Communication 161: Convergent Media Writing
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Dr. John McHale Office: Fell Hall 451, ISU, Normal IL 61790
Email me through Reggienet
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Required Textbooks
You must have both of these two books to pass the class.
McHale, J. P. (2012).Convergent Media Writing: Telling a Good Story Well. Kendall-Hunt Publishing; Dubuque, Iowa.Available at the Alamo, Barnes & Noble in Bone, and available online from Kendal Hunt in a traditional or online book fromKendall Hunt:
Convergent Media Writing: Telling a Good Story Well
E-Book: Convergent Media Writing: Telling a Good Story Well
Strongly Suggested:
Christian, D., Jacobsen, S., & Minthron, D. (Eds.). (2009).Associated Press stylebook and briefing on media law(Rev. 43rdEd.). New York: Perseus Books Group.
I recommend you will be well served with thelast edition, not the latest addition. Save yourself money and buy a used copy on Amazon.com. They offer free shipping to students.
You can also access AP style online.
Chapter Lectures at
Course Objectives
This course is an introduction to the variety of mass communication media students may encounter in their careers. Students will engage in preparation and presentation of various mass communication formats. Upon the successful completion of the course, students will:
1)Develop a critical understanding of quality print, radio, television, social media, feature film, and new forms of writing.
2)Develop writing skills sufficient to write for print, radio, television, film or online.
3)Acclimate the student to the demands of writing for a living. Toward this end, the student will be faced with seemingly incessant and fast approaching deadlines and upheld to professional rigor.
4)The overall transformative goal of this class is for students to realize the importance of committing themselves to the lifetime journey of continually challenging themselves to become better writers.
Welcome to Communication 161: Convergent Media Writing! This course is designed to introduce you to writing for a number of mass media forms.
This will be intense, but you and I signed up for it. We will learn much in one month.
Daily, you will need to:
a. Consult the daily schedule in the syllabus and the modules.
b. Read the chapter for the day.
c. Watch the lecture video, if you wish.
d. Consult the prezi presentation. I would watch the lecture video while going through the prezi.
e. Take the daily quiz.
f. Post a discussion answer.
g. Be working on the next writing assignment.
Chapter Lectures at
If the video gets glitchy, pause it for a few seconds. It will catch up.
Prezi Presentations
These are are listed on the modules. I suggest you go through the presentation while you watch the lecture video for that chapter.
Go to Prezi off a Google search, then explore Prezi. Use McHale and the chapter titles. I listed the exact address on the modules.
Modules
The course is laid out simply as individual modules under the Modules link under Learning Activities and Assessment on ReggieNet. The first modules will give you a strong sense of where we will be heading throughout the semester.
Each of the twenty module sessions contains a checklist of what is expected of you for each module period, as does the syllabus.
Discussion Posts
Students will be required to post a Discussion (under Communication) for each module/session and respond to a post from another participant in the class.
Quizzes
Students will be required to finish a quiz (in Tests and Quizzes) under Learning Activities & Assessment.
Tests
There is a midterm and final exam that each student must complete after completing the 10thmodule and the 20thmodule.
Major Writing Assignments
Each student will complete five major writing assignments. These arelisted below with due dates on syllabus schedule, in the modules, and are described in the McHale text. There are also rubrics for evaluation of these assignments and examples of each assignment in the McHale textConvergent Media Writing.
Reading/ Participationin Discussion posts
Students enrolled in this course should be prepared to write constantly and under much pressure.
Reading about the information is important but only part of the learning process. A quasi-Socratic approach utilizing discussion posts is used to teach this course, which requires informed participation. Participation in online discussions and assignments is extremely significant in understanding writing for the convergent media.
All reading assignments should be completed before beginning assignments, quizzes or online discussion. Students’ ability to articulate ideas expressed in the text will be imperative.
Points will also be awarded for participation in discussion. If informed discussion within the class is lacking, quizzes will be given in lieu of participation points.
Assignments
All assignments must be turned-in on time. Just as in the “real world”, not meeting deadlines can cost a broadcast facility money; missing class deadlines will cost you points toward your final grade (see section on grading).
Peer Editing
Each student will practice and demonstrate the ability to edit others’ work. This will help each student recognize the strength and weaknesses of their own writing. Editing is also an important skill for a writer to review their own work and the work of others.
Each student will use the criteria/rubrics for evaluating writing assignments found in the textbook. Each student will then use Track Changes function in Microsoft Word to comment on each edited assignment and assign point values for each mistake as per the assessment tools provided in the book.
Professionalism
Please keep in mind this course is designed for you to begin to think about expectations in the professional world. Choice of assignment topics allows you to write about subjects that you enjoy, but those topics should be appropriate for general audiences (in some cases PG-13 audiences or even R audiences). Your treatment of topics, however, should not be offensive. If you think a topic or approach may be questionable, check with your lab instructor for approval before the due date.
Writing Guidelines
At the top of each page, include your name, the assignment number, and the date of submission, single-spaced. Use APA 6th edition (American Psychological Association) style for references.
Late Policy
All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. Out-of-class assignments are considered late ten minutes after the beginning of the class period in which they are due and will receive an automatic deduction oftwo full grades(20 percent, or A to C, B to D, C to F) for that assignment. An additional letter grade will be deducted for each subsequent 24 hour period for which the assignment is late.
Predictable problems are not excuses for turning in work late. Make sure to anticipate those predictable problems so that you can prevent them.
Assignments
Positive Contribution to overall course 15 points
Quizzes20 x 5 pts.= 100 points
Participation/Discussion Posts 100 points
AP Exercise 1 10 points
Peer Editing 3 x 25= 75 points
(Straight Print) News Story or Press Release100 points
(Feature Print) News Story or Press Release100 points
Radio News Story100 points
Television Announcement Storyboard 100 points
Final Project 200 points
Exams (2 x 50)100 points
Total1000 points
Grading Scale
900-1000=A; 800-899=B; 700-799=C: 600-699=D: >600=F
We demand rigorous effort, but we are fair.
Tolerance is an ethical imperative, and must be reciprocal.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and need special arrangements for this class, please let me know or contact the ADA coordinator for the Department of Communication. Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability contact Disability Concerns, Fell 350, 438-5853 (Voice), 438-8620 (TDD).
Academic Honesty/Plagiarism/Cheating
Honesty in writing is critical to the media professions. Media writers who lie, plagiarize, or are irresponsible in their writing not only reduce the credibility of their profession and themselves, and usually lose their jobs. Plagiarism includes using someone else's ideas, work, or words as one's own without providing proper citation. It can also include attributing information to a source that is really from another source. We expect you will be honest in your attributions of information, and accurate in your reporting and writing and in all areas that challenge you in this class.
Be certain to keep extra hard copies of your assignments, your creative process, and any computer disks on which you write your assignments. If you are caught plagiarizing or cheating, by taking or giving work that belongs to someone else, you will receive a zero (0/F) on either the assignment or exam. In accordance with Illinois State University procedures regarding misconduct, your name will be given to the department chair and, likely, the Student Dispute Resolution Services office. This can result in failure of the class and, possibly, dismissal from the university.
Grading
Accuracy and readability are such essential parts of media writing that writing errors that normally might be excusedcannotbe excused in this class (as they are not excused in the media professions we are studying).
All out-of class assignments will be graded in accordance with the Associated Press style guide. In addition, spelling and punctuation errors (such as misspelling [anything other than a proper noun], providing an incorrect address, writing run-on sentences, using sentence fragments when a full sentence is required, using inaccurate information, etc.) will result in an8-pointdeduction from the overall grade foreach error. This also means 8-points off each time you commit the same error.
Misspelled proper names will incur a16-pointdeduction. Clearly, you will want to edit and re-edit your work before turning it in for a grade. I encourage students to solicit the help of their friends, peers, and even family members to improve written pieces through the editing process. The Visor Center also offers assistance in the editing process.
The things we care the most about are those into which we put the most effort.
Course Schedule
All class periods are tentative: Thinking people change their minds.
Com 161 Course Module Outline
Convergent Media Writing
Weeks or thematic units / Module Learning Objective(s) / Assessments and Learning Activities / Instructional materials1
May 19 / Demonstrate knowledge of responsibilities of this course.
Demonstrate knowledge of media convergence
.
Demonstrate knowledge of media writing structural considerations.
Demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of quality writing. / Preview Assignment 1: Straight News
Quiz
Discussion post / Read Syllabus
Read McHale Preface
McHale, Ch. 1: Telling a Good Story: Dramaturgical Theory and Narrative Theory
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
2
May 20 / Demonstrate knowledge of transactional communication model.
Demonstrate knowledge of media theories. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 2: Theoretical Consideration of Mass Media Writing
Transactional Model of Communication and Convergent Media Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline: Theoretical Considerations of Mass Media Writing, McHale Ch. 2. COM 161
3
May 21 / Demonstrate knowledge of the writing process.
Demonstrate knowledge of research.
Demonstrate knowledge of
actualities.
Demonstrate importance of revising, rewriting and repeating. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 3: The Writing Process
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
4
May 22 / Demonstrate knowledge of grammar.
Demonstrate knowledge of proper convergent media vocabulary.
Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate sentence structure. / Quiz
Discussion post
AP Exercise 1: Please email me your answers / McHale, Ch. 4: Writer’s Toolbox
Grammar, Punctuation, Vocabulary, and Sentence Structure, etc.
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
5
May 23 / Demonstrate knowledge of basic writing style.
Demonstrate knowledge of proper Associated Press style.
Demonstrate understanding of double-speak. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 5: Style: Telling It Well: Associated Press and Strunk & White
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
6
May 27 / Demonstrate knowledge of News Elements.
Demonstrate knowledge of inverted pyramid organization.
Demonstrate writing skills sufficient to write in a straight news print format. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 6: Straight Print News
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
7
May 28 / Demonstrate knowledge of major ethical issues in convergent media writing.
Demonstrate knowledge of critique of consumer culture.
Demonstrate knowledge of / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 7: Ethics and Mass Media Writing
Theory and Ethics in Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline:Ethics and Mass Media Writing, McHale ch.7 COM 161
8
May 29 / Demonstrate knowledge of difference between straight news writing and feature news writing.
Develop writing skills sufficient to write feature print news. / Due: Assignment Straight PrintNews: Deliver to me through Reggienet email
Quiz
Preview/BeginFeature Print WritingAssignment
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 8: Feature Print and Web Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
9
May 30 / Demonstrate knowledge of main legal issues in convergent media writing.
Demonstrate knowledge of copyright.
Demonstrate knowledge of
Libel. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 9: Legal Issues in Mass Media Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
10
June2 / Demonstrate knowledge of the difference between print and aural communication.
Demonstrate knowledge of broadcast A.P. style.
Demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of aural communication.
Demonstrate knowledge of phonetic spelling. / Quiz
Discussion post
Mid-term exam / McHale, Ch. 10: Broadcast Media Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
11
June 3 / Demonstrate knowledge of agenda setting theory.
Demonstrate knowledge of radio news scripting.
Develop writing skills sufficient to write radio news. / Due: Feature Print WritingAssignment
Preview/BeginDue: Radio News Assignment
Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 11: Radio News
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
12
June 4 / Demonstrate knowledge of telling stories with pictures.
Demonstrate knowledge of visual transitions.
Demonstrate knowledge of camera position and movement. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 12: Telling a Visual Story
Theory: Jacobson’s Poetic Function and Visual Sequence Composition
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
13
June 5 / Demonstrate knowledge of visual script formatting. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 13: Scripting the Visual: Split Page Television Format and Single Column Formats
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
14
June 6 / Demonstrate knowledge of major components of television news writing. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 14: Television News
- Writing Television News
- View TV News Examples
Review Prezi Outline
15
June 9 / Demonstrate knowledge of television announcement organization.
Demonstrate knowledge of persuasive appeals.
Demonstrate knowledge of the use of drama in television announcements. / Due: Radio News Assignment
Preview/BeginTelevision Announcement
Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 15: Advertising
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
16
June 10 / Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles in public relations writing.
Demonstrate knowledge of PR tools.
Demonstrate basic knowledge of image restoration rhetoric. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 16: Public Relations and Story
- Defining Public Relations
- Media as a Public
- Communication Tools
- Public Relations and Advertising
- Image Restoration Discourse
Review Prezi Outline
17
June 11 / Demonstrate knowledge of television entertainment structure.
Demonstrate knowledge of ways to get into the television entertainment writing business. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 17: Television Entertainment Programming
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
18
June 12 / Demonstrate knowledge of documentary writing. / Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 18: Documentary Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
19
June 13 / Demonstrate knowledge of dramatic principles.
Demonstrate knowledge of the dramatic model.
Demonstrate ability to apply dramatic theory to a particular film. / Due: Television Announcement
Deliver under door (451 Fell Hall),send PDF through Reggienet mail, or send through snail mail (must be postmarked no later than June 14):
Dr. John McHale, 451 Fell Hall, ISU, Normal, IL 67190-4480
Quiz
Discussion post / McHale, Ch. 19: Feature Film Writing
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline
Day 19 and 20 are combined due to Memorial day, but I will give you the weekend to get it all done.
20
June 16
(Optional: You can turn it all in on June 13 if you wish.) / Demonstrate knowledge of
Quality social media writing.
Develop writing skills sufficient to write in the genre of students’ choice.. / Quiz
Final Exam
Discussion post
Final Project:ByJune 22
Deliver under door (451 Fell Hall),send PDF through Reggienet mail, or send through snail mail (must be postmarked no later than June 22): / McHale Ch. 20: Writing for the Web: Twitter, Social Media, and emerging forms
Chapter Lecture at
Review Prezi Outline