• Understanding the roles of editors.
• Working with reporters and writers  from story idea through the completed work.
• Blogging.
• Slideshows
  
• Digital organization of the flood of information available to you.
  
• Working with other editors and journalistic artisans.
• Expanding your vocabulary, both in general and the jargon of journalism.
• Expanding your cultural literacy.
  
• Expanding your Web-based knowledge, both for fact checking and keeping up to date on the discourse surrounding the problems of journalism.
• A more intense revisiting of editing’s first-order – the nuts and bolts of grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, headline writing, and the visual aspects of news presentation.
• Higher-order content-editing skills. That is, you will hone your ability to think critically and think things through. For example, in order for editors who have a good grasp of the nuts and bolts to become good editors who are highly sought after, they need to learn:
• How to quickly grasp the bigger picture of any story.
• How to spot the linkages between stories.
• How to spot holes in a story such as whether the story supports the lead; issues of diversity and gender; lack of adequate sources; issues of fairness; missteps in issues of ethics, taste and sensitivity.
• Spotting relevant story ideas from talking to others, your reading or simply living your life and keeping your eyes – and your mind – open to such ideas.
  
• Thinking innovatively in discovering new ways to tell stories.
  
• Organization – both of stories, visuals and yourself
• For a fuller explanation, see Critical Thinking Checklist. You are required to use this list in your editing of yours or others' stories.
  
• Making yourself employable and knowing where to look for a job you will love.

Office Hours

I am available to you this semester – and beyond – to talk about this class, to talk about journalism and communications, to talk about your career, or to just talk. My office hours are are on my schedule:

• Here is a Link to my schedule

• Or just stop by – my door is pretty much always open, and if I am in and I am free, we can talk.
  

• Working With Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors (WWW) (Required) by Brian S. Brooks. See if you can find a cheap version using one of the book seller sites below.
  
• The Associated Press Stylebook (Required).
• A flash drive (memory key) to store and back up your assignments in class and at home -- or some other form of portable storage.
  
• Also bookmark the following class blog: The Blue Pencil
  
• Read  the Gainesville Sun and the New York Times, and sign up for and read NewYorkTimes.com at http://www.nytimes.com/ 
• Set up a Google Reader account and - at the least - put the RSS feeds for  the Times,  the Sun and the Gator on it. Here is  a video on Using Google Reader
• We talk about the news in this course and if you are not reading news, what will you have to say?
• To drill deeper into the issues of journalism and to find editing aids of many kinds, check out & bookmark Dr. R's Journalism Links

Attendance

Class attendance is required. More than three absences may result in an incomplete for this course. For sure, after your first absence, every lab you miss means your grade drops a level – A becomes B+ and B+ becomes B and so on. Arriving or leaving early will be considered an absence. To receive credit for tests and quizzes, you must attend and be on time. No make-ups will be arranged for unexcused absences or tardiness. University-approved absences must be documented (in advance, if for an approved university activity) according to official university policy. Obtaining written verification for an excused absence is your responsibility, as is arranging to complete any missed work.

Grading

• 90% on your:
  
• Editing exercises,  quizzes,  reading abstracts with case study write-ups, and various other editing exercises as assigned.
• Media ride-along report -- including your slideshow and presentation.
• Story package and editor's analyzes.
• Innovative story presentation assignment done as part of a team.
  
• Story ideas -- essentially the quality of them .
• Personal blogging on the issues of journalism. -- again, essentially the quality of them.
• 10% Such things as your attendance,  your  preparation, your participation, your classroom demeanor, your willingness to work with and collaborate with others, your participation in class discussions, and your contributions to the class in whatever form that may take - especially contributions to the class blog when asked to do so, and, most especially, the quality of your portfolio.
• Note: While you will not be notified beforehand, not everything you do will receive a grade.

Grade Scale

Note: As much as possible, everything in the class will be done digitally. All written assignments – both in class and out of class – must be filed either on your L drive or on the class blog. The assignments will tell you which.

• I have spent some considerable time assembling these readings, and it is my hope that they will work together to prompt a conversation relevant to the problems and issues of editing and journalism in general. NOTE: I checked all the links before the semester began and they were working. Let me know immediately if you find a bad link. Don’t wait until class to say you could not access the reading.
• My goal here is to have you learn about the many issues and problems of journalism awaiting you, but also to think critically and go beyond simple description and analysis of your readings and  extrapolate from these readings to the issues of journalism in general. For examples of two abstracts from the past that I much admired, see Example No.1 and Example No. 2.

• A fully fleshed-out story idea reflective of deep thinking  rates high.
• A shallow, perfunctory story idea rates low. 
• Check out:  http://www.notrain-nogain.com/Train/Res/Report/50places.asp

• Note: During the semester, you will work with other members of the class in a team. They will both be your editors and your reporters for a  flawlessly edited enterprise story package of at least as many stories as there are members of your team. See Elements of Writing & Editing. You will do so in consultation with your editors. You will also act as editor to your fellow class members as they report and write their stories. The same grade on the  entire package of stories will go to all members of the team.
  
• The first week you will be divided into reporter-editor teams of three to four people.
• Your team will  come up with an idea for an enterprise package of stories that would run together in print. This needs to be a fully fleshed-out idea and will need my approval. The stories will require photos and / or graphics. This  will  be filed to the L drive of one of your team members in a folder slugged Story Package. You need to tell me early in the semester who the corresponding author is.
  
• BUT in addition, I would like you to assemble this package into an innovative story presentation that will go online. For this, use the Plaza Web site of one of your team members. For examples, look in the left column below for links to Digital Innovations.
• See Assignments below for the due dates on this. Note: First draft -- and by that I mean an essentially completed story of at least five pages double spaced -- is due Week 8. The second draft that assimilates my editing, suggestions and comments is due with your portfolio.
  
• Then, on the final day, your team will submit the completed story package – flawlessly edited – . Each story filed to one team member's L Drive should list the names of sources and their contact information.
• Load these and photos to designated L Drive.
• Also load a document with the link to your online assignment.We should be able to access your online version in class as part of the presentation.
• Each of you must also file your analysis of the editing process to your L drive, thus ensuring privacy.
• Be prepared for  class presentations and discussions about the stories on the last day of class. Also be prepared to discuss your analysis of the editing process.
• Here is how I will weigh your grade on these: Grading Rubric
  

1. This analysis will discuss your experience of working with the other reporters from Day 1 and the selection of a story idea through submission of the final draft.
2. This analysis will also discuss your experience of working with your editors from Day 1 and the selection of a story idea through submission of the final draft.
• Keep in mind these are filed to your individual L Drive, and so, I will be the only person able to read them. So be honest.
  
3. You will describe the dynamics of working with the reporters and editors.
4. You will describe the issues and problems that arose in writing the story and how your editors dealt with them.
5. You will describe what you learned from the process.

• Start now with setting this up. That is, decide on a media venue, find out whom you should ask for permission, write them an e-mail written like a formal business letter, and then follow up with phone calls to set up a time. Be sure to give my name and contact info. It might help.
• Depending on your interests, you can spend the majority of your time on the main copy desk or on the city, sports, business, features or design desks.

• We want to know such things as their background, education, how long they have been an editor, what drew them to editing, what they do on a typical day, their suggestions for how a young editor can find a job and be successful. What else?

• using anonymous sources,
• identifying juveniles suspected of crimes,
• identifying victims of crime, especially rape and molestation victims
• fact checking.

• You will submit a well-organized digital portfolio with all of the written work done in digital format (with your grades and my comments). You will create a  Final Portfolio folder in your L drive.
  
• This will include:

1. A copy of an updated Resume and a template Cover Letter that would accompany an application for a position at a media outlet.
   
2. Your editing exercises, quizzes, story ideas, and reading abstracts with case study write-ups. Leave in any notations I may have made.  
3. Your Media Ride-Along Report -- including your slideshow.