News II Tryout skedlines:

10 a.m.

LOCAL SPORTS BARS

ITHACA-- On the first Sunday afternoon without football, Benchwarmers Restaurant and Sports Bar is bustling. The bar's seven large screens showing Pro Bowl chatter and sports news are largely ignored as families and students talk, laugh, and dig into a variety of cuisine. This comforting atmosphere has found a home in many of Ithaca's sports bars and restaurants, allowing them to succeed regardless of the game on the television.

By Abby Paulson.

FREECYLCE

FreeCycle is a grassroots non-profit movement that is taking a new tact on cutting down wastefulness in modern society. 4,880 groups with over 6,936,000 members create localized networks where objects that are no longer of use are posted to be picked up and used by someone else, entirely free of charge. Likewise, users can post up their needs and meet members who may be able to fill their needs. This article will explore the environmental and economic impact of FreeCycle in the Ithaca area, as well as the nation as a whole.

Kellan Davidson

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION-CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

ITHACA, New York--- The only catholic school in Tompkins County celebrated both 125 years of existence and Catholic Schools Week by hosting an All You Can Read Winter Book Fest last night. Proceeds from the event went to the school’s library. By Kevin McCall

BRUNCH

Moosewood Restaurant hosted a Benefit Brunch on Sunday in an effort to help the Ithaca Free

Clinic in its mission to expand in the coming year.

Sam Schles

SPCA OF TOMPKINS COUNTY ANNEX    

ITHACA— Tompkins County’s SPCA has temporarily and possibly permanently opened an annex in, The Shops at Ithaca Mall. The annex was opened on Memorial

Day and has led to the adoption of over four hundred cats and kittens since then. The annex was opened to lessen the over-crowding at the main SPCA shelter and

to give the animals a greater chance of being adopted.

Jackie Wild

Heart-attack Row

ITHACA- How many fast food joints does one town really need? Better yet, how many does one road need?  Here in Ithaca, Route 13 has one of the most interesting, and mind-boggling sites ever witnessed. One “restaurant” after another, offering more grease and fat than the previous. (Last sentence might not be needed)

By Seth Schniebolk

MICAWBERS:  A Turbulent End to a Colorful Legacy

Ithaca – Large, foreboding signs handwritten in black Sharpie are pasted right beside the flyers advertising local music events, warning possible passersby to keep out of Micawber’s Pub on North Aurora Street in Ithaca.  The local hangout, open since 1977 and touting itself as “the most storied bar in Ithaca,” has finally met its demise, after a series of unfortunate events that leave this now empty bar even more storied.

Bryant Kuehner

TCAT-NEW ROUTE

ITHACA – Parents of Cayuga Heights Elementary School and others are organizing against the TCAT bus route change that causes the buses to pass along the back entrance of the school. They are afraid for the safety of the children and said they had little to no warning.

By Jessica Dillon

2 p.m.

VILLAGES

A nonprofit, Ithaca store, in affiliation with corporate company Ten Thousand Villages, has joined the relief chain for Haiti. The store carries fair-trade goods from the poorest countries in the world in hopes to stimulate economies and splice the cycle of debt. The store is currently selling Haitian goods “at cost” to maximize sales. They are also collecting donations. The stores efforts are unique as they focus on providing for the long-term, rather than solely quick, cash aid.

Amanda Riggio

ITHACA-BOUTIQUES SURVIVE

ITHACA -- Stores in the Ithaca Commons have been continuously successful in some cases for over 15 years. However, with the introduction of the commercially known Urban Outfitters, there was doubt on where college students in town would now choose to shop. While some of the more upscale boutiques in Ithaca have seen a drop in sales, most have felt unaffected, relying on their ability to familiarize themselves with customers and offer one of a kind prices and apparel.

EVIE SANTIAGO

BOUTIQUE

Clothes are being pulled off every hanger and accessories are flying across the store. These excited shoppers are experiencing the biggest sale Ithaca's "Some Girls" has ever had, but unfortunately it is their last. "Some Girls" is a local boutique in the heart of Collegetown that is coming to a close.

Erica Conte

PATTERSON

Yale had Mona Lisa Smile, Princeton had Across the Universe , Harvard had Legally Blonde, but now it’s finally time for Cornell to shine on the big screen with heart throb Robert Patterson most likely coming this June to film “Water for Elephants.” The campus is buzzing and so is the popular social networking site, Twitter with talk of the hugely famous Twilight series star coming to their very own school.

Carolyn Cutrone 

DESTRUCTIVE GROUNDHOGS 
ITHACA—Punxsutawney Phil will soon reveal himself and determine whether or not we have six more weeks of winter.  But do we really want Phil out of his hole?   Cayuga Nature Center hosted an informational session Sunday about groundhogs, and spectators learned some key facts about the animal.  When groundhogs come out of hibernation in early February, they immediately start eating and burrowing.   Their ravenous appetite can sometimes destroy whole gardens overnight. Groundhogs also typically dig new burrows where the ground has already been shifted.  As a result newly built fences become damaged and trees may lose years worth of growing.  By Laura Murray

CITY DEVELOPMENT

ITHACA -- The city of Ithaca is currently undertaking multiple development projects which city planners hope will stimulate the local economy.  Current plans include construction of low-income housing on Seneca St, luxury apartments behind the Cayuga Street Garage, the arrival of a Panera Bread and Olive Garden, and plans have gone underway for the much-anticipated Hotel Ithaca.

Peter Blanchard

BUDDHIST MONASTERY

ITHACA, NY - Nestled quietly between Farm and Cayuga Street, the Namgyal Buddhist Monastery stands tall, as the North American Seat of the Personal Monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  On Friday night, Namgyal held a discussion led by Geshe Tenzin Sherap, a teacher of Buddhism throughout America and India. Sherap’s discussion focused on the Abidharma-kosa, which is a core text for Tibetan Buddhists. 
Bridget Corrigan

TCAT CHANGES 


Ithaca- Many people in Ithaca and Tompkins County rely on public transportation to get from point A to point B.  Recently, the TCAT has undergone route and payment changes in order to better serve the community. 
Rachel Stokes

HEMP

ITHACA—Several stores located in Ithaca’s commons have joined together in their support for the Industrial Hemp Non Binding Resolution. Passing this bill would allow farmers and storeowners to cultivate/sell hemp, which is legal in only nine states in the United States.

Breanne Durning

Deadly Virus

ITHACA – Cornell University researchers discovered a deadly fish virus last week in Lake Superior. This means the virus, which causes fatal anemia and hemorrhaging in many fish species, is now present in all of the Great Lakes. 

Becca Burns

FOOD

ITHACA- More than eight local vendors have teamed up with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier to launch the organization's annual food drive. Customers can make donations through the items they purchase, with varying dollar amounts going to the Food Bank. The drive will last until Feb. 27, and it already finding challenges is soliciting donations from a public already solicited for Haiti donations.

Natalie King

TOMPKINS HYDRO FRACKING
ITHACA, NY - Signs protesting “Frack” decorate Ithaca’s front yards, along with the snow, this winter. A sizable handful of Ithaca’s residents have taken issue with the proposal to begin hydro fracking, or drilling for natural gas, in Tompkins County. Those in favor of fracking cite the economic benefits that it will bring to Tompkins, while those opposed fear the environmental risks of the controversial drilling process. 
Norah Sweeney

Slideshow by L.A. Times from Haiti

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-tentcity-ss,0,2075735.htmlstory

For next week

For next week, I need:

1) For everyone to send me links to blogs. (Let me know if you are having any trouble.

2) For everyone to send me skedlines for their stories due next week.

3) For everyone to take a look/listen to some of the interviews I've posted on the blog here. You don't have to listen to every second of each example. You may skip around. Listen to it enough to get a flavor of each piece.

Examples of skedlines in a news budget

OBAMA-BUDGET
WASHINGTON — The Senate is likely to reject a White House-backed plan to establish a bipartisan task force to recommend steps to curb the deficit, even as lawmakers digest the news that President Barack Obama wants a three-year freeze in the domestic budgets they control. By Andrew Taylor.
AP Photo.

JOBS TAX CREDIT
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's push to create jobs includes a new tax credit for small businesses that add employees, an idea that has appeal as the nation struggles with an unemployment rate topping 10 percent. It is an idea, however, that fell flat in Congress when Obama first proposed it last year because lawmakers didn't know how to target the credit effectively. By Stephen Ohlemacher.
AP Photo.

HAITI-EARTHQUAKE
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Tidy rows of tents on a soccer field provide an island of relief for 500 earthquake survivors amid a sea of squalid settlements filled with hundreds of thousands homeless. Camp residents and workers urgently call for more tents, saying they feel the pressure from those left out in the cold. By Jonathan Katz and Ben Fox.
AP Photos. AP Video. Multimedia.

LEBANON-PLANE CRASH
BEIRUT — The pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff flew in the opposite direction from the path recommended by the Beirut control tower, Lebanon's transportation minister says. All 90 people on board are feared dead after the plane went down in flames during a night of lightning and thunderstorms. By Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam.
AP Photos. AP Video. AP Graphic.

IRAQ
BAGHDAD — A suicide car bomber kills at least 18 and injures dozens more in a strike against a police crime lab in central Baghdad, a day after several hotels were hit by suicide attacks, officials say. By Adam Schreck.

Some tips on interviewing

FakeAPStylebook
"To conduct an interview, go up to someone and ask them questions. It's not like this is rocket science."

True enough, but the way you approach the subject and how you ask the questions can have an effect on how successful an interview you have.

What would you call a successful interview?

Tactics for a successful interview:

Research: I'll always remember the story of a young journalist who got to interview the editor of a magazine for a story about the publication. Her first question? "How long has your magazine been published?" That pretty much killed the interview. It showed the reporter had done no research and was unprepared. Any time a reporter goes out into the field or approaches a subject, they need to do at least some basic research ahead of time. Even with a fast-breaking news story, a check for reliable online resources may come in handy as you go out the door. Look up stories reported by your own organization or your competition to give yourself an idea of the lay of the land.

Location, location, location: Where you interview someone is key. Try to talk to them while they are doing the thing that makes them newsworthy, or at least in that environment where they make a difference. Catch them being themselves, doing what they do and use your observational skills to draw a picture for the reader, to show them what makes this person newsworthy. Ask them how they do what they do as they do it. You'll learn a lot more and be able to write a better story. You are less likely to be writing about abstract concepts, which are hard for the reader to grasp.

Organize: A good interview is like a fine conversation. The subject gets relaxed and just talks. But unlike a conversation, your goal is not a two-way exchange of information, it's one way. You don't talk about yourself usually, but you get the subject to talk about himself. And you are also subtly directing the conversation towards a goal .. the key info of the story, picking up useful tidbits along the way. You organize and prepare for the interview not by setting up a list of questions for you to read, but instead by jotting down key words on your notebook to remind yourself of where you want the interview to go. Then in the actual dynamic situation of the interview, you can find the best way to get there. You follow your instincts as to how to elicit the best response.

Prep work: A journalist never stops thinking about the story before them. On the way to interviews, you may be running through possibilities for what to ask in your head. On the way back, you may be thinking out other directions that have been opened up by the interview, facts that have to checked, other sources to find, ideas for future stories that have been uncovered. When I was a reporter, I often woke up in the middle of the night either rehashing the events of the previous day or running through the possibilities of the day before me. (This was one reason I liked being a copy editor. They get to leave their work at the office.)

Empty bucket: Your approach to the subject should usually be open, curious and nonjudgmental. When you are combative, you are more likely to see a premature end to the interview, and then you have lost the opportunity to get one of the key commodities a journalist has to offer: information. That goal should be ahead of any ego that you may have. I usually will let a personal slight roll off my back so that I can have a chance at getting an answer to a question that I need. (Of course, there are understandable limits.)

Notice details:  When you enter a subject's home, workspace or backyard, pay attention. They have given you access to their world. There is lots to be noticed that can work into your story and lead to great questions. I interviewed someone who had a plaque on his desk that read: "Tomorrow is promised to no one." When I asked about it, he told me a harrowing story how he survived cardiac collapse while on an airplane. Just yesterday while visiting a home of my son's friend, I couldn't help but notice the Beatles and movie memorabilia in the kitchen. Doing that can lead to good conversations and good interviews.

Discussion: What are your strategies for dealing with a source who doesn't want to talk, doesn't want to go on the record?

Metaphor: Sometimes a good interview is like a trip to the moon. They take you to a world you have not visited and the story has a gravity that keeps drawing you in.

Other tips:
Ask what was happening five minutes before the big event that changed their lives, get them to give you the timeline on how it happened.

Try to get some of the background on the person, even if they may seem to be a small player in the news. Sometimes such people turn out to have pivotal roles and if you know their background, you are in a better position to uncover the meaning of what happened. Continue to be curious.

Ending: Make sure to ask if there is anything else the source thinks the readers should know about. Also ask if you can check back with follow-up questions later on.

Follow-up: Check back with your sources to see what they thought of the story. I usually tried to do this without seeming to fish for compliments, but did this as part of maintaining an ongoing relationship with the source. And remember, your goal is not to have your sources always like you. If you have a source on one side of the story happy with you and on the other side mad at you, you've done a terrible job. If they are both disgruntled about something, but unable to point to an inaccuracy, then you may have done your job well. In the end, the most you can hope for is that they respect you.

The rules about on/off the record

1) Everything said to a reporter is on the record. Because of this, the reporter needs to identify herself as a reporter and that she is working on a story for publication at the outset.

2) If someone wants to go off the record, they have to ask first, and then you decide whether you want to allow them to go off the record. They can't tell you something, and then say, "Oh, by the way, that's off the record."

3) If the source has asked to go off the record and you have agreed to allow this, then at that point nothing that is said can be used in a story. That's what off the record means. (There should also be a particular time when both source and reporter agree they are back on the record)

4) Off-the-record comments are usually useless to a reporter and more of a pain than they are worth. They are usually an attempt to handcuff the reporter from using information that the source wants to keep out of the paper. I see no practical purpose for allowing off the record. (The times I have allowed it was when I could tell the source was angry and just needed a moment to blow steam so he could give me a coherent answer on the record.)

5) Sometimes sources get confused about the terms. There may be a source who says they want the information off the record, but what they mean is you can use the information, but don't use my name. This is simply an unnamed source. Sometimes it's called background. Unnamed sources are also dangerous, and many newspapers have policies against it. However, sometimes larger newspapers and organizations like the AP will use unnamed sources as part of a major investigative piece.

But my bottom-line advice is: "Don't go off the record."

Fresh Air interviews

Equipment available for checkout

Zoom H4 digital audio recorder

Sony Cybershot camera

Flip Video camera

AG15 video camera

Sony V1U video camera

Last semester, this message was sent out after an AG-15 was damaged. Even if you are using a V1U, this is a relevant warning, so take a look:

The fourth day of class, and we have had our first incidence of damage to the tripod mount of a Panasonic AG-15 camera.  These cameras are no longer in production, and replacement parts are limited to supplies on hand at the manufacturer; they will not make more parts.  We must all do our best to insure that we make these cameras last until a suitable replacement can be found.  With that in mind, what follows is an e-mail that many of you have seen before, but perhaps a quick review will be helpful.

There are three ways of using the camera with tripod that will lead to this type of damage:

The first bad practice:  Student puts camera on tripod, tightens the pan lock and tilt lock.  Later, forgetting that the pans and tilts are locked, they drape their body over the camera "to steady their camera movements" as they pan and tilt and force the camera to move against the locks.  This causes significant strain on the plastic cover and the metal plate inside the camera that are attached to the tripod's quick release plate which is in turn is attached to the tripod.  

  Don't do this.

Do this.  Use the pan handle only to move the camera.  Not only is it safer for the camera, the mechanical advantage of a long lever will give smoother pans and tilts.

Second bad practice:  Carrying a camera from place to place with the tripod slung over the shoulder with the camera still mounted to the tripod:

Whether or not you bang into something, not a good practice with any camera.  (Note:  the camera is being supported by assistant in order to stage this shot.)  Notice: the camera is behind your head, so how can you be watching the camera as you go through a doorway, turn a corner in a hallway, etc. at the same time as you are looking where your feet are taking you?  Take advantage of the quick release plate... only takes 5 seconds max to mount or remove the camera.

The third practice that leads to this type of damage is how people reposition the camera and tripod.  Do not use the handle on the top of the camera to pick up both the camera and the tripod as a single unit.

Don't do this.

To reposition the tripod and camera, do this:

Lifting the tripod and camera together by placing your hands around the tripod head is actually quite stable, and puts no strain at all on the camera/tripod connection.

Of course, tipping over the tripod with the camera mounted on it will accomplish much the same thing.

Also, a new year has begun and we have new faculty for whom this information might be helpful.  Please check the header and let me know if I missed any production faculty who will be using this camera.

Many thanks,

Phil

Phillip Wacker-Hoeflin

Cinema Production Support Engineer

Park School of Communications

wacker@ithaca.edu

A good lede

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/europe/18iht-women.html?scp=1&sq=bavaria&st=nyt

Your blog for this semester

There will be two types of blogging for this semester:

1) A blog you will share with a group of your fellow students, who you will be working together as a news agency to report on an issue for the major assignments of the semester.

2) A blog from you that will chronicle your exploration of the city of Ithaca. Each week, you need to get off campus, by either car or TCAT or some other form of conveyance and explore some part or facet of the city previously unknown to you. You should visit a store, a landmark or better yet meet a person who might be a potential news source. You are looking for possible news stories, ideas to meet upcoming assignments and ultimately for your final project, which will be on a topic that you have uncovered that you cared about.

When Arianna Huffington visited last semester, she made an excellent point about the power of online journalism and blogging. Blogging has the potential to constantly report about one issue over and over again until the story breaks into something big. That's my hope for you, that in your travels around Ithaca you find something that you can report on and update each week, hopefully leading to a final project. You may not find something right away -- and what you find to blog on each week may not ultimately be your final project -- but you need to visit the city each week for your blog.

I don't have a textbook for this class, and I don't require hours of research in the library. Instead, you will use the city as your library, finding out something new -- and hopefully newsworthy -- each week. The blogs don't have to be long. A paragraph or two may be enough, but you have to get in the habit of getting off campus.

The other item I require for the blog is the links to three local news stories -- either written word, video or multimedia project -- about the city of Ithaca or the surrounding area.

The contact information for the people you encounter while writing your blog and your other assignments for the semester should be included in your beat notes, which will turned in at the end of the semester.

Story format

Here's what your first page should look like when you turn in your Tryout Assignment:

Story format

Here's what your second page should look like when you turn in your Tryout Assignment:

What I'm looking for in your writing

So, this is News II. It is an advanced reporting class. You have already been through Introduction to Journalism and News I. You should know the basics by now. But allow let me to lay out for you what I am looking for in your writing.

1) Great ledes. You might have been told in earlier classes that a lede should be no more than 30 words. Actually, that's often way too much. Who will guarantee that a reader will even get that far? No, you have to grab them within the first five to 10 words, fewer if possible. (I'm not saying the lede can't be longer than 10 words, but that the first five words have to be central to the story.)

Remember, the written word has a lot to compete with a lot out there. By the time the audience gets to your story, they often already have an idea about what the story is about. They may have already seen videos or multimedia presentations on the topic. Your writing has to compete with all those powerful distractions. But you must remember WORDS HAVE POWER .. if you don't dilute them.

My advice is that when writing for the Web (or even print) give us the EXCLUSIVE MOMENT. Lead with something that the audience is not likely to already know about, but that is also central and important to the story. Find the right anecdote, the unique fact, the unusual observation, and you may be able to hook your reader into continuing. Good writing will force a reader to spend more time with a newspaper, a magazine or a Web page, and getting readers to spend time with your work is a key factor in the survival of journalism, be it in print, online or video. We will spend part of this semester on the hunt for great ledes, either in outside publications or within your own work.

2) Thorough reporting. You can't find a great lede if you don't know the story well enough. You get to know the story by getting out and talking to people. This is a key skill in journalism. You aren't going to find great ledes or great stories by sitting in your dorm room or staying within the safe confines of campus. This is why I am forbidding the use of Ithaca College students as sources for your stories (unless you give me a damn good reason). Too often, when trying to get three sources, journalism students will be tempted to get one source that is central to the story and then grab two quotes from fellow students and be done with it. No, that won't work. You need to have at least three relevant sources, not Ithaca College students, and sometimes that won't be enough. The number of sources is often dictated by the circumstances. If you cover an event with 500 people, and all you did was talk to the three people who were closest to you, that's not enough. You need to talk to enough people so that you can be confident that you have a full perspective on the story. Make sure you have reported on enough angles in the story so that when you sit down to write that you have enough material to make sense of it for your readers.

Let's look at that example of an event with 500 people to explain what I mean. I don't want you to just talk to three of the closest members of the audience and go home. You should be talking to a variety of people. You should talk to people in the audience, the volunteers, the organizers, the performers or speakers, the people who are affected, who are counting on a successful event. Get multiple sources from multiple dimensions and directions so that you have a complete picture.

Also, do not factor in whatever word counts I give you with an assignment and say to yourself, "Well I could talk to more people, but I think I'm already over my word count." No. Maybe after the next few people you talk to, you find out that your story is something much different than you expected. You may not even use the first three sources you talked to when you find out what the real story is.

So, to repeat, three sources is a minimum, and that's a bare minimum. Sometimes that won't be enough. No fellow IC students. When I evaluate your stories, I will point out where you missed an opportunity to get an interview. So, you should quickly reach a point where you think up on your own all the sources that you need to completely report on the story.

3) Original reporting. I can't believe I have to raise this for students at this level, but I must. The sources you use in your stories must be your own -- people who you talked to. You cannot use quotes from other publications PERIOD. For this class, which will focus on finding and reporting on stories in the Ithaca community, you should consider the professional and student media in this market to be your competition. You would not want to rely on their work to ensure your accuracy. If they got the story wrong, then you got it wrong. And you got it wrong out of laziness.

I also am going to forbid the use of direct quotes lifted from press releases. As an aside, if in the course of your professional career, you ever do use a quote from a press release, you should realize that it is very likely that the words being attributed to the subject had likely never been uttered until some PR flack typed them up. You should interview subjects with a goal of revealing some key piece of useful information that the reader needs to know. The best interviews are the ones that expose a fact, an anecdote or a truth that sometimes even the subject is not aware of. You get good quotes by having a live exchange with a subject, when you get them off guard and reacting with something approaching honesty. And you get none of that from a quote on a press release.

And if you use a quote from press release without saying that it came from a press release, that is a deception and grounds for an F in an assignment.

Here's a warning. If something does not add up in your story, I will check it out. That's when my old reporting instincts kick in. Inconsistencies are red flags for reporters, and a good reporter does not like leaving an inconsistency alone until he or she understands why there was an inconsistency.

Also, you must give a complete attribution for your quotes. Don't just give me a name, but tell me why they are relevant to the story. Include ages, occupation, hometown, ect. if that is relevant. But just a name tells me nothing.

4) Your stories should not include your opinion. You should not cheerlead. Any kind of subjective statement as to whether something is good or bad, or better or worse than something else must be attributed to a source. Unattributed opinion will be taken to be your own, and that will cost you. Any kind of fact or statistic that one side of an issue offers up and may be challenged elsewhere, must be attributed.

5) Story structure. Of course, there is the inverted pyramid, and you may have stories that require that structure. But many of the stories for this class will be features. Now, there are a couple of ways to organize a feature. One is by using an anecdotal story that expresses the central theme of the story, that is explained in the nutgraf that follows. Then the rest of the story is organized by subthemes that logically follow from one to the other, using transitions. Another type of feature is chronological. That also involves the anecdotal lede and the nutgraf, but it is organized by time. This is the story-telling format. We can explore these models more throughout the semester. But your stories require some sort of organizational structure.

OK, those are some of the major issues I wanted to address for the beginning of the semester. If you bear in mind what I have here, you will have a much more successful semester. And really, that is what I want for all of you.

Good luck.

Spring 2010 News II Syllabus

21200-01 News Writing & Reporting II

Professor Ed Bond
E-mail: ebond@ithaca.edu
Phone: (607) 274-3637
Office: Park 251
Office hours: 1-2 p.m., M, W; 9-12 T.


Course Description: This course continues on the foundation of News Reporting and Writing I. It explores the techniques used to research and report complex political, social, and economic issues for all media. Students learn advanced strategies for how to investigate the most common areas covered by reporters, including education, zoning and development, crime, legal affairs, public forums and other governmental entities. Advanced writing techniques for various types of news articles, including tight deadline reporting and writing, are also taught. Strategies are developed for individual reporting projects in print, broadcast, and digital media. Published examples are critiqued to lead students toward an ethical and analytic approach to public affairs reporting.

The plan: This course is designed to bring students into the professional world of journalism. After being challenged on reporting and writing skills and knowledge of Associated Press style, students will be broken into groups that will work as competing news agencies. While the work will be graded individually, the atmosphere will be collaborative. Journalists work as teams within their news organizations to cover a variety of angles when a story breaks. It is a fast-paced environment where the strong survive. Your ideas and stories will be subject to criticism within your group and the class, but the goal is for the criticism to be useful and respectful. Still, remember that you will need a thick skin in this business.

There are a series of assignments throughout the semester, but it is better to think of it as one proposition: You’ve been hired as a reporter to cover the Ithaca community and the surrounding area. To succeed in this job you need to get out into that community and meet people, find out the issues, uncover the unreported stories and coordinate with your colleagues on how to best report them. Fire, business, sports and science are some of the topics that you will be covering, but don’t restrict yourself by tackling these in order. Instead, you should be working contacts with the idea that anyone you meet could be a source for any one of these topics. Part of your job in this class is to tell stories from the Ithaca community, not the Ithaca College community. In this class you have the opportunity to use the city of Ithaca and the surrounding areas as your “real world” news market. Part of your grade comes from the story you pitch. If you pitch an IC story, it better be something the community as a whole would be interested in. You are not to use Ithaca College students as sources unless you have cleared it with me.

Grading:
The tryout 5%
Beat notes/blog 10%
AP Style test 10%
Fire assignment 10%
Business assignment 10%
Sports assignment 10%
Science assignment 20%
Final project : 25%

Course Outcomes: Through each of these assignments, you will learn and be assessed on these skills:

1) Working a beat for a news organization. Demonstrated by writing news stories and video for the Web, as well as writing a blog and covering issues in collaboration with your fellow students.
2) Optimizing the Web to reach an audience. Demonstrated by posting stories and video on blogs and YouTube.
3) Editing video in a variety of software. Demonstrated through editing projects with iMovie and Final Cut Pro.
4) Using audio, video and Web elements in a news report. Demonstrated by writing for and posting blogs online.
5) Writing for all aspects of journalism. Demonstrated through written news stories, video reports and online journalism.
6) Understanding the importance of voice pitch and clarity when telling a story. Demonstrated through video news reports.


Required:
The Associated Press Stylebook
Flip Video camera or comparable equipment
Final Cut Express editing software
Reading the local newspaper and watching local news every day.

Rules for the classroom:

1) Can’t eat food in class (because of the computers).
2) No cell phones going off during class.
3) No use of laptops in class, unless your professor has approved their use as part of an assignment.
4) Maintain respect for your colleagues.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: Your active attendance and participation is required. After a third unexcused absence, your grade for the semester will drop by one step for each subsequent absence. For example, a student getting a B+ in class would drop to a B. Excused absences are for bereavement or documented illness. If you have a conflict with another class assignment, let me know about the situation ahead of time. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to get assignments, handouts, notes from discussions and lectures, etc, from a fellow student. Please come to class prepared.
Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class. At the beginning of each semester, instructors must provide the students in their courses with written guidelines regarding possible grading penalties for failure to attend class. Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences. Written documentation that indicates the reason for being absent may be required. These guidelines may vary from course to course but are subject to the following restrictions:

• In accordance with New York State law, students who miss class due to their religious beliefs shall be excused from class or examinations on that day. The faculty member is responsible for providing the student with an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirement, which the student may have missed. It is suggested that students notify their course instructors at least one week before any anticipated absence so that proper arrangements may be made to make up any missed work or examination. Any such work is to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the faculty member.

• Any student, who misses class due to a verifiable family or individual health emergency, or to a required appearance in a court of law, shall be excused. The student or a family member/legal guardian may report the absence to the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which will notify the student’s dean’s office, as well as residential life if the student lives on campus. The dean’s office will disseminate the information to the appropriate faculty. Follow-up by the student with his or her professors is imperative. Students may need to consider a leave of absence, medical leave of absence, selected course withdrawals, etc., if they have missed a significant portion of classwork a student may be excused for participation in College-authorized
co-curricular and extracurricular activities if, in the instructor’s judgment, this does not impair the specific student’s or the other students’ ability to succeed in the course.

For all absences except those due to religious beliefs, the course instructor has the right to determine if the number of absences has been excessive in view of the nature of the class that was missed and the stated attendance policy. Depending on the individual situation, this can result in the student’s being removed from or failing the course.
Academic honesty: The use of work other than your own without proper citation or credit is a serious offense. Penalties for plagiarism include: failure on the assignment and/or failure in the course and/or College academic discipline, which could mean suspension or dismissal from the College. Plagiarism can involve not only written work but computer programs, photographs, artwork, films, videos, and audios. If you are at all unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, or how to give credit, see your instructor and consult the Student Handbook (see "plagiarism" in the index).In a collaborative project, all involved students may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they are either knowing participants in plagiarism or complicitous. Our recommended style manual is published by the American Psychological Association and is available in the bookstore.
Students with disabilities : In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case by case basis. Students must register with the Office of Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the college before any academic adjustment will be provided. To contact that office call 274-1005, or contact Leslie Schettino, Director of Support Services for Students With Disabilities, at lschettino@ithaca.edu.

Mental health: Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance. Problems with relationships, family worries, loss, or a personal struggle or crisis can also contribute to decreased academic performance. Ithaca College provides a Counseling Center to support the academic success of students. The Counseling Center provides cost-free services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your well-being. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do – for yourself and for your loved ones.

Safety: You must respond to and report conditions and actions that may jeopardize your safety, or that of other people and/or equipment. Report to the responsible College employee. During class sessions that person would be your instructor or lab assistant. Outside of class the person might be your instructor, lab supervisor, co-curricular manager, equipment and facilities manager, or one of the engineering support staff. You must be aware that misuse of equipment or use of damaged equipment can create the risk of serious injury, infectious contamination, and expensive damage. You may be liable for damage or injury resulting from such use. Unsupervised use of facilities puts you at risk. Failure to be alert to safety problems, or to report them, may have serious consequences for you or others

DEADLINES: Deadlines are FINAL. There are no exceptions – you will receive a failing grade if you hand in an assignment after deadline. Most of your assignments will be posted online. It is your responsibility to make sure all technical problems have been resolved and the assignment is readable by the public by deadline. If a technical problem arises, contact me immediately.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Jan. 25-27: Introduction and course overview. Reviewing the basics and AP Style.
Assignment: THE TRYOUT – find and report a news story for print.

Feb. 1 and 3: Working in a newsroom, working a beat and developing sources. Pitching story ideas, writing skedlines, beatnotes and future files. Turn in tryout assignments.

Feb. 8 and 10: The business assignment. Picking teams that will work as news agencies. Learn iMovie HD or Final Cut Pro. Individual sessions to review tryout assignments.

Feb. 15 and 17: Pitching business stories, choosing a theme, writing a budget, making assignments within groups. Blog assignment: Observation writing.

Feb. 22 and 24: Business packages due. AP Style test.

March 1 and 3: The sports assignment.

March 8 and 10: Pitching and planning the sports assignment.

March 13 to 21: Spring Break.

March 22 to 24. Sports packages due.

March 29 and 31: Pitching and planning the fire/rescue assignment.

April 5 and 7: Fire assignment due.

April 12 and 14: Pitching and planning the medical/science assignment

April 19 and 21: Medical/science assignment due.

April 26 and 28: Pitching and planning the final project

May 3 and 5: Work on the final project

May 10 to 14: Final Exam week. The final for the 10 a.m. class will be 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 12. The final for the 2 p.m. class will be 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 13.