Resources
Other Helpful Texts
- The Process of Writing News (1992) by R. Thomas Berner (available online).
- We the Media (2004) by Dan Gillmor (available online).
Grammar / AP Style Resources
- Band-Aid AP Stylebook (the short version online)
- Dr. Sweeney’s guide to AP style (include a “test yourself” section)
- Ask the AP Stylebook editor (for those style questions that don’t appear in the AP Stylebook)
- The Tongue Untied – A guide to grammar, punctuation and style
- McCune’s favorite online grammar/style resources
News Writing Resources
- What is News on The Gully Online Magazine
- Lead-writing links on the international JournaWiki
- Writing Leads and Nut Grafs on the NewsWriting blog
- Writing “Soft” or Feature Leads — on the NewsWriting blog
- Writing Leads: How to Open with Style on The Gully Online Magazine
- How to Write News on The Gully Online Magazine
- Using Quotes on The Gully Online Magazine
Other Online Resources
- Crash course in copyright law
- My memo on “How to write a memo“
- Interviewing: The Ignored Skill at that wonderful resource Poynter Online
- Pitch letters and proposals
- How to write a pitch letter
- News University — free online journalism tutorials
- Writing for the web: the 3-2-2-1 formula (download the PDF)
Broadcasting
- Prof. Bob Rucker’s tips on writing for broadcast
- NEW! Broadcast Writing — a PowerPoint presentation in pdf format (download the pdf)
- Broadcast yourself…using iMovie, YouTube and your blog — download the pdf
- Direct link for this pdf: http://www.jmcweb.sjsu.edu/mccune/broadcast_yourself.pdf
- YouTube help page: Sharing a YouTube video (posting a video on your blog)
- Lecturer Steve Sloan’s handouts on using iMovie and Audacity
- Freevlog tutorials on putting videos on the web…and on your blog (see tutorials #4/4a, 5/5a & 7)
- Ira Glass on Storytelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7KQ4vkiNUk&feature=related
Legal & Ethical Issues in Journalism
- Reporting Undercover: The Food Lion case
- Freedom Forum commentary on the Food Lion verdict
- AJR commentary on the Food Lion case: Don’t Pop That Cork
Writing Reviews
- Prewriting questions for book, movie, or play reviews
- Guidelines for writing reviews – blogcritics online magazine
- The art of writing reviews – The Write Spot blog for BlogHer ‘07
- Ten secrets of writing reviews – by blogger Jonathan Dreamer
- When writing reviews, make them fun – blog post at Online Gaming Radio
- Some examples of movie reviews I liked:
- Review of Taken, by Stephanie Zacharek in Salon.com (1/30/09): Read the first two lines of paragraph 2 to get a sense of what fun she had writing this review.
Writing Columns
- Here are examples of some different types of columns I’ve written for my blog:
- Personal meditation column: What I can’t forget…at least not yet
- Slice of life column: California Dreaming, Death on Wings
- Topical commentary: Are you “Sicko” yet?
Sample Classmate Profiles
- Sample Classmate Profile #1
- Sample Classmate Profile #2
- Sample Classmate Profile #3
- Sample Classmate Profile #4
SJSU Resources
- The Writing Center, Clark Hall 126, assists students with all parts of the writing process, including grammar, organization and syntax. For more information, visit http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter or call 408-924-2308.
- Journalism and mass comm. research page at SJLibrary.com
- Plagiarism reference page at SJLibrary.com
- Here’s how to get an SJSU library card so you can access the SJSU’s academic databases online:
- Go to the MLK Library’s web site at http://www.sjlibrary.org/index.htm
- Click on the SJSU Students and Faculty link (lower left side)
- Click on Distance Learning (see list on left side)
- Then click on Connect From Home — a pop-up window explains how to set up a library account and a PIN number (using your SJSU ID number), so you can access SJSU databases online.
Some YouTube Videos Worth Watching
- From Prof. Michael Wesch of Kansas State University:
Some Interesting Blogs to Explore
- Romenesko blog (Poynter Online)
- Steve Rubel’s Micropersuasion (PR/mktg.)
- Mark Glaser’s Media Shift/PBS (journalism)
- Craig Silverman’s Regret the Error blog (journalism)
- Ryan Sholin’s Invisible Inkling (JMC grad student focusing on journalism/new media)
- Daniel Sato’s Photojournalism Blog (JMC photojournalism grad)
- Robert Scoble’s Scobleizer (JMC alum)
- Steve Sloan’s SJSU Tech on a Mission blog
- Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things
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