian Payne, Derrick Nix, and Keith Appling to carry the team to a believed easy victory.

MSU a three seed for the tournament is a believed possible contender for the championship, something that multiple sports professionals have said.

Valparaiso will do everything in their power to keep their presence in the tournament and possibly create a large upset.  

Review

Michigan State University defeated Valparaiso 65-54 today in Detroit.

After a slow first few minutes, MSU's superior three point shooting and defense pulled off a win in their first round of March Madness against Valparaiso.

Michigan states Derrick Nix picked up his fourth double double this season, leading the team with 23 points and his career high of 15 rebounds. 

Valparaiso just didn't seem to catch a break throughout the game, with many calls not going their way, and shots just not seeming to fall.

As the game seemed to be coming to a close Valparaiso's Ben Boggs finished with a slam-dunk as the final shot of the game. 

...  and tweets #msuvalparaiso

Thrishanna: St. Paddy's Day preview and recap and tweets #JRN200bdubs

Charlene: TV show preview and recap and tweets #teentvatthebest

Nice preview and recap, but we're missing hyperlinks.

Tyler: TV show preview and recap and tweets #JRN200HIMYM

Don't forget a lede tweet, so people know right away what the tweet stream is going to be about

Kaylonni: dinner preview and recap and tweets #MSUquesadillas

Jack:  basketball tournament preview and recap and tweets #msuvalpjrn200

Thomas: beer rhetoric meeting preview and recap and tweets #jrn200lt

Nice use of a Twit pic to illustrate the twitter stream

Yuehan: making cupcakes preview and recap and tweets #cupcakes

The hashtag is too generic here. See what happens when you click on it?

Tweets #1: How To Tweet Non-Breaking News

Tweeting a breaking news story is easy, as you've learned. Just type what you see, as you see it. But how do you tweet something that isn't breaking? Like a trend story, or something about a topic without a specific time peg or an actual event associated with it?

Actually, that's easy, too!

That was a situation a student in one of my past JRN 200 classes faced. She was doing a story about a rash of concussions among student-athletes. And here's her tweet stream, which I reversed so that you see her first tweet first and her last tweet last; the opposite of how it would appear on Twitter. Here we go:

#concussedathletes Over 300,000 sports related concussions occur each year, according to the Brain Trauma Research Center.

#concussedathletes The NCAA, the nation's largest college athletic association, has no guidelines for treating athletes with head injuries.

#concussedathletes The Big Ten is trying to implement its own regulations to deal with concussed athletes.

#concussedathletes Michigan State University is not pushing for the Big Ten to have the regulations.

#concussedathletes MSU soccer goalkeeper Liz Watza has had five concussions and said "The NCAA should create guidelines."

#concussedathletes Sports Specialist Dr. Homer Linard said the main concern with letting injured athletes back in the game is brain injury.

#concussedathletes Suffering a second concussion shortly after the first one can be deadly, according to the Brain Trauma Research Center.

#concussedathletes Incoming freshmen athletes at MSU are given a specific concussion test, called ImPACT. impacttest.com

#concussedathletes Athletic Clinical Coordinator Brian Bratta said "ImPACT assesses memory, cognitive ability and function of the brain."

#concussedathletes Once a concussion occurs at MSU, the athlete takes ImPACT again to gauge the severity of the injury.

#concussedathletes Despite new technology, the biggest indicator is the presence of symptoms, said Bratta. http://tinyurl.com/6cq9dx

#concussedathletes When a head injury occurs, MSU athletes are immediately given SCAT, the Standardized Concussion Assessment Test.

#concussedathletes SCAT is a checklist of common symptoms and tests balance, said MSU Certified Athletic Trainer Yume Nakamura.

Now, please notice a few things. Look at the first four tweets. Each could be a lede, right? For many of you, in writing a story -- especially trend stories -- you may find that you have more than one good lede option, but you can only choose one lede. But in tweeting the news, each lede option can become its own tweet.

Second, the tweeter took telling quotes and made each a tweet, like that of the player giving her opinion on the subject. Just like a quote in a story, it's not YOUR opinion; it's what somebody who is a subject of your story thinks.

Third, interesting facts are offered as tweets, like those on what the effects of a concussion can be.

Fourth, a mini-series of tweets are used to explain a nuance of the story, like the half-dozen tweets that in total detail how MSU deals with concussed athletes.

Fifth, hyperlinks are offered via tweet. Notice the tweet that uses a bit.ly link. Bit.ly is a URL shortener that will take a long URL and convert it into a shorter one that better fits on a character-restricted service like Twitter.

Let's take a look at what bit.ly can do for you, via this link.

MM #2: What You Need To Do

For your second multimedia assignment, we will use all the mediums we used in the first assignment, but instead of having sorta irrelevant topics, you will take all of or an aspect of one of your first two out-of-class stories, and do a video/online preview/online recap/tweet stream for it.

That would include:

... a 1-2 minute video, uploaded to YouTube, with B-roll and at least two source interviews on-tape;

... a 100-200-word preview, posted to blogger.com, taking a look at the issue going into your reporting, with at least two relevant working hyperlinks embedded in the text;

... a 100-200-word recap, posted to blogger.com, taking a look at what you discovered about the issue/how it ended, with at least two relevant working hyperlinks embedded in the text;

... and a tweet stream on Twitter with at least 12 tweets on the subject, with a unifying unique hash tag applied.

For this exercise, you may reinterview sources from your previous stories or interview new sources. You may also use what you gathered and your notes from your original stories in putting together your new media news products.

Also, when I say you can do the entire comprehensive story or just a facet of it, this is what I mean: let's say you did a story on the pros and cons of living off-campus vs. on-campus. The video and tweet stream may just look at one aspect, such as student opinions on the issue. The preview online story might look at the experiences of on-campus residents; with the recap looking at off-campus viewpoints. None of the mediums necessarily have to look at the issue as broadly as you did in a traditional text story (though you may do so if you so choose).

Your deadline for this will be 9 a.m. Monday, via email to omars@msu.edu. Please put ALL your links to your work into a single email, with the subject line of MM2. 

JRN 200: Extra Credit ...

. . . because it never hurts to get extra credit:

FOR GETTING AN OUT-OF-CLASS STORY PUBLISHED, if you email me a link proving that you've been published, then per the syllabus your final class grade will go up by 0.15 points for every published story. That means if you get all three published, your 3.5 final grade would turn into a 4.0.

The benefit to you is two-fold: first, you get a better grade. Duh. Second -- and probably more important to your long-term prospects -- you start building a portfolio. This is very much a field of demonstrated ability; that is, an employer doesn't want to see that you're capable of doing something; they want to see that you've already done it. Like, write a real story and get it published.

Plus, then you get to add to your resume a line that you worked as a free-lance contributor to whatever publication in the fall of 2013. Even if you get just one story published, that is an accurate line in your resume.

Again, for me to count your extra credit, you need to submit to me a published copy of your work and/or email me a Web link to your work, along with an email request to have it applied to extra credit.

FOR DOING A FOURTH OUT-OF-CLASS STORY, for your final grade the three out-of-class stories that go into that grade will be the three (of four) with the highest grades. So if you did four out-of-class stories and one included a fatal, you are making that fatal go bye-bye.

Plus, in the event you are on the borderline of receiving a higher grade, I will take into account whether you applied extra effort, including whether you did a fourth out-of-class story. 

FOR DOING AN OUT-OF-CLASS MINI-STORY -- which can be between 300 and 500 words, with a minimum of two human sources, in which you can cover ANY sort of event (subject to my approval) like a student group meeting or a speaker on-campus -- I will replace your two lowest practice story grades with 4.0s.

FOR GETTING THE MINI-STORY PUBLISHED, I will replace two more lowest-scoring practice stories with 4.0s.

I will also consider other extra-credit projects on a case-by-case basis. Please see me during my office hours to work out other extra-credit assignments.

THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS is that you are demonstrating to me that you can now correctly apply skills learned in this class that at one time you did not apply as well; that you went above and beyond what we are learning in this class to further educate yourself in journalism; and/or you are demonstrating ability learned on your own prior to this class but applicable here. You can expect any ad hoc extra credit beyond the assignments listed here to include at least one of those components.

I don't care if you messed up earlier; show me you can get it right now and I'm happy to replace earlier grades with something more accurately reflecting where you are at NOW.

I just want to be clear on this one point regarding extra credit: extra credit will be applied to replace the grades of assignments you have actually done, including fact-fataled assignments.

Extra credit will NOT be applied to assignments that you did not turn in, or in which you had a time fatal.

So if you were thinking of skipping an assignment or two toward the end of the semester by pre-emptively turning in some extra credit, that plan won't work.

Stats: A Good Example

A good lede, good nut graf, good attribution, good sequence of supporting info; just good.

Today, more than 76 percent of children from ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer, according to the Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in October.

            This is a dramatic change from when personal computer usage first began in households in 1984. Then, only 8.2 percent of households reported that they owned a household computer, according to the census bureau.

            Household Internet usage has remained a little below that of household computer usage, according to the census bureau.

            In 1984, Internet usage was non-existent, according to the census bureau.

            In 1997, when more than 36 percent of households owned computers, 18 percent of those were accessing the Internet, according to the census bureau.

            Today, when nearly 62 percents of households own computers, nearly 55 percent of them are able to access the Internet, according to the census bureau.

            Where households did not own a computer, only two percent of them reported that they accessed the Internet outside of the home, according to the census bureau.

            Over 45 percent of households still do not access the Internet, including some that own household computers, according to the census bureau.

            Of these households, 22 percent found the cost of Internet prohibitive, while 41 percent were not interested in accessing the Internet at all, according to the census bureau.

Stats: A Good Alternate Lede

I've been very focused on you all doing basic journalism: a to-the-point lede, a strong nut graf, frequent attribution, and so forth.

But the goal isn't to write basic stories with basic ledes; it's to use the qualities of structure, simple and direct language, attribution and such to then reinstall creativity to our writing, so that we have something that is both fun to read AND fun to write; something that is engaging in style yet solid in journalistic principles.

I think this story -- and its alternate lede -- does a good job of marrying fundamentals and a fun-to-read style. Note how it's not creativity for creativity's sake; it's an artistic style entirely rooted in the facts you're trying to emphasize:  

It’s the device that changed the lives of many people.

It has become the go-to for information regarding the news, weather, research, latest celebrity gossip and much, much more.

What is it?

It’s the computer.

There has been a dramatic growth of computer ownership and Internet use in American households from the early 1980s until now, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducted the survey as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS) on household computer ownership and Internet use by Americans.

The CPS is a large nationally representative survey of approximately 50,000 households conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau; this particular survey was conducted in October, said the survey.

The survey shows that since the early 1980s when computers first entered households, the number of households owning a computer has increased from 8.2 percent to 61.8 percent of 113.1 million American households.

According to the survey, of the 61.8 percent of households with computers, 54.7 percent access the Internet from home.

“Today, more than 76 percent of children ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer, as do 57 percent of all adults ages 18+,” said the survey.

Although computers and the Internet are becoming popular in the majority of American households, they aren’t for everyone.

According to the survey, of the 45.3 percent of households that don’t access the Internet but have computers, have a variety of reasons given for not connecting to the Internet.

A few main reasons given were having computers that are inadequate to access the Internet, people who felt they don’t need the Internet or weren’t interested in it, and the cost of the Internet was too high, said the survey.

The survey also said that many people don’t access the Internet because of a lack of time, lack of skill, language barriers, privacy and security concerns, and concerns about children accessing questionable material on the Internet.

Stats: Watch Your Math

Be careful with numbers. Make sure you say what you mean, and you mean what you say, and that you understand what you say.

For example, let's look at this passage:

The U.S. Census Bureau ... (found) 61.8 percent have computers, an increase of almost 54 percent since 1984.

This is a fatal.

How is that? you may say. It went from 8.2 percent in 1984 to 61.8 percent now. The difference is 53.6 percent!

That's because the difference in percentage points is 53.6 percent. But the difference in percentage growth is actually 653.6 percent!

Here's what I mean:

In 1984, 8.2 percent of 100 percent households had computers. If 100 percent is 113.1 million households, that means 8.2 percent is around 9.2 million households.

Today, 61.8 percent of that 113.1 million households have computers. 61.8 percent of 113.1 million is around 69.9 million.

So the percentage increase isn't 8.2 to 53.6; it's roughly 9.2 million to somewhere around 69.9 million. And that's an increase of over 650 percent. If the 9.2 million only went up just over 53 percent, we'd be talking about a total of around 14 million or so.

What I think you meant to say was that the percentage of households with computers has risen 53.67 percentage points. Which it did. But that's not what you said.

If you're not sure, check with your sources to make sure your math is correct and in proper context.

Nw, I understand math is hard. That's why many of us went into writing; to get away from math, right?

Still, we have to know how to accurately calculate percentage change, and these day it's never been easier with the Internet. Just do a Google search for "percentage change calculator" and you'll find dozens. That's how I did my math.

By the way, this isn't an isolated mistake. In my class last fall someone made the exact same mistake as you did here.

So don't fret. Do work on remembering the lesson, and not repeating the mistake.

Stats: Flip That Lede!

Some of you had good ledes that would have been great ledes if you flipped the lede; that is, switch positioning of attribution and substance to highlight the latter.

Here's one lede that could have used a flip:

According to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau, Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes.

Nice lede, but see how it starts with the attribution before getting to the gist of the story? You can reverse that order like this ...

Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes, according to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau.

... and you emphasize what is being said over who is saying it. Please note in this case I did not change, add or eliminate any word you used in your lede.

I simply flipped the order.

Stats: A Lot Of Youze Guys ...

... were thrown off by the press release starting so heavily with background about the survey before moving on to what the survey found.

That led many of you to offer generic background on the survey -- it's been conducted since 1942, it polls 50,000 households, ect. -- ahead of what the survey found regarding Internet use -- most households now use computers, and the number has drastically grown over the past few decades.

And it led some of you to lede with the fact a survey was taken, rather than what the survey discovered!

All because something is first in a press release -- or a city council meeting, or a football game -- doesn't mean it's worth prominent mention or a lede. Your lede is based on the Peanut Barrel values we've discussed all semester (and in that case, it's not, Hey! A survey was taken! right?) and where you rank information is based on most relevant to least relevant, and not necesarily the order in which things were presented.

Don't fall for the sequence trap. Rank information on value to the reader and support for your story's central premise.

Stats: Writing With (AP) Style

Is it internet with a little i, or Internet with a capital I?

It's Internet, with a capital I.

Some of you may have missed that because the listing in AP Style for Internet doesn't say in the text to capitalize it. But in the heading and throughout the definition Internet is indeed capitalized.

The headings for each listing is more than a heading; it also shows the form in which the term is supposed to be used. Things that are lower-cased like international date line are listed as such, in lower case. Things that are usually capitalized are also listed as such, like Internet.

Also, one of the oldest AP Style rules we have around here is that you spell out percent instead of using the percent symbol. No excuse for not knowing that by now. Yet, some of you are still repeating that mistake.

Plus, remember that in first references you should use a full title in caps, like the U.S. Census Bureau. But subsequent references should use the generic title in lower-case, like the census bureau.

Let's get these loose ends tied up, okay?

Lawsuit: A Fatals Recap

In one of the lawsuit stories, we said the case was taking place in East Lansing court. In fact, it was taking place in Ingham County court.

In another lawsuit story, we spelled the last name of the attorney alternately as Piloto (correctly) and Poloto (incorrectly).

In a third lawsuit story, we said the high school's president was being sued. In fact, it was the high school's principal.

In a fourth lawsuit story, we said the suit asked for $500,00. We were missing a zero; the actual amount was $500,000.

The only lesson comes in the form of a reminder: we need to double-check EVERY name and EVERY title and EVERY figure and EVERY fact after we finish writing, to ensure what we wrote is actually correct.

Lawsuit: Legal B.S.

Did you need to say the Dowdells demand a jury trial of all issues triable as of a right by jury?

What the hell does that mean, anyway?

It just means they are asking for a jury trial. So it would have been enough to say the Dowdells demanded a jury trial.

Likewise, did you need to say the lawsuit targeted both the defendants jointly and severally, for the compensatory damages in the amount of $500,000?

No. More legal B.S. You could just say the lawsuit targeted the defendants for $500,000.

Now, I didn't knock your grade for your inability to navigate legal mumbo-jumbo, unless it changed the meaning of things. This is the sort of stuff you'll get the hang of when you actually start covering court cases.

Still, if you're not sure of the meaning of what you're writing, you should ask a source for a layman's translation.

Lawsuit: Allegedly

Like we've discussed before, in a lawsuit anyone can allege anything. So it's extra-important to note things are alleged.

The district didn't fail to adequately educate James Dowdell. They allegedly failed to adequately educate Dowdell. We won't know whether that's true or not until the trial takes place and evidence is presented.

Lawsuit: Plurals vs. Possessives

When you are talking about the Dowdells as a family unit, it's plural, as in Dowdells; e.g., the Dowdells demand a jury trial.

When you are talking about a single Dowdell in the possessive form, then it's Dowdell's; e.g., Dowdell's IQ score was 94.

When you are talking about a group of Dowdells in the possessive, then it's Dowdells'; e.g., the Dowdells' lawsuit.

Losta problems with apostrophes and s's in this one.

Rescue: Take Time To Check Facts

We need to make sure that we're taking time BEFORE we start writing to make sure we understand all the facts correctly.

In one case, we wrote that the boy died when a pond collapsed. In fact, it was a tunnel in a hill near a pond that collapsed. That misinterpretation of facts is a fatal.

We also need to make sure that we're taking time AFTER we finish writing to make sure all the facts are correct as given.

In the same story, we named the city East Lansing and East Lasing, the latter with the "n" missing. One had to be wrong, as a city can't have two different names.

Also, in another well-written story, we wrote that the child who died was 6 years old. In fact, he was 11.

Please, let's make sure we're spending as much time studying the material BEFORE we start writing and reviewing our facts for accuracy AFTER we finish writing, as we are actually writing.

I've said it a bunch of times before, but I need to say it again: journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right. 

Rescue: Who, What, WHEN, Where, Why

Quite a few of us never said what time the collapse took place. Even more of us never said when the boy was pulled out of the tunnel, and at what time the boy died.

Time often matters as one of the five W's. But in this case, it's especially important to the telling of the story.

Time tells you how difficult it would have been for the boy to be okay after being buried for so long. Time tells you how difficult it was to dig out the boy, in that it took so long.

In this case, specific times are important bits of data that help show teh reader what happened, and not just leave them being told by you.

You say it was a difficult rescue. The times help readers see that.

In every story you write, try to determine which data sets help explain the story and show readers what they need to see in terms of evidence supporting your overall angle.

Rescue: Why Did A Few Of Us ...

. . . forget to make any mention that the city's zoning board was to be notified about the site's hazard to children, as indicated at the end of the report?

Isn't that an important detail relating to where the story may go from here, and detailing consequence for what happened?

Also, some of you referred to the site owner generically, but you never named the company directly. Why is that? Isn't that specific and useful information? Wouldn't readers want to know who owns the land, in the same way they want to know who died? Isn't who one of the five W's every story should have?

Finally, if this was a real story you were doing for a real news organization, what would have been some additional steps in reporting this story? Let's get some good answers.

Rescue: Was It ...

. . . a fort the kids were building? You know, with gates and turrets and moats and solid stone walls and stuff?

Or a tunnel that was a kind of play-fort?

It's the former, right?

So, why just call it a fort when it was really a tunnel?

It's not wrong that you refer to the fort in some way; just make sure the context is correct. One of you found a great way to say it: the boys were digging a tunnel to create a play fort.

Rescue: Writing With (AP) Style

When do you spell out avenue and street, and when do you abbreviate it?

In AP Style under addresses, it says to abbreviate when used with a specific street number, like 8397 Liberty Ave.

But when using just the street name without a number, it's spelled out, like Liberty Avenue.

Police: Time To Fact-Check

I'm happy to say that the way we did the police exercise -- where you had designated time slots in which to go over the source material; then write; and then fact-check -- helped many people organize and then vet their information in an accurate manner.

I'm sorry to say it wasn't perfect in that regard.

One of us did fatal, when we said the attempted robbery took place this afternoon and at approximately 1:15 p.m. In fact, it was early this morning and around 1:15 a.m. In the same assignment, we spelled the entering customer's name as Alder, when it was actually Adler.


It is what it is, folks.

Police: Peanut Barrel Rule

I'm kind of surprised that few of you cited something that to me stood out like a sore thumb: the fact that the cane-wielding victim was almost 6 1/2 feet tall, while the would-be alleged robber he beat was fit but not much over five feet tall and weighed less than half as much as the victim.

Isn't that a Peanut Barrel-type of item? Isn't that sharp contrast in size what takes an out-of-the-ordinary robbery story (unusual in that the victim beat off the attacker) and make it even more unique?

I'm not shocked that many of you didn't weave it into your ledes, because to do that is doable but a bit complex. I'm just surprised few few of you noted that bit of interest.

Any explanations?

As journalists, it's important that even when we are looking at what we think is a routine event, that we are always on the lookout for something that makes it a bit different and a bit more interesting. Even if that bit of interest is buried in the nuances of a police report.

Some of you did, however, note the victim's disability-turned-advantage. This lede did that, smartly:

A man with a cane should not be underestimated.

Police: Ledes

Let's look at some ledes; first, this one:

The Ingham County Sheriff's Office responded to an armed robbery around 1:30 a.m. today in Okemos.

It's factually correct, but does it go to end resul and ultimate outcome? No. It's like those hypothetical sports ledes we looked at earlier: MSU football played a game Saturday night. It doesn't say how things finished, or at least set context. And in journalism, we start with ending and/or context.

The end result was what transpired. This lede got there:

An attempted armed robbery occurred today in Okemos, resulting in one arrest.

That's better, but there's still something missing. It wasn't a routine armed robbery; I mean, the clerk captured one of the robbers. That's different, right? So, why not highlight what makes this different, like this:

A store clerk captured one of two men who attempted an armed robbery at a convenience store this morning, according to an Ingham County sheriff's report.

Now, the reader knows not just that something happened, but what happened and how it ended.

It's fair to say what made this story stand out from other armed robbery stories is that the victim caught the suspect. What made it stand out among stories where the victim caught the suspect is that the victim was lame. This lede captured that extra element:

An armed robbery attempt at Jiffy Foods, 4010 Holbrook Drive in Okemos, was foiled by a clerk who had recently been injured in a construction job. 

Yet another lede developed that context -- a lame victim beating a robber -- a bit more.  This more anecdotal lede is followed by a nut graf that helped zero in on the basic details of end result:

While many view being cane-dependent as a handicap, Jiffy Foods clerk Terry DaRoza saw it as an advantage that helped save his life in an armed robbery late last night.

DaRoza, recently injured in a construction job, had to resort to violence when two customers threatened him with a knife at the convenience store on Holbrook Drive at 1:15 a.m., according to an Ingham County Sheriff's report.

This lede/nut graf combo did an outstanding job of setting context and offering basic details. Look carefully at how the nut graf answers specific questions created by the lede; e.g., who was the clerk, who was the robber, how did he defend himself, where and when did this happen, ect.

An injured convenience store clerk used his cane in self-defense this morning when two armed men  tried to rob Jiffy Foods, according to an Ingham County Sheriff's Department report.

At about 1:15 a.m., Terry DaRoza, 34, beat Timothy Keel with his cane after Keel allegedly pulled a knife on DaRoza at the store located at 4010 Holbrook Drive, the report said.

Then the story starts a chronological narrative. But the reader already known end result and context.

Police: Nut Grafs

One of youze did a nice alternate lede, but the nut graf fell a bit short. Here was the sequence:

One left in a jiffy. And the other? Not so much.

Jiffy Foods, located in Okemos, was the target of an attempted robbery by two men early this morning.

Then, you start with the chronological narrative of how things unfolded.

First off, the lede was cute and a great teasing set-up for the nut graf.

Now, the nut graf does half of what a good nut graf does, in expanding upon the lede. It says where they left, and what they were doing there.

But the nut graf falls short in another area, and that's answering critical questions created by the lede. Like, why didn't the other guy leave, too? That question was central to your lede, and you leave the reader still guessing after the nut graf.

A better nut graf would say something like this:

Two men walked into Jiffy Foods in Okemos as part of an alleged armed robbery attempt, but only one of the suspects was able to flee after the other was beaten by a clerk wielding a cane.

Now, we can go on to the narrative. The reader knows what the lede meant.

Police: Allegedly

Some more problems with when to use allegedly.

It's not alleged that Keel entered the store. He has a face full of broken bones proving he was there. And it's not a crime to get your ass kicked (though it may be a crime to do the ass-kicking).

What is alleged is whether he pulled a knife, and tried to commit a crime.

So, where does allegedly fit in here?

DaRoza walked behind the counter for the key to the restroom when Keel followed him and exposed a knife.

Before "exposed a knife," right?

Police: Attribution

How do you know this?

DaRoza said that he swung the cane as hard as he could into Keel's face.

Is it because DaRoza said it to you?

No, it's not. It's because DaRoza told the cops, and the cops put it in their report. So, proper attribution would be something like this:

DaRoza said that he swung the cane as hard as he could into Keel's face, according to a sheriff's report.

Police: Writing With (AP) Style

Was the address of the store 4010 Holbrook Dr., or 4010 Holbrook Drive?

It's Drive, spelled out.

AP Style under addresses says to abbreviate avenue, boulevard and street when it's part of a specific address. But similar words like alley, drive, road and terrace are always spelled out, no matter what.

I know the report had drive abbreviated, but our job as journalists is to translate anything except direct citations and quotes into AP style.

Vid #1: Some Examples Of What It Could Look Like

For the first video assignment, I am asking you to do a news video on the topic of, what have you learned sofar in JRN 200?

In this assignment, I will split you up into groups, and you will interview your group members for this story.

As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:


-- Videos staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- Videos containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- Videos containing NO fatals


The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0.

These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.

Now, in doing a first video people demonstrate a wide range of starting points. Let's get a sense of what those starting points may look like, based on the first videos from my summer 2012 JRN 200 class. Let's point out and discuss good habits and ones that can be a bit better.

Off we go: 

Lindsay

Molly

Emily

Lilly

Max

Julia

Katelyn

Vid #1: Your Video Group!

For the video exercise, each person will be assigned to a four-person group with which you will work on the vid assignment and interview each other. Please share whatever video resources you have within your group.

For those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.

You may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program, the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs already loaded.

You MUST work with your group members and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story and ALSO include their members among your interviews. You may NOT trade group members.

Green group: Anne, Colin, Kaylonni, Thomas

White group: Charlene, Ariel, Tyler, Jack

Sparty group:  Mandi, Ali, Thrishanna, Dan 

Izzo group: Darien, Karilynn, Yuehan, Whitney

Blog #1: Hyperlinks Are Easy!

In traditional print journalism, we work in one dimension. That is, in the text story we put everything a person needs: a lede, quotes, data, background, ect.

But when we are writing online news, we can write in two dimensions: the literal text, and via hyperlink.

Hyperlinks are highlighted pieces of text that, when clicked on, takes the viewer to a new Web page. For example, this is a hyperlink. And it takes us to a Wikipedia entry about hyperlinks.

What hyperlinks do in an online story is allow you to offer background or quotes or video or other related content in a secondary dimension, so that your primary story can concentrate on conclusions and such.

If in print we try to show and tell readers, in online news hyperlinks allow us to tell in the main story, and then show through a hyperlink. Like in this ESPN.com story, where the hyperlinks let us know who is who, without that background overwhelming the text of the story.

In this blog post, hyperlinks include ones to earlier stories from the same Web site, and news stories from other Web sites (including one of my local favorites). See how it offers background in two dimensions?

And that gives the reader options. If they choose to trust your summary, they can leave it at that. If they want more info, all they have to do is click on a hyperlink and -- voila! -- they can get into as much detail as their little hearts desire.


Hyperlinks are real easy to make.

First, you want to highlight a section of text that is directly relevant to what you're hyperlinking to. For example, if you're writing an article about yourself and you want to hyperlink to your Facebook page so people can get background about you, a relevant place to hyperlink from would be a mention of your name.

After highlighting the next, look at your tools bar for wither a symbol that looks like linked chains, or the word "link." Click on that.

When you do, a box should pop up that asks for a URL, which is a fancy way of saying, Web address. Copy the URL and paste it into the box, and then hit "OK."

Then, save, close and publish your item. You should now have a working hyperlink.

And after posting your story, be sure to go to your item just as a reader would, and double-check your hyperlinks to make sure they work.

Tweet #1: Tweets Are Easy!

Many of you already use Twitter, but you may wonder how to use it for news.

That's easy, actually.

As you probably know, in Twitter you communicate in bursts of text no longer than 140 characters. So you're trying to say a little in a lot of space.

But that's less of a challenge than you may think.

That's because you're not limited to just one tweet. You can do as many tweets as you'd like!

So a single tweet is not a single story. Rather, a collection of tweets are. One tweet may be like sort of a lede, where it sums up the main point. following tweets are like the body of a story, with one tweet offering an update and another some relevant stats, and yet another a quote.

And that's the most basic value of Twitter -- it's another way to relay events live and as they happen to an audience who may not be near a TV or radio or whatever. You can essentially "broadcast" live, just using text sent to mobile devices of readers.

A collection of related tweets are unified by a hashtag; that is, the hashtag symbol on your keyboard (the thing that looks like a criss-cross fry; it's the number 3 key when under shift lock) followed by a unique phrase. For example, tweets at the convention I went to were joined by the hashtag #ncmc12 (short for National College Media Convention 2012).

You can supplement your tweets with links to a photo uploading site, like yFrog, which can help tell the story beyond the 140 characters allowed in a tweet, and beyond simple words.

You can also link to anything on the Web with the aid of a URL shortener, like bit.ly. What the service does is take a URL and replace it with a much shorter one. Using a bit.ly link here gives you more room to write text without the URL taking up so much space.

Ideally, the best tweet streams can be put in reverse order and read just like an inverted-pyramid news story, with (timewise) your first tweet summing up what happened, and the following tweets filling in details and offering a chronology as something unfolds.

Here -- again, in reverse order, with the tweets in order of when they were posted -- is the State News' sports Tweet stream just before and from the press conference announcing Coach Dantonio's heart attack a while back:

Report: Football head coach Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack but is OK.

There is a "important football-related press conference" scheduled for 1 p.m. It is unclear if it is related to reports of Dantonio's health

MSU: Dantonio will remain at the hospital for a few days for monitoring. Return to sidelines at a later date.

MSU: Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will manage day-to-day responsibilities of head coach.

MSU: Dantonio had "symptoms consistent with a heart attack."

MSU: Dantonio had a cardiac catheterization procedure early Sunday morning.

AD Mark Hollis said Dantonio will not be on the sidelines for the Northern Colorado game Saturday.

Hollis: "This is a time for the Spartan nation to come together, to rally."

Dr. D'Haem of Sparrow Hospital said a full recover is expected.

Dr. D'Haem said procedure is very routine and happens often. Also said he expects no long-term negative impact. Return yet to be determined.

Dr. D'Haem said Dantonio began feeling symptoms around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Dr. D'Haem: Heart attacks are never good...but I would classify this as a rather small heart attack.

Hollis said he spent the night at the hospital until about 5:30, the returned to hospital this morning at 8.

Dr. D'Haem: "Stress doesn't cause coronary heart disease, but very stressful events can be a trigger."

Coach Treadwell on players' reaction: "They're handling it as well as they can. They love their head coach."

Hollis: "(Dantonio's) thoughts went immediately to his family and then to the football program."

Treadwell said the fact staff has been together for a number of years will make this process easier from a football point of view.

Dr. D'Haem said timetable for Dantonio's return will be taken week-by-week.

There's a lede. There's a nut graf. There's supporting details. There are quotes. There is background. It collectively qualifies as a journalistic story. And you did it within the confines of social media.

This is exactly how The Associated Press wire service has always filed breaking news stories as a story is breaking: line-by-line, with the idea the lines can be pasted together into a story. It allows the writer to push out a story (and an editor to edit copy) much faster than if he or she waited to have a mass of information combined into a story, and yet a reader still ends up with all the information they need to consider the package in its totality.

So really, tweets are just a way of applying old journalistic skills in a new way.

Now, it's your turn. Your assignment is to live-tweet anything -- the latest episode of your favorite TV or radio show; a sporting event you're attending; your roommate eating dinner; whatever -- and send me a link to your Twitter account (which must be open to the public), with a deadline of the start of class Wednesday.

You will need to send a minimum of 12 tweets, with a unique hashtag applied to each. For this first assignment, I don't care what the news value is of your topic. I simply want to see your technical proficiency in live-tweeting something happening, as it happens.