JRN 200: The Fall 2017 Syllabus

Michigan State University

School of Journalism

JRN 200: News Writing and Reporting 1

Fall 2017 Semester

Section 004

Class: Wednesdays and Fridays

8 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.

Classroom: CAS 242

Instructor:                Omar Sofradzija (so-FRAD-zee-uh)

Office:                        State News Building, 435 E. Grand River, 2^nd floor

Email:                        omars@msu.edu

Phone:                      cell: 702-271-7983

Office hours:            By appointment

A NOTE: While the syllabus accurately describes the content that will be discussed and acted upon this semester, the sequence and dates are subject – and likely – to change. This is a departmental syllabus that will be tweaked to best fit the needs of this class section while adhering to class goals and grade outlines. Please carefully take note of assignments and due dates as these are announced during the course of the semester, and PLEASE READ THIS SYLLABUS CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY. You will be responsible for knowing the content and course structure from the time the semester begins. “I didn’t know we had to do that” will NOT be an acceptable excuse, if the subject matter is contained within this syllabus.

Why JOURNALISM matters

Think of the world we live in.

Self-driving cars. Hurricane season. North Korea. The District Detroit. Senator Kid Rock? Scary times in Venezuela. Domestic terrorism. Big Ten football season kicks off. President Donald Trump. Meteor showers throughout 2017. Russian collusion investigation. Ocean offshore wind farms. Terrorist attacks here and overseas. A 10-year-old donates 1,000 backpacks to Flint kids. The U.S. opioid crisis. Will there be cell towers on the moon? Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics. American embassy workers expelled from Moscow. Miles Bridges starts his sophomore year at MSU. Star Wars Episode Eight hits theaters Dec. 15.

These are all examples of the world we live in. A world filled with news, in a non-stop news cycle, with an important need for ethical and skilled reporters to make sense of everything for the public.

Journalism matters. Journalists matter. In the world’s greatest times of need, people look to journalists for the answers. Congratulations on choosing a career where you can make a difference in the world.

Welcome to your first steps into the world of journalism, and becoming a journalist, in JRN 200.

Journalists are storytellers, using every medium possible. Journalists create stories that make people want to read, watch, retweet and react. A strong journalist provides accurate information, compelling images, video, sound and quotes from the best possible sources.

This is one of the most exciting – and challenging – times to be a journalist because of the changing technology, our ability to provide real-time news and the demands of global audiences.

The skill set of a journalist provides many career paths: public relations, law, screenwriting, editing, magazines, television, social media, newspapers, investigative reporting, social media, public relations, teaching, government, business, publishing, multimedia, blogging, graphic design, documentary filmmaking, travel, photography…and many more!

Journalism is a mirror of our lives: sports, arts, environment, science and medicine, entertainment, war, crime, weather, government, politics, fashion, social issues and international opportunities.

The best journalists in the world, many of which proudly are MSU J-School graduates, know how to skillfully and ethically report, write, broadcast, and understand how to put information together for the public.

We will be using a real-world approach, drawing from current media and events happening around us. We want you to be the kind of journalist whose professional work matters because of your credibility. Perfection is the standard that we strive for. The goal is that when your name or image is attached to a story or information – your readers or viewers know that information is the best and most accurate it can possibly be.

We’ll start with basics. JRN 200 first focuses on reporting in text because the thinking and organization skills required by good writing are the foundation to all good communication. You will learn to assess the needs and interests of audiences for stories; to use basic reporting methods such as observation, interviewing and documentary records to do those stories. You’ll also learn to shape print stories for online and video. Always, you will learn to write stories accurately, concisely and clearly, all formulated in flowing, grammatically correct English on deadline.   

OBJECTIVES

Welcome to your transition from journalism major to journalist! This course is essentially your first job in a newsroom, and you must approach it with the same level of professionalism and respect as you would in the real world. The work habits and skills you develop JRN 200 will serve you well as you progress in the MSU J-School and the outside world.   

What you can expect to learn in JRN 200:

·         developing news judgment by recognizing essential news values

·         gathering information through observation, interviewing and documents

·         organizing information effectively

·         writing clear and accurate stories on deadline in AP style

·         producing stories for the appropriate media

·         attributing information fully, clearly and accurately in stories

·         using correct quotation attribution

·         revising written stories for multimedia platforms

·         understanding legal and ethical issues in reporting

·         incorporating diversity in stories

·         reporting on controversy with fairness and balance

·         understanding the journalism business and how it’s evolving.

As in the real world, your work ethic directly affects how well you master these objectives. Showing up on time and prepared, meeting deadlines every time and following instructions competently will maximize your success.

As in the real world, these are non-negotiable. We want you to be the next great journalist from Michigan State. We will teach you how. But it takes work and commitment. What we do here in class is real.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Readings:

•  Daily consumption of local, national and international news is essential. Please read news from credible news sites and publications such as the Lansing State Journal, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, New York Times, Washington Post, etc. Get in the habit of following the news wherever you are. Listen to NPR. Watch ABC News, etc. Follow CNN, Associated Press etc. on your phone. Get apps that may help you report. Know what is going on in the world, because it matters.

A good journalist knows what is going on in the world. Period. There may be current events quizzes.

Textbooks:

•  Reporting for the Media, 11^th ed. Bender, Davenport, Drager, and Fedler (Oxford University Press, 2015). DO NOT USE earlier editions, as chapters and assignments have been reorganized and/or deleted.

•  The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, 2016 ed. It is also available as an app.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

JRN 200 will have you thinking about good news writing and reporting each day! During class, you write stories on deadline, take quizzes, discuss journalistic issues and current events, review course readings and other assignments. Between classes, you report stories, prepare news tips and complete assigned readings.

Central to learning this course will be the class blog, located athttp://jrn200isfunblog.blogspot.com/ online. Through the class blog we will get assignments and homework, discuss work, review readings and past assignments, go over strategies on reporting and writing well, and do other activities. YOU WILL NEED TO CHECK THE CLASS BLOG ON A DAILY BASIS IN ORDER TO KEEP CURRENT ON ASSIGNMENTS AND READINGS, so please make this a daily habit every weekday, Mondays through Fridays. The blog is formatted for both desktop and mobile, giving you greater options in how to engage it.

WE WILL NOT BE USING D2L FOR THIS CLASS; PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK THE CLASS BLOG.

Much is expected in this class, but I do not expect you to do this alone. If you have any questions or concerns, DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME by email, phone or in-person. Contact information is provided above. You cannot contact me too much, so please take advantage of that offer as you feel is needed.

Feedback is also critical to this class. Almost all graded written assignments will include considerable comments from the instructor on what you did well and why, and what you can do better and how. In addition, we will review the work of individuals (with names removed) as a class, via the blog, so we can get an idea of how others are doing similar assignments, and learn from their mistakes and/or successes. PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO FEEDBACK VIA INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS AND THE BLOG, as such feedback is central to how we learn in this class. In journalism, we learn by doing, then reviewing, then learning lessons from the review, and then applying those lessons going forward.

For the vast majority of assignments, you will turn in your work via email to omars@msu.edu. Please make sure that you get that address correct – omar with an s at the end – as there is an omar@msu.edu address that’s incorrect but active. If your work is not correctly sent to omars@msu.edu, it will not be graded.

For such assignments, please write your work in a Word document, and put the following in the upper left-hand corner:

Your name (for example, Joe Schmo)

The assignment date (Sept. 1, 2017)

The assignment title, as indicated in the blog (writing exercise)

Assignment pages, numbers from the text (p. 230-31, #1-2)

Here are the types of exercises we’ll be doing over the session:

Writing and Reporting exercises: These acquaint you with the professional style, structure and conventions of news writing and reporting. They are skill-building exercises designed to prepare you for out-of-class stories by honing your ability to write under deadline and to interview sources.

Quizzes: These focus on AP style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, quotations, accuracy, reading assignments and current events.

Career Development: It is important to learn how to market yourself in the best possible fashion. You will be producing a resume and cover letter. You will research internships that you might be interested in. You will also learn email and interview etiquette as well as the proper use of social media.

Localization/Public Affairs/Feature Practice Stories: Before attempting localization, public affairs or the feature stories which comprise 10 percent of your grade…students will first do a practice story. The story will be graded regarding AP style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and quotations. As well as the quality of the lead, story organization, lead/lede, ending and selection of quotes.

Out-of-Class Stories: Three out-of-class stories culminate your learning experience in JRN 200. These stories comprise 45 percent of your grade. They integrate the writing and reporting skills you acquired earlier in the course. The research (background, interviewing, etc.) for each story takes about 10 hours. Understand that interviews usually are conducted during the Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday of your sources. So make sure you have enough time during this period available in your schedules. Not being able to reach a source, because you tried last minute or did not leave enough time to make multiple attempts, can sink your story – and grade.

You generate your own ideas for these stories on assigned topics, submitting and getting approval from your instructor for each story using the mandatory course news tip form before beginning the reporting process. The best way to get ideas for stories: read and watch as much news from as many different media as possible.

These out-of-class stories include localizations, public affairs and features.

The stories each include at least three interviewed sources, with the more credible sources you have, the better the grade. You may not use secondary sources from the Internet or news releases. You may not use information reported by other news organizations. YOU MAY NOT use anonymous sources. Wikipedia is not considered to be a credible source.

Out of class story format:

Mandatory elements – failure to follow format will significantly hurt your grade. READ THIS BEFORE YOU TURN IN ANY OF YOUR STORIES!!!

• Stories must be at least 700 words.

• Stories must double-spaced, with indented paragraphs and quotes that stand alone.

• Stories must use AP Style, proper spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.

• Your byline and assignment name should be at top left of first page.

• You must attach an interview source list (sources identified by first and last name, title and phone number/e-mail address).

• Stories MUST be turned in on time. No late stories accepted. Like the real world.

(Style hint:  look at newspapers! They have stories with the types of quote/paragraph/byline/dateline formats we will be using in class. So there is a ton of stuff to check out if you are stumped.)

Interested in raising your grade?

You should revise your out-of-class stories -- once. If you simply fix my edits, your grade will rise by 0.25. If you do extensive rewrite and additional reporting, your rewrite grade will reflect that. If you do not improve the stories, either through fixing of edits or extensive rewrites, you will not automatically get extra credit for another try. The grades from the original and rewrite are averaged. Deadlines for each rewrite are no later than one week after I return the original story.

Job Shadows: Within the first weeks of class, seek out a journalism professional who is working in a journalism occupation (not marketing or public relations) you believe you might wish to pursue. DO NOT LEAVE THIS UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER. If you need help finding someone, ask Professor Dickerson at the start of the semester.

Spend time on the job with that person. Interview that professional about keys to success.  You will write a two-page first person report. That will be due at the start of the final week of class.

GRADING

Writing, reporting and online exercises                          25 percent

Online Stories                                                                       5 percent

News Pitches                                                                       10 percent

Quizzes                                                                                   5 percent

Out-of-Class Stories                                                            45 percent

Career Development                                                             5 percent

Job Shadow                                                                            5 percent

 Opportunities exist to raise grades in JRN 200:

                        Extra credit by be approved by your professor.

                     

Grade reductions result from absences and tardiness. See attendance policy.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Course material and readings build from one topic to another.

Due to breaking news events, and class guests, this class schedule is fluid and flexible. This class will frequently examine current events, how they are covered, and ask you to react to how the media is operating. Again, please be prepared to understand what is going on in the world.

We will have fun, keep things interesting and current. Go with the flow and you will be rewarded.

Homework deadlines and assignments will be updated regularly on the class blog. It is your responsibility to look at the links and lists of assignments as the course develops. Please be aware of what is required. If you have any questions – ASK.

Need extra help? Your textbook has a companion website for students at www.oup.com/us/bender.

There students will find:

·         additional exercises to improve reporting skills.

·         A list of suggested readings

·         Web links to additional resources on such topics as grammar basics, writing tips and careers

·         Handy PDF guides that students can reference when writing and reporting their news stories

Weeks 1-2:  Introduction to JRN 200

·         Journalism today; the basics; format, copy editing and AP Style; grammar and spelling; newswriting style; the language of news

·         Homework: Course Syllabus; Bender: Chapters 1, 3-4

Weeks 3-4: Audience Orientation, News Values and Story Ledes

·         Lede Construction and Audience Orientation; Citing News Sources: quotation and paraphrase; AP style and copy editing

·         Homework: Bender: Ch. 2, 7-11, 16-17

Weeks 5-7: Story Organization

·         Story Organization; Body of a News Story; Specialized Stories

·         Homework: Bender: Ch. 15, 18-19 

Weeks 8-10:  Putting It All Together

·         Story organization types; Public Affairs Reporting; Advanced Reporting; First Out-of-Class Story Due

·         Homework:  Bender: Ch. 12-14

Weeks 11-13:  Online and Multimedia Story Telling

·                     Writing for Online Platforms; Video; Second Out-Of-Class Story Due

Week 14-15: Libel and Ethics

·         Covering Conflict; Fairness and Balance; Advocacy and Partisanship’ Legal Issues in News Coverage; Moral and Ethical Issues in Journalism; Third Out-of-Class Story Due, Extra Credit Out-of-Class Story Due

·         Homework: Bender: Text Ch. 5-6

           

Out-of-Class Story Schedule

·         Please follow the class blog for specific deadlines as they are posted through the fall session.

·         Deadlines for news pitches and out-of-class stories may be altered by instructors depending on the semester and university holidays. 

·         Instructors may specify particular types of stories to be completed, but one must be on a public affairs topic.  The fourth story will only be counted if it helps improve a student’s grade. In that case, the student’s grade will be the average of the four – rather than three stories.

·         Assignments may be turned in earlier than the specified deadline but a missed deadline will result in an assignment grade of zero.

SYLLABUS APPENDIX

GRADING SCALE

All work is evaluated on the 4.0 grading system. Listed below are the criteria for evaluating assignments and computing a final grade. 

Evaluation: Instructors assign a subjective grade based on the general guidelines below. Your instructor may give subjective grades between those specified (e.g., 2.75) to make finer distinctions among stories.  

4.0: Story could be published virtually as is. It shows superior command of the facts, news judgment, story organization, reporting, and writing.

3.5: Story could be published with very minor revisions. Generally well-written, accurate copy containing all relevant material, but requires minor editing for maximum precision and clarity.

3.0: Better-than-average story. The story was handled well. Copy needs some rewriting and polishing before it could be published.

2.5: Story is a little above average. The story might have a significant problem with reporting, organization, completeness, etc. Certainly needs rewriting.

2.0: Average story. Not a story most readers would read unless they really needed the information. The story may have reporting, organization or writing problems.

1.5: A weak story. The story may have a buried lead; problems in news interpretation; problems in story organization; omission of some important fact or source.  The story needs substantial revision.

1.0: A non-story. The story lacks news judgment; displays major flaws in reporting and writing; omits important facts, and/or includes a fact error. The story needs substantial rethinking. 

0.0: Story is late or failed to receive instructor’s approval. Story is misleading or unethical. Organization or writing flaws make the story incoherent.

Fact errors: Inaccurate information, misspelling a proper name, a misquotation or an error that changes the meaning of a story automatically drops a grade to a maximum of 1.0 (e.g., President “Barack Obamma” or “Department of Transport”).         

Each error in spelling, grammar, style or punctuation will reduce the assignment grade by 0.25 up to a full 1.0 off for that assignment. 

Grading Example: Your instructor evaluates of your story, determining that with a little rewriting it could be published and assigns a grade of 3.0. Further review, however, reveals an instance of subject-verb disagreement (-0.25), a misspelled word (-0.25) and a typo (-0.25). So the story earned a final grade of 2.25.

Extra Credit: I offer opportunities for extra credit. Some of those opportunities may include writing extra stories or attending events on campus. Please meet with me if interested in doing approved extra credit.

Need extra help: The MSU Writing Center, 300 Bessey Hall, can offer assistance to students who have proper sentence structure, punctuation, grammar etc.

COURSE POLICIES

Deadlines: Your stories and pitches must be turned in at the start of class on the date specified by your professor. Late stories earn a 0.0 grade. Editors, online producers, and news directors do not make exceptions for late stories. Your professor serves as your first boss and editor.

Attendance: Your enthusiastic participation in class helps you and your classmates to learn! Conversely, absences seriously degrade that opportunity to learn.

You are expected to be in class, and on time for class. Like a professional journalist at work. Attendance, being prepared, and being respectful matters in real life. Develop good habits, starting here.

Two absences are allowed.

Third unexcused absence = final grade drops by 0.5. (Example: from 3.5 to 3.0)

Fourth unexcused absence = final grade drops by 1.0. (Ex: 3.5 to 2.5)

Fifth unexcused absence = final grade is 0.0. You have failed 200.

Missed assignments, quizzes or deadlines on a day you are absent earn a 0.0, and cannot be made up. Same with any assignment for which you are tardy.

Tardiness: Coming late to class or leaving early is unprofessional. Tardiness in 200 is defined as arriving after 8 a.m. sharp, as noted by the instructor’s clock. Two tardies count as an unexcused absence, and fall into the attendance chart above.

Other: Inattention in class for any reason, such as a ringing cell phone, e-mail use, web surfing, sleeping, texting, etc., is unprofessional. Out of respect for others and the class, TURN OFF your phone. Two such instances of class inattention will equal one absence. There is a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate class behavior.

Etiquette: Make sure when you are communicating with faculty or sources, that you use proper etiquette in your emails or in person. Address your source by their proper title.

PLAGIARISM, CHEATING, FABRICATION AND STUDENT CONDUCT

Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as your own. Cheating is also stealing another person’s work. Fabrication is making up a source, putting words in a source’s mouth and/or other sorts of faking.

Student Integrity: Students who cheat, fabricate or plagiarize may fail this course.  Falsification, fabrication or plagiarism results in a 0.0 for the offending assignment as a minimum consequence. Follow the J-School Code of Ethics and Standards.

You will be required to attach a source list to the end of your stories. Professors will be checking sources and using online tools to ensure students are not fabricating or plagiarizing stories.

The School of Journalism also adheres to the policies on academic honesty specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in current Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and on the MSU Web site. If you engage in academic dishonesty, it will be reported.

Professionalism: Professional behavior is the invariable standard for personnel in any of the communication fields when they interact with one another or with others. In class, professionalism means alertness and attention to the task at hand and unfailing respectfulness in word and behavior. Such professionalism is among the core requirements for success in this class and in any communication field.

Out of class, professionalism means courteous, respectful and honest interaction with sources. Address your professors or sources by the proper title. Introduce yourself to sources as a journalism student, but emphasize that you are gathering information for stories you expect to publish. It is not professional to tell sources that their information is “just for a class.”

Disability Accommodations:  If needed, please call the Resource Center for Persons With Disabilities at (517) 884-7273. You will be required to provide information from RCPD to your course instructor.

Note:  Journalism is a living, breathing thing. All material will be covered but class discussions may change at a moment’s notice based on breaking news or impromptu class visitors. In the real world, journalists MUST have the ability to change gears within seconds. We will also seek out every opportunity including possible class trips.

JRN 200: That's All, Folks

Everything is in. Nothing left to do. I'll do the math on your base grades, and then I'll make any adjustments based on extra credit, and that's that. Your grades will be locked in, and soon you'll be finding out exactly what you got.

The only thing left for you to do (if you haven't done it already) is evaluate this class via the SIRS online teacher evaluation site. Please take a few minutes to let us know how this online version of JRN 200 went, what we should keep doing, and what could be better.

Plus, there's only one thing for me to do, and that's to thank each of you for spending a semester with me. I enjoyed working with each and every one of you. I really did.

Everyone comes into JRN 200 at a different starting point. Some have some journalistic experience; others don't. A few people have a natural talent; others need that talent cultivated a bit before it becomes apparent.

No matter where and how you started, I got to see improvement. Growth. Little everyday victories. Some defeats, but also renewed efforts to overcome those losses.

No matter if you did great in this class or just eked by, remember this is just one step in a larger journey: one toward the day after graduation. Between now and then you'll build on the skills you learned here. You'll improve. You'll get more comfortable doing this. Things will seem more natural as you do them (like AP style).

If journalism was easy to learn, it would be a two-week certificate class at the local community college, and not a four-year major. This is just an early step in that longer trip to your careers and independent lives.

You're on your way. If there's anything I can do to help along the way, please don't hesistate to ask. (All because our class is done doesn't mean I'm not willing to help!)

Good luck to everyone in the coming semester, and one last time, thank you.

Job Shadows: What You Saw, Part 6

I got in contact with Detroit Free Press photojournalist and videographer, Eric Seals, after he was on a panel in another class of mine. I knew he was a journalist--otherwise he wouldn’t have been on the panel--but when he told me he was a photojournalist and a videographer and asked if that was fine, I thought, “This is perfect.”

Seals gave me his contact information and I contacted him later that day.

            Via email, we discussed dates for the job shadow and Seals shared a link to his Vimeo page so I could check out his storytelling ahead of time.

Seals’s email signature revealed that he is an Emmy (Michigan chapter) winning videographer as it included links to three winning videos. Jackpot.

I met Seals in Novi and from there we headed first to a Starbucks--where I asked him questions about how he got into journalism--and then to the Detroit Metro Airport for his assignment with the Free Press.

We got to the airport early--at least an hour--as Seals emphasized the importance of being early. This importance was demonstrated later when the plane we were waiting for arrived ahead of schedule and had we not been early, we could have missed the story.

But as we waited for the plane to come in, Seals told me how he was mentally setting up and preparing to catch the story. He told me about how he was supposed to collect video, primarily, but also photographs. He made a point of saying it makes you a more valuable journalist if you can do both--as we’ve discussed in class.

Seals tells me how he’s mentally prepped the scene to anticipate the shot and ensure that he catches the moment we’re here to get. He’s keeping tabs on the airport lighting, the natural light and their changes. We double-check that we’re in the right spot. We introduce ourselves to the family members as they show up.

We wait.

The story we’re here to get is that of a woman who is going to get off a plane, walk to where we are and meet her birth father for the first time after being adopted as a baby almost 50 years ago.

From the airport they’re driving up into the Thumb of Michigan to meet her birth mother. But we’re here only to get the moment when father and daughter see each other for the first time in 50 years.

To capture the moments of their first embrace. To tell the story of the smiles on their faces.

So Seals tells me how he expects the shot to go: Daughter will deplane and exit the security wall to where we are. She’ll be looking for her father.

Be early. Pay attention to the light. Shoot in manual and know what changes to make to the cameras. And fast. Don’t interfere with the story as it’s happening. Be prepared to get good audio. Be prepared to get the shot. Get the shot.

Seals told me this assignment is special to him because he was adopted too. Joy Myree-Mainor was put up for adoption because she was born to a black father and a white mother during a time when a marriage or keeping the child was illegal. Seals, only two years younger than Myree-Mainor, was put up for adoption for the same reason. Only Seals hasn’t located his parents; he was hoping this assignment would give him the nudge to start the search.

Myree-Mainor’s plane arrived early. There was a second reporter, Bill Laitner, working with Seals--writing the story to go along with Seals’s photos and video--he was just barely on time.

Be early.

Myree-Mainor walked out and Seals got the moment as her father, William Daniels, and the rest of her new family received her.

Don’t interfere with the story as it’s happening.

Seals got photos and video as the moment unfolded.

Be prepared to get good audio. Be prepared to get the shot.

Then, as emotions settled more, Myree-Mainor and Daniels started interacting with Seals and Laitner, telling them their story.

Slowly it came to light Seals’s connection to the story and he and Myree-Mainor began bonding over the details.

Laitner said to wait for it. That they would embrace. Then, he told me, to get that shot. He’d write about it and use that photo.

So I did.

Pay attention to the light. Shoot in manual and know what changes to make to the camera. And fast. Be prepared to get the shot.

And he did. Laitner wrote the story. And they used my photo. It went up on the Free Press site.

Get the shot.

Seals when on to take posed photos. Of father and daughter. Of the whole family. Seals didn’t need those photos for story but he wanted to be able to give them to the family.

Help everyone be involved.

Afterward, we went back to the Free Press offices and Seals edited his video and captioned his photos.

Seals worked with Laitner, putting the story together, with him.

Laitner interviewed Seals about his experience and feelings on his assignment, and wrote that story.

My photograph was used.

Later in an email--because I forgot to ask in person--Seals said, “I wish I had known in college that minoring in a foreign language, Spanish or Arabic and being fluent in it would have been very beneficial in my career.”

*******

For my job shadow, I met with radio reporter/producer Katie Cook, who works for Current State, a news program from the public radio station WKAR. I arrived at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 17, for their morning staff meeting, which was in their office in the CommArts building, right around the corner from our classroom. It was a small group, just six people present. They discussed upcoming events and leads, deciding who would cover what and how many minutes long the story should be. They also talked about transitioning to a “digital mindset,” which meant having a greater online presence and more interaction with listeners through social media.

Katie started working in radio just a few years ago after working at Whole Foods for nine years. She knew she wanted to do something different, so she bought her own microphone, started practicing recording family members, and signed up to volunteer at the Third Coast Audio Festival, which is a conference for audio storytellers. She said she went to the conference with a lot of business cards and a drive to make connections, and came out knowing people who would later help her get an internship at PRX, the Public Radio Exchange in Boston, which then led to her current job at WKAR. It was surprising, but impressive, to hear how she was able to advance in her field without a journalism degree, but with a lot of passion and a willingness to jump in and work hard.

A tip she tries to remember is to ask people to say and spell their names before you start interviewing them. Because it’s radio, you have to have the pronunciation correct as well as the spelling. Another tip is to record 30 seconds of “room noise” wherever you’re conducting the interview. She said every room has a different sound, and that neutral noise can be used to soften the space between jumpy cuts. Also, she said to always wear headphones while recording so you can pay attention to the levels.

She likes public radio because it isn’t about attracting people to just click on a link. It gives you space to pursue things that make you and people in your community curious.

Katie Cook

Email: kcook@wkar.org

Phone: (517) 884-4786

******* 

 

I job shadowed the host of WKAR’s weekly TV show and daily radio show, “Current Sports” – Al Martin. Al is a great person and has a personality that can reach you from the other side of the building. He was interviewed and later employed by WKAR just six months after graduating from Michigan State University, while he was working at WLNS Channel 6 news. Al’s predecessor was Earle Robinson, who worked for WKAR as the host of Current Sports radio show for 39 years. Al said that this was the hardest part of the job, living up to someone that had so much respect and praise around the East Lansing/Lansing/Okemos communities.

            I arrived at WKAR studios around 12:30 p.m., where I was first directed to the production studio, right next to the recording studio where Al was. I was first greeted by his production assistant, student at Michigan State University, Isaac Constans. Isaac gave a brief introduction on to what he was working on – he was cutting audio clips and pulling audio clips from the internet for that day’s show. Typically, Isaac gets to the studio at about 12:15-12:30 p.m., depending on the amount of content that is needed for that days show. Immediately after Isaac showed me around the production studio, I went to go in to chat it up with Al. While our conversation before the show was brief, he made sure to give me a quick rundown of how things worked for the show. He explained to me how he would prepare for his daily show. Isaac and Al share a google doc together, where they create the days topics – they also have interns help with collecting and contributing to the compilation of information. Considering Al has a live show at 1 p.m. every day, he has only a few hours to prepare for each show. On top of preparing for shows, Al discussed with me how he had to be a one-man show and made sure to put an emphasis on the need of being a well-rounded journalist. During the show, Al had me sit in the Production studio where Isaac ran the operation board and Al would have him chime on the show every once in a while. Something that I noticed while being in the studio, was that there were not any callers besides their scheduled guest. I asked both Isaac and Al about this, and they explained how that with such a local radio station, there is a way smaller window of people who are regular listeners to the show – yet, they did mention that they had regular callers, some that they even had inside jokes about. During the show, Al actually had a fact error while talking to a guest. He mentioned that his nickname was “What’s Reality” but in fact, it is “What’s Gravity”. I asked Al and he said that stuff like that is preventable, but when it does happen, that you can laugh it off and chop it up for experience. Yet, in the print journalism world, there is not as much room to back track and clarify your mistake. The information that Al received was from MLive, he did not go to the source himself when he was originally looking for the nickname – he said that was a big mistake, but at the same time, when you are live, you have to be calm and not freak out. I ended up job shadowing both Isaac and Al basically, which was a cool experience, considering for the Al’s radio show, Isaac is the one plugging away at all the technical aspects of the show – they have different hand motions and cues to each other through the glass that connects the two studios.

            Something that Al said that really stuck out in my head, that really was not explained in class, was that rarely, but in his case, you could be taking over for somebody that was considered to be a “legendary journalist” as Al put it, and this makes it a lot harder for you to be accepted as the new host of specific shows. I never really thought about the fact that you can be disliked by just simply taking a position that a former host once had, and the reason being, simply, you are not that other journalist/host. Al also mentioned a couple of times about the importance of having a full skill set – something that has been talked about in class on multiple occasions. Al said that being well-rounded in all aspects of Journalism from the way that you speak on the radio or on TV to the way that you shoot b-roll is all extremely important and factors in to the perception that you receive from your audience.

            I really enjoyed shadowing Al and being able to see how him and Isaac work together to create a daily local sports radio show. Before my job shadow, I ended up applying for an internship with Al that had been recently posted on the MSU sports JRN website – so, luckily, my job shadow turned in to an internship interview afterwards, which was great timing and luck that I had set up a job shadow and ended up being interviewed as well.  

*******

For my job shadow I luckily had prior connections to obtain the shadow. I ended up job shadowing, David “Mad Dog” Demarco, a sports talk radio host in Lansing. My end goal is to either get in radio or TV journalism. I wanted to know more about the radio profession so I was excited for the opportunity.

            Going into the job shadow I didn’t know how much of the skills I learned in class would actually translate to sports talk radio. As I learned a lot of the skills learned in class also translated to the studio.

            I arrived at the studio about an hour and a half into the show during the commercial break. He had me come into the small studio and sit and watch. I never knew that some radio booths were that small, it was barely bigger than a broom closet. From watching radio simulcasts I see large studios on TV, but in reality a radio station in the media market of Lansing is pretty small.

  I put on the headset to listen to the show not expecting anything but observing. About a minute after he comes in from break he introduces me and starts asking me questions. I was caught off guard but quickly regrouped and just had a natural conversation. From that situation I learned I need to be on my feet in journalism and prepare for anything. I found myself having a good amount of airtime for my first time in a studio. I ended up talking about the Tiger’s bullpen, Pistons Management, MSU and even my high school.

            Having a natural conversation is something that I have tried to have when interviewing people and I noticed that David also stressed that either when he was asking his producer, callers on air, or me questions. He tried to turn a natural conversation into a story with an interesting and relevant topic. He would bring up a broad topic and throw it to either producer or I and then find the most relevant information and build off of that.

            I also noticed that a lot of writing needs to be put into radio. A lot of writing was all over the studio with either ad reads or show info. He writes a lot of his on air ads, at times he winged the ads but tried to put an interesting spin on the ad. He also had a rough outline of what he was going to talk about on that day’s show written out so he could follow a script.

            Reaching out to people was also important. Him and his producer were thinking of people to have on the show and researching them and trying to contact them. That particular day they were trying to find a representative of the Baseball Hall of Fame to speak to. They also had Rob Rubick a former Lions player now analyst call in and want to schedule an appearance on the show.

            Another important aspect was fact checking. For example, David believed that Miguel Cabrera was 34 but he also had his producer look it up and verify the fact. He also had his producer look up the age of Matt Stafford.

            I really enjoyed the job shadow and I believed I had a good insight in what a professional radio show is like. I enjoyed the personal vibe of radio and now may actually want to go into radio more than TV journalism.   

*******

For this job shadow assignment I tried to contact several journalists for weeks and was unsuccessful in doing so, until about two weeks ago when my dad was able set up a meeting with Norm Stangland, the assistant news director at WLNS Channel 6 News in Lansing.

I arrived at WLNS to meet with Norm on Friday, April 14 and explained what I had to do for my assignment. I was hoping that I could do my shadow that day, but since it was Good Friday and he didn’t have any reporters in to meet with me, we scheduled the shadow for Tuesday morning the following week.

I arrived at WLNS again on Tuesday, April 18 at 9:15 a.m. to once again meet with Norm. This time we went to his office, which lead through the news room that held the work stations of all of the reporters and anchors at the station. He introduced me to everyone in the room, as well as the lady who received all of the news stories that she gives to the reporters. Along with getting news stories through email, there were also police scanners in the room to report the breaking news in the local area.

In Norm’s office, he talked to me about their partnerships with other news stations in Michigan such as FOX 2 News in Detroit, and the internship opportunities they had available as I told him I was an aspiring sports journalist. He then told me that I would be job shadowing Blair Nelson, a videographer at WLNS, who was going to be covering the Metro Lansing Procurement Summit for the noon news; which was a big conference held to help a large number of Michigan suppliers grow their business.

Immediately after I was introduced to Blair, I helped him put his tripod and camera into the trunk of his truck and we were off to the Lansing Center, which was where the conference was held. During the car ride, I asked him a few questions about his job duties and his journalism background. He said that as a photojournalist, his job is to go out every day and cover whatever news story he gets assigned. He conducts interviews and captures b-roll, and I found this interesting because it’s exactly what we have been doing in class recently. Everything he told me sounded familiar.

We arrived at the Lansing center at around 9:45 a.m. and rushed into the conference as it had already started. I observed as Blair set up his camera and started to record, he gave me tips on how to record properly, such as making sure the subject has enough head and talking space as well as making sure the lighting is correctly applied and to use as much natural light as possible. A lot of what he said was similar to what we have been learning in class throughout the semester.

The person that Blair wanted to interview at the summit was Trevor Pawl, the group vice president of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. As Pawl was giving his presentation to the entrepreneurs in attendance, Blair went around the room and shot b-roll of the summit. After Pawl’s presentation was over, we stepped outside of the room to do the interview.

We then drove back to the station, where I followed Blair into his work station and observed as he edited the clips he shot to prepare them for the noon news. Blair and other editors and videographers at WLNS use Edius to edit video packages. The only software I have used to edit is Adobe Premier, and this particular software was very similar, as Blair explained that all video editing software will essentially be the same aside from minor differences in design and tool placement.

I didn’t stay around for the noon news broadcast because I had a class, but I definitely learned a lot on top of what I already knew coming in about interviewing, shooting, and editing from spending time with Blair. He gave me some meaningful advice about becoming a successful journalist, including joining student organizations such as the school newspaper, as he did so when he was at Central Michigan. He also told me it was important to get internships to help build my resume and experience in this field.

Job shadowing Blair was an overall educational experience that allowed me to observe news reporting from a new perspective. It was cool to see the material we’ve been learning in class be put to use in an actual professional news environment.

 Blair Nelson

Email: bnelson@wlns.com

Phone: 517-372-1300

*********

On April. 14, I shadowed Karel Vega, a WKAR news reporter and a host of ‘All Things Considered.’

At 9:30 a.m., at the second floor of the WKAR station, there was a news meeting. I thought the news meeting required a specific suit or clothes, but everyone was wearing comfortable clothes, and the meeting was held in a relaxed atmosphere. They started deciding which news topics to report for a week, and they specifically set what news to report on a particular day. When one person suggested the news topic to cover, others gave feedback and advice, and they encouraged each other. When they had a problem, they discussed and found solutions together, and I felt a good teamwork was important. It was impressive that everyone expressed their opinions freely. The news meeting lasted about an hour and a half.

After I had lunch, I went to the WKAR radio station at 3 p.m. This time, I started to shadow Karel Vega and he was recording the news script for, ‘All Things Considered,’ which is going to be aired from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Vega said he is always searching for the news stories and I felt this situation is familiar because I usually looked for the news topics to cover the ‘Out-Of-Class’ topic. He said if he speaks wrong when he record the news, he needs to start over from the beginning. Because the specific time was assigned, he had to keep the time precisely when he recorded the news reporting. Even though he got a break time after doing recording, he prepared for the news. He used every minute and second, and did not spend time without doing anything.

Since he was preparing for the live news, shadowing him was so dynamic. “Don’t have much time,” Vega said again and again. Although everything was in a fast-pace, he didn’t forget to check the time. Checking time was the most important work.

“Radio News is different from TV News because I have to do everything by myself. I have to control the machines, adjust the volume, gather the news stories, and write the news script, at the same time,” Vega said. “And because it is live news, I have to adjust the time of the news and keep the time in mind as well. It is tough, but it is rewarding. You can be better and better.”

Vega said, “The key to success is one in getting a job in the field, be patient. Just get in the door of WKAR took me almost two years. Now, that I am working here, I would say that the key to success here is opposite, be impatient when you are waiting for somebody. If you are a reporter, don’t wait on your stuff. If you have a story and if you have a deadline, don’t set your side on one source. Set your side on 10 sources and hook yourself in to the one that respond to you, because 9 times out of 10, the person you have in mind for a story is not going to be the person that ends up being the story. You have to be willing to seek out more than one source. In a lot of time, people won’t respond to you.”

I could understand what he was talking about. When I find some sources for my out of class stories, I don’t rely on one source, rather I found more than three sources, in case people can reject my interview request, or they can ignore my email or calling. I felt that journalist should be prepared for any situations.   

This assignment made me to experience the real world of journalism. I could understand why the time was the most important element in this field because I realized that breaking the time is breaking the promise with the audience and it is the most irresponsible attitude as a journalist. This shadow was so exciting and I was able to realize what I really want and what I want to do in the future.

Email: kvega@wkar.org

Phone number: (619)-203-9823

*******

For my job shadow, I observed Fred Heumann, the director of Sports News at WLNS Channel 6 Lansing and Jackson. Fred Heumann studied at Central Michigan University and graduated with a degree in Journalism and a degree in Broadcasting.  He began his career at Channel 6 in Lansing, moved to Detroit, then to Flint, and is now back at Channel 6 WLNS and has been there for 15 years. His 37 years in the business of Sports News has brought quite a name and successful reputation for himself.

            Heumann says that each and every day is different for him because sometimes he needs to go out and get his own footage for his show, sometimes his staff in sports news does it for him and sometimes outside people will send him footage. This varying schedule changes every day and thus changes the times he needs to be at the studio till every day.  He is not supposed to work weekends, however states that sometimes he is required to depending on the upcoming week and what needs to be shot for his show. He covers mostly Michigan State athletics and High School sports in the Lansing area.

            When I arrived at the studio for my shadow, Heumann was just beginning to prepare for his 6 o’clock p.m. sports news broadcast. He had the master time schedule for the day and was required to put in his different segments into the agenda for the director to see.  He began with covering an arrested football player, then covered the MSU Women’s Golf Big10 championship and finished by covering some info on MSU Hocket and UofM’s new hockey coach Mel Pearson.

            He was working on his sports show for that night and had to create a 4-minute segment to be broadcasted.  However, he was in a time crunch and only had two hours to complete the entire segment.  He spent much of his time rushing and working very fast while looking at the clock every 5-10 minutes.

            In the process of preparing for the show, he began by pulling all the footage, pictures and audio clips he had for the topic he was going to cover.  Although sometimes he did not have the best footage or pictures he was forced to work with what he had. He then wrote a short lede for the topic introducing its’ segment. This was tentative to change later though, if he felt there was more important information he found later that should be included. Then began the editing process where he put together the video to be shown after he spoke the lede. He included B-Roll footage as well as audio, interviews and pictures. After he spent some time editing and putting together the video, he had to create a script for the video. 

           

            In editing the videos, he cut out every “uhm” and “uhh” because he said every second of TV time is precious. He made sure though to not change the meaning of what the people were saying in the interviews because that would be unethical. It took him a total of 50 minutes to edit one segment and had to complete the other two segments faster because he only had 70 minutes left before it had to be broadcasted.

            Overall I thought it was really cool to shadow him because I got to see what he does on a daily basis which was create the 6 p.m. sports broadcast.  Everything was super-fast paced and I got to watch him actually broadcast the show at the end of it all. He was forced to in the middle of his sports segment to cut a portion out because he was over his 4-minute time requirement.  This means that he had to act fast on his feet and determine what was the least important segment of the show. After I left, he then began working on the 11 p.m. sports broadcast.

**********

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of job shadowing Paula Wethington of the Monroe Evening New in Monroe, Michigan. Paula is a reporter for the newspaper and manages their social media. She studies the best times to post on social media and tracks what posts gets the most views, likes, or comments. Monroe Evening News is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Paula was also a successful blogger, but has decided to close her blog to focus on other things in her career.

            I arrived at the Monroe Evening News headquarters at 10 a.m. to begin my day with Paula. We met and she gave me a tour of the newsroom and the rest of the building, which has been recently renovated and was added on to. It was interesting to see an actual newsroom not in the movies because it was nothing like the movies. All the offices were open and they were all connected or had half walls so it made it easy for Paula to communicate with the other reporters in the newsroom. Unfortunately, she was the only one there so I didn’t get to see how the other reporters work, but I did get to focus on how to manage social media and Paula’s tactics to manage it for a company.

            After the tour, we sat down and she gave me some advice for managing social media on a large scale. Paula told me to track the times that are most active on all social media. Everything from Facebook down to Twitter. She explained how it’s important to know when to post and time your post accordingly.

            After we talked about social media for a while and Paula showed me her strategies on organizing tracking things, we headed out to the Monroe County Police Department. Once we got there Paula went through the police reports and wrote down which ones she was going to put in the paper. As she was going through the reports she was looking for stories that she could get a paragraph or two out of. Unfortunately, she didn’t find anything worthy of a paragraph.  

            Once we got back to the newsroom we went through the Saturday newspaper and clipped articles that we thought would be interesting on the website. We planned what times each story was going to be posted on Facebook and made sure the article was on the website. Once we filled all the time slots on Saturday we began to knock out the Sunday schedule. It was interesting to see a professional writing social media posts for an actual company. It made me excited for my future and managing social media. 

Getting An Internship: Effective Resumes

By JOE GRIMM

When it comes to selling yourself on paper, you will find that media managers are tough customers. After all, they put information on paper every day. There are no bonus points for correct spelling, punctuation or grammar. Those are givens. A single error can consign your resume to the circular file. Edit your work, proofread the final copy and then double-check everything. Twice. Have someone else go over it. Make sure the editor is notthe first person to see the finished product. Understand the purpose of a resume. It is not intended to get you a job. It is meant to tell prospective employers enough about you so that they’ll look at your work sample or call you in for an interview. Use the interview, tests, tryouts and other steps to land the job. The resume is the earliest of preliminaries. It is Square One.

In a business where word economy is valued, one-page resumes have traditionally been the norm. This is changing, though not with all editors. Even editors with 20 years and several papers behind them limit their resumes to one page. You’re certainly free to exceed that, but it won’t work with everyone, especially when your experience — compare to the editor’s — is modest.

What comes after name, address, phone number and e-mail?

Stating your career objective can help, but only if it matches the opening. An incompatible career objective can eliminate you in a New York minute. It’s OK to omit this.

Put education or experience next, depending on which is more relevant to the job you’re trying to get. If all your work has been outside of journalism, but you have a degree in it, lead with the degree and details about your coursework. If you’re completing a non-journalism degree and have two media internships, list the internships first. The categories’ chronological order is less important than relevance. However, follow chronological order withincategories, most recent to oldest.

Go beyond simple job titles
Describe your jobs. Don’t say you were a reporter. Say you were a reporter who covered a school district, two police departments and the local court and that you wrote a Sunday column. Mention the more complicated, difficult or humorous accomplishments you had in those jobs. These accomplishments distinguish your resume from others, tell the newsroom manager something about your interests and abilities and could open the door to an interview.

Use a clean and simple design
Be bold if you can, but not flashy. I have seen cartoon résumés, résumés with little basketballs on them and resumes made to look like front pages. Tricked-up resumes suggest you lack experience or sophistication and do not give you any advantage over other applicants. As more and more companies scan resumes for databases, consider how to make a resume that scans clearly.

Do I include non-journalism jobs?
If you have a short employment history, you certainly may include jobs that are not journalism-related. These help demonstrate that you have worked for others, know how to toil for a living, show up on time and generally are responsible. Emphasize skills that are most similar to journalism: writing, handling information, working with the public, juggling tasks.

What else should I include?Second languages (but you better have more than the obligatory school minimum), awards, scholarships, extracurricular activities that highlight leadership and personal achievements — if they demonstrate relevant qualities such as resourcefulness, tenacity or responsibility. In one case, I was impressed that a student was a full-time care-giver while carrying a full load of classes.

What about references?Before you list anyone as a reference, make sure it’s OK with them. Ask whether they can give you a good word. Once, I called a reference, and the person said, “He listed me? That was a mistake.” The candidate’s chances stopped there.

Don’t assume people will be your references; ask them. But don’t stop there, as most will be polite and say yes. Ask them, “If I were to list you as a reference, what could you say about me?” If you like what you hear about yourself, then ask them to be references.

If your resume is getting crowded for one page, you can use a second sheet just for references. I don’t think there’s any need to say “References available upon request.” We assume so.

Omit personal informationIt is not relevant whether you are married or single, old or young, a smoker — or a non-smoker. Don’t include those facts. They can say you don’t know what’s relevant and what isn’t.

My curiosity is piqued when someone’s resume carries a list of places visited or lived in. Hobbies can intrigue me, too, but they turn others off. Generally, the more relevant it is to the job, the safer you are using it. Being accomplished at a musical instrument, for example, implies precision, discipline and practice. Saying that you have a passion for coffees or that you bake bread may leave some recruiters cold.