Out-Of-Class #1: Time To Start Thinking ...

... about your topic! For this first one, I would like you to come up with a topic that fits several parameters, which I'll list here:

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 you will have to submit to me no later than by 9 a.m. next Tuesday, detailing your proposal in the following categories:

YOUR NAME. Duh.


THE TIP SHEET DUE DATE. That will be Oct. 1, 2013


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 of 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 the handout I passed out Tuesday or on a Word document and send it to my email account at omars@msu.edu, with the subject line of TIP SHEET 1, by the deadline of 9 a.m. next Tuesday.

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!