Missed Deadlines

Unfortunately, missed deadlines do occur.  If you have a repeat offender, profound action may be necessary.  Here is a form we call the Missed Deadline Report.  The student, editor, adviser, and parent are included as part of the reinforcement of seriousness this negligence can have on a staff.  After the third MDR, the student is off staff.

Missed Deadline Report

Open Response Samples

Here are some Open Response Questions I created several years ago as part of an on-going skills improvement plan for the state.  Feel free to use them in your mid-term/semester exams.

Writing Skills: News
Discuss how the credibility of surces and quality of interviewing relates to the code of ethics.

Writing Skills: Feature
Compare and contrast the story schematics of the news inverted pyramid versus the feature Wall Street Journal formula.

Writing Skills: Sports
Discuss how eliminating cliches and jargon in sports writing increases the journalistic integrity for the reader.

College/Career
How will skills learned in the journalism classroom contribute to your university and more specifically toward your intended major?

Design Skills: Typography
Using concepts from the Type Wheel, how is type harmony established on a grid layout?

Writing In Chunks

This is an excellent Powerpoint about Writing in Chunks.  I did not create it, but it came to me via a friend, Deb, who received it from a friend, who received it from.....you get the picture.  It was evidently created by Jack Kennedy who is a well known journalism guru.  It is protocol in the journalism world to make sure the appropriate source is credited; therefore, thank Jack, not me for the Powerpoint. 

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUCYlZswqM_wZGNtODhodzhfMmQ0NGg5cmZi&hl=en

News Writing Samples

A former student of mine, Kelsey King, is currently assigned to write news for The Stanford Daily at Stanford University in California.  Her samples are outstanding and reflect the solid news writing skills our seniors should possess as they prepare to go to college. Below are the links for three of her first articles.  Enjoy and use them in the classroom as examples of solid research and organization of content.

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/09/30/olmsted-terrace-new-residence-for-faculty/

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/14/row-is-hit-with-three-alleged-burglaries/\

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/07/students-say-aloha-to-newest-field-program/