Monday, April 22, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, April 8, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
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
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.
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:
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.
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