Solid reporting, social media, ethical questions...this story has it all

Please read this before our last classes on Weds. and Thurs.

looking to get ahead before 423 starts in the spring??...here you go!

Got this note from the new Lantern Arts editor Ryan Book. At least one of you should be able to take advantage of it.

I've got a story that anyone taking 423 can count towards their story total next quarter if they are taking 423. It would involve reporting on/ reviewing a concert taking place in Columbus during spring break. If anyone is interested, they can e-mail me at book.15@osu.edu.

for 421 students: change in plans for HW assignment due Tuesday

Instead of finding any article or blog and examining the multimedia aspects, find an article I wrote...or a blog entry that links to an article that I wrote and critique the article from top to bottom, as well as the multimedia aspects done by my employer, the blogger or whomever. Big chance for some payback, so have fun and take advantage of it!

No need to print anything out. Embed the link(s) in an entry on your blog and have at it.

See you Tuesday.

Interested in a semester in Washington, DC?

Deadline for this is March 15th...but they are offered for different semesters.

Textbooks for crack????

How's this for a crazy story? Scroll to the bottom for a link to the college paper that broke it.

For all my students...multimedia class, may be some ideas here for final projects

Here is a link to the Comm 426 class taught by Leonardo Carrizo. Check it out for ideas for your final projects and maybe for some help from other students who have already done what you want to do. I also included a permanent link to the 426 blog in the Links section of this one.

For my 422 T/TH students--ethics assignment

Your assignment is the same as the one for my M/W class. The details are in a post that I created yesterday. The only differences are the dates your stuff is due. Instead of M/W; your blog entry and discussion readiness should be T/Th.

Any questions, lemme know.

Here is the link to the story that we talked about in class today that Alexa brought to my attention.

Tips for avoiding...and spotting plagiarism

Check this out! Keep it in mind as you all research and write your final stories of the quarter.

For 422M/W students--ethics assignment

Please read this story from American Journalism Review and write an ethics critique about the issue it discusses. I want you to not only answer questions about where to draw the line on social media as a working reporter, but also to put yourself in the shoes of the editors/managers who are trying to come up with these rules and enforce them.

By Wednesday, your critique must appear on your Web site, and should include embedded links to other sources you used to make your arguments and support them. Be prepared to discuss this in class next Monday. There is no word count for the critique, but it will be graded so write clearly and forcefully.

Anyone looking for EC, do the same assignment as above on this piece from Inside Higher Ed. Take on the roles of the students...and the editors/reporters who think it is not a good idea.

For 422 M/W students-- guest speaker

The name of your guest speaker on Weds. is Shira Levine. Shira is a NYC-based freelance writer who does travel writing, real estate writing and is all over social media from Facebook to Twitter. She previously worked at Star magazine and other places full-time and freelance. Bring questions and comments for Shira.

for 422 M/W students only...

if you have a laptop...and you use Skype...and you can bring your laptop to class tomorrow and next week, e-mail me. can be some EC in it for you.

for 421 students, rules for speech story!

Should be at least 4 in-person interviews and at least 3 of them quoted directly. You may do follow-up interviews on the phone or even over e-mail, but those should be made clear in the story and on the contact sheet.

Word count should be between 800-1,000 words.

All the normal rules on formatting, setting the scene, objectivity, no interviewing friends, etc. still apply.

Any questions, lemme know.

for 422 students, be prepared to discuss this next week

This is a link to the stories that helped the Wash Post win 6 Pulitzers in 2008. Make sure you read the two dated April 17 under the Va. Tech section that start "Pop, pop, pop" and "Students makes connections..." Pay attention to role of social media, etc. and be ready to talk about it along with your own examples.

Have a good weekend.

SPJ meeting rescheduled for next Tuesday

The OSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Journalism Building rm 375. Leonardo Carrizo is coming in to discuss multimedia journalism.

There will be FREE pizza, info about officer elections and scholarships. There is NO COST to you and you can get a scholarship.

If you are a journalism major, you should come. If you are interested in journalism as a career or hobby, you should come. If you just want free pizza, stay away. Just kidding, come anyway!

I hope to see many of you there.

Big-time journalist on campus next Thursday

For those who are interested, could be some EC in it for you. He is speaking next Thursday the 25th. Details can be found here.

Proof that story ideas can come from anywhere

This story from the NYT shows how great story ideas can come from anywhere. Could you do something similar by riding on public transportation offered by OSU or the city?

While you cannot use first or second-person writing in your final/feature stories, there are many great lessons that can be pulled from this story. Note the number of sources, depth of reporting, organization, choice of direct quotes, etc.

Change in office hours on Monday, 2-15.

Office hours will be 2-5 tomorrow (Feb. 15) instead of the normal 12-2.

SPJ meeting Tuesday...great group for journalism students

The OSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in Scott Lab E0125. Leonardo Carrizo is coming in to discuss multimedia journalism.

There will be FREE pizza, info about officer elections and scholarships. There is NO COST to you and you can get a scholarship.

If you are a journalism major, you should come. If you are interested in journalism as a career or hobby, you should come. If you just want free pizza, stay away. Just kidding, come anyway!

I hope to see many of you there.

Profile re-writes for 422 M/W class

If you would like to pick up your graded/edited profile re-write, I will have them done by tomorrow afternoon. Stop by office hours 2-5 p.m.

For my 422 students, another article for midterm prep

Be a very good idea to read this story before the midterm and keep it in mind as your blogs progress over the next month.

Laziness leads to plagiarism!!!

This is an example of why it is so dangerous to read the competition's stories before you do your own!

Cliche ledes....this could be on 421 and 422 midterms!

Definitely a good idea to read through this before the midterm and to avoid them in your stories for the rest of the quarter.

And here is another great site from the NY Times about how writing can be improved through simplification, tightening, etc. Thanks to Kristen for passing it along.

For 422 students, a note on blogs and broadcasts!

If you have not already, please link your blog to this one by becoming a "follower." Many of you have done this already. That way, we all have access to the others' blogs in one central location. Also, you all should have a comment from me on your first blog assignment from class about LiveNation and Danny Caterinicchia. If you do not have a comment from me, send me an e-mail and let me know.

As for the 2-minute broadcasts due Monday and Tuesday: Remember to follow directions on the types of stories you must include, finish with the editorial, attempt to transition between stories, practice reading it aloud as much as you can, and of course.....HAVE FUN and KEEP IT SIMPLE!

See you in class.

For 422 students, notes on profiles and event stories!

On profiles, if your first version did not include a detailed, physical description of the main subject, make sure your re-write does!

On event stories, you will need at least 4 named sources in story that are from in-person interviews. At least 3 must be quoted directly. Try for attendees, organizers...and of course, the main speaker(s).

But you no longer have to ask for everyone's ages. You still must include at least 3 unique identifiers for every person in your stories.

Don't like Blogger? Try Wordpress.

Here is another blog I just created. As it notes, I don't care if you use this site, Wordpress or another one, but it should be free, safe and easy to use.

Links to stories discussed in 422 this week

Here is the one that proves there is almost always a new way to tell a story, even one that has been covered by everyone for weeks. Some new angle or someone else to talk to who everyone else may have missed.

And here is the one by my former colleague. The payoff on "formulas" is there, but I would argue it is too low in story based on the heds. Still, the news judgment is sound and a simple tease at the top would have alleviated the problem...or so I think.

Basic Broadcast Writing Rules

These are very basic rules for broadcast-style writing. As you'll see, many of them have been adopted when different people and groups write for the Web, blog, etc.

1. Use active, strong verbs and the present tense is OK if it flows properly in context.

2. Attribution comes first. Joe Doe says..... In print style, we usually put attribution at the end: Blah, blah, blah, said Joe Doe.

3. Phonetic spellings of complex names/words. My last name might look like this on a broadcast sheet: Kat-er-in-eek-ee-uh

4. Short, simple sentences. Even more important in broadcast because someone is reading these words/sentences aloud on camera, into a mic, etc.

5. Rarely use direct quotes. If you must, keep them short, even 2-3 words instead of a complete sentence.

Jobs at the Lantern...keep eyes open for SPJ news

Hi all--

As many of you know, the Lantern has a number of editing slots opening up next quarter. Asst. sports editor and asst. multimedia editor are just 2 of 7 jobs that need to be filled. If you are at all interested, e-mail me at my Gmail address and I'll send you the app. But hurry! It is due by tomorrow (Friday) at midnight.

Also, keep your eyes and ears open for news about the OSU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. This is a great organization for anyone even remotely interested in journalism as a career or hobby. It is free to join and there are scholarships available!

Have a great weekend!

Dan

For my 421 students, change in schedule

As noted today in class, there will be a slight change in schedule from what is listed on the syllabus. For Tuesday, we will still have the AP style quiz (P-T), but you also must bring a "pitch" for your final/feature story. At a minimum, that means 3 solid sentences explaining the idea and your plan. Feel free to bring more than 1 idea.

We will discuss the ideas and your plans during the first official meeting of the
"421 newsroom" on Tuesday after the quiz.

And again, study for a news quiz also...because there will be one of those on Tuesday, for sure. If the class does well as a whole on it, we won't have a news quiz next Thursday.

Have a good weekend.

Young people making (money) and a difference in journalism

He started the site when he was 17 and just sold it to MSNBC...at age 20!

for all my students, a note on office hours

My office hours on Monday, Feb. 8, will be 3:30-5:30 p.m. Normal hours of 12-2 p.m. will remain for other Mondays this quarter.

for my 422 students!!!

Good idea to check this out before Wednesday/Thursday. You will be glad you did!

Also, you should read this before the Midterm. There will be at least a couple questions about this on that test.

Another profile...one of my first as a professional

This is one of the first profiles I wrote for FCW. Note the ending. He actually started crying a little bit and my editors and I opted not to include it. Would you have?

A profile I wrote many moons ago.....

Here is a profile I wrote for Federal Computer Week magazine.

The AP stylebook

Here is the online home of the AP Stylebook. And here is the AP's official Twitter feed.


This is NOT an official AP site, but it can be funny. As the site notes, if you use this instead of the real book, you will get fired...or in our case, you will not pass!

You must learn how to insert links and photos, etc.

This is an older picture of my son.

Video links for class, Colbert to Caddy Shack

The story featured in this segment was written by AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone and edited by me.


This short scene from Caddy Shack will make more sense when we talk about profiles and interviewing.

Twitter article for 422..will be on Midterm!!

http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4772

A basic blog for COMM 421 and 422 students

This blog contains links and other information for my Comm 421 and 422 students.