COMM 3303
Editing and Makeup for Print
Publications
Fall Semester 2004
Monday/Wednesday
TLC Room 1106
Doug Vinson
Humanities Bldg. Room. 152 Mass Communications Dept. 770-836-6518
Office hours Tue- Thurs
Contact me by email dvinson@westga.edu to make an apt.
Prerequisite COMM 1154
Text: Creative
Editing 4th edition Dorothy Bowles and Diane Borden
Purpose of the Course: The course is intended to introduce you to the fundamentals of newspaper editing. You will learn what print editors do and how they do it. However, the editing principals are applicable to writing used in magazines and public relations work. You will learn to edit stories for style and clarity, check facts, write headlines and captions, and become familiar with the basics of newspaper design and layout. In addition, you will develop your knowledge and judgment of news. The class is designed to begin to prepare you for a career in mass communications.
Requirements of the Course: To successfully complete the lab requirements for the course, you must have published by the end of week 14 at least one story written during the term. You must successfully pass quizzes from textbook reading and workbook exercises, submit written assignments for grading, complete all writing assignments on deadline, participate in projects, and participate in class discussions.
Attendance: I
allow two absences only. Period. Deadlines are
non-negotiable. Do not tell me your
printer died, (if you died please tell me) the computer crashed, or the dog ate
your assignment (if it was a Georgia Bulldawg you may get partial credit…) No 'whinos' allowed
in class. ( If there is any complaining, carping or
general lamenting about things I will handle that department.) Except for
exceptional circumstances (documented, long-term illness, for example). I do
not expect to EVER discuss absences/missed assignments with you.
Academic honesty
Plagiarism and other forms of cheating (i.e. fabricating sources or quotes, etc.) will not be tolerated. Make sure you understand the student code of conduct regarding cheating.
Handouts
You will receive enough handouts from me to wallpaper Donald Trump's penthouse. These handouts will be very helpful in developing and refining your writing and critical thinking skills. Retain these handouts – put them under your pillow- put them in safety deposits boxes.
Textbook reading schedule
You will receive this information in a separate handout
Major assignments
In-class editing exercises 40%
AP style, grammar quizzes 10%
textbook reading quizzes
Topic papers/grammar
lessons 10%
Newspaper analysis project
(see handout) 20%
Class participation 10%
Final exam 10%
GRADING
In-class quizzes: At the beginning of almost every class period, you will complete a timed style/grammar/spelling quiz. Most of the time, we will grade these later during the same class period.
Topic papers/grammar lessons: You will complete one in-class assignment almost every week (see handout for guidelines and topics).
Textbook reading and current events quizzes
Graded, in class work You will complete one in-class assignment almost every week.
Final exam You will complete a final exam on the last
day of class in this course.
Professionalism: This class is designed to begin to
prepare you for a career in journalism. Job success includes good attendance
and meeting deadlines. Thus… assignments
must be submitted during the first five minutes of class, the day of the
deadline. If you miss the deadline you miss the opportunity to submit the
assignment. This isn’t open to discussion (see policy on absences).
Quizzes may not
be retaken for a higher grade. You may
make up only ONE missed quiz.
Grading Criteria for Journalism Writing: Grades for writing assignments using
Associated Press style will be awarded according to these standards:
A Copy is publishable as is. No fact error and copy meets deadline.
B Copy needs minor editing. No fact error and copy meets deadline.
C Copy needs close editing. No fact error and copy meets deadline.
D Copy needs heavy editing. No fact error and copy meets deadline.
F Copy has fact error(s) and/or misses deadline.
Fact errors: Corrections are costly in journalism—they can harm your credibility as well as the credibility of the newspaper or company you’re working for. For our lab, an assignment written for your portfolio that contains a fact error or errors will get an F. Common fact errors are found in names, addresses, ages, quotes and narration. Proofread your copy before you turn it in. These Fs may or may not be part of your final grade since they are part of your portfolios, and portfolio exercises will be chosen AT RANDOM for grading.
Goal of the grading system: The goal of the grading system is to not only teach you to write a well-crafted story but to teach you the utmost respect for deadlines, accuracy, attention to detail and the tools of your craft, which are the mechanics of the English language. They are all critical components of a successful career in journalism.
TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN
THIS CLASS YOU MUST:
Submit written assignments for grading: This is a writing and editing lab course. All of your writing is to be properly formatted, (must be turned in on time, and is graded through a portfolio grading system.
Complete all editing and writing assignments on deadline: Meeting deadlines is essential to the profession, so any assignment turned in after its deadline will get an F. Deadlines are not negotiable. If you know you will not be able to attend class on a day a story is due, you may give it to me ahead of time in hard copy, via fax or by e-mail.
Submit weekly story
budgets: Good editors need to know how to develop story ideas from a
variety of sources. Every Monday, you will turn in a story budget (a list)
of a minimum of two story ideas that could realistically be written that week.
Read the newspaper: Reading the newspaper should be part of your daily routine. To be properly prepared for class discussion, you will need to read the main news section of a major newspaper of your choice. Make notes on any stories you would like to discuss.
STUDENT CONFERENCES: I will have scheduled class time during the term to meet with you individually to discuss your progress and goals. (A sign-up sheet with times will be made available as we approach week 6.) Monday Nov. 22 and Tuesday 23 will be set aside during class time to meet with me individually. But if you have concerns or needs before then, please don’t hesitate to talk to me.
Words of Wisdom
“ I never had the advantage of a university education.
But is a great privilege and the more widely extended, the better for any
country. It should not be looked upon as something to end with youth but as a
key to open many doors of thought and knowledge.
A university education ought to be a guide to the reading of a lifetime. One who has profited from a university education has a wide choice. He need never to be idle or bored. He is free from that vice of the modern age which requires something new not only every day but every two or three hours of the day. The first duty of the university is to teach wisdom, not a trade. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world but we do not want a world of engineers. “ Winston Churchill
“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”
Will Strunk
“My mission is to make you think like a journalist.
To do this, you need to open your eyes, learn to listen rather than talk, to
practice the craft of reporting and writing until you get it right. Journalism is basically storytelling with a
purpose,”
Dr. Barry Hollander
News is ...
Journalism is literature in a hurry. -- Matthew Arnold
The first rough draft of history. -- Ben Bradlee
What lies between the ads? -- Dale Boller
What protrudes from the ordinary. -- Walter Lippman
Anything that will make people talk. -- Charles A. Dana
Things that people don't want to be known. -- Nicholas Tomlin
What interests a good newspaperman. -- Gerald Johnson
“He that studies only men will get the body of knowledge without the soul, and he that studies only books, the soul without the body. He that to what he sees, adds observation, and to what he reads, reflection, is on the right road to knowledge, provided that in scrutinizing the hearts of others, he neglects not his own”
Caleb Colton