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Editing Assignments


May 9: Class review and evaluation. Assign due by e-mail noon Monday:

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? 

May 7: BronxBeat compared to local coverage in New Bedford Standard Times -- which entailed a review of the light/heavy edit concept. BronxBeat demonstrates evidence of thorough editing: no typos, judicious use of quotes, added material, concise writing. PCB article in New Bedford Standard Times either received no edit or a light edit at the paper. We gave it a heavy edit when we changed the lead and added material.
Assignment: Check reference in Colon BronxBeat story on "paesan."
Editing techniques can be applied across media but ... each medium has its own particular needs. Web: check to make sure links work, check html formatting, check internal design, check attribution of graphics and text, download time. Writing: same journalistic concise rules apply, only more so. Reviewed statements on Web writing from New Media Workshop article on Steve Berlin, editor of "Useless Pages" website:

Steve Berlin on:
Writing

"The Web is more or less a moving medium,"
 said Berlin. "Say what you have to say and then
     shut up. Make it interesting or else your
   audience will click to the next link and not
   come back. But first make sure you DO say
                 what you have to!"

 Dale Mead, who put together Apple Computer's
 apple.com, agreed. "The bottom line is that you
    need to figure out what you are trying to
 communicate. What a lot of people do is get so
   involved in interface design that they forget
                 about the content."

Peer editing. Students edited work of Young and Michaels with various suggestions. Comment on writer/editor process. Writer gets credit but often the editor plays a key role.

May 2:

Assignment for Tuesday, May 7: Read the on-line weekly BronxBeat.
Announcement of best home pages. Discussed legal and ethical questions in reporting on court cases; individual work and consultation in lab. Reviewed PCB adds.

April 30:
Reviewed libel defenses. Edited local story in New Bedford Standard Times on-line version. Reasearched PCBs.

April 25:

Students will make their final in-class presentation (for 20% of the 
course grade) on Thursday, April 25.  Primary to the grading of the 
student Home Page will be consideration of its usefulness as a 
journalistic medium -- that is, a medium for the exchange of information 
and ideas. Students should be prepared to explain the contents, 
construction, and design principles of their home pages.  Students will be 
asked to first demonstrate their Home Page in lynx, that is, in the 
text-only version.    No paper presentation is required.   

Deadline for final Home Page assignment for this course:  Noon, Friday, 
April 26.  The instructor will begin a thorough review of all Home Pages 
and will announce grades as soon as possible.

At the same time, Marsha Marotta, who teaches political science at Mt. 
Holyoke College, will serve as an independent judge to choose the best 
three student home pages.  All other student Home Pages will be delinked 
from the UMass Internet Journalist following the announcement of the 
winners.  The winners will be acknowledged on the UMass Internet 
Journalist Home Page and their work will remain linked to the page for at 
least one year, providing those students assurance of a continued 
presence on the World-Wide Web after graduation.  

A former city editor of the Springfield Daily News, Marsha Marotta is a 
graduate of the Journalism Department at the University of Massachusetts 
who holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of 
Missouri.  

Home Page suggestions made in class April 18:  Students should think of 
themselves as correspondents who offer on their Home Pages the news of 
the persons, places, things and issues important to them.  Students 
should make an effort to integrate this semester's work on the World-Wide 
Web into their own home pages.  In that regard, students were assigned to 
review the Journalism Department Home Page (if you don't know what a 
land-grant college is, if you don't know anything about the Journalism 
Department's history, if you haven't read an Emily Dickinson poem -- then 
you haven't looked at this site carefully enough) and to review these 
assignments catalogued on the UMass Internet Journalist site.  

April 23:
Graphics class with Betty Wilda, design illustrator, Audio-Visual Department, Goodell Hall

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April 18:
Computer lab work/review of on-going assignments. Individual consultations. Class included information on Home Page Presentations (see April 26 entry) and handout of Columbia Journalism Review article with cybersources for journalists. We also looked at the home page of Sherry Turkle, the MIT sociology professor who writes on social and psychological issues generated by computer technology and who is on the cover of the current issue of "Wired" magazine. We noted this beginning of a review of her Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet: "'RL is just one more window, and it's usually not my best one.' These are the words of a college student who considers the worlds he inhabits through his computer as real as RL--real life."

April 16
Class review of basic copyediting responsibilities:
1. Correct errors in grammar, spelling, style, word usage.
2. Verify facts. Ask what is missing.
3. Judge news value.
4. Check for libel.
5. Write headline.
We discussed other such as tasted and responsibility to organizational goals and principles.

LIBEL -- Lecture covered these points:
AP Stylebook definition of libel:
"Libel is injury to reputation."
Examples of statements that have been considered defamatory offered inthe Massachusetts Journalists' Court and Legal Handbook published by the Massachusetts Bar Association:

Basic libel defenses:


We then reviewed the following assignment and discussed the difficulty of finding definitive material describing the legal issues surrounding libel on the Internet. Students were asked to work further on their "arson" stories and resubmit, linking a Web page with the story to their personal home page.
Assignment for Tuesday, April 16. Send your response to the following assignment to me before 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 16. Keep a copy in your own mail folder. We will review the assignment in class on Tuesday. Class meets as usual in 7th-floor library computer lab.
Edit the following "arson" story which contains a problem of libel.
Before you edit the story, search the web using the keyword "libel." Find the site that best helps you identify and articulate the libel problem in the following story.
Edit the story.
Add a note at the end, citing the Web source you used to research libel. Use the citation form suggested in the Web citation handout distributed in class on Tuesday.
Here is the story:

Arson

        Charleson, S.C., June 18 -- Some guys go out of their way to make
work for themselves.
        Take Lloyd Simpson of Charleston, for instance .  He is a member
of the West River Volunteer Fire Department and was charged to day with
arson and paying juveniles to set fires and turn in false alarms.  Fire
Chief George Dean said the 21-year-old Simpson had been a prime suspect
since a rash of fires broke out in the area late last year, and only last
week the convincing evidence was obtained.
        Nothing could be proved until a group of youngster was picked up
for questioning in connection with a theft, Dean said.
        Teh juveniles, raning in age from 11 to 17, to authorities
Simpson had paid them $1.50 for a false alarm to $8.00 to set a house afire.
        Simpson is free on $1,000 bound pending a preliminary hearing
before a magistrate, who happens to be Chief Dean.

                   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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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
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."
Handout: "A Brief Citation Guide for Internet Sources in History and the Humanities" by Melvin E. Page (pagem@estuarts.east-tenn-st.edu).
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).

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April 4
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 assignments for editing students:  Using the key 
words "editing AND journalism," scan through as many offerings 
as you can through the search engine assigned to you and come 
up with a list of the top 5 sites of value to journalism 
students.  Bring a hardcopy to class April 9 and send me an 
e-mail of same by noon April 10.

AltaVista -- Michaels

Lycos -- Paradysz

Magellan -- Young

Excite -- Larson

Yahoo -- Fiore

InfoSeek Guide -- Centoni

4. Handout for class discussion April 9:

Introduction
Best Newspaper Writing of 1995
Poynter Institute of Media Studies
http://www.poynter.org/poynter/bnw95c.html

Class Review: In-class presentations of college newspaper sites on the Web.

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April 2
Review: Editing quiz on Copyediting FAQ-L, collection of grammar corrections, return of journalistic cite written presentations, discussion of Collegian April 1 issue, individual work on home page.

Editing assignment: Quiz on Tuesday April 2:
Read and bookmark
The Copyediting-1 Style FAQ
http://www.rt66.com/%7Etelp/sfindex.htm

This site offers a distillation of informed opinions on editing questions from the Copyediting-L listserve to which we subscribed earlier in the year.
Tuesday's class will begin with an open-book style quiz based on questions from the Copyediting-1 Style FAQ WWW site. At 9.30 open your bookmark of Copyediting-1 Style FAQ bookmark to begin the quiz.
For general information on punctuating quotations and to help prepare for editing of Magazine Article, also read:
Quotation Marks
From the Purdue University Writing Lab
Read http://owl.trc.purdue.edu/Files/14.html

Bring Monday's Collegian to class for discussion.

Student Home Page basic elements to be completed by this date.

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March 28: In-class presentations on WWW journalism sites.

March 26: Class on word usage
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 the student-editor position. Week of March 26-28: Jacob Michaels. All students must write at least one letter. If you don't have a question, write a letter anyway.
Review of listserv exercise. Purpose was to acknowledge editor's responsibility in working to prevent "drowning" in flood of information on Internet.
Word usage quiz.
Reminder to check UMass Internet Journalist for assignments and review.
Bring Monday's Collegian to next Tuesday class.

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SPRING BREAK

March 12-14: No class - Reading Week.
Assignment:

"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.

Turn off the computer. Class time the week of March 12-14 is offered to you for reading.
You must read Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. with introduction by E.B. White in the hard copy version. Other than that ... lie back, kick off your shoes -- read a book!

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March 7:
Send one site suggestion to me for "The Honeymoon Continues." Access through my home page and read directions.

E-mail assignment due by 
Friday noon March 15:

Collect letters from your Copyedit-L subscription that are relevant to 
the class starting today (Tuesday, March 5) and ending before you leave 
for Spring Break.  Delete letters not relevant. Then unsubscribe.  (Be 
sure to UNSUBSCRIBE before leaving for Spring Break -- otherwise your 
file will be flooded and possibly shut down by our local postmaster.) 
That will complete our work with this listserv for the semester.  

Comment on each of the saved letters right after the letter and paste all 
(letters and your accompanying comments) into one file. Name the file, 
"Copyedit-Your Name" and send to me before Spring Break.  Grades will be 
plus, check or minus based on your intitial choice to include or delete a 
letter and the quality of your comments.

I must receive your "Copyedit-Your Name" file by noon Friday, March 15.

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March 7 Handouts

Handouts in March 7th Class included:
	1. Course schedule
	2.  March 28 presentation
	3.  Personal Home Page Development
	4. Copyright
	5.  Academic honesty
	6.  Extra credit
		
	
1. Course Schedule following Spring Break.

WORLD-WIDE WEB STUDENT PRESENTATIONS 

Together these presentations will count 50% of your course grade.

	Thursday, March 28 -- Presentation on a Journalistic WWW site 
(except a college newspaper) you think is interesting. (Counts 15% of the 
total course grade)
	Thursday, April 4 -- Presentation on a college newspaper WWW site 
you think is interesting.  (Counts 15% of the total course grade)
	Thursday, April 25-- Presentation of your own home page (Counts 
20% of the total course grade)

You will receive complete instructions on the March 28 assignment today.  
These basic instructions also apply to the April 4 and April 25 
presentations.


On Thursday, April 11, Merry Cushing will return for more instruction in 
HTML.

On Tuesday, April 16,  Our classes will be held in the Audio-Visual 
Department in Goodell Hall where Betty Wilda, a graphics designer, will 
instruct in computer graphic design.


	2.  March 28 Student Presentation:
	
	A. Find a journalistic site or publication on the World Wide Web 
that you think is interesting. Visit this site enough times to get a good 
sense of its contents, construction, and design principles. If there is 
an e-mail link at the site, you may want to correspond with the owners. 
How does this site sustain your interest?  How does it ease your access 
to information? What is the quality of the information available?

B. Make a 10-minute presentation to class in which you:

  1. Introduce your site
  2. Explain its intended function and audience
  3.  Analyze its written content (Is this a page that offers real 
substance?)
  4. Analyze its visible design (page layout, look-and-feel, etc.)
  5. Analyze its invisible design (how relationships among pages are
     managed)
  6. Point out what's good, interesting, or worth imitating about the site
  7. Present at least one feature that you think is not successful
  8. Propose an improvement or revision to address the site's limitations

C. When you make your presentation to the class, hand out a 1-2 page 
summary of your remarks, making enough copies for the instructor and the 
rest of the class (10 copies). Be sure your summary includes the 
electronic address (URL) of the site you are studying.  The written 
handouts will be judged in part on your demonstration of an understanding 
of rules studied in Elements of Style.



 	Note:  -- This assignment is adapted from an assignment used by 
Thom Lieb at Towson State University.  Grateful acknowledgment also to 
originator of the idea, Stuart Moulthrop at the University of Baltimore.

3.  Personal Home Page Development 
Journ 375 and Journ 492M


	Integral to this semester's study is the development by each 
student of an individual home page.   Primary to the grading of this site 
will be consideration of its usefulness as a journalistic medium.  

Complete the following as soon as possible.  If you have any problems, 
let me know and I will help you.  Once the basics are established, 
additional instructions will follow for further development of the site 
according to journalistic practice and principles.

To begin with, each individual home page must:

	¥ Include your present and permanent address and the name of your 
hometown newspaper.

	¥ Identify through a brief statement your interest in studying 
journalism.  

	¥ Include a link to the Journalism Home Page 			
(http://www.umass.edu/journal)
	and to the UMass Internet Journalist

	¥ Include a link to your resume.

	¥ Include the following copyright statement:

		Copyright (C) 1995, Your Name
		Journalism Department
		University of Massachusetts/Amherst
		All rights reserved.
	
	¥ Include date of last update

4.

Yale Center for Advanced Instructional Media
WWW Style Manual: Page Design

Copyright

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All World Wide Web page footers should include a standard copyright
vdesignating the author or host institution as the copyright holder of the
contents of the page. Although a copyright notice is not required to assert
your rights to your material, it is considered prudent to always include a
minimal notice of copyright:

     Copyright (C) 1995, Your Name
     Your institution (if any).
     All rights reserved.

You or your legal advisors may choose to include further restrictive
language or notices, as appropriate. Be sure that in the creation of your
WWW pages you have not included any information that should be marked as the
property of some other copyright holder, such as text from contributors,
photographs, or graphics. You should assume that the same restrictions and
obligations that govern print documents will also apply in the copyright
protection of WWW pages and documents.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yale Center for Advanced Instructional Media
Patrick J. Lynch, MS
Comments to author: lynch@biomed.med.yale.edu
All contents copyright (C) 1995, Patrick J. Lynch. All rights reserved.
Revised: September 2, 1995
URL: http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/stylemanual/M_II_15.HTML

	
5. 
			World-Wide Web and Academic Honest
				Journ 375 and 492M

Students:  Note that University regulations on academic honesty 
specifically prohibit "improper use of computer file, program, user-name, 
or password ..."   In regard to the World-Wide Web, students developing 
WWW pages must adhere to University regulations as well as to sound 
journalistic principles by acknowledging all material (including graphic 
images) used from other sources in making those pages.  Credit for 
others' work should be simple, direct and complete.
   
The following is from the Undergraduate Catalogue available on the 
University's WWW Home Page.  For more information, read the Undergraduate 
Rights and Responsibilities. 

	"The University requires honesty of all its members in their 
academic 

work. Honesty is necessary to the learning process, and is integral to 

the atmosphere of genuine inquiry and intellectual curiosity which the 

University seeks to foster. Academic dishonesty not only contradicts the

expectations of a community whose central purpose is the pursuit of 

intellectual endeavor, it violates University rules and regulations, a 

fact of which all students must be aware. 

	"Plagiarism is the failure to acknowledge the source of all 
information 

gathered in the preparation of class and written work. It includes 

direct quotation, paraphrase, and the 'borrowing' of information or 

facts which are not common knowledge, without acknowledging the source 

through footnote, adequate means of citation, or proper quotation 

structure. Students are encouraged to learn the style most accepted in 

their disciplines. 

	"Cheating is the intentional use or attempted use of materials, 

information, or study aids other than those specifically authorized, in 

an attempt to claim credit for learning not one's own. Under University 

policy, this can include unauthorized collaboration with others in 

conducting research or preparing work; the unauthorized use of 

commercial term paper companies; improper use of computer file, program,

user-name, or password; use of books, notes, calculators, or discussion 

with others during an examination unless specifically authorized; 

falsification of signatures or initials; and repeated use of all or 

substantial portions of the same work without specific prior approval. 

	"Fabrication includes the 'invention' of information in any 
laboratory or

other academic exercise without prior notice to and permission from the 

instructor; alteration and resubmission of returned academic work 

without prior notice and permission; and misrepresentation of the actual

source from which information is cited. 

	"Facilitating dishonesty by knowingly helping or attempting to 
help 

another commit an act of academic dishonesty is also a violation of 

University policy ..."


6.	Students in Journ 375 and Journ 492M may choose one of the 
following assignments for potential extra credit.  Papers will be graded 
plus, check or minus as explained below.  Due date:  April 24  Regular 
syllabus rules apply.

	Plus - Students who make an excellent presentation will be 
rewarded with a plus grade.  A plus grade will boost your final grade at 
least one level higher (AB to A).

	Check - Students who do average work will receive a check grade.  
A check grade will simply act as a positive note in the usual 10% 
reserved by the instructor for general progress, attitude, etc.

	Minus - Students who do poor work will receive a minus.   A minus 
will act as a negative consideration in the usual 10% reserved by the 
instructor for general progress, attitude, etc.


I. Electronic Magazines and Newspapers Assignment 

	Choose two newspapers or magazines that are available in both
print and World-Wide Web forms. 

   Write a 3 to 5 page double-spaced, typewritten report that compares
   the print and electronic versions of these publications.  Consider the 
   the following (make certain your comparison is based on a thorough
   review of each of the formats):
	*  Content:  Any substantive difference between the two 
formats?   For example, did the Web site have more "technology" news?
	* Ease of use. Discuss how you found the material. Was it difficult
       to navigate or to read? Did graphics help your comprehension? etc.
     	* Visual appeal and interest of each format.
     	* Advantages of each form in terms of what kinds of materials can be
       included, portability, availability, other factors.
     	* Does adding graphics, images, audio and/or video to "print" media
   add or detract from it?
     	* Are the hypertext links between pages and/or documents on the   
v        WWW useful?
     	* Personal reaction: what do you think of these two forms? Which
       would you prefer to use?

Here are a few examples of WWW versions of magazines and newspapers  Feel 
free to use others; include the URL of each source you use in your report.

Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.com/
Time Magazine: http://www.timeinc.com/time/timehomepage.html/
The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com
The Utne Reader: http://www.utne.com/reader/magazine.html
Mother Jones: http://www.mojones.com/mother_jones/mother_jones.html
	
(Note: The above assignments is adapted from one created by Aviva 
Rosenstein, course instructor for Communcation Technology and Society, 
University of Texas.)

II.  Utne Cafe Gender Policy Research Paper

	Write a 3-5 page paper on Utne Reader's gender policy on 
admitting people to the Utne Cafe chat area. 
	  * Give arguments both pro and con.  Quote from the Utne Reader 
comments posted on the subject and interview at least two students with 
opposing views from either Journ 375 or 492M.
	Search the Web for information relating to the issue through 
keywords like gender, censorship, cyberspace, community.  Cite sources 
(include URLs).
	* Read and refer to Susan Herring's study "Gender Differences in 
Computer-Mediated Discourse"
        	URL: http://cpsr.org/cpsr/gender/herring.txt	
	* State your opinion of the Utne Reader policy.  

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March 5

Editing Assignment
Light edit, heavy edit, rewrite
Two basic approaches exist in editing: a light edit and a heavy edit.  A 
light edit includes proofreading, making sure copy is free of any 
spelling and grammatical errors, clarifying language where needed (see 
Strunk), noting any omissions ...

A heavy edit includes all of the above plus changing sentences, 
paragraphs, etc.  I would consider it a heavy edit any time a drastic 
change is made to the lead.

Do a light edit on the attached JavaNet articles.  Also, rank them 
according to which one you like the best to which one you like the 
least.   

We will discuss your editing and your ranking in class on Tuesday.  For 
next Thursday (and you might keep this in mind as you read the articles), 
your assignment will be to rewrite the articles into one piece, with a 
combined headline for all the authors.  You must include all the authors 
in your rewrite.

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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.

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Feb 27: No-stress spelling test. Discussion of words, review of Strunk reading assignment and Quiz 2. Questionnaire on Quiz 2; students make retake if submitted by 8 a.m. Feb. 29. We will continue to subscribe to copyedit listserv, which includes challenges in editorial magagement. Discussion of mnemonics and "mentor." Review of purposes of URoulette/A.Word.A.Day
Feb 22: Read Spelling section in Elements of Style for no-stress spelling quiz on Tuesday. Check out Utne Reader's chat policy, if you like. Bookmark and read daily, New Bedford Standard Times. No Word or URouLette Assignment. Assignment: Read HTML handout, "Netiquette," by Judith Martin, and send questions to me to prepare for HTML class. Expect letter from Teri Klein re comuputer experience.

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Feb 15: Read section III of Elements of Style, with special attention to #11 (Use the Active Voice),#12 (Put Statements in Positive Form),#13 (Omit Needless Words) and #18 (Place the Emphatic Words of a Sentence at the End).
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)

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 encountered a course logistical problems when a student has another mail account on a different server.
At the end of class, we went over the course syllabus.

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Feb 13 Quiz on A.Word.A.Day and Elements of Style, section II.
Modified Assignment:
Take home quiz, e-mail (both headline and Strunk). Return corrected to instructor via e-mail by 8 a.m. Thursday.
In class Thursday, we will subscribe to a listserv, change resume in mail to an html folder, and review syllabus
Class review: The day it took nearly one-hour to deliver the e-mail assignment. I lectured on headlines: they tell and grade the news. Present tense expresses the past; the future is expressed as "to happen." No periods in headlines; use semicolon instead. Traditionally, headlines have a verb or implied verb. We went over head counts and point sizes. Anything in a story that needs attribution, also needs attribution in a headline.

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> Feb 8:

  1. Read and bookmark the UMass Internet Journalist. This page will now serve as our base. It includes the course schedule and a link to the syllabus. Always check the course schedule calendar and click on the current date for the current assignment. It will be here.
  2. Read and bookmark the course syllabus. If you have questions or comments, include them in your e-mailJto me by Monday noon.
  3. Quiz Tuesday on Elements of Style assignment

Class Review -- We established Home Pages, registered them with Journalism, reviewed bookmarking

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Feb 6 Assignment: Read on the Internet from Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. section II: Elementary Rules of Usage. The URL is: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/index.html. Be prepared for an in-class quiz on this material as well as the Word.A.Day assignment next Tuesday, Feb. 13

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 by visiting the site five times a week. Give the URL for each site along with a description. If you find good sites within the site, include those URLs, too. We will be compiling a class "hotlist."

On Thursday, we will be establishing personal home pages. Bring to class a visual representation of yourself to include on your page.

Return to UMass Internet Journalist


Class Review, Tues Feb 6 -- We discussed questions of taste, censorship, and institutional responsibility in regard to Telecommunications Act and removal of student Web page at UMass. Discussion of A.Word.A.Day -- importance of knowing the craft, questions about quality of data on the Internet, importance of citing sources, differences between spoken and written language.