News Writing

Your first article will be a news article. News can be many different topics, so you will have to make a clear plan for your article. Your article should cover something that recently happened and is of interest to our paper's stakeholders. Check out Newsela for article ideas. Your article should be in inverted pyramid style, non-fictional, without bias, and in line with your ethical values and standards as a journalist. You will have to show proof of completing all of the steps below.

• Research your topic
• Conduct an interview
• Write a headline
• Have your article copy edited by a peer

Please make a blog post that shows all of your work. Title the Post "News Writing."

Inverted Pyramid Structure

So what is "Inverted Pyramid Structure?" It sounds like a fool's errand in balancing, right? Inverted means upside-down and by pyramid we are referring to the triangle shape. So why am I talking about geometry in journalism class? Well, it is a spatial concept that attempts to make the journalistic writing style easier to understand. When we write in a journalistic style we acknowledge that we are presenting many different types of information to our reader and that our reader will be trying to disseminate that information and its relevance as quickly as possible. Because they will be working fast, it is important that the most important information be presented at the beginning of the article.

For this assignment module, you will research and explain what it means to use an Inverted Pyramid Structure for writing. You must search for some links to sites that discuss inverted pyramid writing style. You will be responsible for completing a blog post that shows your knowledge of this term in depth. Use web-based sources as well as the print sources available to you to complete a blog post that details your understanding of Inverted Pyramid Structure.

Here is a link to Newsela, a site with articles for students.

Your post must include:

• A definition in your own words
• Introduction Paragraph: A paragraph explaining the key elements of writing using inverted pyramid structure. Remember to tell where your information came from by creating citations. You are not yet an expert, so please include references to experts. 
• Analysis Paragraph: An example of journalism that uses inverted pyramid structure. You will give an explanation of the example effectively uses the structure and why it works.  Remember to tell where the example is from by creating citations. You may include a picture to help satisfy the 3 picture requirement. 
• Synthesis Paragraph: A paragraph that shows your synthesis of this information. Explain why this concept is important to this class and how you will apply your knowledge of this concept to your future work. 

You must also:

• Include three (3) pictures that relate to this concept in your post. You may use your own photos or pictures from the internet. 
• Include three (3) citations showing where you procured the information in your post. Please site using the MLA citation guidelines. 
• Comment on two of your classmates' posts. In three sentences or more tell about something they did well, something they could have improved, and something positive in their work that was similar to or different from what you did in your post.

Media Bias in Journalism

What is bias? That is what we will attempt to understand for this assignment. It tends to be seen as a problem, but it isn't always. Bias is really just another word for opinion. I have biases toward many things. I enjoy surfing rather than bodyboarding. I think the San Diego Chargers are going to win the Superbowl this year (that might just be a delusion, not a bias). Anyway, we all have biases. The thing about bias is that it can be dangerous in journalism. This means a good journalist must clearly represent all sides of a story in a way that does not privilege or hide information. No assumptions should be made in good journalism. Many journalistic institutions claim to report without bias in a clear and impartial way. For this assignment, you will create a blog post about Media Bias in Journalism. First you must research the concept of bias in journalism to better understand the concept and to acquire information from valid sources. You must find at least one print source.

Media Bias an overview from Wikipedia
Avoiding Bias The OWL(Online Writing Lab) at Purdue
~Please add links to sources you find in the comments of this post~

You post must include:

• A definition in your own words
• Introduction: Explain the key elements of Media Bias. Remember to tell where your information came from. You are not yet an expert, so please include references to experts. 
• Give an example of bias or the lack thereof. Explain how the example shows the concept of Media Bias. You may include a picture to help satisfy the 3 picture requirement. 
• Synthesis: Explain why this concept is important to this class and how you will apply your knowledge of this concept to your future work in our class. 

• Include three (3) pictures that relate to this concept in your post. You may use your own photos or pictures from the internet. 
• Include three (3) citations showing where you procured the information in your post. Please cite using the MLA citation guidelines. 
• Comment on two of your classmates' posts. In three sentences or more tell about something they did well, something they could have improved, and something positive in their work that was similar to or different from what you did in your post.

Finally, please post a comment below. Tell about your understanding of Media Bias. Your response must include at least three sentences: one reflecting on what you already knew about BIAS, one on what you learned about BIAS, and example of Media Bias. Include your first name and last initial in your post or you will not receive credit.

Journalistic Integrity

Do you have integrity? Has anyone ever commented on your integrity? One might say that integrity is the foundation of good journalism. Good journalism seeks to give factual, unbiased, and helpful information that your audience can use to understand, clarify, and synthesize for use in their daily lives. When we talk about integrity we are talking about being ethical; we are talking about right and wrong. Because you will be reporting and sharing your reporting with your community, it is vital (and I mean SUPER important) that you understand the journalistic protocol that will help you keep your integrity, help others maintain their integrity, and, most of all, ensure you do not violate the law (it can be illegal to print some things or to claim that certain statements are true when they actually are false).

For this assignment module, you will research and explain what Journalistic Integrity means. Below are some links to sites that discuss journalistic integrity. You will be responsible for completing a blog post that shows your knowledge of this term in depth. Use the sources below as well as the print sources available to you to complete a blog post that details your understanding of journalistic integrity.

Journalism Ethics and Standards An overview from Wikipedia
Media Ethics An overview from the OWL at Purdue site.
Ethics JPROF is a website about teaching Journalism

~Please add links to sources you find in the comments of this post~

You post must include:

• A definition in your own words
• Introduction: Explain the key elements of journalistic integrity. Remember to tell where your information came from. You are not yet an expert, so please include references to experts. 
• Give an example of journalistic integrity or the lack thereof. Explain how the example shows the concept of Journalistic Integrity. You may include a picture to help satisfy the 3 picture requirement. 
• Synthesis: Explain why this concept is important to this class and how you will apply your knowledge of this concept to your future work in our class. 

• Include three (3) pictures that relate to this concept in your post. You may use your own photos or pictures from the internet. 
• Include three (3) citations showing where you procured the information in your post.  Please cite using EasyBib and the MLA citation guidelines. 
• Comment on two of your classmates' posts. In three sentences or more tell about something they did well, something they could have improved, and something positive in their work that was similar to or different from what you did in your post.

Finally, please post a comment on this post. Tell about your understanding of Journalistic Integrity. Your response must include at least three sentences: one reflecting on what you already knew about INTEGRITY, one on what you learned about INTEGRITY, and example of journalistic integrity. Include your first name and last initial in your post or you will not receive credit.

Meet The Press

Good afternoon class. Your first assignment for this course will be to create a Journalism Portfolio. This portfolio will be in the form or a blog and will contain all of the projects you do over this course. Your blog will be how you work on, share, and turn in your projects.  

Please follow the instructions below

Navigate your web browser to www.blogger.com and sign in to create a blog. Name your blog with your name and the title "Journalism Blog." 

You will be responsible for completing a number of projects that will show your understanding of the many different elements of journalism as well as showing your ability to put those elements into practice by writing original articles. You must complete a minimum number of projects by the end of the trimester to pass this course. 

First Day of Journalism

Good morning everyone!
I am extremely excited to be your teacher this trimester. Today I'd like you to do some things to help us all get to know each other better. I can't meet everyone today, so I need you all to meet each other and tell me about who is in this class. You will have 15 minutes to get to know three people in our class and then report about them to me in the survey below. Please follow the directions for interviewing and then fill out the survey.

How to Schedule your Interviews

First you will schedule your appointments. Go around the room and find three people to interview, and schedule an appointment with each. You will have a 7 o'clock, a 12 o'clock, and a 5 o'clock. Write down the name of each person you will interview next to the appointment time you will interview them at. Two of your appointments should be with people you don't know. Each appointment will be 5 minutes long. Please ask each person all of the following questions, take notes, and then fill out the survey below.