Class blogs have begun

Read 'em and comment:

Ashley Amian, Matt Brown, Drew Cuthbertson, Mason Halfmann, Jim Holt, Brandon Maille, Diane Matthews, Larissa Metcalf, Leah Miller, Jason Moses, Brett Okamoto, Rachel Robichaux, Molly Ronan, Sarah Rupert, Eldad Sharon, Justin Weber, and Cole Weinman.

Oh, and Jeff Browne and Steve Hendriksen.

Enjoy.

Readings for Class on Jan. 24

Here are the articles you should review for Thursday's class.

"11 tips for managing a good blog entry" by Vincent Maher

"How journalists use blogs"

"The Path to Journalistic Blogging: The Four Signs of the Hackopalypse"

Multi-media projects are ready

Here are the students' final multi-media projects. They worked in groups of six in telling a single story with the many tools available to them. Some had video production experience, some didn't. Some had photojournalism experience, some didn't. In all, they stretched their experiences to include a format they hadn't worked with in a professional setting with professional standards.

Here they are:

Larimer County's experience with West Nile

Homeless in Fort Collins

The GLBT experience at CSU post-Matthew Shepard

Schedule Nov. 6 through Nov. 15

Tuesday, Nov. 6

Web design basics PowerPoint
Article on basic design from OJR
Topics for multi-media project finalized
Begin reporting and site design planning
Read article on multi-media storytelling from OJR

Thursday, Nov. 8

Bring finished plan to class for discussion and revision
Begin reporting
Read "Tips for shooting better online video" from OJR

Tuesday, Nov. 13

Check in with group in classroom
Workday to report on multi-media assignments

Thursday, Nov. 15

Check in with group in classroom
Workday to report on multi-media assignments

Reporting assignments completed

The students worked on these packages in teams of three. The focus of the assignment was to practice gathering information from the Web and presenting it in a way that would be consistent with Web standards. This was not to be a complicated or technically sophisticated multimedia presentation.

For some, it was a re-introduction to reporting basics. For others, it was a more of a refresher course.

The teams that generally mixed students from the various concentrations in the journalism department. This is a precursor to the more complex multimedia storytelling assignment that will take up most of the last six weeks of the course.

Here are the packages:

State of the C-State
Fighting a Killer: CSU takes on tuberculosis
CSU anticipates news computer science building
The word on the street
America's best place to live?
Creativity comes alive on the streets

Schedule Oct. 23 through Nov. 1

Standards, Law and Ethics for Online Media

Tuesday, Oct. 23
Report from Online News Association conference in Toronto -- Jeff
Read Chapter 14 in text "Online Standards versus Journalistic Standards"
Introduce Web site critiques "reporting" assignment
Show and Tell of First Reporting Assignment

Thursday, Oct. 25
Guest speaker: Wendy Norris, founder Colorado Confidential Web site, Web editor, blogger and reporter.
Read Chapter 15 in text "Legal Issues Online and Offline"


Tuesday, Oct. 30
Read Chapter 16 in text "Ethics in Cyberland"
Quiz over Chapters 14-16
Introduce Multi-media reporting assignment
Blog Replacement activity: Attend Roger Ogden's lecture at 5 p.m. in North Ballroom of the LSC. Check in with me and get credit for a blog post.

Thursday, Nov. 1
Guest speaker: Mathmatician and journalist Darryl Stafford, CHSPA Adviser of the Year speaks on reporting and writing about statistics
In-class assignment on reporting statistics online
Read "Sacramento journalists use multimedia to bring statistics to life" from OJR
Read "Free Web-based production tools help students invigorate online news projects" from OJR

Schedule Sept. 18 through Oct. 18

Reporting and Writing for Online Media

Tuesday, Sept. 18
Read and Review Chapter 3 "Generating and Focusing Story Ideas"
Elements of a Digital Story
Online News and Games
Lab Assignment: Developing Story Ideas for first reporting project

Thursday, Sept. 20
Read and Review Chapter 4 "Web Resources and Databases"
Lab Assignment: Focus further and reporting project and begin to develop both online sources and other sources

Tuesday, Sept. 25
Read and Review Chapter 5 "Sources and Interviewing"
Lab: Begin to develop questions and set up interviews for reporting project
Further develop other elements of first reporting projects

Thursday, Sept. 27
Work day for project teams
Final plans for reporting projects due

Tuesday, Oct. 2
Read and Review Chapter 6 "Online Writing Styles"
Lab: In-class writing assignment

Thursday, Oct. 4
Read and Review Chapter 7 "Hooking and Keeping Readers"
Lab:

Tuesday, Oct. 9
Read and Review Chapter 8 "Revving up Your Writing"
Work individually and in groups on reporting project stories

Thursday, Oct. 11
Journalism Day at CSU

Tuesday, Oct. 16
Read and Review Chapter 9 "The Last Minute(s)"
Lab: Work day on reporting projects

Thursday, Oct. 18
Fine tune stories and other information for reporting projects, which are due at 11:40 a.m.