Class Structure: This course is divided into three segments — news writing, broadcast writing and magazine writing — so assignments are also grouped by segment. Please check the class schedule before jumping into these assignments; I may skip over a few of the news writing assignments listed below — or add a few — as the semester progresses, depending on how quickly you pick up on writing leads and news stories, etc.

Deadlines: All assignments due by 6 p.m. Saturday of the week they are assigned, unless otherwise noted. Please post all assignments on your blog unless otherwise directed; please use the assignment name as the title of your blog post.

Ongoing Assignments:

• Top News blog posts: Select a top news story and identify news values; weekly for the first 6 weeks of class, due Saturdays, 1/31 – 3/7. (10 points each)
• Copy Edit the World: Find and correct errors in published materials; (25 points total — first 10 points due 2/28; next 15 points due 4/4). Please Note: These must be errors you’ve spotted, not errors previously identified by others that are already posted online.
• Topical Blog Posts (weekly for three weeks, 4/25 – 5/9, 15 points each) – write a short (150-200 words) blog post on a JMC activity, event or guest speaker or on a media-related news event or trend, or on a specific topic requested by the instructor. This is an opportunity for you to write about topics that interest you.

NEWS WRITING SEGMENT

Lead-writing exercises (10-15 points each):

• Leads 1: Three starter leads
• Lead 2: Air Crash
• Lead 3: Amtrak crash
• Leads 4: Smoking Wheels, Missing Boy
• Lead 5: Pipefitter or
• Two feature leads (Squirrelly Situation & Alarming Event)

News writing exercises (15-20 points each):

• Inverted Pyramid exercise
• News Story #1: Firefighters or DUI
  (delayed vs. immediate identification exercise)
• News Story #2: Cathedral Robbery
• News Story #3: Gas Line Break
• News Story #4: Carjacker or Close Call
• News Story #5: Runaway Truck
• News Story #6: Toilet Seat
• Short Profile (see “major projects” for this segment below)
• Final News Writing Project: Real News Reporting (see below)

Blog Posts

• The Future of the News
• Got What It Takes To Be A Reporter? (See exercise on page 29 in text; post your results and briefly discuss your response/thoughts)
• Calculate Your FOG Index (see exercise on page 51 in text; post a recent example of your own writing, calculate your FOG Index, and briefly reflect on what you’ve learned).
  

Major Projects:

• Write a Profile (50 points, due 3/7): Review pages 73-83 of text and listen to podcasts on interviewing and working with quotes. Then interview someone (not a close friend or family member) and write a 350-to-500-word profile about that person. (Submit via email. Paste in body of email or send as Word or text attachment. No .docx attachments please; I can’t open them.)
• Real-Life Reporting News Story or Feature (50 points, due 3/21): Cover/attend an on-campus or local meeting or event (check out this blog post for some suggestions); write a 350-to-500-word news story or news feature with at least three sources. Note: Your meeting or event must be newsworthy or it will not work for this assignment! For some ideas, check out this blog post. This is a longer assignment, so please submit it by email. Paste it into body of an email or send it as Word or text attachment. No .docx attachments please; I can’t open them.

BROADCAST SEGMENT

Broadcast writing exercises will include:

• Soft broadcast lead: Return to the Two Feature Leads exercise; pick one and write a “soft” broadcast lead (an attention-getting intro and lead paragraph — see Lectures & Podcasts page for more info and examples).
• Broadcast news story: Rewrite a current news story for broadcast (link to story will be emailed).
• Broadcast style exercise (emailed).

Final Broadcast Project (50 points, due 4/4): Rewrite your “real news” story for broadcast. (Alternatively, you may choose to rewrite for broadcast another original news story or news feature you’ve written for this class.) For examples of broadcast format, see pages 165, 169 and 171 in the text. You may also want to review Exercise 3 on page 174.

Here are the four steps required to complete this project:

1. Write your 60-second audio or video script (post on your blog). Make it a simple Reader or Voice-Over style script (see p. 171 in Harrower text).
2. Record your 60-second audio or video using iMovie, Garageband or Audacity, using your own software or using iMoive on a computer in a JMC computer lab or in the SJSU Academic Success Center in the old Clark Library (or come see me during my office hours and we’ll use my Mac).
3. Compress and export your audio or video file, then upload it to the web. (You can sign up for YouTube or another video hosting site, or Podomatic or other audio/podcast hosting site. Alternatively, contact me for the username and password for a class YouTube account I’ve set up.)
4. Post a link to your audio or video file on your blog, or simply embed the video on your blog.

Alternative Final Broadcast Project: If you do not have access to audio/video software, and are unable to come to campus to record this assignment, please complete Exercise 3 on p. 174 in the text. However, instead of using the “dog story” provided in that exercise, please rewrite your own “real news” story (or other original news story or news feature you’ve written for this class) for broadcast using this format. As noted in Exercise 3, you will:

1. Write a 45-second radio story. (Post on blog; see p. 169 in Harrower text for examples.)
2. Write a 90-second television package, using split-page script format (see Harrower text, p. 171, right column, for example; please email to instructor, since you can’t easily post it in two-column format on your blog).

Hint: You may also want to check out the “dog story” script examples on page 303 in text for broadcast style and format.

MAGAZINE SEGMENT

• Write a blog post about a magazine you like. Discuss its target audience, focus and writing style/tone; include a link to magazine’s online site. (200-250 words, 10 points)
• Write a short column (topical commentary, personal meditation or “slice of life” narrative — see p. 131 in text for examples) and post on your blog. (200-250 words, 25 points)

For some examples of columns, check out Newsweek’s “Voices” web page. The “My Turn” columns (at lower right on web page) are good examples for this assignments — they’re “personal meditation” columns written by regular folks. Columnist Anna Quindlen also usually writes “personal meditation” columns and topical commentaries.

I’ve also put links to some different types of columns I’ve written for my personal blog on the Resources page of this blog, under the heading “Columns.”

• Submit a brief memo (see Resources link for “How to write a memo”) on the topic of your proposed Magazine Project. (10 points)
• Find That Feature Lead exercise — Read p. 44-45 in text (describing the different kinds of leads), then find two examples of leads that are not basic/summary news leads. Identify what kind of leads you’ve found and post them on your blog. (20 points)
• Focus story structure writing exercise — the topic is high school football injuries; you’ll find the directions for this assignment on the web page; also review this blog post on focus story structure before writing this assignment. (20 points)
• Magazine/Multimedia Project: This is a three-part assignment, worth 100 points. You will write a short magazine-style piece, develop a short-form info box or graphic to accompany it, and write a broadcast script about it. This is your final big project for this class. Please see the class schedule for deadlines. Here are the parts of this project:

1. Magazine-style piece: Your choice of topic. You can write a short feature story or profile, an editorial or commentary, or a review (movie, theater, music/concert, restaurant, book, etc.). (500-600 words, 50 points, see Ch. 6 in text)
2. To accompany your magazine piece, develop a short-form info box or graphic, such as a fast-facts box, list or graphic extra (25-150 words, 25 points, see p. 128-129 & 133 in text).
3. Finally, write a 60-second broadcast script (approx. 125 words, audio or video format, 25 points) based on your magazine project. Record it using iMovie, Garageband or comparable software, upload it to YouTube, blip.tv, Pod-O-matic or other web hosting site, and post it on your blog. (See broadcast segment for directions; same alternative assignment applies.)
4. Alternatives: In lieu of a broadcast script and video, aspiring photojournalists may choose to put together a slide show (with audio) to accompany their magazine-style piece and info box or graphic. Contact the instructor if you’d like to suggest another substitution.