Thursday, July 30, 2015
JRN 200: Your Friday, 7/31 Homework
Easy-peasy: in addition to all the other stuff previously assigned, in the 10th edition of Reporting For The Media please read chapters 6 and 7 (p. 129-186) before Monday, Aug. 3.
MM #2: Let's Look At Your Work!
Okay, so here's the video/blog/tweet recap, posted in the order in which they were received. I ask that you please look at EACH multimedia package and read my comments for EACH MM package (not just your own!), so we can learn like we've learned from each other throughout this semester. If you're not looking at the work of others and the related comments, then you are not learning from this exercise.
Also, examine how the mediums complement each other: the preview does just that; the tweet stream allows you to follow what was previewed, as it actually happens; and the recap wraps it all up.
BTW, unless you received an email from me noting a specific grade, your grade for the Web posts, video and Twitter exercises was 4.0 on each.
One more thing: a number of people did not turn in this assignment at all. I need to warn you one last time that not turning in any assignment will do damage to your final grade. Not turning in many assignments will do much damage.
Here we go ...
****
Courtney C.: Road work video and preview post and recap post and tweets #constructionchaos
The video style here is what we call a "stand-up," which is literally that: a reporter stands in front of the camera and narrates the report. But notice the extensive use of B-roll throughout, especially within interview segments where we start with the talking head, then while the head continues to talk we switch the visual to B-roll that shows what the person is talking about, and then we return and finish with the talking head shot. Good story structure here. It's the video equivalent of pairing telling facts and quotes in print.
The Twitter stream shows a good approach for tweeting a non-breaking story, where basically you lay out the issue in a structure very similar to that of a written story, but you do it tweet-by-tweet instead of graf-by-graf.
The problem here was with the blog posts; not in structure but use of hyperlinks. The links were not embedded into regular text; instead, we embedded it in text of the link itself. Plus, we were far short of the two original hyperlinks per post minimum; we just have one link, twice used.
Rachel B.:Video games video and preview post and recap post and tweets #jcplaylis
The video could have used a lot more B-roll. Look at it this way: the story is about something visual: video games. We should show a visual story visually, with LOTS of B-roll showing the animated nature of what we're talking about. The more a story is inherently visual, the more we should use B-roll and show the animation.
Tweets show a strong play-by-play of one player playing video games, with tweet pics to show visually in addition to telling by text. And hyperlinks are not a problem here; one post has five. You can't have enough hyperlinks. That leaves it up to the reader to decide how much they want to explore a subject; if they just want a quick read, they read your post and be done with it. If they want to know more, they can use the hyperlinks without having to go elsewhere to more fully delve into the topic.
Hallie A.: Greek life video and preview post and recap post and tweets #
The video is totally inadequate. There's no editing or B-roll or captions whatsoever; it's just raw tape. Plus, the two interview subjects are conflicts of interest; they are related to the interviewer. The waiver from conflicts was for the first multimedia assignment only. Just as concerning, the sources have no actual connection or relevance to the subject. We were supposed to use the kinds of sources we used for our written out-of-class story.
The blog posts fail to embed hyperlinks within the content, and general grammar is sloppy. Online media needs the same attention to grammar basics as we would expect in traditional print journalism.
Shannon K.: City market video and preview post and recap post and tweets #rockfordcitymarket
LOTS of B-roll SHOWING what sources are talking about. Plus, four sources! Two is just the minimum; the necessary amount is however many you need to get a broad sense of things. The blog posts properly embed hyperlinks within existing text, and again exceeds the minimum. You can never have too many hyperlinks in a story. With the tweets, let's avoid offering opinion and endorsements; we are journalists, who should remain neutral. So, prompting your audience to do something is a non-no. Tell them what is happening, and let them decide what to do on their own.
Kenedi R.: Youth program video and preview post and recap post and tweets #detroityouthworks
Don't play music and have speaking audio at the same time; the former just blots out the latter. Let's not make it hard for the audience to hear what people have to say. Additionally, we needed captions to see who was being interviewed; we were short of our minimum of two people being interviewed; and while it was good that we used still pictures as B-roll, we simply needed more.
Plus, did we have written permission to use the copyrighted song for background music? If not, congrats: you have committed your first federal crime, as noted by the Student Press Law Center's Web site:
—Can I use a recent pop song as background music for a feature story on our school TV station?
Not without permission or purchase of the appropriate license. While you could use a short clip of the song, for example, as part of a bona fide music review of the CD from which it comes, using the song solely as background music would not qualify as fair use. For more information, see the SPLC’s Guide to Music Licensing for Broadcasting and Webcasting.
It's not enough to give credit; you must have permission.
The tweet stream does a nice job with a non-breaking event; it simply lays out facts and key points in a descending order of importance, like we would with a traditional print story. But instead of doing that graf-by-graf we do that tweet-by-tweet. The blog correctly embeds hyperlinks within existing text, and doesn't create redundant text just for the hyperlink spelling out the URL.
Kamen K.: Golf course flooding video and preview post and recap post and tweets #txgcfloods
OUTSTANDING B-roll here? What makes it outstanding? While a golf course official talks about a flooded course, we play B-roll showing the flooding from the perspective of a motorboat trekking across the flooded course! We show (via video) AND tell (via interview) at the same time. That's what we're aiming for; telling a story in two dimensions simultaneously.
Rachel F.: College tuition video and preview post and recap post and tweets #msutuitionincrease
Using graphics and charts as B-roll was a good idea, but execution could have been a bit better: it's not clear whether the first one represents percentage changes or dollar amounts or what, and on the second one we see the explanation key at the end of the B-roll shot; up to that point, a viewer had no idea what they were looking at. Always start with the key.
The blog posts were too similar. One should have focused on the action (the increase and why it's happening) and the other the reaction (what students have to say about it).
Natasha B.: Foster care video and preview post and recap post and tweets # fosteringincolorado
It would have been helpful in captions to identify the interview subjects not only by name but by title as well, so that the viewer can establish their credibility and relevance. Plus, for news articles (unlike for commercials and such) we should always us B-roll we shot ourselves, and not stock B-roll as I suspect was used here.
The tweets are another good example of how to tweet non-breaking news: as a stream of news facts, laid out in much the same was we do for an inverted pyramid style of written news story, with a lede tweet and then fact tweets in descending order of importance.
Nadia L.: College drinking video and preview post and recap post and tweets #drinkresponsibly
The video did a very nice job of using still pictures and a graphic as B-roll, but we only had one on-tape interview; the minimum was two. The blog posts have good content, but fail to embed the hyperlinks into regular text (don't make the text the URL!) and is sloppy with AP Style rules, in addition to lacking the minimum of two hyperlinks per post.
Sakiya D.: Staying fit video and preview post and recap post and tweets #getfit
In the vid, we want to use captions to identify sources instead having them say who they are. That saves tape time for what they have to say, instead of wasting a few seconds here and there for them to say who they are. The content of the blog posts are fine but we're missing a basic need: attribution! All because we're delving into new mediums doesn't mean we give up old fundamentals. Readers still need to know how we know what we know.
Aundreanna J.-P.: College prep video and preview post and recap post and tweets #preparingforcollege
One thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want. Plus, let's make sure transitions between segments are smooth; the video ends kind of abruptly.
Meghan C.: E-books video and preview post and recap post and tweets #ebooksvsprint
With the video, we offered attribution via caption every time a certain source appeared on video. All we needed was the first attribution via caption, and then none after that. Why? Because unlike in print where we need an attribution with every quote because that's the only cue that readers have as to who is talking, in video we have a second cue: the source's face and voice. So, after we attach a name and title to the face and voice in the first reference, the face and voice alone are enough to offer clear attribution in subsequent references.
Also, while we offer b-roll of traditional books, we never offer B-roll of an e-book. Just like in a print story we can't not quote a direct player, in a video story we can't forget to include B-roll of what they story is primarily about.
The only big knock I have on the blog posts is that you don't use two unique hyperlinks per post; you use the same links in each post. That's a no-no.
Also, examine how the mediums complement each other: the preview does just that; the tweet stream allows you to follow what was previewed, as it actually happens; and the recap wraps it all up.
BTW, unless you received an email from me noting a specific grade, your grade for the Web posts, video and Twitter exercises was 4.0 on each.
One more thing: a number of people did not turn in this assignment at all. I need to warn you one last time that not turning in any assignment will do damage to your final grade. Not turning in many assignments will do much damage.
Here we go ...
****
Courtney C.: Road work video and preview post and recap post and tweets #constructionchaos
The video style here is what we call a "stand-up," which is literally that: a reporter stands in front of the camera and narrates the report. But notice the extensive use of B-roll throughout, especially within interview segments where we start with the talking head, then while the head continues to talk we switch the visual to B-roll that shows what the person is talking about, and then we return and finish with the talking head shot. Good story structure here. It's the video equivalent of pairing telling facts and quotes in print.
The Twitter stream shows a good approach for tweeting a non-breaking story, where basically you lay out the issue in a structure very similar to that of a written story, but you do it tweet-by-tweet instead of graf-by-graf.
The problem here was with the blog posts; not in structure but use of hyperlinks. The links were not embedded into regular text; instead, we embedded it in text of the link itself. Plus, we were far short of the two original hyperlinks per post minimum; we just have one link, twice used.
Rachel B.:Video games video and preview post and recap post and tweets #jcplaylis
The video could have used a lot more B-roll. Look at it this way: the story is about something visual: video games. We should show a visual story visually, with LOTS of B-roll showing the animated nature of what we're talking about. The more a story is inherently visual, the more we should use B-roll and show the animation.
Tweets show a strong play-by-play of one player playing video games, with tweet pics to show visually in addition to telling by text. And hyperlinks are not a problem here; one post has five. You can't have enough hyperlinks. That leaves it up to the reader to decide how much they want to explore a subject; if they just want a quick read, they read your post and be done with it. If they want to know more, they can use the hyperlinks without having to go elsewhere to more fully delve into the topic.
Hallie A.: Greek life video and preview post and recap post and tweets #
The video is totally inadequate. There's no editing or B-roll or captions whatsoever; it's just raw tape. Plus, the two interview subjects are conflicts of interest; they are related to the interviewer. The waiver from conflicts was for the first multimedia assignment only. Just as concerning, the sources have no actual connection or relevance to the subject. We were supposed to use the kinds of sources we used for our written out-of-class story.
The blog posts fail to embed hyperlinks within the content, and general grammar is sloppy. Online media needs the same attention to grammar basics as we would expect in traditional print journalism.
Shannon K.: City market video and preview post and recap post and tweets #rockfordcitymarket
LOTS of B-roll SHOWING what sources are talking about. Plus, four sources! Two is just the minimum; the necessary amount is however many you need to get a broad sense of things. The blog posts properly embed hyperlinks within existing text, and again exceeds the minimum. You can never have too many hyperlinks in a story. With the tweets, let's avoid offering opinion and endorsements; we are journalists, who should remain neutral. So, prompting your audience to do something is a non-no. Tell them what is happening, and let them decide what to do on their own.
Kenedi R.: Youth program video and preview post and recap post and tweets #detroityouthworks
Don't play music and have speaking audio at the same time; the former just blots out the latter. Let's not make it hard for the audience to hear what people have to say. Additionally, we needed captions to see who was being interviewed; we were short of our minimum of two people being interviewed; and while it was good that we used still pictures as B-roll, we simply needed more.
Plus, did we have written permission to use the copyrighted song for background music? If not, congrats: you have committed your first federal crime, as noted by the Student Press Law Center's Web site:
—Can I use a recent pop song as background music for a feature story on our school TV station?
Not without permission or purchase of the appropriate license. While you could use a short clip of the song, for example, as part of a bona fide music review of the CD from which it comes, using the song solely as background music would not qualify as fair use. For more information, see the SPLC’s Guide to Music Licensing for Broadcasting and Webcasting.
It's not enough to give credit; you must have permission.
The tweet stream does a nice job with a non-breaking event; it simply lays out facts and key points in a descending order of importance, like we would with a traditional print story. But instead of doing that graf-by-graf we do that tweet-by-tweet. The blog correctly embeds hyperlinks within existing text, and doesn't create redundant text just for the hyperlink spelling out the URL.
Kamen K.: Golf course flooding video and preview post and recap post and tweets #txgcfloods
OUTSTANDING B-roll here? What makes it outstanding? While a golf course official talks about a flooded course, we play B-roll showing the flooding from the perspective of a motorboat trekking across the flooded course! We show (via video) AND tell (via interview) at the same time. That's what we're aiming for; telling a story in two dimensions simultaneously.
Rachel F.: College tuition video and preview post and recap post and tweets #msutuitionincrease
Using graphics and charts as B-roll was a good idea, but execution could have been a bit better: it's not clear whether the first one represents percentage changes or dollar amounts or what, and on the second one we see the explanation key at the end of the B-roll shot; up to that point, a viewer had no idea what they were looking at. Always start with the key.
The blog posts were too similar. One should have focused on the action (the increase and why it's happening) and the other the reaction (what students have to say about it).
Natasha B.: Foster care video and preview post and recap post and tweets # fosteringincolorado
It would have been helpful in captions to identify the interview subjects not only by name but by title as well, so that the viewer can establish their credibility and relevance. Plus, for news articles (unlike for commercials and such) we should always us B-roll we shot ourselves, and not stock B-roll as I suspect was used here.
The tweets are another good example of how to tweet non-breaking news: as a stream of news facts, laid out in much the same was we do for an inverted pyramid style of written news story, with a lede tweet and then fact tweets in descending order of importance.
Nadia L.: College drinking video and preview post and recap post and tweets #drinkresponsibly
The video did a very nice job of using still pictures and a graphic as B-roll, but we only had one on-tape interview; the minimum was two. The blog posts have good content, but fail to embed the hyperlinks into regular text (don't make the text the URL!) and is sloppy with AP Style rules, in addition to lacking the minimum of two hyperlinks per post.
Sakiya D.: Staying fit video and preview post and recap post and tweets #getfit
In the vid, we want to use captions to identify sources instead having them say who they are. That saves tape time for what they have to say, instead of wasting a few seconds here and there for them to say who they are. The content of the blog posts are fine but we're missing a basic need: attribution! All because we're delving into new mediums doesn't mean we give up old fundamentals. Readers still need to know how we know what we know.
Aundreanna J.-P.: College prep video and preview post and recap post and tweets #preparingforcollege
One thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want. Plus, let's make sure transitions between segments are smooth; the video ends kind of abruptly.
Meghan C.: E-books video and preview post and recap post and tweets #ebooksvsprint
With the video, we offered attribution via caption every time a certain source appeared on video. All we needed was the first attribution via caption, and then none after that. Why? Because unlike in print where we need an attribution with every quote because that's the only cue that readers have as to who is talking, in video we have a second cue: the source's face and voice. So, after we attach a name and title to the face and voice in the first reference, the face and voice alone are enough to offer clear attribution in subsequent references.
Also, while we offer b-roll of traditional books, we never offer B-roll of an e-book. Just like in a print story we can't not quote a direct player, in a video story we can't forget to include B-roll of what they story is primarily about.
The only big knock I have on the blog posts is that you don't use two unique hyperlinks per post; you use the same links in each post. That's a no-no.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
JRN 200: A Reminder of My Availability
I will NOT be available for in-person office hours for
the remainder of the summer, because I will be out of the office for
the remainder of the summer. That also means I will not be available via
my land line phone number of 517-432-3009, as listed in the syllabus.
However, that does NOT mean I won't be available to you to address your needs and concerns. During regular weekday business hours you may call me on my cell at 702-271-7983, and even text questions to that number of that's easier. (Please don't forget to include your name on there so I can know who the heck is texting me).
I'll also still be available at my email address of omars@msu.edu. That's the address at which I want you to keep turning in your assignments, but I suspect I'll respond more quickly to texts to my phone than emails if you have questions or concerns.
So, in short, I'll still be available, at the same email address but a new phone number and not in-office. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to address 'em.
However, that does NOT mean I won't be available to you to address your needs and concerns. During regular weekday business hours you may call me on my cell at 702-271-7983, and even text questions to that number of that's easier. (Please don't forget to include your name on there so I can know who the heck is texting me).
I'll also still be available at my email address of omars@msu.edu. That's the address at which I want you to keep turning in your assignments, but I suspect I'll respond more quickly to texts to my phone than emails if you have questions or concerns.
So, in short, I'll still be available, at the same email address but a new phone number and not in-office. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to address 'em.
Monday, July 27, 2015
JRN 200: Your Turn To Grade Me!
From MSU, sent to me, forwarded to you. Please follow the link and fill out the survey on this class ASAP. (Yes, I really do read these and take the feedback -- whether good or bad -- seriously, so please do the survey. And thanks!)
Student Instruction Rating System (SIRS Online) collects student feedback on courses and instruction at MSU. Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS Online) forms will be available for your students to submit feedback during the dates indicated:
JRN 200 730: 8/2/2015 - 9/1/2015 (SIRS only)
Direct students to https://sirsonline.msu.edu.
Students are required to complete the SIRS Online form OR indicate within that form that they decline to participate. Otherwise, final grades (for courses using SIRS Online) will be sequestered for seven days following the course grade submission deadline for this semester.
SIRS Online rating summaries are available to instructors and department chairs after 9/1/2015 at https://sirsonline.msu.edu. Instructors should provide copies of the rating summaries to graduate assistants who assisted in teaching their course(s). Rating information collected by SIRS Online is reported in summary form only and cannot be linked to individual student responses. Student anonymity is carefully protected.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
JRN 200: Homework For The Week of 7/27
Outside
of the latest blog posts (and please do keep checking every weekday!)
we're still working on what has already been assigned. But we have some deadlines rapidly coming up!
That includes the optional second out-of-class rewrite (due Monday 7/27), the required third and optional fourth out-of-class story tip sheets (due Monday 8/3), and the second multimedia assignment (due Thursday 7/30). Please see earlier blog posts for directions/details.
If you have any questions or concerns I will be available between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays at 702-271-7983 or omars@msu.edu. That's my cell number, as I will be out of the office for the remainder of the summer.
Good luck, everyone!
That includes the optional second out-of-class rewrite (due Monday 7/27), the required third and optional fourth out-of-class story tip sheets (due Monday 8/3), and the second multimedia assignment (due Thursday 7/30). Please see earlier blog posts for directions/details.
If you have any questions or concerns I will be available between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays at 702-271-7983 or omars@msu.edu. That's my cell number, as I will be out of the office for the remainder of the summer.
Good luck, everyone!
Job Shadows: What You Saw, Part 2
Here's
a
sampling of some of the various job shadows done by you all (this will
be updated as job shadow reports are turned in, so please check back
frequently). Take a look
and see what you can learn from everyone's visits. There's a lot of
good stuff here to help you decide what you want to do with your lives;
what you need to be doing to get there; and what to expect when you do
get there.
Please give each one of these a quick read as they come in, will you?
Please give each one of these a quick read as they come in, will you?
*****
For
my job shadow, I followed Jodi Friedman, who works as an editor at the Saginaw
Daily News. The Saginaw Daily News is a primarily online publication, so one of
Jodi’s primary duties is to update the Saginaw News home page “river”. Jodi
explained that the river is the “must-reads” section at the top of the page,
where readers are shown links to popular stories
(http://www.mlive.com/saginaw/). She showed me how this was done and let me do
it myself. Jodi is also responsible for feeding trending stories from Saginaw
to the main river on the MLive website.
Jodi
also passed me around to other people in her office. I got to meet three young
writers who were only a few years older than me, and they gave me some helpful
advice on getting jobs in the journalism field. They all advised me to get as
many internships as soon as I could wherever I could.
Heather, who graduated
from MSU just a few years ago, suggested I seek out an internship at the
Lansing State Journal. That’s what she did when she was at MSU, and she was
able to secure her job at Saginaw News through that internship. This was an
important lesson for me, and I’ll definitely be seeking out an internship as
soon as I can.
I
enjoyed this experience, because I got to see how an online publication works.
I’ve experienced print media to a certain extent, but I’ve never seen an how
online media functions before. Since online news is the future of journalism, I
think this was a valuable experience. Jodi explained that most publications in
Michigan have shifted from print to online, so it’s much more likely that I’ll
end up working with online media rather than print media.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Video #1: Let's Look At Some Vids!
Okay, so here's the video recap, posted in the order in which they were received. I ask that you please look at EACH video (by clicking on the hyperlinks placed over the author's names) and read my comments for EACH video (not just your own!), so we can learn like we've learned from each other throughout this semester.
(These vids aren't long; just 1 to 2 minutes each. That means it should take you no more than a half-hour to watch all of 'em. Please do, because by looking at how others did the exact same assignment we did we can glean good ideas and best practices that we can later incorporate in our own work.)
Overall, I thought we did very, very well on this assignment, especially considering it was a first-time video in this class. Lots of good B-roll, good story flows, ect. Certainly some things that can be tweaked, but that's to be expected.
Like the first blog/tweet assignment, unless I emailed you saying otherwise then you got an automatic 4.0 equal to a practice story assignment on this as long as you met all the technical parameters of staying within 1 and 2 minutes, using two videotaped sources, including B-roll, etc. (Future assignments will be graded harder than this one, though.)
Let's look for what worked and what didn't and what we could borrow for the next time and what we need to avoid doing again. Here we go:
Liam T.: Overall solid; a nice mix of interviews and narration and B-roll and captions so we can see what is being talked about and who's doing the talking.
Amanda B.: Nice structure, but three things: first, no matter how still you THINK you can hold a camera, you're gonna get shake if you don't use a tripod. So, use a tripod or some other steady surface from which to shoot. Second, just like stories need attribution, video needs attributive captions so we can see who is being interviewed.
Third, we needed more B-roll, especially inside of the audio interview segments. The whole advantage of video story-telling is to show people what is being reported on; something we can't do as well in print for obvious reasons. With video, it's not enough to have speakers tell us what they're doing; we need to show the audience what they're doing, literally. Not having B-roll in video is equivalent to not having any supporting evidence for your lede in print. It is the factual foundation for everything we conclude. We don't just tell people the news; we show them the proof as well.
Plus, when we don't have B-roll, look at how long those interview segments seem, when we're essentially locked into the same talking-head shot for extended periods of time. What we should do is start with the head shot of the interview subject; while they are still talking put B-roll over the sound; and then return to the head shot toward the end of the interview.
Courtney K.: LOTS of B-roll here; the problem is, very little of the B-roll shows the interview subjects doing what they are talking about! B-roll should be specific to what the subject is saying, and the best B-roll shows them actually doing it (like, laying out by the beach, or riding a Jet-Ski) rather than generic shots showing the activity, but minus the subject. Still, nice job of letting the audience see a lot, which is what a video should do: show activity and animation and offer sound.
Plus, did we have written permission to use the copyrighted song for background music? If not, congrats: you have committed your first federal crime, as noted by the Student Press Law Center's Web site:
—Can I use a recent pop song as background music for a feature story on our school TV station?
Not without permission or purchase of the appropriate license. While you could use a short clip of the song, for example, as part of a bona fide music review of the CD from which it comes, using the song solely as background music would not qualify as fair use. For more information, see the SPLC’s Guide to Music Licensing for Broadcasting and Webcasting.
It's not enough to give credit; you must have permission.
Kenedi R.: We didn't follow directions here. First, we were off-topic; we did crime in Detroit when the topic was what people were doing this summer. Second, we lack captions or any attribution; who are we interviewing? The viewer has no idea. We need to carry over our habits from how we put together a journalism story in writing and use it in video, like using attribution. Plus, there's hardly any B-roll showing what people are talking about.
Be sure that you follow directions, and that you apply the journalism habits of print to a video story structure.
Sakiya D.: One thing that I found redundant was having a caption naming the speaker, and the speaker saying their own name. Ideally, just let the caption do the identifying, and save air time for the substance of what the person is actually talking about.
Also, ideally we want B-roll while the person is still talking. That means letting sound run through a segment, but changing the shot while the sound is still going. Please see some of the other videos for examples.
Please note in the closing captions the reference to royalty-free music. That's music that's okay to use without permission, for free. If we use music or art or clips or whatever, let's make sure it's royalty-free or under a creative commons license, which means it's free to use. Otherwise, it's intellectual property theft. It's not enough to give credit if you don't have permission to use it.
Shannon K.: One thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
Kevyn R.: We need to come up with a caption headline that actually says what the story is about: "JRN 200 Interviews" is like having a written story lede that says, "This is a JRN 200 story." What we needed was a caption hed that addressed the topic: "What are people doing this summer?"
Plus, we can leave the identification to the caption, and save audio time for the actual substance of what the person has to say rather than repeating that ID. And we sorely needed B-roll here; don't just have people tell me what they are doing; show me what they are doing, too. If they're talking about their summer job, show them working, too.
Meghan C.: Again: one thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
In the good news department, we have B-roll embedded in the interview shots: when someone is talking about spending time at the beach, we start with the head shot, then as the person keeps talking we show a beach shot, and then we return to the head shot. That's good use of B-roll to show while telling, and to break up that static, boring head shot for a bit.
Look at how the first interview compares to the second, where we desperately needed B-roll sooner to break up that head shot. We also could have used a variety of B-roll, as opposed to just one shot.
Kamen K.: Great use of video and still photos as B-roll here. See how the images are used to break up the interview segments and show and tell simultaneously? This is the video story structure we all should be aiming for.
Rachel F.: Let's not wait for attribution; we need it right whenever we introduce a speaker, so that the viewer knows who you're talking to.
Aundreanna J.-P.: One more time: one thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
But we have a nice variety of B-roll showing while the interview subject is telling.
Penelope S.: In this vid, interview subjects each answer two questions. And see how it's broken down: instead of having interview 1 answer questions 1 and 2, then interview 2 answer questions 1 and 2 and so on, we have interview 1 answer question 1, then 2 answer 1, then 3 answer 1. Only then do we go to question 2, and get answers from interviews 1, 2 and 3.
It makes more sense to structure the story by question rather than by interview subject, since it allows a variety of answers to any single question at the same time. We needed more B-roll, as we showed very little of what was being told.
Natasha B.: We have a bit of shaky camera here (tripod, please!) and we cut through some of the B-roll too quickly where it's hard to see and retain what is being shown, but generally a good mix of B-roll here, both using video and still photographs (but slow it down just a tad!).
Nadia L.: We're missing a lede caption (which is like missing a lede in a print story; people won't know what you're about to get into without one) and attribution captions (so people will know who is being interviewed; this is like having a print story with no attribution) and we didn't fully follow instructions (the minimum video length was 1 minute, and 2 sources were required).
But what was done was done nicely: we see B-roll showing while we're telling.
Hallie A.: This isn't really a story; it's just unattributed quotes being offered. There's no B-roll. There's no captions to identify the speakers. There's no editing; it's just a raw tape, done on one take. This would be like turning in just a bunch of quotes instead of a developed written story. We can't just shoot raw tape; we need to structure a story and use elements like attribution and B-roll to best organize information.
(These vids aren't long; just 1 to 2 minutes each. That means it should take you no more than a half-hour to watch all of 'em. Please do, because by looking at how others did the exact same assignment we did we can glean good ideas and best practices that we can later incorporate in our own work.)
Overall, I thought we did very, very well on this assignment, especially considering it was a first-time video in this class. Lots of good B-roll, good story flows, ect. Certainly some things that can be tweaked, but that's to be expected.
Like the first blog/tweet assignment, unless I emailed you saying otherwise then you got an automatic 4.0 equal to a practice story assignment on this as long as you met all the technical parameters of staying within 1 and 2 minutes, using two videotaped sources, including B-roll, etc. (Future assignments will be graded harder than this one, though.)
Let's look for what worked and what didn't and what we could borrow for the next time and what we need to avoid doing again. Here we go:
Liam T.: Overall solid; a nice mix of interviews and narration and B-roll and captions so we can see what is being talked about and who's doing the talking.
Amanda B.: Nice structure, but three things: first, no matter how still you THINK you can hold a camera, you're gonna get shake if you don't use a tripod. So, use a tripod or some other steady surface from which to shoot. Second, just like stories need attribution, video needs attributive captions so we can see who is being interviewed.
Third, we needed more B-roll, especially inside of the audio interview segments. The whole advantage of video story-telling is to show people what is being reported on; something we can't do as well in print for obvious reasons. With video, it's not enough to have speakers tell us what they're doing; we need to show the audience what they're doing, literally. Not having B-roll in video is equivalent to not having any supporting evidence for your lede in print. It is the factual foundation for everything we conclude. We don't just tell people the news; we show them the proof as well.
Plus, when we don't have B-roll, look at how long those interview segments seem, when we're essentially locked into the same talking-head shot for extended periods of time. What we should do is start with the head shot of the interview subject; while they are still talking put B-roll over the sound; and then return to the head shot toward the end of the interview.
Courtney K.: LOTS of B-roll here; the problem is, very little of the B-roll shows the interview subjects doing what they are talking about! B-roll should be specific to what the subject is saying, and the best B-roll shows them actually doing it (like, laying out by the beach, or riding a Jet-Ski) rather than generic shots showing the activity, but minus the subject. Still, nice job of letting the audience see a lot, which is what a video should do: show activity and animation and offer sound.
Plus, did we have written permission to use the copyrighted song for background music? If not, congrats: you have committed your first federal crime, as noted by the Student Press Law Center's Web site:
—Can I use a recent pop song as background music for a feature story on our school TV station?
Not without permission or purchase of the appropriate license. While you could use a short clip of the song, for example, as part of a bona fide music review of the CD from which it comes, using the song solely as background music would not qualify as fair use. For more information, see the SPLC’s Guide to Music Licensing for Broadcasting and Webcasting.
It's not enough to give credit; you must have permission.
Kenedi R.: We didn't follow directions here. First, we were off-topic; we did crime in Detroit when the topic was what people were doing this summer. Second, we lack captions or any attribution; who are we interviewing? The viewer has no idea. We need to carry over our habits from how we put together a journalism story in writing and use it in video, like using attribution. Plus, there's hardly any B-roll showing what people are talking about.
Be sure that you follow directions, and that you apply the journalism habits of print to a video story structure.
Sakiya D.: One thing that I found redundant was having a caption naming the speaker, and the speaker saying their own name. Ideally, just let the caption do the identifying, and save air time for the substance of what the person is actually talking about.
Also, ideally we want B-roll while the person is still talking. That means letting sound run through a segment, but changing the shot while the sound is still going. Please see some of the other videos for examples.
Please note in the closing captions the reference to royalty-free music. That's music that's okay to use without permission, for free. If we use music or art or clips or whatever, let's make sure it's royalty-free or under a creative commons license, which means it's free to use. Otherwise, it's intellectual property theft. It's not enough to give credit if you don't have permission to use it.
Shannon K.: One thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
Kevyn R.: We need to come up with a caption headline that actually says what the story is about: "JRN 200 Interviews" is like having a written story lede that says, "This is a JRN 200 story." What we needed was a caption hed that addressed the topic: "What are people doing this summer?"
Plus, we can leave the identification to the caption, and save audio time for the actual substance of what the person has to say rather than repeating that ID. And we sorely needed B-roll here; don't just have people tell me what they are doing; show me what they are doing, too. If they're talking about their summer job, show them working, too.
Meghan C.: Again: one thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
In the good news department, we have B-roll embedded in the interview shots: when someone is talking about spending time at the beach, we start with the head shot, then as the person keeps talking we show a beach shot, and then we return to the head shot. That's good use of B-roll to show while telling, and to break up that static, boring head shot for a bit.
Look at how the first interview compares to the second, where we desperately needed B-roll sooner to break up that head shot. We also could have used a variety of B-roll, as opposed to just one shot.
Kamen K.: Great use of video and still photos as B-roll here. See how the images are used to break up the interview segments and show and tell simultaneously? This is the video story structure we all should be aiming for.
Rachel F.: Let's not wait for attribution; we need it right whenever we introduce a speaker, so that the viewer knows who you're talking to.
Aundreanna J.-P.: One more time: one thing to remember when shooting video with your phone: you will end up playing video on a horizontal screen, so shoot horizontally and not vertically. When we shoot vertically -- the camera phone facing up-t0-down, instead of sideways -- we end up getting those black "bookmarks" on either end of the image, which we don't want.
But we have a nice variety of B-roll showing while the interview subject is telling.
Penelope S.: In this vid, interview subjects each answer two questions. And see how it's broken down: instead of having interview 1 answer questions 1 and 2, then interview 2 answer questions 1 and 2 and so on, we have interview 1 answer question 1, then 2 answer 1, then 3 answer 1. Only then do we go to question 2, and get answers from interviews 1, 2 and 3.
It makes more sense to structure the story by question rather than by interview subject, since it allows a variety of answers to any single question at the same time. We needed more B-roll, as we showed very little of what was being told.
Natasha B.: We have a bit of shaky camera here (tripod, please!) and we cut through some of the B-roll too quickly where it's hard to see and retain what is being shown, but generally a good mix of B-roll here, both using video and still photographs (but slow it down just a tad!).
Nadia L.: We're missing a lede caption (which is like missing a lede in a print story; people won't know what you're about to get into without one) and attribution captions (so people will know who is being interviewed; this is like having a print story with no attribution) and we didn't fully follow instructions (the minimum video length was 1 minute, and 2 sources were required).
But what was done was done nicely: we see B-roll showing while we're telling.
Hallie A.: This isn't really a story; it's just unattributed quotes being offered. There's no B-roll. There's no captions to identify the speakers. There's no editing; it's just a raw tape, done on one take. This would be like turning in just a bunch of quotes instead of a developed written story. We can't just shoot raw tape; we need to structure a story and use elements like attribution and B-roll to best organize information.
JRN 200: A Late Change In Class
Life is change, and at this late point in the semester there will be a bit of a change in when and how you contact me.
After Thursday, July 23 I will NOT be available for in-person office hours for the remainder of the summer, because I will be out of the office for the remainder of the summer. That also means I will not be available via my land line phone number of 517-432-3009, as listed in the syllabus.
However, that does NOT mean I won't be available to you to address your needs and concerns. During regular weekday business hours you may call me on my cell at 702-271-7983, and even text questions to that number of that's easier. (Please don't forget to include your name on there so I can know who the heck is texting me).
I'll also still be available at my email address of omars@msu.edu. That's the address at which I want you to keep turning in your assignments, but I suspect I'll respond more quickly to texts to my phone than emails if you have questions or concerns.
So, in short, I'll still be available, at the same email address but a new phone number and not in-office. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to address 'em.
After Thursday, July 23 I will NOT be available for in-person office hours for the remainder of the summer, because I will be out of the office for the remainder of the summer. That also means I will not be available via my land line phone number of 517-432-3009, as listed in the syllabus.
However, that does NOT mean I won't be available to you to address your needs and concerns. During regular weekday business hours you may call me on my cell at 702-271-7983, and even text questions to that number of that's easier. (Please don't forget to include your name on there so I can know who the heck is texting me).
I'll also still be available at my email address of omars@msu.edu. That's the address at which I want you to keep turning in your assignments, but I suspect I'll respond more quickly to texts to my phone than emails if you have questions or concerns.
So, in short, I'll still be available, at the same email address but a new phone number and not in-office. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to address 'em.
JRN 200: Your Thursday 7/23 and Friday 7/24 Homework
This, of course, is in addition to the second multimedia assignment that I blogged about yesterday.
First off, a reminder that you need to be working on setting up job shadows, for which a report will be due no later than the last day of class, which is August 17, via email to omars@msu.edu. Before you do the job shadow in a news and/or media-related workplace, it must be approved by me. I've heard from very few people regarding progress on this; please get things planned and a proposal submitted to me ASAP. We are seriously running out of time, and a job shadow often takes a few weeks to plan and schedule.
Next, rewrites of your second out-of-class story will be due no later than 9 a.m. Monday, July 27 via email to omars@msu.edu.
Also, tip sheets for your third out-of-class story AND optional fourth out-of-class story will be due no later than 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3 via email to omars@msu.edu. The fourth story is optional; if you do it, then of your four out-of-classers, the three best grades will be considered for your final grade, with your worst grade tossed out.
As a reminder, here are tip sheet instructions. Requirements include:
1. That the topic be a news topic, rather than a features or sports topic.
2. That the topic be an issue or a trend, and NOT an event. What I mean by that is that you cover something that's broadly happening in society (such as a tuition increase or summer employment), rather than a happening (a house fire or a fund-raiser).
3. That the topic be one that you can report locally, doing interviews in-person. With out-of-class stories, I am testing your ability to find people to actually talk directly to, and to do interviews face-to-face.
(So, doing a story on riots in Turkey may be tough, because you're not in Turkey. But doing a story on how students of Turkish descent at MSU are reacting to the rioting, and/or how MSU study abroad students are handling the issues there, is much more doable.)
4. That the topic will allow you to meet the prerequisites of an out-of-class story, as detailed in the syllabus. Minimum of three sources you interviewed yourself; minimum of 700 words; double-spaced and conforming to AP Style; a word count at the end; a list of sources with their phone numbers and email addresses (so I can do spot checks on whether you really talked to them and whether your citations were accurate, ect.)
5. That the story can be fully reported, written and turned in within a 1-2 week time frame after approval.
6. That I approve your tip sheet for the project.
Now, WTF is a tip sheet? It's the proposal sheet that will detail your proposal in the following categories:
YOUR NAME. Duh.
THE TIP SHEET DUE DATE. Reduh
STORY SLUG. Please keep it to 1-3 words
STORY TOPIC. Describe in a few sentences what you expect this story to be about.
NEWS VALUE. Describe the news angle or angles you are exploring. Refer to news values from the blog or textbook. Explain how your proposed story is interesting, relevant and/or useful to the audience.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS. Describe in a sentence or two what niche orf readers would be interested in or affected by your story.
STORY SOURCES. Do some Googling and come up with a primary interview source and at least two other interview sources who you wll try to interview in-person or by phone.. Give me their names, titles, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and Web URLs (if applicable) for each source. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE CONTACTED THESE SOURCES BEFORE LISTING THEM HERE! In fact, if those sources, in the end, don't make it into your story because you later find better sources, that's okay, too. I simply want to see where you're starting out in trying to get sources to interview.
DOCUMENTARY SOURCES. List any print and online sources you plan to rely on in writing your story. These should be secondary sources only; I want your story topic to rely on primary sources who you actually interview yourself.
SOURCE CREDIBILITY AND EXPERTISE. Why are these good sources? How are they appropriate and available for the story?
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Disclose any and all conflicts of interest you may have. Do you have a personal interest in this topic and/or sources? Are you related to or friends with your sources? Does this topic directly affect you? Is it regarding a group or activity in which you participate or have an interest? If the answer to any of these is "yes," then you should find another topic.
PUBLICATION POTENTIAL. What publications or media might be interested in printing or posting this story? What do you think your chances are of publication or distribution?
STORY ALTERNATIVES. If the planned story does not work out, what will you do instead? Will the planned story be modified? Will an entirely different story be needed? Briefly explain fallback plans.
I need you to put all this info in a Word document and send it to my email account at omars@msu.edu, with the subject line of TIP SHEET 3, by the deadline.
To help get you started, here are some examples of topics from past JRN 200 classes of mine:
Pros and cons of living on-campus versus off-campus at MSU
"Culture of rape" on college campuses, including MSU
Summer vacation employment plans among college students at MSU
Prevalence of fake ID use among college students at MSU
Finals week stress among students at MSU
How foreign students acclimate to being on an American campus, like MSU
Seniors at MSU facing the "real world" after graduation
Recycling at MSU
Notice how many of the topics are local, or MSU is being used to put a local focus on a broader trend. That's important, because (once again) YOU WILL NEED TO INTERVIEW PEOPLE YOURSELF!
This isn't a term paper; this is journalism. And there's a big difference. With a term paper, you find and cite the reporting and research that others have done, and put that in your paper. But in journalism, YOU do the actual reporting and research YOURSELF.
You don't cite CNN saying there was a bombing in Boston; YOU call the Boston authorities YOURSELF, and do YOUR OWN interviews to get the raw material that makes up your story. You don't cite a study done by Harvard University that you found online; YOU call the person who authored the study and interview him or her YOURSELF.
That's why I think the best topics are local. It's probably a lot to ask novice journalists to do a story on American foreign policy and get President Obama on the phone yourself.
With this being an online class, I know there are many people who are nowhere near East Lansing. And that's okay. Find topics in and around your geographic area. My biggest concern isn't that it's an MSU topic; it's that it's a topic you can report first-hand. The latter is the reason so many of the past topics I listed were MSU-centric. It was proximity.
In previous in-person summer classes, I had some students commuting from home, and some took topics from their home areas. For example, one student from the Port Huron area did a story on plans to expand the bridge linking Port Huron to Canada. So it's no big deal if stories are coming from Albuquerque or Nashville or suburban Detroit (which are actual locations of some of our current JRN 200ers!).
And if you have any problems whatsoever in coming up with a topic, or detailing a topic, do not hesitate to call me (517-432-3009) or email me (omars@msu.edu) or stop by my office (435 E. Grand River Ave., at the corner of Grand River and Division, across the street from Berkey Hall and next to the SBS bookstore) during regular weekday business hours.
Hope this helps. Good luck, everybody!
Have a nice weekend, all.
First off, a reminder that you need to be working on setting up job shadows, for which a report will be due no later than the last day of class, which is August 17, via email to omars@msu.edu. Before you do the job shadow in a news and/or media-related workplace, it must be approved by me. I've heard from very few people regarding progress on this; please get things planned and a proposal submitted to me ASAP. We are seriously running out of time, and a job shadow often takes a few weeks to plan and schedule.
Next, rewrites of your second out-of-class story will be due no later than 9 a.m. Monday, July 27 via email to omars@msu.edu.
Also, tip sheets for your third out-of-class story AND optional fourth out-of-class story will be due no later than 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3 via email to omars@msu.edu. The fourth story is optional; if you do it, then of your four out-of-classers, the three best grades will be considered for your final grade, with your worst grade tossed out.
As a reminder, here are tip sheet instructions. Requirements include:
1. That the topic be a news topic, rather than a features or sports topic.
2. That the topic be an issue or a trend, and NOT an event. What I mean by that is that you cover something that's broadly happening in society (such as a tuition increase or summer employment), rather than a happening (a house fire or a fund-raiser).
3. That the topic be one that you can report locally, doing interviews in-person. With out-of-class stories, I am testing your ability to find people to actually talk directly to, and to do interviews face-to-face.
(So, doing a story on riots in Turkey may be tough, because you're not in Turkey. But doing a story on how students of Turkish descent at MSU are reacting to the rioting, and/or how MSU study abroad students are handling the issues there, is much more doable.)
4. That the topic will allow you to meet the prerequisites of an out-of-class story, as detailed in the syllabus. Minimum of three sources you interviewed yourself; minimum of 700 words; double-spaced and conforming to AP Style; a word count at the end; a list of sources with their phone numbers and email addresses (so I can do spot checks on whether you really talked to them and whether your citations were accurate, ect.)
5. That the story can be fully reported, written and turned in within a 1-2 week time frame after approval.
6. That I approve your tip sheet for the project.
Now, WTF is a tip sheet? It's the proposal sheet that will detail your proposal in the following categories:
YOUR NAME. Duh.
THE TIP SHEET DUE DATE. Reduh
STORY SLUG. Please keep it to 1-3 words
STORY TOPIC. Describe in a few sentences what you expect this story to be about.
NEWS VALUE. Describe the news angle or angles you are exploring. Refer to news values from the blog or textbook. Explain how your proposed story is interesting, relevant and/or useful to the audience.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS. Describe in a sentence or two what niche orf readers would be interested in or affected by your story.
STORY SOURCES. Do some Googling and come up with a primary interview source and at least two other interview sources who you wll try to interview in-person or by phone.. Give me their names, titles, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and Web URLs (if applicable) for each source. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE CONTACTED THESE SOURCES BEFORE LISTING THEM HERE! In fact, if those sources, in the end, don't make it into your story because you later find better sources, that's okay, too. I simply want to see where you're starting out in trying to get sources to interview.
DOCUMENTARY SOURCES. List any print and online sources you plan to rely on in writing your story. These should be secondary sources only; I want your story topic to rely on primary sources who you actually interview yourself.
SOURCE CREDIBILITY AND EXPERTISE. Why are these good sources? How are they appropriate and available for the story?
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Disclose any and all conflicts of interest you may have. Do you have a personal interest in this topic and/or sources? Are you related to or friends with your sources? Does this topic directly affect you? Is it regarding a group or activity in which you participate or have an interest? If the answer to any of these is "yes," then you should find another topic.
PUBLICATION POTENTIAL. What publications or media might be interested in printing or posting this story? What do you think your chances are of publication or distribution?
STORY ALTERNATIVES. If the planned story does not work out, what will you do instead? Will the planned story be modified? Will an entirely different story be needed? Briefly explain fallback plans.
I need you to put all this info in a Word document and send it to my email account at omars@msu.edu, with the subject line of TIP SHEET 3, by the deadline.
To help get you started, here are some examples of topics from past JRN 200 classes of mine:
Pros and cons of living on-campus versus off-campus at MSU
"Culture of rape" on college campuses, including MSU
Summer vacation employment plans among college students at MSU
Prevalence of fake ID use among college students at MSU
Finals week stress among students at MSU
How foreign students acclimate to being on an American campus, like MSU
Seniors at MSU facing the "real world" after graduation
Recycling at MSU
Notice how many of the topics are local, or MSU is being used to put a local focus on a broader trend. That's important, because (once again) YOU WILL NEED TO INTERVIEW PEOPLE YOURSELF!
This isn't a term paper; this is journalism. And there's a big difference. With a term paper, you find and cite the reporting and research that others have done, and put that in your paper. But in journalism, YOU do the actual reporting and research YOURSELF.
You don't cite CNN saying there was a bombing in Boston; YOU call the Boston authorities YOURSELF, and do YOUR OWN interviews to get the raw material that makes up your story. You don't cite a study done by Harvard University that you found online; YOU call the person who authored the study and interview him or her YOURSELF.
That's why I think the best topics are local. It's probably a lot to ask novice journalists to do a story on American foreign policy and get President Obama on the phone yourself.
With this being an online class, I know there are many people who are nowhere near East Lansing. And that's okay. Find topics in and around your geographic area. My biggest concern isn't that it's an MSU topic; it's that it's a topic you can report first-hand. The latter is the reason so many of the past topics I listed were MSU-centric. It was proximity.
In previous in-person summer classes, I had some students commuting from home, and some took topics from their home areas. For example, one student from the Port Huron area did a story on plans to expand the bridge linking Port Huron to Canada. So it's no big deal if stories are coming from Albuquerque or Nashville or suburban Detroit (which are actual locations of some of our current JRN 200ers!).
And if you have any problems whatsoever in coming up with a topic, or detailing a topic, do not hesitate to call me (517-432-3009) or email me (omars@msu.edu) or stop by my office (435 E. Grand River Ave., at the corner of Grand River and Division, across the street from Berkey Hall and next to the SBS bookstore) during regular weekday business hours.
Hope this helps. Good luck, everybody!
Have a nice weekend, all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)