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JOU 4202 Advanced
Editing
(Spring 2009)
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Ronald
R. Rodgers
Dept. of Journalism University of Florida 3053 Weimer Hall Phone: 352-392-8847 Fax: 352-846-2673 rrodgers@jou.ufl.edu |
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Week by Week
Due Dates:
Abstracts: Tuesdays at noon Media Ride-Along Report Midnight Monday of Week 14 Review Essay: Tuesday, April 7, at noon Resume & Letter: End of class last day Who's Who, What's What New York Times Site Readings for 4202
Dr. R's Journalism Readings Critical Thinking Checklist Dr. R's Journalism Links Examples of New Media Job Postings Readings from 4201
NYT on Grammar Perplexed by Plurals Who & Who Who & Whom Quiz Who & Whom Quiz Answers Passive 1 Passive 2 Possession Exorcises Lay & Lie Affect & Effect Getting Organized How Newspapers Work Duties & Common Errors Editing Skills Set 2 Editing Skills Set 1 Fair Comment & Criticism Polling Errors Trademarks Headline 1 Headlines 2 SEO Readings: -- SEO Tips -- Headline Magic -- Written for Google -- Google SEO -- What is Search Editor? Prof. Kaplan's 20 Tips Cutlines & Photos Murder Most Foul In the Block Burglar or Robber? Allegedly Innocent Suspects 1st v. 6th Amendments Ethics, Taste, Sensitivity, Diversity & Gender Other Useful Stuff Special Word Problems Subjunctive Mood Spelling Cutting Stories Compiling Stories Mathiness Figuring Percentage Metric Conversion How to Punctuate by Russell Baker Roy Peter Clark’s Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List Help
With Editing
Newsroom
101:
Exercises
in Grammar, Usage and Associated Press Style Exercise Central for AP Style Ask the Editor at AP The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Modern English Grammar: A Hypertext Book Common Errors in English American Copy Editors Society's (ACES) Online Quizzes ACES Discussion Board Purdue Writing Lab Comma Basics Readings, Etc.
in Journalism How online site keeps up with breaking news: NYT Example 20 Under 40: Each year PRESSTIME selects 20 people under the age of 40 who represent the enthusiasm, talent, hard work and innovation that’s needed to carry the newspaper industry into the future. Speed Flattens Shorts: A CJR article on writing briefs. Acquiring Online Skills It's a Confusing Moment to be a Young Journalist Dr. R's Journalism Links Dr. R's Journalism readings Zappa on Crossfire video Film about newspaper business video What We Call the News video The Pensonal Computer Citizen Journalism: From Pamphlet to Blog video Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us video Understanding Web 2. video THE CORPORATION Unsettling Accounts video Using Google Reader video Contempory journalists discuss the political reporting of Hunter S. Thompson video Digital Innovations
Digital Edge Awards - 2007 2007 Online Journalism Awards - Finalists Detroit Free Press, 40 years of RESPECT Discovery Channel, Everest Beyond the Limit Honolulu Advertiser, Wonderful World Los Angeles Times, Altered Oceans New York Times, Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip Star Tribune A People Torn: Liberians in Minnesota Washington Post, OnBeing Bakersfield.com, The Trial of the Vincent Brothers Florida Today, Orphans and Angels Roanoke.com, Off the Scale Wisconsin State Journal, Hip Hop 101 13: Love. Identity. Secrets. Loyalty. Sex. Betrayal. Power. Grades. Rivalry. Glory. Parents. Subterfuge. Divorce. God. Guitars. Life at the Edge of Everything. Little Relief on Ward 53 Chicagocrime.org Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator Cultural Literacy This list is just a sample of the kinds of things editors should know something about "We Didn't Start the Fire" Articles of Confederation Missouri Compromise Open Door policy Bay of Pigs Seward's Folly Dred Scott case "Great Awakening" League of Nations Gadsden Purchase Land Grant Act Louisiana Purchase My Lai Sen. Joseph McCarthy French and Indian War trustbusting Prohibition War of 1812 New Deal Emancipation Proclamation Ellis Island wet feet, dry feet policy Marshall Plan isolationism Christopher Wren War Powers Act junta National Organization for Women Selective Service System 4F Stamp Act constitutional monarchies Brown v. Board of Education secretary of state electoral college NAACP Plessy v. Ferguson Double V campaign Rosewood Massacre The Constitution Bill of Rights First Amendment Second Amendment Third Amendment Fourth Amendment Fifth Amendment Sixth Amendment Seventh Amendment Eighth Amendment Ninth Amendment 10th Amendment ERA 19th Amendment Federalists Voting Rights Act of 1965 separation of church and state system of checks and balances Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 civil disobedience writ of habeas corpus writ of certiorari Miranda v. Arizona Dow Jones Composite Average Federal Reserve Board Euclid Thomas Malthus Thomas Hobbes gross national product bankruptcy FDIC protectionism mortgage initial public offering proportional income tax progressive income tax regressive income tax value added income tax flat tax federal deficit bull market bear market Keynesian economics Milton Friedman consumer price index depression recession tariff Federal Trade Commission cost-of-living index Social Security Medicare Medicaid libertarian liberal conservative Third Way apartheid Peloponnesian Wars revolutions of 1848 the Axis Niccolo Machiavelli Russian Revolution of 1917 Third World Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi Charlemagne Mao Zedong National Security Letter Free Markets & Milton Friedman Opium War detente Joseph Stalin NATO Reign of Terror Victorian Age the Crusades Boer War Holocaust Berlin Wall Industrial Revolution Sino-Japanese War Magna Carta Original Sin Providence Mecca Koran Torah Tower of Babel Bacchanalia Yom Kippur Siddhartha Gautama Krishna Muhammad Martin Luther Ramadan in loco parentis jihad Anarchism Aristocracy Autocracy Democracy Direct democracy Representative democracy Despotism Fascism Absolute monarchy Constitutional monarchy Oligarchy Federalism Republic Wheat & Chaff third rail Achilles' heel six of one, half dozen of the other cultural literacy DDT Bretton Woods Atlantic Charter Marshall Plan Classical Liberalism Social / New Liberalism Conservatism Libertarianism Socialism Cuban Missile Crisis antitrust legislation arbitration Web 2.0 affirmative action amicus curiae block grant Rupert Murdoch broad construction blue laws checks and balances clear and present danger civil liberties Cesar Chavez Hugo Chavez civil liberties cloture FISA coattail effect conscientious objector containment, policy of dark horse de facto segregation domino theory double jeopardy due process of law Sunni Islam Shia Islam Sharia Eastern Establishment Electoral College laissez-faire entitlements equal protection of the laws Equal Rights Amendment fellow traveler filibuster History of filibuster franchise gender gap gerrymander fairness doctrine gunboat diplomacy habeas corpus libertarianism anarchism hawks and doves lame duck line-item veto logrolling military-industrial complex Miranda decision narrow construction nolo contendere patronage pocket veto political action committees poll tax pork-barrel legislation quorum rider rugged individualism segregation separate but equal slush fund smoke-filled room stare decisis states’ rights suffrage the Ugly American Bakke decision Bay of Pigs big stick diplomacy Black Muslims Title IX Black Panthers Chappaquiddick incident Civil Rights Act of 1964 My Lai massacre New Deal New Left Plessy versus Ferguson Progressive movement Roe versus Wade spoils system Voting Rights Act of 1965 women’s movement yellow journalism Yellow Peril ABM Treaty anarchism anti-Semitism apartheid balkanization banana republics caging (voter suppression) bicameral legislature brinkmanship Kyoto Protocol chauvinism civil disobedience coup d’état cultural imperialism demagogue despotism détente ethnic cleansing Geneva Conventions genocide glasnost global village gulag intifada jingoism junta neocolonialism NGOs cloture oligarchy ombudsman pogrom rapprochement realpolitik smart weapons theocracy zero-sum game Zionism affluent society bear market bourgeoisie bull market capital gain Caveat emptor Chapter 11 bankruptcy closed shop eminent domain Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 golden parachute Civics: Legal Terms Cultural Literacy - Geography 50 States Go Where? US Capitals Geographic Continent Africa South East Asia USA Jigsaw Crossword Map USA & Canada Latin America Europe Russia Asia Middle East & North Africa |
"I don't so much mind
that newspapers are dying - it's watching them commit suicide that
pisses me off."
Course Goal & Description This course’s goal is to build on the foundation from your reporting, fact-finding and basic-editing classes to help you reach a higher level as you continue the lifelong process of becoming a careful, precise and collaborative editor who understands the many problems of doing journalism that face editors daily. This will involve exploring such things as:
Office
Hours
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 late 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. In addtion, whether the absence is legitimate or not, there will be no classwork make-ups. Life is just too darn complicated as it is, and when I have 30-some students juggling deadlines - well, it is just too complicated. The key here is whether your absence is legitimate or not. Note:
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.
Grade
Scale D+ = 67-69 D = 60-66 F = Below 60 What You Can Expect During This Semester Note: As much as
possible, everything in the class will be done
digitally through e-Learning. All written assignments – both in class
and out of class. The assignments will tell you which. 2. Quizzes -- including one longish grammar and AP style quiz at end of semester: These will cover such things as readings from When Words Collide, assigned vocabulary and current affairs based on the Sun or NYT and they may also include tests of your knowledge of grammar, punctuation, AP style and general editing, your knowledge of the readings assigned to the entire class, any lectures, and your ability to think critically when posed with some problems of editing. The quiz is closed book and you will only have a short time to complete these.The first quiz may include questions about the syllabus. Learning objective: Hone your skills in the nuts and bolts of journalism to make you better journalists and so you can pass those tests. 3. Editing Tools: These tools are certainly not all inclusive - they change or are added to every day. And certainly, if you know of anything your fellow journalists should know about, don't hesitate to express yourself. Learning objective: Get you acquainted and comfortable with some of the online tools available to journalists while also pushing you to think about journalism and its future in the 21st century. 4. Reading and Case Study Abstracts: For each class' readings and case study, when applicable, you will write an abstract outlining all the readings and the case study. It should be at one page only and single spaced.It should (1) show me you read the readings (2) that you have thought about what you read and (3) you are thinking about how the digital world can be applied to the doing of journalism.. Here you should know I grade these case studies and your reading abstracts both on the editing and the exposition of deep thinking on your part. Here is the basic rubric from which I work:
5. Review Essay on "Supermedia 6. Media Ride-Along Report with a media outlet outside of Gainesville. Due Midnight Monday of Week 14 in e-Learning. Include your slideshow or powerpoint. Presentations begin this week. Start before semester to set this up. Many people do this over the holiday at their hometown paper. You can spend the shift at any of a newspaper's sections -- business, features, local/metro, sports, etc. Here is a list of What You Need to Bring Back. Learning objective: Give you a hands-on, face-to-face look at journalism as it is being done at the venue you visit -- and at the venues your cohorts visited. This is why your class presentations should be scintillating and well done. 7. Resume and Cover Letter: Due in e-Learning by end of class last day. Your grade is based on how well you present yourself and on whether the resume and letter are flawlessly edited. I want a professional looking and well-edited copy of an updated Resume, a template Cover Letter that would accompany an application for a position at a media outlet, and a link to your completed LinkedIn account (http://www.linkedin.com/). No pink, scented resumes. Why? Check this out. Learning objective: Discern the best practices when it comes to the sometimes confusing world of resumes -- and help you find a job. Your presence in this class: Class attendance is required. No make-up work will be arranged nor late assignments accepted. Obtaining written verification for an excused absence is your responsibility. That you return work on time. It is essential that you observe deadlines. Good writers and editors are a highly prized commodity, but writers and editors who miss deadlines are not. No extensions, no excuses. This is journalism, and deadlines are a fact of your professional life. Good academic conduct: Commit yourself to honesty and integrity if you haven’t already. If you engage in any form of academic misconduct, including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and aiding and abetting, the penalties could be severe You are required to read Academic Honesty. I will work under the assumption that you have done so. In addition, read the Honor Code at this link. Accommodations
Please let me know immediately if you have
any kind of problem or
disability that would hinder your work in this course. I will do my
best to help you. Students requesting classroom accommodation must
first register with the Dean of Students Office, which will provide
documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation
to the instructor when requesting accommodation. See links on front page.
Sometimes a class such as this
will deal with controversial
topics, so be warned that words that may be considered offensive may be
spoken in the context of the subjects we are discussing. As a teacher,
I have no political or social agenda, so do not try to answer in a way
you believe might comport with what I want to hear or read. Feel free
to advocate any position as long as you remain respectful of others'
opinions, and always be able to defend your point of view. I do not allow electronic transmission devices, such as beepers, cellular phones and computers of any size in my classes. You must have all such devices in the "off" mode and stored away when in class. Lecture Schedule &
Assignments
Note:
All of this below is of
course tentative -- but it should give you a basic road map for the
semester. You
certainly
should
expect that things could change on occasion. "People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news." NOTE: Always put your name and e-mail on all assignments. No name and e-mail, no grade.
Inside
Class
New Media Tools:
Outside Class for Week 2
"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." In Class
Daily News Quiz Case Study: Eagle Snatches Dog
Outside Class for Week 3
"There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil." Inside Class
Case Study:
Outside Class for Week 4
"The liberty of the press is a blessing when we are inclined to write against others, and a calamity when we find ourselves overborne by the multitude of our assailants." Inside Class
Case Study:
Outside Class for Week 5
"Dealing with the media is more difficult that bathing a leper." Inside Class
Hed Exercises
Outside Class for Week 6
"Journalism
can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest
fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of
wonder, the
claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air."
- Henry Anatole Grunwald
Case Study:
Outside Class for Week 7
"The
freedom of the press works in such a way that there is not much freedom
from it."
Inside
Class
Case Study:
Outside Class for Week 8
Week 8 - Feb. 25 (OOPS! Plans have been changed. I am going to be out of town Week 8 - Feb 25, not Week 9, March 4 as I thought. So, I have adjusted the syllabus - eliminating and shifing forward -- see below.
"News is something someone wants suppressed. Everything else is just advertising." "Anonymous sources are to journalism what silicon enhancements are to the feminine figure; they look impressive to the gullible, but something doesn't feel right." -
Larry King,
an American journalist in London
Inside Class NO QUIZ ON THE FOLLOWING NEXT WEEK
An Editor at Work 3 Case Study: What is the issue that arises between these two stories about the same subject? How would you respond as an editor? Keep in mind that it is fine to have an opinion and a plan of action contrary to authority. But just like any change you would make to anyone else's work, be sure you have an argument to support your case. You may not win, but you will have thought through the applicable ethical, taste, sensitivity, diversity, gender, fairness, etc. issues involved. Doing so, I would argue, helps build a solid foundation under your editing skills set. New Media Tools:
Outside Class for Week 9 NO QUIZ ON THE FOLLOWING NEXT WEEK
"USA
Today
has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four
people make up 75% of the population."
Edit
Exercise (Exercise for Week
9)
Hediting
Week 9 (In class) - 30 minutes Edit
Exercise Wk. 9
Cutting
& Compiling Exercise - 60 minutes
New Media Tools:
Case Study: What is the issue that arises between these two stories about the same subject? How would you respond as an editor? Keep in mind that it is fine to have an opinion and a plan of action contrary to authority. But just like any change you would make to anyone else's work, be sure you have an argument to support your case. You may not win, but you will have thought through the applicable ethical, taste, sensitivity, diversity, gender, fairness, etc. issues involved. Doing so, I would argue, helps build a solid foundation under your editing skills set. CANCELLED FOR WEEK 10 Hediting: Edit and write a headline for the short hediting exercise in e-Learning for this week. File by midnight today. Outside Class for Week 9
New Media Tools:
Outside Class for Week 10
Spring
Break Spring Break Spring Break Spring Break
If you go anywhere outside Gainesville, please bring back a paper or two Week 10 - March 18 "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." "I deplore the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed, and the malignity, the vulgarity and the mendacious spirit of those who write them." -
Thomas Jefferson
Inside
Class
Edit Exercise (Exercise for Week 9) In e-Learning Wk. 9 Case Study: What is the issue that arises between these two stories? How would you respond as an editor? Hediting: Edit and write a headline for the short hediting exercise in e-Learning for this week. File by midnight today. Outside Class for Week 11:
Advisory Council is here Thursday and Friday, March 26-27, and the job fair is Thursday. "A news story should be like a mini skirt on a pretty woman. Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting." - Anonymous, linked to a Texas
newspaper editor
Week 12 - April 1 "A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad." Inside
Class
Speaker (tentative)
(In e-Learning) Edit Exercise Daily News Quiz Case Study:
"Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.'' Inside
Class
New Media Tools and Editing
Exercise:
Case Study:
"Preserve your independence of all demagogues and place-hunters and never submit to their dictation; write boldly and tell the truth fearlessly; criticize whatever is wrong, and denounced whatever is rotten in the administration of your local and state affairs, no matter how much it may offend the guilty or wound the would-be leaders of your party...Make an earnest and conscientious journal; establish its reputation for truth and reliability, frankness and independence. Never willfully deceive the people, or trifle with their confidence. Show that your journal is devoted to the advocacy and promotion of their temporal interests and moral welfare." Inside Class
Week 15 - April 22 Last Day of Class "Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light." Inside Class
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