• Understanding the roles of editors.
• Understanding how the contemporary newsroom works.
  
• Understanding the straits, challenges and possible opportunities of contemporary journalism.
• Thinking innovatively.
  
• Digital Tools for Editors.
  
• Digital organization of the flood of information available to you.
  
• Expanding your vocabulary, both in general and the jargon of journalism.
• 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.
• 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.
  

• When Words Collide: A Media Writer's Guide to Grammar and Style by Lauren Kessler & Duncan McDonald -- Required & you are required to bring it to every class
• The Associated Press Stylebook -- Required & you are required to bring it to every class.
  
•  The dictionary I use in grading is the same as the AP Stylebook cites as the second reference to the stylebook: Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4^th Edition. See AP's Note on Dictionaries
• Here is a link to an online version of the dictionary mentioned above. Use this dictionary for all work in our class: http://www.yourdictionary.com/about/Websters-New-World-College-Dictionary.html
• Supermedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save the World by Charlie Beckett -- Required
• Other readings as assigned each week.
  


• Log in to the e-Learning Support Services web site at http://lss.at.ufl.edu. If you use bookmarks in your browser, this is the page to bookmark. You must have a valid GatorLink ID (username and password) to log in to e-Learning. We will be working on most assignments in and out of class through e-Learning. The advantage to you is that unlike L Drives, which you cannot access out of lab, you can log in from anywhere and work your homework and submit it before class. Keep in mind I will be putting deadline times on submissions and at a certain point the system will mark your work and quizzes late or will not even accept it. 

• Also bookmark the following editing blog:  The Scriptorium
  
• Read  the Gainesville Sun and the New York Times, and sign up for and read NewYorkTimes.com at http://www.nytimes.com/ 
• 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 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.

Grading

• 20% on your: Various editing exercises and  quizzes.
• 20% on your: Media Ride-Along Report -- including your powerpoint or slideshow presentation.
• 20% on your: Review Essay.
  
• 20% on your: Reading/Case-Study Abstracts.
  
• 10% on your: Resume and Cover Letter.
  
• 10% on your: Such things as attendance,  your  preparation, your participation, your blogging, your use of digital tools we go over during the semester,  your classroom demeanor, your willingness to work with and collaborate with others, your participation in class discussions,your ability to follow instructions and your contributions to the class in whatever form that may take.

• 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 through e-Learning. All written assignments – both in class and out of class. The assignments will tell you which.

• A flawlessly edited reading/case study abstract that is description only would garner  70 points.
• Description with some basic analysis would get you  80 points.
• But generalization to the issues of journalism based on your own knowledge drawn from experience or your readings in and out of class will garner 90  to 100 points.
  

Review Essay on "Supermedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save the World" by Charlie Beckett. Be ready to offer a short oral report in class. Report is due in e-Learning Tuesday, April 7, at noon. The review essay is not a book review or a book report. Such essays are meant to offer the reader how a group of books  deal with a certain topic. In this case, your essay will deal with the book "Supermedia" and any number of the readings about the digital world of journalism you are assigned this semester. The review essay will consider the arguments of each of the texts - the book and articles, but it will show how, when taken as a whole, singular, synthesized text, they shine light on a question currently important to journalism in an ever-changing world of digital media. This essay will be footnoted - Chicago Manual of Style - for each source referenced.

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.

Campus Helping Resources

See links on front page.

Caveat

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.

Policy on Electronic Devices

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.

• Study Vocab for Week 2: Common terms you will hear around the office & WWW: Chapters 1-5,  current affairs drawn from reading of news.
• Read Kinds of Sentences
• Read and abstract: NOTE: Abstract packages are always due by Tuesday at noon
• Is the title Copy Editor becoming obsolete?
  
• Revamping the Story Flow for Journalists
• Readings on RSS: http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+Wk.1+rss
  
• Readings on Delicious: http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+Wk.1+delicious

• Optional Reading: 25 Tools every Learning Professional should have in their Toolbox - and all for FREE
• Optional but highly recommended:
•  Identifying the Parts of Speech
• These practice quizzes offer excellent explanations about the correct answers.
  

• Study Vocab for Week 3 & WWW: On Agreement, Chapter 6; current affairs
  


• Read and abstract:
• Video on Using Google Reader
  
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+Wk.2
  
• Skeptical Editing
  
• Common Sense Journalism
• Joint Operating Agreements

• Optional but highly recommended: Subject-Verb Agreement Practice
• These practice quizzes offer excellent explanations about the correct answers.
  

• Study Vocab for Week 6 & WWW: That/Which/Who and Restrictive/Nonrestrictive Constructions (know the difference between clauses and phrases) pp. 103-104, current affairs.
• Read and abstract ALL below:
• Jimmy's World Readings:
  
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+jimmy+post-mortem
• Fat Blind Fish Found
• Gmail Readings:
• Get the most out of Gmail
• 10 Reasons to Use Gmail

• Optional, but if you have a problem with commas, read: Using Commas and do a sampling of these practice quizzes, which offer excellent explanations about the correct answers.
• The Comma, an Introduction with Exercises

• An Editor at  Work 2 (You)  (Download to e-Learning assignment in Week 7)
  
• Study Vocab for Week 7:  & WWW: Punctuation, Chapter 8, current affairs
• Read and abstract (be sure to weave in case study:
• Editing the Project or Series
  
• Re: Case Study:
• Bogus Trend Stories
• Optional Readings about other examples of that old newsroom motto:"Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story": See Jack Shafer's other bogus trend stories about the boom in church attendance, kids with bombs, dudes with cats, Ivy League women, teen hookers, teens shopping at the mall, obese teens, and online sales losing "steam." In a July grab bag, he attacked stories about the rise in locally grown food, the uptick in video conferencing, and an increase in motorcyclers. Brendan I. Koerner cased the meat shoplifters in 2007.
• Google Alert readings:
• Google Alerts
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+google_alerts
  
• Google Alert anecdote

• Optional: Do a sampling of these practice quizzes, which offer excellent explanations about the correct answers.
• Punctuation in General
  
• Hyphens Quiz

• Study Vocab for Week 8,  WWW: Word Use, pp. 185-232, current affairs.

• Read and abstract the following and the above case study:
• Columbia's J-School Needs to Consider Trollopian Retooling
• Frank Fee's Tips for Accuracy
• Allegedly Innocent Suspects
  

• Read but no abstract
• Google Docs Readings 
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+google_docs

• Optional: Do a sampling of these practice quizzes, which offer excellent explanations about the correct answers.
• Confusable Words
• Word Usage

• Quiz for Week 8 will now be on Week 9.
• Abstract due Week 8 will now be due Week 9
• There will still be no abstract for Week 10
  
• There will be no Hediting Exercise due midnight of Week 9.

• Quiz - Vocab, WWW: Word Use, pp. 185-232, current affairs.
• In  e-Learning  Wk. 8
  
• Newsroom 101
  
• AP-HI

• In  e-Learning  Wk. 8
  

• Woman Sues Fraternity 1
• Woman Sues Fraternity 2

• Google Docs

• In  e-Learning  Wk. 9
  

• Facebooks and Journalism
  

• Study WWW: Spelling, Chapter 9 - any of  the words mentioned in chapter could end up on test - current affairs.
• Read:
• Soundslide readings
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+soundslides
  
• Take some pictures during your spring break. Bring at least 20 of them in.  I hope to have someone come in in Week 10 and guide us through creating a Soundslide presentation. If you have any experience with Soundslides, please send me an e-mail letting me know.
  

• After a Tragedy: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=647516
• Can suicide coverage lead to copycats?

• The following readings are connected.They go to core of the notion of journalistic objectivity. They are important because the forces that are driving change in journalism are also affecting normative standards of both reporters and editors.I should  say,  I was reading the local paper and was suddenly startled by the violations of objective standards that began appearing in AP wire stories. I wondered, what the heck is going on here? These kinds of stories would never have made it past me - wire or local - when I was an editor. But, the world is changing. Is it for the better? In your abstract, please, also, define your concept of objectivity and how it manifests itself in journalism.
  
• New York Times Readers' Guide
• Accountability Journalism
• A Critique of AP's Accountablity Journalism
  
• What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart
  

• Quiz - Vocab, WWW: Clarity, Conciseness, Chapter 10, current affairs.
• In  e-Learning  Wk. 9
• Quiz - WWW: Spelling, Chapter 9, current affairs.
• In  e-Learning  Wk. 10
• Newsroom 101
  
• AP-M

• Suicide 1
  
• Suicide 2

• Study WWW: Style, Chapter 11, current affairs. (NO QUIZ NEXT WEEK - RESUME WORKSHOP)
  
• Read and abstract (reference case study):
  

• After a Tragedy: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=647516
• Can suicide coverage lead to copycats?

• ALSO ABSTRACT: The following readings are connected.They go to core of the notion of journalistic objectivity. They are important because the forces that are driving change in journalism are also affecting normative standards of both reporters and editors. I should  say,  I was reading the local paper and was suddenly startled by the violations of objective standards that began appearing in AP wire stories. I wondered, what the heck is going on here? These kinds of stories would never have made it past me - wire or local - when I was an editor. But, the world is changing. Is it for the better? In your abstract, please, also, define your concept of objectivity and how it manifests itself in journalism.
  
• New York Times Readers' Guide
• Accountability Journalism
• A Critique of AP's Accountablity Journalism
  
• What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart

• Readings (no abstract)
  
• On Resumes
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+resume
• A Copy Editor's Guide to the Internet (Letter from former student)
  
• The Dreaded Two-Page Resume: http://www.copydesk.org/discussionboard/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=3259#3259

• NOTE: Write and flawlessly edit a resume and template cover letter and bring them to class next week for a Resume Workshop.
  

• Resume Workshop (tentative)
  

• Study WWW: Sense and Sensitivity, Chapter 12, current affairs.
• Read and abstract:
• Protocols
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+protocols
  
• Post Moderation
  
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+postmoderation
  
• “Unbiased Editing in a Diverse Society” by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross. This book is online through the UF library. Read the Introduction and Overview and then scan through the first page of each chapter.
  
• Accent or no accent: Anglo newspapers struggle with little black marks
• New black newspaper stirs debate
• Headlines and Taste
• Read but no abstract
• LinkedIn Readings
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+linkedin
• http://www.linkedin.com/pub/6/a62/182

• Quiz - WWW: Style, Chapter 11, current affairs.
• Quiz - WWW: Sense and Sensitivity, Chapter 12, current affairs.
• In  e-Learning  Wk. 12
•  Newsroom 101
  
• AP-N, O & P

• Editing Protocols
• What is the problem here? What is the correct answer? How would an editor determine what the correct answer is?How does this example extrapolate to editing in general? What do you put on your must-do checklist that you complete before moving a story into publication?
• Protocols PPT (In e-Learning Wk. 12)
  
• Dig For Info
• Along with protocols that say you need to check with reporters before you make a change, an editor needs to also check the facts before making the change. Here is an example of a post-mortem to an AP story that displays the depths to which editors and reporters need to check the facts.
  

• LinkedIn
  

• Read and abstract:
• Readings on linking:
• http://delicious.com/TripleR/4202+linking
• Linking can create not just issues of ethics, but also of copyright, as one of these readings notes. You might find this Copyright Slider helfpful in that regards.
  

• Off Base: Recall the earlier readings about objectivity in the news and reading below on the Existential Copy Editor. How might this apply to keeping an updated resume in your files?.
  
• Please Read and include in abstract: The Existential Copy Editor
• Don't be overwhelmed by the scholarly citations and references to history and philosophy.
  
• Read this for the gist of how viewing the world from this perspective might have relevance to an editor or reporter
  
• Optional Reading: Self Reliance
  

• Linking
• Select  a story of at least 500 words from this week's Daily News Quiz
• Download story to Word Document.
  
• Edit it.
  
• Add a least five links to story at top of page above story.
  
• Explain how you found those links.
  
• After each link, offer your argument for why you chose this link. How reliable is the site it came from? How did you determine that reliability? Did any issues of ethics or copyright arise in your search for applicable links?
  
• Determine whether the site you linked to is conservative or liberal or centric -- and explain how you came to that conclusion. Do you think readers have a legitimate complaint if an overabundance of your links lean one way or another?
• Finallly, summarize the issues of  linking as you percieve them.
  

• Read and abstract:
  
• Huffingtonpost: Secrets behind its success
• GrayLady.com: NY Times explodes wall between print, Web

• Newsroom 101
• AP-T, U-Z

• Media Ride-Along Reports Due Midnight Monday of Week 14 in e-Learning. Include your slideshow or powerpoint.
  
• Begin presentations of Your Media Ride-Along Report -- including your slideshow or powerpoint.
• Your grade is based on how well you answered the questions asked of you. You need to practice this presentation and present it in a professional manner.
• Read and abstract:
• State of the News Media 2008
• Concern yourself primarily with the Overview, Year in the News, Journalist Survey, Newspapers and Online sections.

• Edit Exercise
  
• Alternative Story Forms - see PDFs inWeek 4  Bring in a copy of Sun  or NYT.
• Exercise 1: Look through a newspaper for stories that could have been told "alternatively."
• Edit Exercise (Alternative Story Forms - see PDFs inWeek 4 and
  
• Exercise 2: Take a story recently published in a paper or online that were written in traditional forms. Brainstorm about how the story could best be displayed in alternative form. Sketch out how it would look on paper or in digital form. Bring in your example to next class and bee ready to discuss your idea.