Your mark is made up of seven (7) assignments spread out over the semester, plus a mark for participation. One mark will be assigned per team when the assignment is carried out in a group. It is up to the team to notify Amanda if members are not carrying their weight.
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Get out get social 5%
Integrated news story 10%
This IS integration Teddy Talk 10%
Integrated Series 15%
Integrate THIS live event 15%
Portfolio project 35%
Participation/Peer Review 10%
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Participation
This is a hands-on production course and students are expected to show up (on-time) for every class. This is also a graduate-level course and assumes you are eager to engage with the material. Students should also note that journalists today are required (and rewarded) for going the extra mile. Post, comment, bring new ideas to the table and don’t be afraid to try new things.
A one page personal and peer reflection is also required at the end of the final portfolio project. This will allow you to express insights, areas of growth or concerns that impacted your experience.
Get out. Get social: 5% Due: week 2/3 (Jan 20/27)
These mini assignments are designed to get you back into the swing of life as a journalist and to boost your social media presence. Complete TWO of the following, one per week.
Option 1: Photo essay
- Tell a story with photos. Choose a single event or theme and create a photo essay that tells the audience about it. The newsier the better but make sure it’s visual! Think of what’s timely, relevant or new.
- Your photo essay should contain no fewer than six images and no more than 12. Include text to give your photos context.
- Do not use filters. Do not photograph family, friends or fellow Western students. All of the content should be original and gathered by you.
- Package your photo essay using Steller, a free app for your iOS device, or other suitable app.
Option 2: Audio interview
- Record, trim and package a short Q&A (or part of one). Share it on social media.
- It should be timely and newsworthy. For example, you may interview someone reacting to something in the news or someone who has a story to tell about something topical. This must be different from your photo subject!
- For recording and editing, Voice Recordis a good option. It allows you to upload to SoundCloud, which is easy to share.
- Aim for somewhere between 30-90 seconds, but that’s just a rough guide. Take a photo too.
- All of the content should be original and recorded by you.
Option 3: Video interview
- Record, trim and package a short Q&A (or part of one) and then share it on social media.
- It should be timely and newsworthy. For example, you may interview a newsmaker, someone reacting to something in the news or someone who has a story to tell about something topical. This can’t be the same person you interviewed for your other assignments. You must not interview family, friends or fellow Western students.
- You may record and trim with the native iOS app, iMovie or another app of your choosing. Upload to YouTube or Vimeo and share that on a social platform such as Twitter or Facebook.
- You must identify your subject, either by using a title on the video itself or including that person’s name in the accompanying text.
- There is no specific time limit, but aim for somewhere between 15-60 seconds.
- All of the content should be original and recorded by you.
Integrated news story Due: week 4 (Feb 3)
Produce an online news story (300 to 500 words) and include at least one of the following additional elements:
- photos
- a chart/graph
- interactive map
You can cover an event but an exclusive story is preferred. You can interview as many people as you like but you will want to gauge what is appropriate to the story. If necessary, include links to primary source material or relevant pages. Pitch the story to Amanda in an email or in person.
This IS Integration Teddy Talk Due: various
Presentations are stories too! Often the most memorable ones combine great public speaking and integrated media. In order to keep up with the latest and most innovative aspects of integrated journalism, students are asked to give a short, informative talk about a unique find, practice or tool. Consider this a seminar — Ted Talk style. Topics are flexible but should interest the presenter and be relevant to the class.
Topic areas could include (but are not limited to):
- trends such as messaging, geolocation, personalization
- experiential journalism (eg. Snapchat, WatsApp, IF)
- innovative newsroom design
- editor’s dilemma – attracting millennials
- editor’s dilemma – radio versus podcast
- a tool or platform journalists need or can’t live without.
Keep your talk to 10 mins max and include one critical question for the class to discuss at the end.
Integrated Series Due: week 6 (Feb 17)
Everybody has a story and sometimes all you have to do is ask. This is a collaborative storytelling project where small story elements contribute to the whole. Teams will build an interactive webpage designed around a theme (TBA). Each team member will produce one audio profile with appropriate photos/text to tell their piece of the story.
- Teams will be given a theme/narrative to explore and will develop a content/rollout strategy.
- Teams will use audio as the anchor medium
- Each team member will produce one audio profile that fits the team strategy. (1min 30max)
- Team members will want complementary media to accompany the audio profile in order to provide context to audience(photo/text)
- Teams will want to keep the website simple and focus on telling good stories
- Teams encouraged to use social to share/promote their series
Integrate THIS: Live Event Due: week 7 (Mar 3)
Students will practice storytelling skills in a real world setting. The location and subject of this assignment is TBA but news teams will want to prepare for a fast-paced day with hard deadlines and expectations matching those facing local London news reporters. You want to plan for a full day of work.
Expectations at the end of the day include:
- Social media presence as the live event unfolds
- A mobile “filed from the field” report at the end of the event (audio or video)
- At least one additional interview/element gathered post-event to broaden the story scope
- A media-rich integrated story at end of day.
Integrated Portfolio Project
The integrated portfolio project allows news teams to tell an in-depth story of choice. Teams will be required to research a high impact idea that has immediacy and public interest. Teams will source strong characters and relevant events to facilitate the telling of the story and will find ways to produce layers of content using multi-media skills. Teams will be encouraged to think creatively about audience engagement and will want to draw on each other’s strengths to produce a professional piece of work.
Final story: Due: week 12 (Apr 7)
- The story is original, advances previous coverage or brings something new to the table
- It is journalistically sound and skillfully crafted in logical story form
- It has a mix of multimedia (photos, text, video, audio, visualization). Choose what is right for your story
- There is no word count but you are writing a compelling narrative
- Reporter bios are included at the end
- Include a comment form
- Sharing options
Story pitch/prep: Due: week 10 (Mar 24)
- Teams will email Amanda a brief story pitch (two/three lines) a week before the story meetings (this is a working idea but I want to know that you are on track)
- Teams hold individual story meetings with Amanda
- Come with a written developed plan (1 page) and be prepared to have a knowledgeable conversation about why this story is worth doing.
- The plan includes team roles (who is doing what: producer, reporter, technical)
- The plan includes researched story elements (this means you have picked up the phone and talked to potential interview subjects)
- Include working ideas for multi-media components (subject to change)
- A working idea of online design (subject to change)
Personal & Peer Review: Due: week 12 (Apr 7)
- How did you contribute to the whole? Write one page describing what you did to help the news team get the job done. What did you learn? What do you need to work on?
- Team members are also asked to “constructively” review team member’s performance.