Syllabus

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JMC 3003 MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
Section 002
3:00 to 4:50 p.m. Monday & Wednesday
Room 1120 Gaylord Hall

http://multimedia08.wordpress.com

INSTRUCTOR
Warren Vieth
wvieth@ou.edu
Room 3027 Gaylord Hall
Cell (405) 501-3374
Home (405) 771-4865
Office Hours
MW before class
and by appointment

TEACHING ASSISTANT
Darcy Delaney
(TA for all 3003 sections)
Office Hours
MW 9:30-10:30 a.m.
MW 12:30-3 p.m.
and by appointment
DLDelaney-1@ou.edu
(405) 570-8964

COURSE OBJECTIVE
This course will introduce you to the basic concepts and skills necessary to create news stories for print, broadcast and the Web. These concepts and skills include developing original story ideas, reporting and writing briefs, taking photographs, gathering audio, shooting video and editing all this content into a story that has impact on readers.

To accomplish this objective, the course will cover the following topics:
•    News judgment
•    Diversity issues
•    Journalistic ethics
•    First Five Graphs concept
•    Blogging
•    Still photography
•    Photo editing
•    Slideshows
•    Audio recording
•    Audio editing
•    Shooting video
•    Editing video

READINGS AND TEXTBOOKS
•     “Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect,” Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
•    “News About the News: American Journalism in Peril,” Len Downie and Robert Kaiser
•    “Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don’t Follow the News,” David Mindlich
•    “The State of the News Media,” http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/index.htm
•    “Web Video: Making It Great, Getting It Noticed,” Jennie Bourne with Dave Burstein
•    “Associated Press Stylebook”
•    Other assigned readings delivered electronically

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
You are required to purchase and have with you in class the following:
•    an external hard drive (specifications will be provided)
•    a set of headphones dedicated to this class
•    mini-DV tapes

If you want to keep your project work online after the end of the semester, you might consider purchasing some form of online web space.  Examples include upgraded versions of Word Press ($20+ a year) or  Mac’s iDisk ($69 a year with student discount).

GAYLORD EQUIPMENT
Gaylord College can provide the following equipment for use in the class AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE RENTAL AGREEMENT
•    Digital video camera
•    External microphone
•    Tripod

In addition, Gaylord provides web space but only for the duration of the semester.

DO NOT LET THE AVAILABILITY OF THIS EQUIPMENT PREVENT YOU FROM COMPLETING AN ASSIGNMENT. It is up to you to make sure you will be able to obtain equipment from the Cage during its normal operating hours before each assignment due date.

COURSE WORK
You will receive numerous assignments in this class. These assignments are designed to ensure that you are developing the skills and understanding the concepts of multimedia journalism.
Assignments are divided into four categories: 1) Readings, 2) Textbook Quizzes , 3) Blogs, and 4) Exam Projects.

GRADING
•    30% Blogs
•    30% Exam Projects
•    10% Readings
•    10% Quizzes
•    20% Presentations and miscellaneous assignments
You will receive handouts during the semester describing these assignments in detail. Any changes in percentages will be announced.

EXAM PROJECTS
There will be a midterm and final project assigned in this course.

ERRORS
Errors will count heavily against your grade. Significant fact errors, including misspelled proper names and incorrect ages, will result in a 50% reduction on your grade for that assignment.  Other misspellings and style errors will result in a reduction of up to one letter grade per error. Style errors include grammar, punctuation, abbreviation and number errors in written assignments, and format errors with photographs, audio, video and graphics. We will use the AP Stylebook as our guide to proper style.

ATTENDANCE
Although you should attend every class, you may have four absences without penalty. These four absences include both unexcused and excused absences. Examples of excused absences include illnesses (with doctor’s notes), religious holidays, a death in your immediate family and university-sanctioned educational or athletic events. IF YOU MISS MORE THAN FOUR CLASSES, YOU
WILL FAIL THE COURSE.

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENTS
You are required to participate in at least one of these outside-of-class events:
•    Fort Sill media training (2 dates)
•    Crisis PR press conferences
•    Bob Dotson visit
We will provide you with more information about each of these assignments. If your schedule does not allow you to attend any of the events, see me for an alternative assignment.

H1N1 FLU
The University of Oklahoma urges students who may have contacted the H1N1 flu to stay out of class until they no longer have a fever for 24 hours.  Contact me or Darcy before you miss class due to H1N1.

It is your responsibility to catch up on all class materials you have missed when you were out of class.

DEADLINES
You are expected to complete and turn in assignments by their assigned due dates. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. If assignments are not turned in on time, zeros will be given for those assignments. If you know you could be in jeopardy of turning in an assignment  late because you plan on using one of your four absences, you need to contact me or Darcy (see Contacting Instructor).

CONTACTING INSTRUCTOR
If you need to contact us about missing a class or setting up alternatives for turning in assignments or taking quizzes, you should call my cell phone AND send an email to both me and Darcy.  (I do not check my office phone regularly.) Be sure to contact us well enough in advance to arrange a time to turn in assignments before they are due.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
Honesty is basic to good journalism, so it is expected on tests and graded assignments. At times in this class you may consult with one another on assignments, but your work is expected to be your own. Any cheating, plagiarism, purposeful falsification or misrepresentation, or other form of academic dishonesty is subject to a failing grade in the class and to disciplinary action in accordance with university regulations, which may mean dismissal from the university. For information about university policy on academic integrity, you may refer to either of the following Web sites: http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity and http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity-rights.

DIVERSITY
Content providers and editors possess the power to influence people’s perceptions about themselves and others. In this class, we will explore how sensitive storytelling and editing can reflect the views of diverse groups in our culture with respect to age, ability, gender, race and ethnicity, religion and philosophy.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If any member of the class is disabled and is in need of special accommodations, your instructor and the Office of Disability Services will work with you to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform well in this class. Please advise me of such a disability, subject to verification, and the desired accommodations as soon as possible.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
“It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required class work that may fall on religious holidays.” (Section 3.13.2, OU Faculty Handbook)

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES
Readings
In addition to the texts and videos mentioned above, readings will include other sources announced during the semester and posted online. The Course Schedule indicates which book and which chapter should be read for a particular day of class. Once you’ve completed the assigned reading, you must write a 150- to 200-word summary of the reading. This summary must be turned in at the beginning of each class. No late work will be accepted. Reading assignments that are submitted on time and accurately summarize the chapter will receive full credit. Summaries that are turned in late or do not accurately summarize the chapter will receive a zero.

Quizzes
You will be learning technical and practical skills through the Pacesetter site.  Pacesetter is the tutorial site for the Gaylord College of Journalism.  These video podcasts walk you through the cameras, software and other multimedia skills you will need throughout your coursework at Gaylord. To ensure you understand these principles, quizzes will be given throughout the semester. I will assign tutorials as you work through the semester and will tell you when you will be quizzed over the material. The format of the quizzes could be either fill-in-the-blank or multiple-choice questions. There will be at least five questions on each quiz.

Blogs
You are expected to create and update a news blog throughout this class. This is not a blog where you express your thoughts and opinions about cats, politics or celebrities. It is a news site that uses the blog format as its distribution platform. You must use http://www.blogger.com to host your blog.
You must post one news story each week. For purposes of this class, the week begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday and ends at midnight Sunday. Your posts must be original news stories relevant to the Norman campus’ student body. Each story will be four to five paragraphs. You must use the First Five Graph concept to report and write these stories.

The grading scheme for each post is as follows:
•    A—First Five Graph post with two different multimedia elements
•    B—First Five Graph post with one multimedia element
•    C—First Five Graph post

Midterm and Final Projects
These assignments are bigger news and feature packages consisting of longer stories, slide shows, videos and other multimedia elements. You must post these projects on your news site the week they are due. The grading scheme for each post is as follows:
•    A—Professional, publishable content
•    B—Content I’d recommend you put in your portfolio
•    C—Student work that meets minimum requirements
•    D—Does not meet minimum requirements
•    F—Late post or no post

JMC PORTFOLIO
You will choose one of your exam projects as your designated assignment for permanent storage in your Gaylord College digital portfolio. The purpose of the portfolio assignment is to assess your mastery of key concepts, skills and objectives of this and other courses you complete as an undergraduate. If you fail to submit your portfolio assignment, you will receive an incomplete regardless of your fulfillment of other course requirements.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
You are professional journalists, and I expect you to make your presence known. Failing to pay attention or participate in discussions on a regular basis will adversely affect your grade. The use of electronic devices and lab computers for personal purposes during class will adversely affect you grade. If you never speak up in class, I will give you less credit for participation. I also expect you to pay attention and keep quiet when other students are addressing the class. Engaging in extraneous conversations while your instructors or other students are speaking will adversely affect your grade.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES
I will not tolerate the use of cell phones, MP3 players, laptops and other electronic devices for personal purposes during class. The use of university computers in the classroom for personal purposes, such as checking email or surfing the Web, is also prohibited. BOTTOM LINE: PUT YOUR CELL PHONE AWAY DURING CLASS. KEEP YOUR EYES OFF THE SCREEN AND YOUR HANDS OFF THE KEYBOARD DURING CLASS DISCUSSIONS. Violations of this policy will adversely affect your grade and your working relationship with me.

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