The Future of Publishing - created by DK (UK)

Basic Shots assignment

Shoot and edit the following shots into one continuous, and labeled, video package:
1. Wide
2. Medium
3. Tight
4. Extremely tight
5. Tilt
6. Pan
7. Zoom

• Start the package with a title slide. Give your little package a title.
• Label each shot. Also very briefly describe the purpose for each shot.
• End the package with a credential naming the shooter and producer of the package (this would be you).

Below is the example that I showed in class before break. Its OK to imitate, but don't copy.

Blog Assignment for 2/28- 3/3

A new blog assignment will have each of you completing the following three things by Thursday, March 3, 2011.

1. Find and link your blog to a current news story from a news site or a news aggregator.
2. Find and link your blog to a continuing news story from the same type of source.
3. Find and link your blog to an audio slideshow from a major daily newspaper's website.

For each of the following items you must:

• embed a link to the news story
• include an analysis of the coverage: Is this an example of good journalism? Why, or why not?
• comment on two other people's blogs from this week. I will not be giving credit for comments to blog posts from before this week.

Photojournalism

Taking pictures for a news publication or for journalistic purposes is an exercise in story-telling in and of itself. Take some time today to reflect on some of the basic elements of photo composition.

• Journalism I students- review the elements of photo composition: what they are (the handout on the journalism drive-->photo composition folder will be a helpful reminder) and what they look like in print (pictures). Select examples of each photo composition technique from your work to show to the class. Also check out this guy's blog, and be prepared to highlight some of his photos that YOU FEEL illustrate these same techniques.I'll want you to be able to present one of each in class on Monday.
• Journalism II students- review the PowerPoint show in the journalism drive--> photo composition folder entitled "Photo composition--revised with notes" and then consider the document in the same folder entitled "Photo assignment-beginning" as an assignment for tomorrow. You'll need to be ready to download your photos at the beginning of class Monday (2/7) to complete this (first part) of the assignment.

Revolution spreads in North Africa

A swath of revolutionary activity has swept North Africa this month. Protests resulting in the ouster of the Tunisian president have rocked that country's capital city, Tunis. Now Egypt is reeling from massive protests by an ever widening sector of its populace. News today includes signs that the long loyal military might be joining the ranks of those calling for President Hosni Mubarek's ouster.

Poverty is the biggest/best reason for public service

courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When I see stories like this, I want to thank those who have devoted their lives to public service in general and helping the poor in particular. I am not a great believer in the power of the private sector to solve problems as diverse and complex in their roots and effects as poverty, unemployment, teen pregnancy, public health, and public education. The state (the government) has a unique ability to reach across sectors of society to address these ills. I don't see private sector solutions to the problem of poverty. But I do see an increase in reliance on private-sector-modeled approaches to the problem of poverty in our state because of the results of last month's elections in Wisconsin. The private sector can definitely be (and often is) a force for good in the fight against poverty. I am willing to grant that to my political opponents. But it seems limited in its ultimate effectiveness. How will the private sector support the structural change (a structure that has allowed the private sector to flourish) that will enable a large scale reduction in the poverty numbers across the state?

These people are crazy!

My bike (not in winter)

I think I would regularly ride my bike through the streets of Milwaukee's winter before I would find myself dropping the kind of cash these folks do to saddle up inside a line of riders and sweat among total strangers. I am not the type to hit the gym, although I do work pretty hard keeping my aging body from going completely soft. I would much rather be out on the streets. Long rides in the summer short, intense rides in the winter. It can be done, and is ultimately more rewarding. The view has got to be better than spandex and sweat, that's for sure.

I had a bad year of bike riding this year. I hope to get back in the saddle, so to speak in  very early spring!

Set up a blog

There are a number of free blog creation sites available to anyone with an email address.  Visit some of these sites and determine which hosting service you'd like to use. Then create a blog. The plan will be for you to update your blog on a weekly basis with specific assignments that I give you as well as opportunities to contribute original material and publish it as well.

On a blog there are a number of different types of information. There is the content stream that you (the blogger) produce, and there are the regular static features of a blog. There is also the theme or layout of the blog to consider.  An assignment to work on in class over the next couple of days:

Visit one of these sites:

• Blogger (the service that created this site)
• Wordpress

As part of our consideration of new media, I would like you to work on setting up a blog site. You will be responsible for setting up the site, creating its static features, maintaining its content, moderating the comments, and responding to class assignments.

I would like you to keep in mind that while these blogs are an active part of this class, the content contain therein should remain school appropriate. Anything you create on school time and school equipment is subject to school review.

For now, create a blog containing the following features:

• a content stream that is predominant on the page. 
• include an introductory post
• include two posts that each link to news stories found on reputable news sites and contain a paragraph or two of comment from you.
• a blogroll with links to the blogs of other students in this class and this blog.
• at least two other static features.

** Journalism I students: be sure to produce a new entry on your blog for each of the remaining days in this week (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)
Have this much completed by Friday, January 28th, 2011.

New media; old debate

The Transportation Safety administration Administration recently put into effect more aggressive airport security measures. It has been catching a lot of press. The coverage might help us to apply the ideas in Eric Alterman's article.

One of The Atlantic Monthly's bloggers have this treatment of the airport security issue.

Mediaite has this treatment of the topic:


And finally, the New York Times has this account of the change in airport security measures rolling out this month.

Read/view all three and be prepared to:

• discuss the inherent differences in the way new media (first two treatments of the story) and old media (last treatment) cover the same story.
• reflect on your analysis of the Alterman article in your paper, and comment on how these stories reflect that article's main ideas.

News leads (ledes) in practice

I would like you to visit and read a major daily online newspaper in class today. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, etc. Quickly find the one newspaper that you want to and are able to browse (some papers ask you to sign up for free accounts, if you want access to this paper take a brief period of time to do this, otherwise move on) and read through their news section. Read four or five articles in their entirety. Then select one and evaluate the elements of news that apply and its lead. To evaluate something is to identify it and examine its effectiveness. Do that for both the elements of news and the lead in the story you've selected. You will need to post your response as a comment on this blog and link to the story. 

First Amendment Considerations in the news

• read the following two stories: one about a man who thinks Muslims might not deserve first amendment rights, and one by a man in charge of putting together the Cordoba Center, a Muslim community center near ground zero in New York City.
• respond to the two articles in a comment to this post discussing the pertinent first amendment issues raised in the article. Where do you stand on the issue of the Cordoba Center being built? Why?

Browse with a purpose

Come to the website for Wired magazine Issue 17.5
View the video that introduces the issue to consumers. Spend the hour browsing the site. Settle on an article to read or a feature to experience. Describe, in a comment to this post:
1) What article/feature you chose and why
2) How it related to the theme of the magazine
3) Your reactions to the article/feature

Get this done by the end of class on Friday May 22.

Skater videos?

Check out this video that attempts to cover an event that can be of interest to a fairly wide audience. It looks at punk culture from a slightly unconventional perspective. This video treats a similar topic also as it relates to an unconventional audience.

View both videos and think about what makes them successful in covering their topics. Comment on this post (reply to this post) by the end of the hour today, Tuesday May 19th, 2009. In your comments, consider some of the following elements (you do not have to do a paragraph on each, nor do you have to include them all, they are just ideas.):

• Shots and camera angles
• video and audio editing
• sources interviewed
• extra footage (b-roll)
• subject matter
  
• focus as it pertains to the story. This last item is something new I want us to consider as we move toward our final project, a full-length feature piece on a specific person or event.

Your response does not need to be more than 250 words or so.

Please use headphones!

"Assignment"

The title is in quotes because its not really an assignment, per say.

While I had some grand plans about following up on our brief conversation about the intro to the New Kings of Nonfiction. Something better and more interesting came up. Thank you to Mike Dupar for his link to a beautiful site that continues to stretch our ideas about the nature of journalism. And doesn't it just exemplify the truth of Ira Glass's point about letting the journalist into the story? If we sought cold, critically distant, factual story telling we'd look the other way at something like this.

Take the time to get through this site and make a comment on the blog reacting to it on your own terms. Don't worry about length.

Thanks again, Mike!

video sandwich assignment

Video Sandwich Assignment

For this assignment, you’ll have the task of finding a person or event to profile in a brief video “sandwich” type assignment.

The sandwich will consist of a few seconds of stand-up/voice-over that introduces the event/character and the particular angle that will be treated. A period of sound bites from the interview(s) you do with/about your subject. Remember these are more conversations you have with folks and less ‘interviews” with “subjects”. The sound bites will then be followed by a voice-over/stand-up to close the piece.

Length should be 1:30, 1:45, or 2:00 with the traditional 5 second grace period.

Project will be due: Thursday, May 14th by the end of class.

The Fifth Estate??

Take a look at this article from the Poyner Institute Online.

Earlier in the year, we had a number of discussions regarding the nature of the old press (newspapers, television, radio, etc.) and the new press (the curious amalgam of platforms and methods of reporting that get distributed online). What seems to be happening is that people are searching for ways to define what is evolving from this transitional period. Roy Peter Clark's article describes a Fifth Estate. You might first remind yourself of the original meaning of the "fourth estate," but then read and respond to Clark's article with a 400-word comment to this post by 3:30 tomorrow (5/6/9).

Respond to these questions:
Does his description of the situation sound logical to you?
What role do you see yourself playing in this "Fifth Estate"?
Does the idea of a fifth estate seem like a productive one for society or not? Explain.

(It may also help to read some of the comments associated with the article as at least one addresses some of the questions I've posed. And if you're really nuts about the topic, go ahead and read the "related" articles)