JOUR 4090 Multiplatform F21 Syllabus

Policies and procedures

Books and other required materials

Assignments and grades

Stories and process

Schedule

Learn the world

Find the stories

Produce them for an audience

Portfolios

Editing checklist

Beat memo

Explore

Assignments and grades

You will be completing three basic kinds of assignments:

Homework (15% of final grade): Reading and discussion responses, as well as low-stakes practice items to prepare you for projects.

Prep (15% of final grade): Items such as research, interview summaries, and classmate edits and feedback that will go into production of major projects.

Beat memo (5% of final grade): A thorough work plan for your two story projects

Stories (50% of final grade): Two major story projects that will consist of all the following elements:

Mainbar: A video or written feature story about or stemming from a building project or other topic in the Athens area.

Secondary element 1: An infographic or photo package (minimum of three images) relating to the

Secondary element 2: A video or audio interview that can be embedded in the mainbar.

Other elements of your grade:

Attendance and participation (10%): If you meet the attendance requirements and participate in class and group discussions, you get full credit. You will lose points through excessive absences and/or lack of participation.

Portfolio (5%): You will produce a portfolio web page, or adapt your current page, for professional use, embedding work from this class on it. We will present portfolios during the final two days of class.

Grading details:

Story projects will be graded on a 0-10 scale. A '10' is reserved for an error-free story that is ready for publication/air.

Homework and prep assignments will be graded on a 0-2 scale. A '2' means you completed the assignment, a '1' means you threw something weak together, and a 0 means you didn't do it.

All work must be completed by the designated deadline. Late assignments receive a 0; no partial credit.

Be aware that any form of plagiarism will trigger harsh consequences, possibly including a failing grade for the class and expulsion from the University. If you are unclear on what constitutes plagiarism, please check with me.

Below are checklists of what grades I would expect to give for the quality of work presented:

Here are the guidelines for story grades

Here are the guidelines for story grades

Component

100%

90%

80%

70%

Factual errors

Zero

Headline

Clear, relevant, implied verb, invites reader into story

Missing one of those characteristics

Missing two of those characteristics

Present, but missing all of the characteristics

Lede/intro

Hooks reader with compelling image or story in first graf/10 seconds of video

Explains topic but fails to include image or story

Double lede, news lede, failure to connect lede to rest of story

Generic lede

Nut graf/hook

Clearly encapsulates story and explains why it's important

Nut graf/hook clear and hook but misplaced

Nut graf/hook missing clear encapsulation,

No nut graf/hook

Grammar and style

Error-free

Fewer than two errors

2-3 errors

No more than 4 errors

Structure and sequencing

Clear, logical flow from paragraphs/points

Mostly clear flow with some difficult transitions

Many difficult transitions

Difficult to follow

Conclusion

Revisits character/point and/or looks ahead to the future

Offers basic ideas for what will happen next

Concludes by offering unsupported praise for subject

Stops abruptly

Length

Within 50 words/15 seconds of assigned length

Within 100 words/30 seconds

More than 100 words/30 seconds

More than 150 words/45 seconds

Image composition

Original photo, clear point of focus, relevance to story

Original photo, relevant to story, lacking clear point of focus/relevant details

Original photo, significant composition errors

Unoriginal photo

Image captions

Complete sentences explaining relationship of photo to story, including credit

Complete sentences explaining relationship of photo to story, missing credit

Vague captions but cleanly written

Vague captions and/or grammatical/stylistic errors

Infographic composition

Clean presentation; easy-to-comprehend process or relationship among variables

Fairly clean presentation; easy-to-comprehend process or relationship among variables

Problems with presentation; difficult-to-comprehend process or relationship among variables

Presented with poor executiion

Infographic chatter

Headline, descriptive sentence(s), and sourcelines all clearly explaining relevance of graphic to story

Missing one of elements at left

Missing two elements from left

Audio/video quality

Interviews in focus, little or no background noise/images

Poor focus or audio problems

Poor focus and audio problems

Audio/video transitions

Smooth transitions with little if any difference in audio levels, no jump cuts, no pops or other distractions

At least one problem from those at left

At least two problems from those at left

No more than three problems from those at left

Sources noted/quoted

At least five

Fewer than five

There are no rows in this table

Count

⁠

Extra credit

Special events will be announced throughout the semester, and attending one and live-tweeting it will generally be good for one point on your final grade. Also, you can participate in research studies for one point of extra credit apiece, up to a maximum of three. Sign up through the Grady Research Participation Pool (

http://grady.sona-systems.com⁠

) or send your instructor a screenshot of the thank-you page for a non-Grady study to ensure you get credit.

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