NewsHounds—Weekly NewsQuiz

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Weekly NewsQuiz

This is a journalism class, so you are expected to keep up with the news every day. Read newspapers, watch TV news, check news websites (you can subscribe to email feeds from the New York Times, the Salt Lake Tribune, and many others), listen to National Public Radio (in Logan, 89.5 FM).

Each Thursday, Professor Pease will post a news quiz, which you will complete and return via Blackboard by Saturday @ 9 a.m.

The news quizzes will cover prominent international, national, regional, state and local Logan news stories. You are to explain what the news event is (“What?” “Where?” “Who?” and “When?”), and its significance (“So What?”).

For example: The following items might appear on a news quiz for this week (Aug. 16-22):

• Raucous town meetings on health care
• Who is Hillary Clinton, where is she this week, doing what?
• Mid-air collision over Hudson River in NYC.
• Michael Vick returns.
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
• Lawsuit filed in Michael Starks case.
• Change of leadership in Utah governor’s office.
And then there might be some IDs of prominent people from time to time.
• Who is Jon Stewart?
• Who is Sonia Sotomayor?
• Who is Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Before I tell you the answers to these, and how I’d like you to answer them, do you know what’s going on with these stories?

Here’s the kind of answers I’d like—not only identifying the subject, but explaining the significance—So what?

• Health Care meetings: Opponents of the Obama administration’s proposed comprehensive health care reform proposals have been flooding informational meetings by members of Congress, shouting down the lawmakers and generally acting boorish. Health-care reformers charge an organized campaign by conservative groups to derail the reform efforts.

• Hillary Clinton, the secretary of State, is wrapping up an 11-day tour to several African nations, talking trade, human rights and related issues.

• NYC air crash: Nine people were killed when a small private plane collided with a tour helicopter, plunging both into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. Two air traffic controllers have been suspended, amid calls for new regulations over the crowded airspace.

• Michael Vick, the disgraced NFL star quarterback who spent nearly two years in prison in connection with a dog-fighting ring he organized, was signed this week by the Philadelphia Eagles. Many fans are disgusted.

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88, sister of John, Bobby and Ted Kennedy, died this week. She was praised for her work in founding the Special Olympics and championing rights for the mentally handicapped.

• The family of Michael Starks sued USU this week over last November’s hazing death of their 18-year-old freshman son, who died after drinking vodka as part of a fraternity initiation.

• Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned this week to become U.S. ambasssador to the People’s Republic of China; he was replaced by his lieutenant governor, Gary Herbert.

• And I'll let you figure out those IDs of prominent people.

Get it?
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Index: NewsHounds Online

INDEX
Here are the posts on NewsHounds Online, the CyberHounds’ blog for JCOM 1130—Beginning News Writing Online (Fall 2009).

FIRST! Read and study carefully all these posts, which explain how Blackboard works, introduces you to the class and the professor, provides important deadlines this semester, and explains the weekly news quizzes.

USUBLACKBOARD Tech: Start here for computer set-up

USUBLACKBOARD Tools: How to do stuff on BB
WELCOME to NewsHounds Online
About the Professor
Important Dates—Fall Semester 2009
JCOM 1130 Syllabus
NewsQuizzes

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 2—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 3—This Week in NewsHounds
QUIZ: Wk3
Week 4—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 5—This Week in NewsHounds
• (T)Editorial Comments #1
Week 6—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 7—This Week in NewsHounds
• Week 7—Where We Are Now?
• Michaelangelo’s David
• Story Blocks
Week 8—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 9—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 10—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 11—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 12—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 13—This Week in NewsHounds
Week 14—This Week in NewsHounds
• Info on final in-depth stories
Week 15—This Week in NewsHounds

INTERESTING STUFF
Student Journalists’ News Attitude Survey
Uncle Jay’s 2008 Year-End News Wrap-Up

Week 1: CyberHounds

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One—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Aug. 24-29, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• The Read This First! files.
• The syllabus.
• Today’s WORD on Journalism (you’ll get it by email every day); comments welcome.
• For inspiration, please watch this 5-minute video from Steven Colbert on the unreasonable expectations of professors.... Also see Uncle Jay Explains the News or The Daily Show or The Colbert Report (as often as you need a laugh).
• Newspapers/TV/Online news (every day)

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• NewsQuiz: Professor Pease will post the news quiz by Thursday a.m.; you must complete and return it by 9 a.m. Saturday. Click here for directions.
• Interview yourself and do a news story. Post it to the Week 1 NewsTalk discussion page in Blackboard. Feel free to comment on each other’s stories (I will!). EXAMPLE: Go here for my own attempt at doing a story about myself. The goal is to provide both the essential information as well as details that hint at your subject’s (your) character/flavor/fascinating characteristics.

• Basic stuff in any news story:
1. Name
2. Age
3. Status @ USU (major, role, basics)
4. Something interesting: hopes and dreams
5. Quotes. Quotes need to be interesting and pithy. (Ex: “I come from Tooele.” NO! That’s not a good quote. “I once fell out of a plane and landed on a pizza!” YES)
6. Follow-up. If your subject says she fell out of plane, you’d better follow up and ask for and explain the details!
7. Motivations. For this story, about a new(ish) student at USU, you should probably think about motivations—what your subject wants to do when s/he grows up, what excites/scares him/her about being at USU. Why s/he came here....
8. Anything else? What essential things about you haven’t I asked? (In this case, since you’re “interviewing” yourself, you probably have a better idea of these things than you would if you were interviewing a stranger...)

Week 2: CyberHounds

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2—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day). Comment (rant) if you like.

• Harrower: pp. 2, 4; Ch. 1—“The Story of Journalism”
• What Is News?
• Associated Press Style Starters
• Newspapers/TV/Online news (every day)

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in weekly NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 3: CyberHounds

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3—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Sept. 6-12, 2009) Note: Monday, Sept. 7, is Labor Day. No classes.

This week, we continue to develop our news sense—what is news? and how to write it. But before we get too serious, I offer for your amusement two items that illustrate a) the importance of using language properly, and b) how a picture can tell much more than 1,000 words.

The “Accidental Language” reading is a list of amusing excuses from drivers trying to explain their car crashes to insurance adjusters. Note that imprecise language and sloppy syntax (sentence construction) can get you in trouble.

The Harrower reading (Ch. 2) introduces you to “How Newsrooms Work.” And we continue our discussion of what news is with “A Newswriting Primer,” which expands on basic elements of news.

Watch . . . . . . . . . . . .
• See Professor Ted’s new home movies on Blackboard (Week3): What’s news, the Fred Rule and other stuff.

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day). Comment (rant) if you like.

• Harrower, Ch. 2—“How Newsrooms Work”
• Associated Press Stylebook A-D
• Accidental Language
• A Newswriting Primer

• Newspapers/TV/Online news (every day)

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in the Week 3 NewsTalk on Blackboard.

• NewsQuiz (due by BB email to Professor Pease Friday @ 9 a.m.). Click here for directions.
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Week 4: CyberHounds

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Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia speaks @ USU
4—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Sept. 13-19, 2009)

This week, your readings in Harrower and about leads, quotations and nut grafs get deeper into the nuts&bolts of creating news stories. The short item—a handout, really—on “Leads, Quotes & Nut Grafs . . . Oh My!” reinforces some of your other readings, and we’ll revisit the complexities of quotes and nut grafs further. In Harrower, please note “How much editing do you need?” (p. 53)—do it and check your answers on p. 292. We will have real quizzes like this, and these kinds of errors will cost you later if they appear in your stories. Please also pay particular attention to Harrower’s AP style tips on pp. 54-55, his useful “Deadline Checklist” (p. 57), and his excellent “boring-but-important” newswriting tips (pp. 58-59).

You also will do your first basic lead-writing exercise, emailed to you via BB early in the week and due Friday.

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism

• Harrower, Ch. 3: “Newswriting Basics” This is probably the single most important chapter in the text, because it contains the mosst essential elements of newswriting. Some you already know about—the WWWWW&H, for example. But this chapter expands on that with real-world examples aand explanations. Read this chapter closely. And then read it again.
• Associated Press Stylebook, E-G
• The Inverted Pyramid
• Leads, Quotes & Nut Grafs, Oh My!

• Newspapers/TV/Online news (every day)

Exercises . . . . . . . . .

• Go here for the first set of newswriting exercises. These will be due to Dr. Ted by Friday 9 a.m. via BB email. Save your stories to a Word .doc. Open the BB email and attach your file to an email to me.
• Week3 Quiz (click here, or get it from the BB mail, sent Sunday).

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in Week 4 NewsTalk on Blackboard
• NewsQuiz (due by BB email to Professor Pease Saturday @ 9 a.m.). Click here for directions.
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Week 5: CyberHounds

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5—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Sept. 20-26, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism
• More on Leads, for further discussion of starting your stories. The lead paragraph(s) is/are the roadsign for the reader, telling her where your story is going. If you miss the lead, you mislead the reader, who may soon get lost and quit.
• The Fred Rule is a valuable and simple way to see if you have captured the lead—the roadsign—for your story. This is true story from one of Dr. Ted’s first newspaper editors.
• Keep studying the AP Stylebook—up through J.

Exercises . . . . . . . . .

• Short news stories. Check your BB email Monday for a set of WWWWWH facts, from which you will write short complete news stories. These will be due to Dr. Ted by Friday a.m. via BB email. Save your stories to a Word file. Open the BB email and attach your file to an email to me.
• AP Stylequiz will be emailed to you on BB email by Monday. This will be due to Dr. Ted by Friday a.m. via BB email. Save your stories to a Word file. Open the BB email and attach your file to an email to me.

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in Week 5 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz: (due by BB email to Professor Pease no later than Saturday a.m.) Click here for directions.
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Week 6: CyberHounds

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6—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• Harrower, Ch. 4, “Reporting Basics”
• Read AP Stylebook up to M.
• Yet MORE on leads and focusing the story structure as launched by the first paragraph. Chancellor & Mears’s longer essay on leads takes on this most critical element of newswriting in more detail. Written as a textbook chapter, it is essentially a conversation with two giants of the news business: John Chancellor was one of the first great TV reporters, an NBC correspondent and anchor who died in 1996; Walter Mears is the best of Associated Press senior writers. Their discussion of how to get a news story started is wise and smart and practical.

Exercises . . . . . . . . .

• Shorts. I will email you more fact sheets from which you will construct short, complete stories. Think about Mears & Chancellor, and the other advice you've received on leads and story structure in whittling these factsheets down to focused inverted-pyramid news stories.

File . . . . . . . . . . .
• Participate in Week 6 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 7: CyberHounds

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7—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Oct. 4-10, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• Harrower, Ch. 5 “Covering the News”
• AP Stylebook through Q.

• More on Nut Grafs
• FAIR WARNING: Midterm Exam next week! Details to follow via BB email.

Exercises . . . . . . . . .

• Covering a Speech: On Harrower p. 110, do the Test Yourself exercise No. 2—Covering Michael Gartner’s speech. The text of the speech is on p. 280. Write the story as if you covered it today and the story will appear in The Statesman (so for a student audience) the next day. The speech was in the TSC Ballroom, sponsored by the JCOM Department’s Media & Society Lecture Series. Gartner is a real guy (and a friend of mine, so don’t screw this up!), and this is a real speech with real (and good) advice for journalists. You don’t need to—you can’t!—include everything from the speech transcript—focus on, summarize and build your story around what you consider Gartner’s main points/themes, pick out some of the best quotes (see this useful discussion in Harrower Ch. 4), organize in either the standard inverted pyramid order, or see if you can use the “Martini Glass” structure (Harrower, p. 48), which reserves a nice twist or your second-best quote for the “walk-off” at the end of the story. This story is due to me as a BB email attachment by Friday noon.

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in Week 7 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 8: CyberHounds

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NEWS CONFERENCE: JCOM student April Larson listens to USU President Stan Albrecht's budget statement.
8—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Oct. 11-17, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism

• Harrower Ch. 6 “Beyond Breaking News,” esp. the tips on feature-writing and story structures (pp. 118-119).

Exercises . . . . . . . . .

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Participate in the Week8 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 9: CyberHounds

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9—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Oct. 18-24, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• Go back to Harrower, pp. 102-103, and reread the two pieces about covering speeches. Note, especially, the annotated speech by Ann Coulter at Kansas (Nick will like this).
• Then (assuming you’ve already done your Gartner speech), go to the new post on NewsHounds slugged Gartner Speech. In that piece, I discuss the issues of covering speeches, and then offer my version of the Gartner Speech story (which I wrote this afternoon in an hour, FYI).
• Then read the other new posts for this week (in the index, at left): On Fred and Michelangelo, nut grafs and...

Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . .

• Outside story. This week I’d like you to think of an event to cover, and prepare to write a story about it for NEXT WEEK. You must PITCH me a story to cover this week—sooner is better. The story itself will be due NEXT FRIDAY (Oct. 30). This story can be anything you like—a speech, an event, a feature story about rodeo or scrapbooking (!)... whatever.

If you’re on campus, it should be easy to find an event—a lecture, a program, something public. This is the easiest way to fulfill this first outside writing assignment, because a speaker basically talks at you and you take notes. For these kinds of stories, try to get some reaction from the audience (including the audience member’s name and who it is—student, housewife, ROTC cadet, whatever). Alternatively, following Harrower’s advice in Ch. 6, which you read last week, look for a feature story—someone who does something interesting, who has just returned from Chile, who is passionate about __________ (anything).

Check your local community and campus calendars for events, or noodle interesting feature topics, and email me by Wednesday or Thursday (or sooner) with a couple of topics. A good place to find story ideas and events is in your local newspaper, where coming events are listed in briefs (Ducks Anonymous, Audubon, Zoning Committee (zzzz!), community group presentations, etc.).

For each story you pitch to me, include:
a) the story “slug” (e.g., Jones Speech, Bike Shop, etc.);
b) a sentence on the specific topic (e.g., Peace Corps official Jimmy Jones will speak about latest developments... or The Cyclotron Bike Shop on 400 East specializes in unicycles!);
c) Specific sources—who you will feature. (e.g., Jimmy Jones, Peace Corps guy; Bobby Bikehead, the owner of the bike shop who is an international unicycle star.) More than one source is encouraged (The Statesman, for example, requires at least three different sources for all stories.)

And, as always,
• Participate in Week 9 NewsTalk on Blackboard

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Week 10: CyberHounds

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10—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Oct. 25-31, 2009)

• Bill Blundell’s Story Blocks. This advice from a longtime reporter suggests the kinds of issues every journalist should keep in mind in covering a story.
• On Interviewing (lecture to come)
• About Interviewing—Quotes & Clips
• The Art of the Interview from NPR

The readings this week dig deeper into getting information. As the three readings on interviewing suggest, this is the single most important utensil in the reporter’s toolbox (after actual writing skills). The ability to talk to people and to get them to talk to you is an essential skills. Through interviews—which might be more usefully thought of as good conversations—the journalist digs into a subject’s hopes, dreams, anger, motivations, passions, and elicits the kinds of quotes that show the reader the subject’s psyche and motivations. Good quotes are gems, sparkling and bright and illustrative; dull quotes are turds that weigh a story down. Examine the interviewing material closely (including Harrower, pp. 72-82), and develop your own interviewing skills and style.

• For the Week 10 NewsTalk on Blackboard, talk about your story (which is due Friday) and what issues you’re encountering.

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Week 11: CyberHounds

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11—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Nov. 1-7, 2009)



Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)
• Harrower Ch. 7 “Law & Ethics”
• Journalistic Principles
• SPJ Code of Ethics
• Essay: On Objectivity
• News

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Newswriting exercises will be available for you to do as many as you can between now and the end of the semester.
• Participate in Week 11 NewsTalk on Blackboard

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Week 12: CyberHounds

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The signing of the U.S. Constitution, Sept. 17, 1787
12—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Nov. 8-14, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• Harrower Ch. 9 “Broadcast Journalism”
• News

Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . .
• Pitch another story idea (Story #4) on Week 13 NewsTalk to be due next week (5 p.m. Wednesday, 11/18); comment on each other. These stories should now definitely have at least three sources.

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• The story you pitched last week (Story #3) is due by 5 p.m. Wednesday (11/11).
• Participate in Week 12 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 13: CyberHounds

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Afghan student journalist (center) condemned to death
13—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Nov. 15-21, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• Harrower Ch. 10 “Public Relations”
• News

Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . .
• Pitch another story idea (Story #5) on Week 14 NewsTalk to be due next week (5 p.m. Wednesday, 11/25); comment on each other. These stories should now definitely have at least three sources.

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• The story you pitched last week (Story #4) is due by 5 p.m. Wednesday (11/18).
• Participate in Week 13 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 14: CyberHounds

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.14—This Week in NewsHounds Online

(Nov. 22-28, 2009) TURKEY WEEK!

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)
• Newspapers (while they still exist!)

Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . .
• Pitch your last story idea (Story #6) on Week 14 NewsTalk to be due next week (5 p.m. Friday, 12/4); comment on each other. This final story should be your multiple-source, in-depth blockbuster.

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• The story you pitched last week (Story #5) is due by 5 p.m. Wednesday (11/25).
• Participate in Week 14 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.
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Week 15: CyberHounds

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oooooooooohhhhhh!!!!!
15—This Week in NewsHounds Online

The Last Hurrah!
(Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day)

• News

File . . . . . . . . . . .

• Your final outside story (#6) is due by noon Saturday (12/5).

• Everyone may do extras—either outside stories or extra factsheet stories—for extra credit or to replace grades you’re unhappy with. EVERYTHING is due no later than noon Saturday (12/5).
• Participate in Week 15 NewsTalk on Blackboard

• NewsQuiz Click here for directions.

The Final Exam will be emailed to you by Saturday (12/5) and is due back to me NO LATER THAN NOON on Wednesday (12/9) of Finals Week. It will involve a factsheet and complicated hard news story, as well and possible other stuff. Details to come.
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FINALS Week

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16—FINALS WEEK in NewsHounds Online

(April 27, 2009)

Read . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Today’s WORD on Journalism (every day) and comment

• Final Exam will be posted on Friday, April 24, and is due no later Monday, April 27, at noon.

Have a Great Summer!

Welcome to Cyber ’Hounds

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Blog Launched for Online ‘Cyber NewsHounds’

‘A new age of newsdawggery,’ pixellated prof proclaims

The USU journalism department has opened cyberspace to a new era of online journalism instruction with several JCOM courses offered online as part of the department’s new online minor in journalism and public relations.

Beginning in Spring 2010, the full pre-major core for all JCOM majors—Newswriting (JCOM 1130), Intro to Mass Communication (JCOM 1500), and Media Smarts (JCOM 2010)—will be online, as will the PR core for an online minor.

The first online class, offered in Spring 2009, was beginning newswriting class. JCOM 2010—Media Smarts launched in Fall 2009, along with JCOM 2300—Introduction to Public Relations, and JCOM 2310—Writing for Public Relations.

Professor Ted “Pixelhead” Pease “test-drove” the basic newswriting and Media Smarts classes; PR faculty Preston Parker and Troy Oldham designed the online PR offerings.

“This is the future of the communication field—using new technologies to teach and apply both traditional and new journalism and PR skills,” said Pease, a veteran newspaper journalist and JCOM interim department head, who has taught at USU since 1994. “We’s excited to be expanding our reach in this way, exploring how students can learn their craft online and interactively, since that’s how so many of them will be making their livings after graduation.”

The online editions of the regular face-to-face classes reach students both on-campus and at a distance who work independently, through blogs and the university’s statewide interactive distance education network.

For more information about the JCOM Department at USU, and its new online PR minor, visit the department website, and JCOM’s award-winning student online news“paper,” the Hard News Café.

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