Blogs/Tweets #1: Let's Look At Some Posts And Tweets!

Here are links to all our preview and recap posts, and tweet streams, on order in which they were turned in to me (the first one is first, and the last one is last).

Let's compare the work of each other and see what we did well, and what ideas we can get from others. 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 post and Twitter exercises was 4.0 on each, with each equaling a practice story in final grade weight. (Future assignments will be graded more specifically and be of higher weight, though). Here we go ... 

*****

Jason R.: hockey press conference preview and recap and tweets (no hash tag) 

Fine job of each element complementing the other, but we're missing hyperlinks in the preview (two were required) and a unifying hash tag for the tweets.

*****

Lauren Y.: hockey game on TV preview and recap and tweets #wingscaps200

Nice tweet stream, but we're missing a lede tweet saying what the following tweet stream will be about, something like, Red Wings ready to face off against Washington; follow play-by-play here, or something like that. The online stories were great, but let's make sure we're still doing due diligence in fact-checking; we said pot-game when I think we meant post-game.

*****

Romero H.: TV talk show preview and recap and tweets #jrn200firsttake

Again, we need a lede tweet. Like a story, we need to let people know right away what they're reading about. While with live-tweeting we can't get to end result, we can get to what we're following, like: Follow along as Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith debate the day in sports on First Take, or something like that. Nice use of hyperlinks, but let's get greater variety of sources other than Wikipedia, like team home pages, ESPN bios, highlights from ESPN and/or YouTube, etc.

*****

Mary A.: roomie playing video games preview and recap and tweets #GaylePlaysZelda 

Nice job here; a preview that lets people know what to expect; tweets that take us through the play-by-play; and a recap that sums up what the tweets had spread out.

*****  

Kelsey F.: sister's bed time preview and recap and tweets #haleyfallasleep 

Note how the recap post isn't simply a continuation of the preview post; the recap has its own lede and starts over with first attribution, etc. It's not just splitting one story in half; it's one story, and then a separate follow-up story. Great job here except for the typo that mushed together the sister's first and last name in the preview post; we can't proof social media because it's in real time, but we have to give the same level of diligence to online stories as we do print stories.

*****

Emma B.: band practice preview and recap and tweets #lifebeforeband

A nice overall job, but two big problems: one, the topic was one we participated in, and it was supposed to be something we were observing. Second, the tweet stream is again missing a lede tweet.

*****

Asha D.: TV show preview and recap and tweets  #tgitb322

Here, we went waaaaaay beyond the 12-tweet minimum. And that's great! Use as many tweets as needed to fully tell the story.

*****

Meg D.: apple crisps preview and recap and tweets #momsapplecrisp

The lede tweet here is pretty vague; again, let's clearly establish what we are about to tweet about. Also, click on the hashtag and see how the author's audience jumped in and joined the conversation by using the same hash tag. That's one way social media allows for interactivity with the audience WHILE the news is still happening.

*****

Maddie S.: baseball game on TV preview and recap and tweets #jacquiewatchesgame7

Nice mix of hyperlink material here. While in print it's not okay to borrow from other media, it's okay in hyperlinking because you're not taking material from other media; you're sending readers to that other media. It's not stealing; it's referring.

*****

Anna S.: roomie dinner preview and recap and tweets #thegreatdinnerdebate

A couple of issues here: first, don't forget basic values we're trying to carry over from print, like fully identifying people on first reference. The tweet stream is missing that. second, we're short on hyperlinks here (the minimum was two per post) and we need to embed the posts inside of the text, like with the other examples sofar here.

*****

Emily N.: student studying preview and recap and tweets #kpattstudy

A nice tweet stream here. With the blog posts, the ledes are too similar; while the preview is correct in ledeing with what was expected to happen -- having to study -- the recap should have gone to end result and ultimate outcome: how did studying go?

*****

Chelsea S.: waiting for bus preview and recap and tweets (no hash tag)

With the tweets, we have a good basic stream, but some errors: first, the lede tweet is too vague. Second, using MSU: is misleading, since that seems to indicate attribution of a source. Your source here is not MSU; it's your own observation, and we don't need attribution for things we witness. Third, the hash tag is missing. Fourth, it's only 10 tweets, and the minimum was 12.

*****

Travis D.: football game on TV preview and recap and tweets #shutdownbrees

Again, we need a lede tweet: The Saints are about to take on the Panthers in Thursday night football, or something like that.

*****

Sergio M-B.: study at library preview and recap and tweets #brandysatclublib 

A nice job all around, with pictures adding a new medium to the tweet stream.

*****








 

Out-Of-Class #3/4: Time To Start Thinking ...

... about your topic(s)! For the third (and optional fourth) one(s), again 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 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12 detailing your proposal in the following categories:

YOUR NAME. Duh.


THE TIP SHEET DUE DATE. That will be Nov. 12, 2014

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 2, by the deadline of Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m.
 
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.

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 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 somewhere else, as long as your interviews are all done first-hand.

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! 

JRN 200: Rules To Remember

I'm always looking for a way to simplify our principles to an easily-understood and effortlessly-followed list. Sometimes I come up with such a formula; other times, I find something that's good to go.

Below is an example of the latter: a list of 22 rules for journalists. It does a nice job of reminding us of some basic precepts that can easily be forgotten amid the daily hubbub: keep it simple, do the right thing, it's about people, ect.

Give it a quick read and think about how these rules can apply to your day-to-day routines now and beyond this semester.

By Robert Mann

Whenever I hear about some press secretary cursing a young reporter, I think, “That’s a press secretary who was never a young reporter.”

That’s one reason some politicians have such poor press relations: the people they hire to manage their press relations know nothing about the daily life of a journalist. They think it’s about intimidation and manipulation when it’s mostly about mutual respect and creating and nurturing trusting relationships.

I discussed this in considerable detail earlier this week in this post about politicians and their spokespeople.

That post prompted a few friends to offer some additional rules.

It also prompted my friend and former LSU Manship School colleague Jay Perkins (a longtime Washington, D.C., Associated Press reporter) to offer some rules for journalists that he’s compiled over the years.

Jay is quick to note that most of these aren’t original to him. But it’s a great collection of wisdom that he once shared with all his students — and that I now share with you:

EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT REPORTING (And most of it I stole)

By Jay Perkins

1. Journalism is an attempt to discern the truth from liars. Don’t expect anyone to tell you the truth. They won’t. It’s up to you to find it. Look for contradictions in what people say. Three words to live by: compare and contrast.

2. Most lies are those of omission. Most people aren’t going to lie totally. They’re just going to tell you the version of the truth that makes them look good.

3. There’s a big difference between repeating and reporting. Repeating what someone said is easy. It doesn’t require much judgment or intelligence. Reporting is a search for the best version of the truth. It requires intelligence, skepticism, hard work and lots of digging. Strive to be a reporter.

4. The last reporter to get the truth from one source was a guy named Moses. Unless your source is God, you’re not going to get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from one interview. And if you’re getting interviews with God, you’re in the wrong business.

5. Reporting requires common sense – all five of them. It’s not enough to just listen to what someone says. God gave humans – even reporters – five senses. Sometimes how someone looks is just as important as what he or she says. Sometimes the way their voice wavers can tell you a lot. Use your senses.

6. Too many journalists try to climb a mountain from the top down. If you go right to the top and interview the big guy first, you’re dependent on what he wants to tell you. If you interview the little people first, you’ll know what to ask when you get to the big guy. Take it one step at a time. Start at the bottom. Hit the library and find out everything you can about the subject. Interview the little people second. You’ll get to the top quick enough – and you’ll know what to do when you get there.

7. Most business stories are not news stories. But most news stories are business stories. If you don’t understand business, you can’t understand news. Look to see how the news affects business – and why.

8. What someone knows is important. But the real question is how do they know it. Ask them. Beware the person who knows everything – college professors are a good example. They may just be good at talking about nothing.

WRITING

9. Good writing will take you further than good reporting. The reason? Most editors can recognize good writing. But few of them can recognize good reporting. Be a good reporter. But also be a good writer.

10. Writing is like making love – it’s a lot more fun with a partner. Unfortunately, too many journalists think they’re writing for themselves. They’re so interested in satisfying their own ego that they forget about satisfying the reader. Keep your focus on your readers. Tell them the story. They’ll think better of you in the morning.

11. Good writing starts with a KISS. That’s a maxim political consultants live by – Keep It Simple, Stupid. Leave the big words and the complex sentences in your English classes. Your job is not to impress the reader with your vocabulary or your ability to say nothing in 4,000 words. It’s to eloquently elucidate a communique – uh, communicate a message.

12. People are more important than statistics. You tell your reader that 500,000 people went broke in America last year, he’ll yawn. You tell him the personal story of one person who went broke, he’ll listen. Statistics are important and they have to go into the story. But your focus is on people.

THE NATURE OF NEWS

13. News is never new. It is simply recycled for a new audience. The only journalists who think they’ve found something new are those who are too dumb to read and too lazy to research. Read what other reporters in other towns are doing. Read what other reporters have done. Here’s betting the story they covered could be covered in your community. Do it. And then everybody will think you’ve found something new.

14. Anyone can cover an event. But only the good reporter can put it into perspective. Most reporters have an institutional memory of one day. The good ones can relate what happened on any one day to the historical trends that created the event and the ripple event the event will have across society. Don’t be satisfied with covering an event. Stretch the envelope.

15. Reporting and writing are tools that a journalist uses. But what he or she really is selling is knowledge. If you think the Mujahadeen sell ice cream in Beijing, that Khadaffi is the French word for coffee, that Mekong is what a big gorilla once said, you’ve got a problem. Three words to live by: Read. Read. Read.

LAW AND ETHICS

16. Ethics are elastic. It’s easy to be ethical when the story is small. It’s a lot harder when the story is huge. Develop an ethical code that you can live by. And live by it. The rule one reporter lives by: he never does anything to get a story that he would be ashamed to have printed alongside his story.

17. More libel suits are caused by bad manners than by bad reporting. You write something. Somebody gets mad. They call you up to complain. You listen to them, they feel better. You act like an arrogant jerk, they sue. Be nice. It will save you numerous libel suits.

RESPONSIBILITIES

18. Journalists can’t tell people what to think. But they certainly tell people what to think about. What you decide to cover and the way you organize your story all impact on what the reader is going to think about. That’s an awesome responsibility. Think about it.

19. The journalism profession doesn’t need any more bad reporters. It’s got plenty of those already. If you’re going to be a journalist, be a good one. If you’re not going to be a good one, find another field of work.

20. There’s no such thing as objectivity. But there’s something called fairness. If you don’t think your preconceptions influence the questions you ask and the story you write, you’re dreaming. Don’t worry about being objective. But try to be fair. Let everyone tell their side of the story.

21. So now you’ve been fair and allowed everyone to tell their side. Don’t let fairness cause you to miss the target. What’s the point of all this work you’re doing? Finding the truth. And the truth is never fair and it’s never balanced and it’s never objective.

CONSISTENCY

22. And finally, remember: most people will remember you not for your best story but for your worst.

JRN 200: What Journalism Is

Recently, a former State Newser asked me to review her personal statement as part of her MSU College of Law admission. And at the heart of her statement was what she learned being a journalist,  which I want you to consider for two reasons: first, it gets to what being a journalist is really about; it's not writing, it's about a responsibility to truth and community and getting out of your own comfort zone to do your job. Second, it's a literal example of how performing journalism can be used to demonstrate skills that apply to things that have nothing to do with journalism, and help you become anything but a journalist. Here we go:

My pen trembled in my hand as it hovered over the notebook and a list of questions.  I had been nervous for days — going over my notes and asking colleagues for tips —

as I prepared to conduct one of the toughest interviews I faced as a journalist. It was for a story about the B.R.A.D. Foundation, which sends out cards promoting safe drinking to young adults a few days before their 21^st birthday. The program was set up by the parents of Bradley McCue, who died on his 21^st birthday from ethanol poisoning. This interview would test all of the technical and interpersonal skills I had gained over the years from work and school.

            I had come a long way since one of my first interviews as a paid staff member of Michigan State University’s The State News. On those occasions, I simply read all my questions and failed to ask any follow-ups, resulting in me missing pertinent information. This taught me the importance of asking questions that build on the others. I had also learned a lot since my first story on a controversial political issue, affirmative action, a topic that I failed to thoroughly research prior to interviewing my main source. This taught me how research is critical before an interview. I made it a practice to come up with multiple ideas – more than I was required to have – every week at work. As a result, I quickly became someone other reporters could rely on for a story idea. The more I researched, interviewed, and wrote, the more I honed by ability to talk to others and be a skillful reporter overall.

             Looking back, I have to say that the interview process was initially the most challenging aspect of journalism for me because it is difficult talking to people who do not want to answer your questions. But, without a human source, the story or article never feels complete. So, I learned to relate to an interviewee, ask the right questions, and began enjoying the interview process. After four years of preparation, I had become ready to take on the toughest interview of my journalism career.

Mrs. McCue answered on the second ring. “Hello?” she said, in a cheery voice that lifted my spirits just a little. “Hi, this is Isabella from The State News. Is now a good time to talk?” I asked, knowing full well there is never a good time to talk about your deceased son. “Yes,” she said. I let out a deep breath, sounding shakier than I had expected.

My pen moved quickly as I went through the simple questions first to ease her into the interview and feel ready to open up, eventually leading up to “What do you think Bradley would make of this program if he were alive today?” Even after 14 years, his mother had a difficult time choking out the answers to these questions. I used a soft tone of voice to convey compassion for Mrs. McCue and make her feel comfortable enough to open up about her son. I paused between questions to give her time to respond and collect her thoughts. I also let her know how impressed I was with the program and all she had done to put her at ease and ensure that she was ready to discuss how the Foundation benefits young adults.

            About two weeks later, the story was published and I received positive feedback from both parents who wanted to send the B.R.A.D cards to their children and fellow students who were touched by Bradley’s story. In October 2013, I received a B.R.A.D. card of my own, which I keep on my bulletin board as a reminder of not only Bradley’s story, but also the accomplishment I felt in writing about him.

The article I wrote about the B.R.A.D. Foundation was symbolic of my personal development. I was first drawn to journalism in high school because of my love for writing, but I was unaware of how the journalistic goal of getting to the truth of a matter could have so much meaning until I started college. Being a journalist was my way of helping others, something I am passionate about. I loved receiving an email or phone call from someone I interviewed or who read my story and was impacted by it.

            I am now drawn to an education and a career in the field of law in part because, as an attorney, I will be able to use the very skills that enabled me to excel in journalism — engaging in critical thinking, painstaking research and challenging interviews — to help clients with their issues. At Michigan State University (MSU), I would benefit from opportunities to educate myself in a variety of legal fields. One area that I am interested in is animal law, given my lifelong passion for animals, and writing for the Journal of Animal & Natural Resource Law would be an amazing opportunity and a boost to my future legal career. I am also interested in MSU’s unique Indigenous Law Certificate Program, which would enable me to work with and help Native American tribes right here in Michigan. In addition, I plan to join MSU’s Moot Court and Trial Advocacy Board. I shadowed a defense attorney this past summer, and her work inspired me and made me feel more confident in my choice to pursue a law degree. I enjoyed being in the courtroom, and I want to learn and practice courtroom skills in Moot Court. Finally, I have attended MSU for almost four years, and I call East Lansing my home. There is no other school where I’d rather continue my education.

            It has been about a year and a half since I did my interview about the B.R.A.D. Foundation, and I’m now looking ahead to the challenges that I’ll face in my legal career. Five years from now I hope to be prepping for another type of interview — one where I am sitting across the room from a client in need of my legal services. I look forward to researching and sharing information and knowledge as a lawyer.

Tweet #1: How To Tweet Non-Breaking News

Tweeting a breaking news story is easy, as you've learned. Just type what you see, as you see it. But how do you tweet something that isn't breaking? Like a trend story, or something about a topic without a specific time peg or an actual event associated with it?

Actually, that's easy, too!

That was a situation a student in one of my past JRN 200 classes faced. She was doing a story about a rash of concussions among student-athletes. And here's her tweet stream, which I reversed so that you see her first tweet first and her last tweet last; the opposite of how it would appear on Twitter. Here we go:

#concussedathletes Over 300,000 sports related concussions occur each year, according to the Brain Trauma Research Center.

#concussedathletes The NCAA, the nation's largest college athletic association, has no guidelines for treating athletes with head injuries.

#concussedathletes The Big Ten is trying to implement its own regulations to deal with concussed athletes.

#concussedathletes Michigan State University is not pushing for the Big Ten to have the regulations.

#concussedathletes MSU soccer goalkeeper Liz Watza has had five concussions and said "The NCAA should create guidelines."

#concussedathletes Sports Specialist Dr. Homer Linard said the main concern with letting injured athletes back in the game is brain injury.

#concussedathletes Suffering a second concussion shortly after the first one can be deadly, according to the Brain Trauma Research Center.

#concussedathletes Incoming freshmen athletes at MSU are given a specific concussion test, called ImPACT. impacttest.com

#concussedathletes Athletic Clinical Coordinator Brian Bratta said "ImPACT assesses memory, cognitive ability and function of the brain."

#concussedathletes Once a concussion occurs at MSU, the athlete takes ImPACT again to gauge the severity of the injury.

#concussedathletes Despite new technology, the biggest indicator is the presence of symptoms, said Bratta. http://tinyurl.com/6cq9dx

#concussedathletes When a head injury occurs, MSU athletes are immediately given SCAT, the Standardized Concussion Assessment Test.

#concussedathletes SCAT is a checklist of common symptoms and tests balance, said MSU Certified Athletic Trainer Yume Nakamura.

Now, please notice a few things. Look at the first four tweets. Each could be a lede, right? For many of you, in writing a story -- especially trend stories -- you may find that you have more than one good lede option, but you can only choose one lede. But in tweeting the news, each lede option can become its own tweet.

Second, the tweeter took telling quotes and made each a tweet, like that of the player giving her opinion on the subject. Just like a quote in a story, it's not YOUR opinion; it's what somebody who is a subject of your story thinks.

Third, interesting facts are offered as tweets, like those on what the effects of a concussion can be.

Fourth, a mini-series of tweets are used to explain a nuance of the story, like the half-dozen tweets that in total detail how MSU deals with concussed athletes.

Fifth, hyperlinks are offered via tweet. Notice the tweet that uses a bit.ly link. Bit.ly is a URL shortener that will take a long URL and convert it into a shorter one that better fits on a character-restricted service like Twitter.

Video #1: Your Assignment

So yes, we now have a video assignment to cram in along with your ongoing social media, blog and out-of-class story assignments.

For this assignment, you will be asked to create a news video no shorter than 1 minute long and no longer than 2 minutes long, on the subject of, what have people learned sofar in JRN 200? Your interview subjects must come from one of your multimedia groups, as assigned in a separate blog post.


You will be required to interview at least two people on-camera and shoot b-roll (a video camera would be great, but a simple Flip cam or even a good smart phone will suffice); edit the raw video using iMovie or FinalCut Pro or some other comparable video editing software; create an edited news video with a lede and attribution and such; upload the video to the YouTube account you were supposed to create for this class; make sure that the YouTube account is set to a public setting (and not private); and then email me a link to the video to omars@msu.edu, with  a subject line of video #1.


As long as you meet the basic parameters of this assignment, I will give you a 4.0 equal to that of a practice story. Those parameters include:

-- staying within the 1-2 minute range and on-topic
-- containing at least two human interviews on tape
-- containing B-roll
-- showing signs of editing; that is, not simply pasting entirely unedited tape onto YouTube. You want to create a video story using raw video as a base to be edited and moved around, in the same way we want t write a text story using raw information as a base to be edited and moved around.
-- containing NO fatals

The penalty for failing to meet these parameters is 0.5 of your grade, per error. In addition, a fatal resulted in a 1.0 grade. And failure to turn it in, of course, is a 0.0. Please review the video links provided in the earlier blog post to get an idea of what this assignment may look like, in finished form.

These same deductions will apply on all future multimedia assignments. But future assignments WILL include consideration of content and journalistic value.



The deadline for this assignment will be no later than 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 to omars@msu.edu. Again, you should be emailing me links to your YouTube account, and not an attached video file. (PLEASE make sure your account is set to a "public" setting!!!)

If you are unsure about your topic or fuzzy on some of these concepts like B-roll or captions or whatever, or if you have any questions whatsoever, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Good luck, everyone!

Video #1: What It Might Look Like

For the first video assignment, I am asking you to do a news video on the topic of, what have you learned sofar in JRN 200?

For this assignment, you will have to interview at least two people in your video group on-camera about what they've learned in JRN 200 sofar.

The videos must run between 1 and 2 minutes long. Each must start out with some sort of a title caption (sort of like a lede), so that the audience knows what the story is going to be about. The story should include video of your interview subjects talking (sort of like quotes in a story), and those subject shots should include captions identifying the people who are speaking (sort of like attribution).

Of course, the stories should have no fatals -- not in terms of what people are saying (it must be true), and captions should have proper spellings and titles. All because it's video doesn't mean we operate at a lower standard than print. Be sure you do thorough double-checking of the information you gather.

(See? Lots of concepts we worked on are true regardless of medium.)

Also, the videos should contain B-roll. What is b-roll, you ask? It is video showing what your story is about, that you use to break up segments of the video.

For example, let's say you are interviewing people about what they're doing this summer, and one interview subject is making burgers at McDonald's, and the other is going to the beach every day. B-roll would be showing what they're doing: shots of one person flipping greasy burgers, and of the other person laying on the beach as waves roll in.

Then, we would use some of that b-roll to break up the interview segments. For example,you know that standard shot of someone talking in a video interview, where you just see their head and they're talking blah-blah-blah? You would start a segment with that, then while they're still talking, you roll some b-roll over the sound, so that people can see what the person is talking about at the same time they're talking about it.

(That goes back to a print concept: show the audience; don't just tell them. At the same time, it breaks up that monotonous shot of someone just talking).

Then, you return to the head shot and end the segment.

Also, B-roll can be used during transitions between segments, to help illustrate those transitions.

Some good b-roll examples can be found in the following videos from some past classes, where the topic was the same: "What have you learned sofar in JRN 200?" Like your assignment, it required two human sources on tape per video.


Off we go:

Andrea 

Shanin T.



Emily

Julia