I’m not teaching Journalism 61 this semester, so this blog is currently on hiatus. However, I am scheduled to teach this online class again in the spring.

In the meantime, feel free to use this blog’s resources. Please note, however, that links to most assignments and some resources no longer work because of recent changes to the JMC web server where they used to reside. I will be updating these links this fall, as time allows.

I had fun taking “The Ultimate Grammar Quiz” on Facebook this afternoon. If you’re on Facebook, you can take it too … and earn extra credit for this class. And it’ll only take about five minutes of your time.

I’ll give you five points for taking the quiz, and 10 points if you earn the title of “Grammar Master.” (With a title like that, how can you resist!)

Just send me a link to (or a screenshot of) your quiz results. Demonstrate your grammar prowess!

If you need a break — and a laugh — check out Why Print Cannot Die on urlesque.com.

The JMC website has just been updated with information about the $20,000 in scholarships available to JMC students. You can download the application instructions and the list of scholarships as a Word doc. The application deadline is Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

I encourage you to look over this list of scholarships ― you might be surprised to see how many you are eligible for. And there’s no limit to how many you can apply for! Wouldn’t you like a piece of that cash?

If you’ve looked closely at the class schedule this week, you may have noticed that I’ve made a few changes. I’ve moved up a couple assignments, originally scheduled for later in the semester, to mid-March, and I’ve pushed back the start of the Broadcast Segment.

The upshot: This will give you an extra week to complete your “Real Life Reporting” assignment, the final project for the News Writing Segment of this class. It also gives you a bit of a breather between the due dates for your two major writing projects for this segment, the Profile and Real Life Reporting assignments.

We’ll start the Broadcast Segment after spring break. At three weeks, I know it looks short … but you’ll apply those skills again for your final magazine/multimedia project.

Up to $10,000 in scholarships is being offered to students interested in a career in journalism and who live in or attend school in the Bay Area. The scholarships are being offered by the SF/Bay Area chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association.

The 2009 scholarship application is available at www.aajasf.org (go to the “Scholarships” tab). The application deadline is March 31.

I’ve asked some of you to revise some assignments. But even if I don’t request it, you can revise any assignment where you received a less-than-stellar grade. Revising makes most sense for assignments where you get a B- or less.

With a good revision, you can earn back up to half the points you lost the first time around. Just put “revised” in the title of the blog post — that’s my signal to go back and regrade it. If I don’t get back to it within a week, pop me an email reminder.

For your “Real News Reporting” assignment — the culminating project of the news writing segment of this class — you’ll need to find and write your own news story or news feature. This assignment is due March 14, so you’ve got a month or so to figure it out, but it’s not too early to start planning.

To help you get started … here are links to information on some on-campus events that could work for this assignment:

• King Library Art Walk, 2-3 p.m., Feb. 20
• National Book Award Winner Mark Doty visits SJSU, 7 p.m., Feb. 24, and 1:30 p.m., Wed., Feb. 25
• Nancy Pearl, originator of the “One City One Book ” movement, speaks on The Pleasures and Perils of a Life in Reading at the King Library, 6 p.m., Wed., Feb. 25
• Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers, a conversation with author Mary Roach, 12-1:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 26, in the Spartan Memorial Chapel
• Journalist/Author Reese Erlich speaks on prospects for US-Iran relations in the Obama administration, 3 p.m., March 5
• Expanding Your Horizons, a math, science and engineering workshop for 6th-9th grade girls, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., March 14 at SJSU (Yes, that would be a very fast turnaround … but good story potential! Talk to me if you’re interested — I might give you an extra day.)

You can also cover an off-campus, local (to you) meeting or event for this assignment. Just make sure it works as a hard news story or news feature.

The Berkeley Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists is sponsoring “Meet the Reporters: A Lively Discussion” on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 12-2 p.m. at UC Berkeley’s Northgate Library. Interested students are welcome to attend.

Established in 1975, NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members. It provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.

Instructor’s Note: This meeting is a good candidate for your upcoming “Real News Reporting” assignment, as well as an opportunity to hear from and meet with some reporters. You can attend this session, takes notes/quotes, and write it up as a hard news story, or take a more feature-style approach by perhaps focusing on (by interviewing) one of the speakers.

I hear some people saying that the print media’s much publicized financial/circulation problems only affect the nation’s big dailies, that smaller newspapers and magazines are doing just fine. But I guess that doesn’t apply to newsmagazines.

Newsweek has announced that it is undertaking a major overhaul of its publication, including its content, design and target audience. Newsweek editors appear to be hoping that the magazine/cable TV model of narrow-casting — targeting a niche audience — will work for them.

Read the NYT article about it: Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience – NYTimes.com

• tags: newsweeklies, Newsweek, makeover, future of news

• Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.