May 9:
class. Last assignment due by e-mail Monday noon:
May 7: Tutorials.
May 2:
Assignment for Tuesday, May 7: Read New Media Workshop.
April 30:
April 25: April 16:
April 11: HTML class. Note: Graphics class scheduled
for April 16 postponed a week until Tues. April 23. April 16 class will
meet at its regular time and place.
April 9
April 4
April 2:
Student Home Page basic elements to be completed by this date.
March 28: In-class presentations on WWW journalism
sites.
March 26: Class on word usage
SPRING BREAK
March 12-14: No class- Reading Week. Assignment:
Turn off the computer. Class time the week of March 12-14 is
offered to you for reading.
March 7:
March 5: Discussion of Utne Reader handout of articles
from Cyberhood vs. Neighborhood issue (March-April 95). Student
concerns included the prohibitive cost for many of internet use, the
addictive nature of the beast and questions of accuracy.
Assignment: Read the first three installments of my "The Honeymoon
Continues"
linked to my Home Page (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~sgrimes/).
Follow the "link up" directions and send me at least one
suggested link on any of the installments by noon Monday
deadline. We will meet Tuesday in Herter as usual for assignment
discussion. Feb 29:
HTML class with Merry Cushing from Academic Computing in the Office
of Instructional Technology. I introduced Merry Cushing by relating
information I received recently in a letter from Dean Joan Konner of
the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism: "... all graduates
who wanted to work in the new media landed jobs at twice the average
starting salary of traditional jobs in journalism." Basic
HTML/WWW instruction -- HTML is a "piece of cake." The complicated
part is navigating between the
server and the browser. Remember to get rid of the mouse when in
lynx. Students received HTML handout along with
information on how to link to UMass Internet Journalist and how to create
a mailto link. Feb 27: Tuesday
Unsubscribe if desired from copyediting listserv. Discussion of JavaNet
articles, Fowler and reaction to Utne Reader chat acceptance policy. The
following handout was given students:
No class Tues, Feb 20 -- Monday's schedule
(Since Monday is a holiday, turn in the current A.Word.A.Day and URoulette
assignments by noon on Wednesday, Feb 21) Due Feb. 22: Report on Java
Cafe in Northampton. Send by e-mail before class. Class review: We worked with e-mail, making sure option (o) to hold
mail is on. The command s saves to a folder. What folder? =sent or
=received are basic elm folders. You can created any folder. Without
the =sign, the folder goes to the director from which you opened up elm.
We sent resumes to public_html to prepare for building personal home
pages on the web. We learned to create an alias and distribution list.
At
the end of class, we went over the course syllabus.
Feb 13: Discussion of "I Say It's Mudpath..."
Note that Fowler lists these in order of importance. In each example,
give the pair. That is, in the first rule give both the familiar and the
far-feteched ... and so on.
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/fowler/101.html -- and linked to
assigned readings Class Review -- We
established personal home pages, linked them to Journalism Department, and
reviewed bookmarking
Feb. 6 In class, discussion of student work and reporting assignment.
Room 208 Herter For Feb. 13 class
discussion,
Read "I Say It's a
Mud Track, and I Say It's Going Nowhere" from Sam Johnson's
Electronic Revenge (the Compleat
Magazine)
In the computer lab this Thursday, Feb. 8, we will establish personal
home
pages. Bring a visual representation of yourself to add to the page.
1. What is your favorite search engine and why?
A. What difficulties have you run into in doing Web research?
B. Have you developed any basic strategy for searching the Web?
2. Who was I.F. Stone? Use any printed or on-line resource. Answer as
completely and concisely as you can. Word limit: 250 (or about one page.)
3. The following question opens the UMass Internet Journalist. Based
on your experience in this class, how do you answer it? Answer as
completely and concisely as you can. Word limit: 250 (or about one page.)
Can the World-Wide Web help educators teach values and practices espoused
by serious journalists? Or will it only further cloud the very definition
of what a journalist is or should be -- drawing all of us further into
the fog of mind-numbing media commercialism and info-entertainment?
Announcement of best home pages; individual work
and consultation in lab.
Tutorials on magazine article writing/research.
Personal Home Page in-class presentations.
April 23:
Graphics class with Betty Wilda, design illustrator, Audio-Visual
Department, Goodell Hall
April 18:
Computer lab work/review of on-going assignments. Individual
consultations.
Class review: Students recited from memory their leads on the
JavaNet story. Discussion of issues surrounding the reporting and
writing of the assignment.
JavaNet articles due. Bring typed, double-spaced version to class. Send
me a version by e-mail as soon as possible but before noon Wednesday,
April 17.
Discussion of lynx options (o) and print
(p) commands.
Attribution. Necessary when using material (including graphics) from
others to acknowledge authorship; provide historical record; enhance
interactivity of the World-Wide Web; comply with legal and ethical standards.
Discussion of Best Newspaper Writing 1995 -- of particular note, the
authors' statements on the importance of research. George Vescey of the
New York Times: "You have to do your thoughtfulness way in advance."
I read in class a front-page article from the April 4, 1996 edition of
the Ware River News on the
Hardwick Cyber
Cafe at 46 Barre Road in
Hardwick Center.
Optional assignment: Rewrite for collection Thursday
April 11
the collegiate site review with focus on answering basic journalistic
questions and without using the verb "to be." (Write with verbs and
nouns; rewrite and revise). Observation of verb usage by writers
included in Best Newspaper Writing 1995.
Do not rewrite original article for JavaNet assignment. Students are
urged to follow research and instincts to develop own distinctive
approach for a focus in this broad-based assignment. Somehow, though,
include the JavaNet Cafe.
Note on graphics: Betty Wilda, design illustrator for the Audio-Visual
Department in Goodell Hall, has offered to help any student enrolled in
Journ 375 or Journ 492m scan images (color or black/white) for
course-related work. To make an appointment, call Betty Wilda at
545 2454 and identify yourself as my student. (Both classes will
meet for graphics instruction during regularly scheduled class
time in the Audio-Visual Department in Goodell Hall on Tuesday,
April 16.)General assignment for all students:
1. Create a page with the title "my work" and link it to your home
page. This new page should present one example of journalistic
work written by you with appropriate formatting and editing.
Due: April 9.
2. Read and bookmark:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/staff/mmoxcey/public_html/htmledit.html
Web Page Editing. Created by Michael Moxcey, a federal computer
specialist, this excellent site covers:
the basic layout of a page,
how to format the look of a page,
how to create links to elsewhere,
how to create e-mail links, and of course,
how to insert Pictures.
how to view files such as source code
The site also includes a basic template and a link to the site that tops
everyones list of HTML guides:
(http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html#A1.3")
A Beginner's Guide to HTML
3. Read and bookmark this site:
(http://www.search.com)
search.com
This site includes most the major search engines.
Individual research assignments for students in Magazine Article Writing
Using the keywords "computers AND coffee"
scan the offerings through the search engine assigned to you and come up
with your top 5 sites.
Bring a hard copy to class April 9 and send me an e-mail copy by noon
Wednesday April 10.
AltaVista -- Young
Lycos -- Agnew
Magellan -- Swartz
Excite -- Beltran
Yahoo -- Sugar
InfoSeek Guide -- Harding
Webcrawler -- McCloskey
Handout for class discussion April 9:
Introduction
Best Newspaper Writing of 1995
Poynter Institute of Media Studies
http://www.poynter.org/poynter/bnw95c.html
Review: Quiz on Purdue site on quotations, discussion of
interviewing: open-ended, closed and leading questions; use of
taperecorders.
Assignment for April 2
Read http://owl.trc.purdue.edu/Files/14.html
Quotation Marks
From the Purdue University Writing Lab
Progress report on research/interviewing for April 16 article. Now two
weeks to deadline.
Class discussion, in-class exercises on interviewing and quoting.
Review: I emphasized two principles from the Strunk/E.B. White
readings: Write with nouns and verbs/revise and rewrite. We also read
in class the section in Elementary Principles of Composition where Strunk
offers George Orwell's "draining the blood" out of a verse from
Ecclesiastes to demonstrate what happens when strong writing is deprived
of its vigor. Students are urged to review this passage. It demonstrates
how to apply the basic rules of word usage as advocated by Fowler,
Strunk, et al.
Initiated student-editor position for the rest of the semester. If
students have questions relating to computer/internet technology, address
them to the student-editor. Each student will have a chance to assume
this role. All students must write at least one letter to the editor
with a technical question. If a student does not have a question, write
to the student-editor reporting that you have no questions. The first
editor for magazine article writing is Jason Sugar.
Class handout: Steve Lopez's column in Philadelphia Inquirer, "Resisting
lure of a cyberspace odyssey." We discussed in class.
"And above all -- and again I have a bias here because I
write them -- but read books. If you really want to know, read books.
You've got to have some kind of historical perspective. So much of what
is problematic about our news media coverage comes from its insistent
focus on 'now, now, now.' If something happened two days ago the media do
not care about it. That's a real failing."
-- Mark Hertsgaard, the journalist who wrote On
Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency and whose articles have
appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and other journals and
periodicals.
You must read Elements of
Style by William Strunk Jr. with introduction by E.B. White in the
hard copy version. Other than that -- take off your shoes, lie back and
read a book!
Web design demonstration; handouts; JavaNet article assignment:
Assignment: Go back to the JavaNet Cafe at least one more time, do the
research and interviews we discussed in class, find a good focus in a
lead that will help guide the construction of the story, put care into
crafting the language of the piece, use good quotes, write and
revise ...
Use the third person. Do not use "I" or "you." (Remind me to discuss
this point in class. Editing students criticized -- and I agreed -- the
use by several of you of the first and second persons in your articles.)
Other than that -- many, many approaches exist to handling this story. I
am open to just about anything that reflects wondrous reality as opposed
to public relations blather (or you could substitute there another word
that starts with the letter "b" .... )
Do a good job.
Deadline: Tuesday, April 16 -- Deliver a hard copy to class and send an
e-mail copy to me. This assignment will count 20% of your course grade.
Journalism 492M Students:
1. Read the note on H.W. Fowler on the UMass Internet Journalist Home Page.
2. I have given you a hard copy of Fowler's The King's English, "Chapter
I, Vocabulary."
A. Reread his first sentence and his statement of five rules.
(In regard to #5, note Fowler talks about English being a hybrid
language, with basic roots in the Saxon and Romance languages. He
includes a nice note on page 4 defining Romance words.)
B. Note on page 2, Fowler observes that all five rules can be
found to give the same answer about the same word or set of words. He
gives one good example of what he means: "In the contemplated
eventuality" = "if so."
C. A journalistic saying is: "I would have written it shorter,
but I didn't have time." Note Fowler's observations on journalism on
page 4 that includes:
" ... a more candid plea for the journalist, and one not without weight,
would be that he has not time to reduce what he wishes to say into a
simple and concrete form. It is in fact as much easier for him to
produce, as it is harder for his reader to understand, the slipshod
abstract stuff ... "
E. If you had trouble with Fowler's English English of 1908 but
wish to study more these basic concepts, read Elements of Style, by
William Strunk Jr.., an American scholar whose work is as valued as
Fowler's. An electronic (free) copy is also available on the UMass
Internet Journalist Home Page.
3. Rewrite the individual JavaNet articles into one new article.
Individual student articles have been sent to you in an e-mail file, The
JavaNet Cafe. Do not necessarily follow the order of writers when you
rewrite. (The order of selection in the e-mail file is random.) Rather
design the best lead and the best story you can from the material
provided by all the writers. Include in your new story at least
something of the work of each writer. Try to edit the piece so that in
your new piece, you prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched, prefer
the concrete word to the abstract, prefer the single word to the
circumlocution, prefer the short word to the long, prefer the Saxon word
to the Romance.
For example (thanks, Michael!) McCloskey's:
-- "Epstein believes this type of surrounding helps to "ease the
intimidation" that some initial users feel, because it counterbalances
the cold sterility of high technology." ... Might better read:
--"For Epstein, the surroundings help "ease the intimidation" of
the cold sterility of high technology for people who are using computers
for the first time."
4. Submit the work by 8 a.m. Thursday by e-mail. An immediate deadline
helps assure a fresh approach to the material. Your story will then go
to student editors of the UMass Internet Journalist Home Page.
Feb 22:Class review included look at UMass
Internet Journalist site with emphasis on writing site reviews with some
depth, style, comment. Bookmarked Utne Reader and discussed 2/1 male to
female gender admisssion policy. Exploration of site. Assignment: Read
HTML handout, "Netiquette," by Judith Martin, and use web search engine
to find two sites related to minor or area of interest. Send
any questions in related to HTML. Discussion of search engines. Expect
message from Teri Klein relating to computer experience.
Assignment:
due by 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15:
"ANY one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour,
before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be
direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.
This general principle may be translated into practical rules in the
domain of vocabulary as follows:--
Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.
Prefer the concrete word to the abstract.
Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.
Prefer the short word to the long.
Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance."
Fowler
The King's English:General
1908
Feb. 13 Class Review: Several found the "Mud" piece
rambling and thought it would have been helped by editing. I suggested it
was at least two pieces: one on the quirks of computer technology and one
on quality of data on the Internet. Several also liked its
humor and could relate to some of the frustrations expressed.
I suggested keeping notes on experiences with computers.
Class review -- We discussed the importance of keeping
a fresh mind when going on a reporting assignment, attributing sources,
giving complete and accurate identifications, combining personal insight
to objective observation. Who reads this stuff anyway?
Continue the weekly assignment, due by noon next Monday, Feb. 12 through
e-mail:
A. Five words with their definitions from
A.Word.A.Day. Add to this assignment: give the root of each word.
B.
"Spin the Wheel" at URouLette five times. Give the URL for each site
along with a description. Add to this assignment: If you find good
sites within the site, include the URL. We will be compiling a class
"hotlist."