Syllabus: Spring 2018 / JOUR 310 — Writing, Reporting & Ethics III
California State University, Northridge
Engagement and narrative techniques to report on a social issue
Monday (#dhg310) OR Wednesday (#csun310)
Professor Daniela Gerson/ Email: daniela.gerson@csun.edu/ Twitter: @dhgerson
Office Hours: 10am — 12:30pm Wednesday, MZ 332 (come visit!)
Submit your assignments on Canvas.
Monday class: Assignments are due the Friday before class at 10am
Class Schedule:
Week 1: 1.22 (Mon. class)
Topic:
Overview of platforms and skills you will learn, subject themes for class, creating a map and analysis with Census Reporter.
Links:
-Class Google doc — Monday)
-Medium.com
-Google Drive (note, do not use your CSUN gmail to sign in).
-Twitter.com
- Creative Commons image search
-Class Map
-CensusReporter.org
-Fair use for images
Week 2: 1.29 (Mon. class)/ 1.31 (Wed. class)
Assignments due:
- Read What is Medium and How to use Medium
- Read Echo Park: immigration and gentrification
- Submit Community Data assignment on Canvas
Class topics:
- Following a beat
- Identifying a nut graph of a story
- Breaking down a story by its elements
- Analyzing community data
- Twitter reporting
- Covering social issues and sensitive topics
Links for class:
- Class Google doc — Monday)
- Google news and alerts
- Searching Twitter keywords
Week 3: 2.5/2.7
Assignment due: Medium Community Introduction (Detailed assignment description on Canvas)
Topic:
- Editing your peers
- Identifying a story within a community
- Break into teams to go out and report
- Introducing audio reporting basics
Links for class:
(Break down story on this Google doc — Monday)
Week 4: 2.12
Guest speaker: KCRW
Assignments due:
- For extra credit: submit revised Medium Community Intro post taking into account peer editing by 9am due of class.
- Audio profile of community.
- Two questions about issues.
Links for class
https://curious.kcrw.com/sounds/csuns-caretaker-of-the-carillon
(Break down story on this Google doc — Monday)
Week 5: 2.19/2.21
Assignments due:
— Submit profiles from three Experts on your Community.
Topics:
- Reviewing experiences with experts, and preparing your engagement projects.
- Data and survey creation.
Links for class:
(Break down story on this Google doc — Monday/ Wednesday)
How to engage your audience using 5 key steps (American Press Institute)
- Read: 5 Things We Learned Collecting 3,352 Stories About Agent Orange Exposure (ProPublica)
- http://www.kbridge.org/en/how-to-create-an-audience-survey-using-a-google-form/
- https://www.nytimes.com/projects/2020-report/
- http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-trump-immigrant-stories/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/education/edlife/sanctuary-for-undocumented-students.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/real-mayors-of-new-york.html
Week 6: 2.26/ 2.28
Guest speaker: Annie Yu, Engagement Team LA Times
Topics:
- Publish surveys and work on outreach together.
- Present to class projects.
- Building skills for man-on-the street interviews.
- Reviewing quoting people: Paraphrase vs. direct quote.
Links for class:
- Class Google doc — Monday)
- http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sheriff-brady-list-20171208-htmlstory.html
Week 7: 3.5/ 3.7
Assignments due:
- Submit Engagement Project Plan & Engagement Project Survey.
Read:
- Workshop engagement plans, how to find community and university data sets, how to analyze them.
- Submit
-Class Google doc —Monday/ Wednesday)
Topics:
- Format for telling voxpop/ man-on-the street/ engagement project stories.
- Troubleshooting engagement projects.
- Finding the story topic for your reported story.
- Presentation guidelines.
Links:
Week 8: 3.12
Assignments due:
Present Engagement Projects
Topics:
- Presentation of projects
- Evaluations
- Introduction of final project
Read
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlooked.html
Break down Monday
Week 9: 3.26
No class — work on your final project pitches
Read:-My neighborhood makes it easier to get pregnant than to go to college / Shanice Joseph / Time.com
Topic:
- Close reading in reviewing first-person stories.
- Finding a story topic and elements of a pitch.
- Work together to refine pitches.
Week 10: 4.2
Assignment due:
Submit Medium Post Pitch for your final project story. (250 words)
Topics:
- Finding the right experts for your stories
- Crafting inquiry letters
- Peer editing pitches/ testing them out on class.
- Visualizing and data in your stories
Links:
Week 11: 4.9/ 4.11
Assignments Due:
- Submit Revised Pitch
Topics in class:
- Interviewing techniques
- Finding sources
- First-person journalism
- Data
Links for class
Break down pitch
- Data sets to help your stories
Week 12: 4.16/ 4.18
Assignments due:
Submit Outline for Enterprise Story
- Submit a source list, including takeaways from two completed interviews.
- Submit data sources you’re using and any data questions.
Topic:
- Visual storytelling: Rapid intro to tools to try Timeline JS, YouTube, Infogram — tools you can use to illustrate your story
-Story editing and individual help on multimedia tools
Links for class
http://knightlab.northwestern.edu/2016/06/15/knight-lab-tools-now-embeddable-on-medium/
Week 13: 4.23/ 4.25
Assignments due:
Resubmit your outline based on guidelines. Make sure you have done enough interviews to create a quality lede anecdote and nut graph.
Embed on your outline a Juxtapose, StoryMap or Timeline.
Topics:
Adjectives, topic sentences, structure
Links for class:
Break down on Google doc
Topic:
Story editing and individual help on multimedia tools
Week 14: 4.30/ 5.2
Optional: Submit rough drafts for review
Presentations 1
Links
google sheet
Week 15: 5.7/ 5.9
Presentations 2
No final exam
