C&J
372 University
of New Mexico
Fall Semester 2012
Instructor:
Dennis Herrick
Class Location:
New computer pod
in CJ106
Time:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Herrick Home Page
Herrick Office Hours:
Room xxx
Half-hour before and
after class on
Tuesdays and Thursdays
or by appointment.
Drop-ins always welcome.
Course
Grading Course Requirements:
In addition to assignments, you are required to:
• Attend and fully participate in class.
• Complete all assignments on deadline. (If you cannot attend class, the assignment for that class is still due at that time. You must e-mail your homework by start of class to receive full credit, and you must show the instructor that you have completed the day's technology assignment by the end of that day to receive full credit.)
Grading:
A total of 100 points is possible in C&J 475: Advanced Multimedia Journalism. All
work must be completed on time to receive full credit. The emphasis is on
magazine and online reporting and digital skills. Details about each assignment's requirement
will be provided in class.
An important part of a capstone course as a journalism
major is to experience, to the extent possible, a real-life news environment.
There are no midterms, finals or academic papers required in this course.
Therefore, a major portion of the grade you earn will be based on your contribution
to the final online product.
To earn an A or B, you must successfully complete all
assignments (just as in real-life) and on time.
Just as will be the case with a supervisor in a professional
situation, I won't be able to know the full extent of your efforts and
contributions on a day-to-day basis. So, at the start of every Tuesday
class, you are required to submit a work log detailing your prior week's contributions to the online product. I will
react to memos and award points based on results.
You are required to:
• Meet the minimum requirements for querying and writing a magazine article of 250 words (or longer if the category requires it) by March 2.
• Personally create, produce, and post a
major multimedia project of about 1,000 words with a photo — plus a video or slide show — to the class online news site by April 27.
• Participate in blogging exercises, with the following minimums by the end of the semester: > A minimum of five postings to the class blog on five different issues during the time the subject is posted. > Creation of a personal blog with at least one entry relating to journalism by Feb. 11.
• Complete a Dreamweaver résumé by March 2 and upload it to the Internet in class on that day.
• Complete other assignments as directed.
It is a given that all content assignments must meet
deadline. In the professional world, there are no excuses. An editor needs
the story by deadline or it is useless. Therefore, assignments not turned
in by deadline will receive no credit.
Grades:
Work deemed to be of professional and publishable quality will receive
an A.
If the assignment does not quite measure up to publishable
or professional standards, yet is very good student work, it will earn
a B.
If an assignment meets the minimal requirements, is accurate,
and on deadline, it will earn a C.
There will be a D or F for work not meeting minimal requirements even if completed
on deadline.
A missed assignment or deadline will earn zero credit.
Attendance and full participation at every session is
essential, just as it will be in your job, for which this class is preparing
you. EVERY ABSENCE will be noted and could result in an individual receiving
a lowered final grade or being dropped from the course.
Final grades will be derived from these categories and
with the following points distribution:
5 points
Creating a personal blog by Feb. 11 with at least one entry discussing a journalism issue (simply creating the blog is not sufficient).
5 points
Creating an online résumé or
other personal Web site in class and have it posted online by March 2. It also
will be required at the mock job interview near the end of the course
55 points
Producing a magazine query (deadlines of Feb. 9 and Feb. 23) and completed story for her or the instructor by March 30 (see link on class Web site for standards). Successful completion of all the project's requirements will be worth 20 points.
--------------------------
Also producing a major Web project to be posted online by April 22. The grade received
in writing each story will be dropped one letter grade if the story
is not posted to the Web in the time allowed. The grade will be dropped
two or three letter grades if it is posted after that period or not
posted at all. Successful completion will be worth 35 points.
5 points
Publishing a minimum of five postings to the
class blog site (on five different questions)
15 points
Attending presentations of speakers, completing
special assignments, weekly work log reports, story proposals, misc.
5 points
Creating a portfolio of your work, with printouts
of Web stories and print clippings. It is due Feb. 16.
10 points
Interviewing for a job. Present your portfolio,
online résumé and blog, and demonstrate your knowledge
of multimedia journalism in general. A mock job interview with the
instructor will be scheduled with each student during the next-to-last
final week of class. Only those ready for full-time hire will earn
the full 10 points.
