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Nancy Edmonds Hanson, APR
Office: 293.1489 |
Mass Comm 210: Media WritingSyllabus Spring 2013 |
Tuesdays & Thursdays
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Course information
Required texts, attendance & grading About the instructor |
“Bad writing makes bright people look dumb.”
All contents of this syllabus are subject to frequent revision based on class progress and external events.
Changes will be announced in class. You are responsible for assignments
due on the dates given in class; announcements always supercede the written syllabus. If an assignment published here has not been specifically discussed in class, check with the instructor before proceeding.
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| Messages, media & audiences | The writer | Assignments | |
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Week 1 1/15-17 |
Subtract yourself! Media writing -- what sets it apart from academic writing
Why your English teacher has not prepared you for media work and your business/computer teacher would probably flunk this class Due Thursday: Your comments on writing, via email
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Writing for today's audiences
basics of media writing style
Is media style a life-or-death
matter? It can be. (The
Onion)
Check this out: Media is a plural word and needs plural verbs. Link for online Reaching
Audiences textbook: Handout in class (Sure Things)
For
Tuesday: Pretests 1-4 in Newsroom 101. Note: The
password is in the welcome email you received after signing up.
Here it is (don't copy the quote marks): "This is a test."
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Format for all stories and essays assigned in Media Writing:
DOUBLE-space your text. INDENT paragraphs — do NOT single-space, adding an extra line between paragraphs.
Write: Brief thoughts on writing issues that bug you due by 1/17. E-mail it to nancyh@mnstate.edu. Put "MC210 -- writing peeves" in the subject line. Write: Personal media audit. Assess your personal media habits for 24 hours. Then compare them with someone at least one generation older. 300-800 words. Due Tuesday, 1/22. Read: Yopp 1 before class 1/17. Check this out (sign up?): www.DailyWritingTips.com Check this out: Minnpost, nonprofit online newspaper staffed by veteran journalists. It's free -- go ahead and sign up. Check out: Pew Research--study of audiences, news and media This is the link for the media news data discussed in class.
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Week 2 1/22-24 |
Due Tuesday:
Personal media audit Due Tuesday: Newsroom 101 -- pretests 1-4. See note on password, above. Due Thursday:
Class interviews with 7-step
process In class Tuesday: Student interviews for the 7-step process
Changing media consumption patterns & their implications for media writers What is the Associated Press?
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7 Stages
of the Writing Process Interviews in class for story about your assigned partner. Consciously use Yopp's 7-step process. One double-spaced page. Due Tuesday, 1/29 Copyblogger.com: 10 grammar points that drive professionals crazy About AP style (review stylebook table of contents)
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Newsroom 101: Newsroom 101, AP A and AP-B Review AP Stylebook table of contents Read for next week: Yopp 3 and the section of Yopp 5 on news values
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Week 3 1/29-31 |
Due Tuesday: Newsroom 101, AP A-A and AP-B Due Tuesday: Classroom interviews using 7-step process What's news? (Read Yopp 5 on news values)
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Commas:
Punctuating compound sentences For Thursday, watch a full local TV newscast or review content at www.inforum.com
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Reference:
Yopp 3 and 5 Newsroom 101: Commas exercises
Assignment
for Tuesday, 2/05: Find and summarize one local news
story illustrating each of Yopp's news values ... plus the idea
of currency. (Note headline or summarize briefly; do NOT clip/copy and
turn in entire stories with your assignment.) Check out: InForum.com |
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Week 4 2/05-07 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101
commas exercises Due Tuesday: Description of local news stories demonstrating Yopp's eight news values (chapter 5) plus currency. Due Thursday: Reflection on first news story you remember. News elements and hard-news structure (Yopp 5)
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Read: Yopp 5 Writing simple leads (source material) Apostrophes:
possessives, contractions and misuses
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Write to discuss: Summarize the first news story you remember. Why did it catch your attention? Due Thursday Assignment for next week: Newsroom 101 possessives exervises. Assignment for Tuesday: Locate three typical four- to six-paragraph hard-news stories in The Forum or on www.inforum.com. Cut or print them out. Mark up the essential news elements in each paragraph, including the two "who's" -- the label identifier in the lead and the full identification, usually in the second paragraph. Mark the source of the information if identified. Read for next week: Yopp 6, Beyond the Lead
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Week 5 2/12-14 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 -- possessives exercises Due Tuesday: News elements in 3 hard-news stories Inverted pyramid structure
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AP Essentials
Better Writing — suggestions and writing project
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Write: Four- to six- paragraph news story about the I-94 turkey tragedy. Use hard-news recipe. Be sure to focus on most recent element of story as of press time. Due Thursday, 2/21 Source material for turkey story. Newsroom 101: Section 4, Hyphen exercises complete for 2/19 Read for next week: Yopp 8 and 10
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Week 6 2/19-21 |
NO CLASS THURSDAY
Due Thursday: Newsroom 101, hyphens Please drop off your "turkey tragedy" story in the Mass Comm office, McLean 260. |
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Read for next week:
Yopp 9
Newsroom 101:
Noun exercises |
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Week 7 2/26-28 |
Due Tuesday: Newsroom 101
exercises nouns Due Thursday: Report on interview with media writer (email) Text: Yopp 9 & 10 Interviewing, Quotes and Attribution (Yopp 10)
Research & Observation
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Handling Quotes and Attribution
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Details
of Spring 2013 major writing
assignments Read for next week: Yopp 8 Newsroom 101: Verbs. Note that this is a large section; please complete all the exercises. Write: Personality profile (feature) on media writer of your choice. Length -- 3-4 double-spaced pages (800-1200 words). Emphasis is on use of quotes and scene-setting.
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Week 8 3/05-07
SPRING BREAK |
Thursday: Midterm
exam
Due Thursday:
Newsroom 101 verb exercises Beyond Breaking News — Features & News Features (Yopp 8)
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AP Essentials
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Newsroom 101: Pronoun exercises Check out: Essential Google tips Google advanced operators (printable) Google cheat sheet 20 Great Google Search Tricks
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Week 9 3/19-21 |
Due Tuesday: Newsroom 101 pronoun exercises
Due Thursday: Personality profile Producing Online Content (Yopp 7 in 5th edition)
Recognizing bias and stereotypes (Yopp 11)
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Word Choice, Redundancy & Writing Tighter
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Newsroom 101: AP style exercises A, B and C Read Yopp 11, Recognizing Bias and Stereotypes
Assignment:
Reflect on your use of the Web for news and information. Which
sites? Why? Due Thursday. Assignment: Brief essay (1-2 pages) on bias and stereotypes that affect you; your perceptions of language related to race, ethnicity, physical status, religion or related areas. Due Thursday, 3/28. Assignment: Feature or news feature on subject related to college-age adults and alcohol. Narrow your angle sharply (within the very general topic). Three double-spaced pages. Due April 4 Details |
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Week 10 3/26-28 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 AP style exercises
A, B & C Due Thursday: Brief essay on your experiences with bias and stereotypes, and your perceptions of mandate for straightforward unbiased language and reporting. Libel and slander (Yopp 11)
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AP Guidelines on
race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender & disabilities
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Read:
Yopp 11
Newsroom 101: AP style exercises D, E and F Newsroom 101: G and HI Research & Write: Research and report on tthree current or recent libel suits (Web research). One to two grafs on each is adequate. Due Tuesday, 4/02 |
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Week 11 4/02-04 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 AP style exercises D, E and F Due Tuesday: Report on 3 current libel cases (Web) Due Thursday: Feature on college students & alcohol Intellectual property, copyright, trademark & patent
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Read:
Yopp 13 Newsroom 101: G & H next week
Research &
Write: Find three current or recent copyright cases
involving the media; summarize briefly. THEN, in bullet
points, briefly list three examples of illegal usage of
copyrighted material in everyday life. Assignment: Watch one local 30-minute newscast from start to finish. Log the topic of each story and how much time was devoted to it. (Weather and sports both count as a single story block for purposes of this assignment.) Also note the amount of time devoted to commercials. The information can be in the form of a list with topics and lengths noted. Due Tuesday, 4/09 |
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Week 12 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 AP style exercises G and HI No class on Thursday, 04/11
Due
Tuesday:
Web research on copyright issues Broadcast writing
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Use the class period Thursday to bring your Newsroom 101 exercises up to date! |
Feature #3: Determine the subject and sources for Feature #3. The specs are the same as #2. The topic is open. Choose a narrow angle within a topic of personal interest to you. You'll need at least one interviewed source among a total of three. Email your story topic and planned sources by Thursday, 4/18. The finished story is due May 7. Newsroom 101: JKL, M & N Read for next week: Yopp 14 Strategic Communications Brief report: Analyze how you personally have learned about TWO events or activities you've participated in recently or plan to take in. How and where did you learn about them? Two to three paragraphs total -- due Thursday, 4/18 |
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Week 13
NO CLASS |
No class Tuesday
Student Academic Conference Due Thursday: Newsroom 101 AP style exercises JKL, M and N Also due Thursday: Analysis of how you learned of two event or activities (advertising and PR channels) Due Thursday: Story angle for Feature #3 (email) Introduction to Strategic Communication
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Minnpost interview with Tom
Horner about effects of targeting in political campaigns (READ
THIS!)
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Newsroom 101: OP, QR & S Write: Describe the three earliest ads that you remember. (Please do not look them up online prior to writing about them. Your memory is the key here). Why do you think each has stuck in your mind? If you received the product, did it live up to your expectations at that time? Then describe three current ads that you easily recall. Again, why did these ads catch your attention? If you've bought the product, does it live up to its advertising? Compose your paper as a personal essay. Due Tuesday |
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Week 14 4/23-25
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Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 AP style exercises OP, QR and
S Due Tuesday: Personal ad recall essay
Advertising
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VALS
Write: After taking the VALS survey (using link above, write several paragraphs on how well (or not) it pinpoints your motivations, preferences and interests. Do you think your group placement is intrinsic (part of who you are) or situational, or both? Then — using your experience with the questions and the SBI key to characteristics of different groups — compare your profile with the answers and results you presume your parents or another older friend would achieve. Does your buying experience match your profile? Due Thursday
FLOOD
PREPAREDNESS: Because of Moorhead's flood prevention efforts
over the last two years, it's unlikely that classes will be
canceled in coming weeks. However, if this were to happen, I
will communicate with you via this syllabus and emails. If
you've changed your email since the beginning of the semester,
please be sure that I have the correct one. |
Newsroom 101: T & UZ Read: "Data Mining: How Companies Now Know Everything About You" (Joel Stein in Time magazine) Extra credit: Essay on topic related to data-base mining, real-time bidding and other directions in marketing powered by Web data Up to 10 possible points; essay should be completed by Thursday, 05/02.
Read: "Cutting through the advertising clutter" on
www.cbsnews.com
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Week 15 4/305/02 |
Due Tuesday:
Newsroom 101 AP style exercises
T and UZ Due Tuesday: Report on your VALS profile and your assessment of its accuracy and relevance. Due Thursday (optional): Extra-credit essay on data-driven marketing Due Thursday: News feature #3 Public relations (Yopp 14)
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Jobs in mass communications (in class)
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Week 16 5/07 |
Due Tuesday: Newsroom 101 AP style
exercises make sure
you have completed all of the assigned exercises. The site will
close down at midnight today In class: Prep for final exam |
Final review notes | |
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Final exam: Wednesday, 5/15 |
Section 1: test at
noon Section 2: test at 3 p.m.
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