The term “new-media” implies something that is constantly changing and evolving and that is certainly true for this class. This semester we are going to conduct an experiment in “backpack journalism” or what some would call “mobile” journalism. The focus will be on reporting, observing and recording stories that are disseminated through the use of “new-media” techniques. Backpack journalism means that your tools will be only a small digital video camera, hopefully a laptop, and your brains. The emphasis will be on breaking news, on-the-scene reports and the use of social media and blogs to tell the story. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Reading assignments will be given weekly on the blog. You are expected to follow the blog and be ready to discuss assigned readings.
Here are your reading assignments for Monday, January 28th. Please be ready to discuss all these articles.Are Newspapers Dying?
Failing to Harness the Web's Visual Promise
Ten Online Journalism Trends for 2013
A Visual Look Back at Digital Publishing in 2012
After reading the articles please post a comment at the bottom of THIS blog about one of the articles you read. Please do this before Monday night's class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Course Assignments and Requirements:
(More detailed descriptions will be posted online as the class progresses. While there is no book in this class you will need to purchase an SDHC digital memory card. I suggest getting one with the capacity of 16 or 32 gigabytes,)
For those of you that absolutely have to have a hard copy of a syllabus: click on this
BLOG PAGE/FACEBOOK/TWITTER/YOUTUBE: Social media is becoming an ever increasing outlet for media organizations. As part of the class you will be required to establish a blog page, Facebook account, Twitter account, YouTube account and photo storage account. Part of your job is to market the work done in the class by the use of social media.
All assignments in the class will be published through your blog. You
will be required to submit at least four additional blog entries (online sources,
linking, photo exercise, video/photo essay exercise) over the course of the
semester.
40+
40+ 40+ 40+ 40 = 200 points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO/AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Each
student will use a digital video camera to take still pictures of a breaking
news or ongoing news event. They will combine these images into a Vuvox slideshow that combines cutlines,
explanatory text and music. The audio, text and images will be combined into a
slideshow that tells a story without the need for additional written text.
125
points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO REMIX: Each student
will use a digital camera to take videos of a breaking or ongoing news event.
They will edit these videos together to create a video bed that they will then
embed in Popcorn Maker to add text,
pop-up boxes, photos, maps and twitter feeds to add additional information. The
text, pop-up boxes, photos, maps and twitter feeds will be combined into an video
multi-media presentation that tells a story without the need for additional
written text.
125
points
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 HOUR JOURNALISM CHALLENGE:
Each student will have 24 hours to find, shoot and produce a story with video,
photos and text. The student must have the completed story up on their blog and
then market the story through Facebook, Twitter, etc. within a 24 hour period.
150
points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAPPING/TIMELINE: Each
student will use a digital camera to take videos and photos of a news event
that lends itself to documentation through mapping and timeline documentation.
They will use Meograph to document
the timeline of the event, map its various locations and add video, photos and
voiceover for context.
200
points
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEB BIOGRAPHY: Each student
must create a multimedia biography of an interesting individual. The biography
must contain video and photographs, hyperlinks and text of between 1250 to 1500
words. You will create a digital Timeline for this person. You may also use any
of the other multimedia tools we have used previously in class.
250
points
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXTRA CREDIT: For every
“breaking news” photo, video or story posted on your blog outside of the
established assignments you will receive 10 points (if I deem the post worthy
of bonus points—all decisions are final).
_________________________________________________________________
Week#/First day of week-Reading
& Writing assignments
(Online Reading assignments will be given weekly on the blog. You
are expected to follow the blog and be ready to discuss assigned readings. This
schedule may be adjusted at the instructor’s will.)
Week 1/Jan. 28-Intro.
to Course/Future of Journalism
Week 2/Feb. 4-Use
of Online Sources
Week 3/Feb. 11-Linking
in Online Journalism
Week 4/Feb. 18-Multimedia
and User-Generated Content
Week 5/Feb. 25-Photo/Audio
Slideshow Demo
Week 6/Mar. 4-Work
on Photo/Audio Slideshow
Week 7/Mar. 11-
Video Remix Demo
SPRING BREAK
Week 8/Mar. 25-Work
on Video Remix
Week 9/Mar. 26-Legal
& Ethical Issues
Week 10/Apr. 2-24
Hour Journalism Challenge
Week 11/Apr. 9-Mapping/Timeline
Demo and Proposals
Week 12/Apr.
16-Work on Mapping/Timeline
Week 13/Apr.
23- Web Biography proposals
Week 14/May 30-
Work on Web Biographies
Finals Week-Final BLOG entries due
FINAL- Fri. May 17 6:00 – 8:00
FINAL- Fri. May 17 6:00 – 8:00
In response to the article entitled: " Are Newspapers Dying?" I would say that Journalism and print media isn't dying. Everything in life has to go through a season of change and reinventing itself. With Newspapers, I feel that today, it will still be useful but its always going to appeal to an audience who is older, established in their careers, and those who have already been accustomed to reading Print media. Technology is on the rise and we have to embrace it. However, I feel that Editors have to be mindful and make better judgment on what coverage should be in print, and what should be directed for readers to access online. Sam Butterfield made an excellent point in his article. He knows what readers want and he knows that the future is in the present generation, (The Young Adults.) Butterfield makes a clear point to all of us that multimedia platforms is essential and that it should be incorporated in the newsrooms. Furthermore, he shows us that by taking a hold on the new technologies that are among us, this will help to mold and shape the future of the Journalism world.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you. I think newspapers will make a transition to supplementing online content. There are still things that print simply does better than online and this semester we will discuss the dichotomy between using online and print methods to tell stories.
DeleteIn response to "Ten Online Journalism Trends for 2013" I have to agree with all of her predictions. I am a blogger who is part of the Tumblr world I admit that I didn't even know what a GIF was until I joined the site and actually have used a couple in past projects for school. I also tend to agree that pictures and social media will become a lot stronger. A lot of people, mostly young folks would rather post or pin a picture of how they're feeling or what they like rather than actually write about it. Social media is a huge source now for people to easily find out what you're doing, watching, eating, thinking about. It's crazy to think by just analyzing Facebook statues you can figure out the top 10 cities people are getting engaged in.
ReplyDeleteI think social media is altering our expectations when it comes to news and reporting. People are now getting used to hearing news in 140 word segments. Long form journalism is disappearing, not because there aren't stories to tell but because our attention span is becoming much shorter. The challenge is-how do we get people's attention in this kind of media environment.
DeleteIn response to "A visual look back to digital publishing in 2012" In a way, this last article kind of sums up everything that has been said in the first three articles through charts, statistics, etc. I definitely agree with a lot of things that were shown in this article. Number two especially because it shows that television has been a number one source for news. I don't think that is going to change anytime soon. The internet and social media was a last source for news in 2008. Since 2012, it has made its way right behind television. That makes radio a third source for news and print news the last source for news. I don't think that print news is disappearing completely, though. Social media is just overriding print news due to the present (and future) generations growing up with the technology that we are consumed in.
ReplyDeleteResponse to "Ten Online Journalism Trends for 2013" A lot of the trends that the article brings up I can really see happening this year. For example the article states, television companies and news companies with a share in the television market will cater more to dual screening. I really agree with this. I found myself during the election, and any big news event watching it on tv, but also seeing what people have to say about it on twitter. Also with regular television. During commercials I sometimes go to twitter to see what people are saying about a certain tv program that I am watching, and I have noticed more and more shows using a # at the bottom of their screen for people to use when talking about their show on social media.
ReplyDeleteI now dual screen obsessively. I actually spend more time looking at my laptop during a show than I do looking at the TV. I'm not sure if this is good or not.
DeleteIn response to "Failing to Harness the Web's Visual Promise" I agree with the article that photographs and videos are being used more and more to give another take on an article using technology. Visual images is another way for the audience, especially that younger generation, to understand and interact with the article. Also the ability to take a picture and create a video enables many people to report the news as they see it. While the ability to use visual aids is a great way to involve an audience, I also agree with the article that they can be dangerous and easily passed around the web, and they could also be altered using programs such as Photoshop. This brings up more ethical questions regarding videos and photographs. Its a balancing act when it comes to visual media, its finding a way to implement this new technology, but at the same time still report the truth.
ReplyDeleteOf course our perception of the truth shifts in concert with the shifts in the media. But I think we are getting increasingly sensitive of being "fooled" by the media. The Beyonce lip-syncing flap is an example of people getting tired of technology trying to put one over on us.
DeleteIn response to the article "Are Newspapers Dying?" I believe journalism and reporting is far from dead, but the methods used in delivering stories are certainly changing. I noticed many similarities in the article in the direction we are taking with The Rocket. Instead of fearing the death of print journalism, we are encouraging and directing our readers to check out our online edition and get involved through social media. We are creating video stories and pushing for a mobile application of the paper. The art of journalism is not dead yet, but newspapers definitely need to look into different outlets in order to stay alive and make a profit.
ReplyDeleteI agree Madeline. All studies indicate that people are more hungry for information than ever. What we have to figure out is what is the best way of delivering that information.
DeleteI agreed with many things listed in the article, "Ten online journalism trends for 2013." I believe that encouraging reporters to use mobile videos can be an asset to journalism. You can't expect all reporters to have professional film equipment on them when news happens. Mobile videos could help reporters record the news as it is happening. Also, many things this article said about Google+ sounds accurate to me. I have a Google+ account, but only use it for the hangout feature. Most of my friends aren't on the social network because they already have Facebook or Twitter. Finally, I find that dual screening is more prevalent than ever. Between cell phones, computers, tablets, tvs, etc., our attention is pulled in many different directions. These screens are competing for our attention, so usually our time is shared between multiple devices. Overall, I found this article to be very accurate and I agreed with the majority of the things listed.
ReplyDeleteOne of the focuses of this class is mobility. We are going to use basic programs and easily accessible equipment--the focus is on storytelling. Great technology can't make a story great--only a great storyteller can do that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points brought up in the "Are Newspapers Dying?" article. Journalism isn't dying, but it is going through a form of reinvention. People want to get their news in the quickest most convenient way and for the most part thats going to be online because people today already spend the majority of their time online.
ReplyDeleteBut Colton, how do we format that new for these "new" customers? Do they want print on the internet or do they want us to use all the possibilities of the internet?
ReplyDeleteThe article that interested me the most was are newspapers dying mainly because I work for one granted I'm just a stringer but I'm writing a lot more stories now as time goes on. I hope newspapers don't die because I'd someday like to be a beat writer for a pro football team but I think it's going to happen. An interesting thing the article highlighted was how media outlets are behind the technology trend. I was also interested in the ten online journalism trends for 2013. It will be interesting to see if any happen.
ReplyDelete"A Visual Look Back at Digital Publishing in 2012" gave information about the statistics of how social media and other devices kinda play a role in how people are accessing and getting to know information. The one paragraph stated that young users on mobile devices like to click on ads. I totally agree with this statement because I've done it myself. I might be playing a game or reading a news article online and think to myself, "hey this game is getting kind of boring or there has to be another way of viewing this information" and all of a sudden an ad will appear and one will question if they want to see what it is all about. And since kids these days love seeing new things, this will def increase in 2013. I just saw on the news that some schools are replacing books with ipads. If this is happening around the middle school years, I wouldn't doubt that the way things grow will def increase in the future. This also kinda plays a role into the "10 Trends" article with the info on Google +. It hasn't been recommended or advertised enough, for people to actually get on, create a profile and use that against the countering Facebook Site. i do believe time is a factor and it all depends on what and how companies want to get there product out there. And I just wanna briefly state about the "Are Newspapers Dying" article, that in some ways yes. As technology grows, young people are being introduced to new things, aka the internet. As humans evolve, these things will become a common necessity and will be used much more by us as older adults than most people now. I go on my ipad once in a while and find a news article with a couple clicks and my grandma thinks I should study computers just because I can find information in a matter of seconds. Newspapers, I believe will die down to hardly anything and then nothing, but as far as when thats going to happen, my best guestimate would be between 20-40 years.
ReplyDeleteThe article "A Visual Look Back at Digital Publishing in 2012" gave statistics about how digital publishing has evolved and increased in popularity just over the past year. As I read through this article and looked at the statistics, I was able to agree with a lot of the points given. I found that I could relate most to #9, because whenever I am watching anything on TV, whether it be the news, award shows, or sporting events, I am almost always posting on Twitter or Facebook and looking to see what opinions others may have. I am not sure if I agree with #10 saying that social media is not a huge driver of news yet, because personally I discover a lot of news through social media websites because I spend more time using social media than other websites so I quickly see what is trending and what people are talking about. I think that a lot of people prefer to get news digitally because they can get it instantly and have constant updates coming through, and with the increased use of smartphones and tablets, readers can get information more quickly than before.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Ten Online Journalism Trends for 2013", I liked how they discussed the importance of photos and journalism together. I deffinately agree with this, I like to use Instagram and Pinterest myself. I find news to be much more entertaining when there is a photo you can relate the words too. Photos also draw more attention to stories, if someone is interested in the photo there is more of a chance they will read the story.
ReplyDeleteThe article that I really enjoyed reading was "Are Newspapers Dying?". I enjoyed reading this one because I have written for a couple campus newspapers since I have been in college. I really enjoy writing for the newspaper and I would hate to see them die because they have been around for so long and I think they represent so much of how we get our news. I know that with new technology it makes it easier and quicker to access the news, but I hope the newspaper continues to stay around. I really liked how the article talked about how newspapers are in a transition stage and that there is still hope for them. I also liked how the article talked about how solid reporting is the key to good print journalism.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI liked how "Ten Journalism Trends for 2013" talked about the relationship between social media and photography, and dual screening. I think that increasing photography in news is a great thing. For me, I would much rather read an article that has a photo attached to it than one that doesn't. I think photos bring great character to stories. I believe that by having a visualization of what a story focuses on, it possibly creates a more solid understanding of a story. As far as dual screening goes,I think that because it is such a big thing now, people don't even realize they're doing. I can't even think of a show on TV that doesn't, at one point or another, flash a hastag with the name of the show on some part of the screen. I've noticed that on some shows they go as far as displaying hastaged phrases that go along with what is going on in the show at that time
ReplyDeleteI really liked "Are Newspapers Dying?" because the question of whether books and newspapers will survive is a big debate right now. I don't think that newspapers will become obsolete. There is just something about picking up and actual newspaper or book and reading it in print, not on a screen. However, as "A Visual Look Back..." stated, more people now get their news digitally than from newspapers or radio. I think that for newspapers to survive, they need to continue to find new ways to supplement with online information, because whether we like it or not we are living in a digital world. Online information is more quickly accessible and there are so many possibilities, especially since our attention spans are becoming shorter.
ReplyDeleteIn "Are Newspapers dying?" I agreed with the idea that local news is still thriving, even my small town paper is doing well but the larger papers like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal are definitely changing and people are going to have to keep up in order to stay in tune with the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteLike Steph Skinger and many others in this blog, I too really liked "Are Newspapers Dying?" because that is something that we have been hearing a lot of lately. It is true that the generations before us have a certain relationship with newspapers that us younger generation may not understand. I remember watching a video last year in one of my classes about a newspaper in a small town in Colorado that went out of business and many people lost their jobs. A lot of them had worked at that paper their whole lives. The bigger cities around them were able to keep their papers going, but not the small town. I think this is definitely going to be a problem in the future for newspapers. I do enjoy picking up my local newspaper every once in a while to see what has been happening, but when I am at school I can always go online. I realize too that I get a lot of my news knowledge from my MSN homepage and links on Twitter from The Huffington Post. It is sad that many people who have worked for papers are losing their jobs because of budget cuts and other money issues. A lot of them have grown an attachment with the paper and don't know how to switch into the digital media.
ReplyDelete