Jour 215 Multimedia Reporting Spring 2020 Covid-19 Edition
Brian K. Johnson UL TI • Professor • EDIA 10 Gregory Hall • [email protected] MM • (217) 898-1894 •••
Office Hours • Zoom/FaceTime by Appointment •••
Photo from NASA Brian K. Johnson is a full professor in the department of journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He started his journalism career as a staff photojournalist at The News-Gazette in Champaign and has been teaching at the University since 1988. Johnson has received recognition for his teaching including being selected as a Vice Chancellor's Teaching Scholar and as Faculty Member of the Year from the University of Illinois Dads Association. He was twice the head of the Visual Communications Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and was vice president of the Illinois Press Photographers Association. He has served the department of journalism at the University as director of graduate studies, associate department head and as department head. Johnson is an ally in the lgbt ally network sponsored by the UIUC Office of Inclusion & Intercultural Relations
Research/Creative Endeavor Johnson has received more than 60 national, regional and state awards for his photojournalism, multimedia and videos. Johnson's work has been published in the New York Times , the Chicago Tribune , the Washington Post , USA Today , Newsday and others. He was the editor of the book, C-U in Seven Plus, A Week (Plus a little bit more) in the Life of Champaign-Urbana . He has won prizes in the Horizon Interactive awards, National Press Photographers Association Pictures of the Year and the Telly Awards. His multimedia project This Bond won Best Faculty Creative Project from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Visual Communication Division.
He teaches classes in multimedia reporting and photography.
Contact Information: [email protected] (217) 898-1894 cell
Office: Room 10 Gregory Hall
Mailing address: 117 Gregory Hall 810 S. Wright St. Urbana, IL 61801
©2020 Brian K. Johnson, All Rights Reserved 1 Welcome, I’m glad that you are in my Multimedia Reporting class. All are welcome! This will be an Purpose intensive hands-on class that will demand your attention and time. You will be rewarded by your semester accomplishments. Journalism is changing — it is becoming a broader landscape with more potential than ever before. The multimedia storytelling techniques you will learn in this course are crucial to your success as a 21 st Century journalist.
You will acquire new skills and refine skills acquired in previous media courses. Audio, video, photos and text Scope will be in your toolbox during the course and you will learn how these abilities can be applied to Web and mobile multimedia for journalism and reporting.
This course will explore storytelling and ways digital technologies are impacting journalism. Instruction will include conceptual frameworks and methodologies to produce multimedia journalism content; the conception, planning, and creation of multimedia projects; coverage of events using audio, video, photographs and/or text; the technical and creative aspects of digital photography, video, and multimedia; presenting your work on the Web and mobile platforms. You will also use video blogging and live “micro” blogging. D UPDATE Labs were meeting in room 03, Gregory Hall from 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Conduct of the Lecture will be in Lincoln Hall 1002 from 10 a.m. to Course 11:20 a.m. on Fridays. Now we will use this time for individual video conferences as requested or needed using Zoom or FaceTime. Lectures will be recorded as will lab How To sessions. There will be weekly quizzes on the lecture material that you will submit in the individual UofIBox folders I’ve created for you. The lecture and lab material will be in the general UofIBox folder that you all have access to or YouTube. D UPDATE Watching and taking notes as well as applying these lessons to your assignments is required. I recommend Attendance keeping to a regular schedule with the lecture and lab material. Multimedia journalism requires a great deal of time to complete assignments. You can’t “cram” for a multimedia reporting project like you might be able to for a test in another class.
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 2
Violations of academic integrity are serious offenses Academic Integrity and students guilty of such infractions will be penalized.
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The code stipulates the penalties. In general, if you are found to have plagiarized or cheated on an assignment you will earn zero points for that assignment. You will also earn zero points for the participation portion of the final grade and may also fail the class. You would have the right of appeal to the Department of Journalism Academic Appeals Committee.
Journalism Next Fourth Edition Required Texts By Mark Briggs , SAGE Publications, Inc . ISBN: 978-1544309446 Either paper or electronic versions
that relate to the course. Recommended hLtitnpkse:/d/Inw Lebe.aurinlliinngo icso.eudruse/sl inkedinlearning
•SDHC memory cards (One should be16 GB or Supplies larger. The second one must NOT be larger than 32 GB.) •Batteries: AA Lithium (about four) AAA alkaline or lithium (one to two) •External USB hard drive
The lab facility is shared by other UI journalism and Open Lab Hours Media students — a lab use schedule should be posted on the door of the lab. Computers will be available on a first come, first seated basis and you may use the lab when not reserved for other classes. The lab’s key-card access door allows you in any time the building is open. You are responsible for keeping the lab neat and Lab cleaning up after yourself. Please pick up the area Maintenance around your computer and log out when you are done. Be sure to save all of your data on your external hard drive – don’t save your work on the internal hard drives of the computers.
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 3 To get above an average grade, you must go beyond the minimum. You must demonstrate quality, Grading inventiveness and initiative going clearly beyond the required. Put in the extra effort to get effective pictures and video: Shoot from a variety of vantage points, take pictures at many locations, get in close to your subjects, use the available light to advantage. Record clear audio and steady video. Once you have that great media be sure you have planned your project to be efficient. Story and programming are as important as the skill of the original shooting and recording. Above all, be creative. Show me a part of yourself through your projects. Blow me away with your work.
PWuobrlki shhaasb elxec aesp tiiso annadl mweorrith: syu opfe driiosrt ivnicstiioonn, :c 9re0a%ti v+i ty, Work is initiative in problem solving, thoughtfulness and evaluated on a effort, and fulfills all assignment requirements and goals in an exceptional and significant manner. publishablity Technical quality of work is excellent; editorial content scale is substantive and relevant to issues in the greater Champaign-Urbana community or beyond.
PWuobrlki sihs awbellel adso nise o arn wd ietxhh mibiintso gr oreovdi sviiosniosn: , c 8re0a-8ti9v% ity, initiative, thoughtfulness and effort. Work fulfills assignment requirements and goals in a better-than- average manner. Technical quality and/or aesthetics and/or editorial content can be made suitable for publication with minor revisions.
PWuobrlki sihs aobf laev oernalgye w qiuthal mitya. jWoro rrekv eisxihoinbsit:s a c c e 6p5t-a7b9l% e but average vision, creativity, initiative in problem solving, thoughtfulness and effort, and fulfills assignment requirements and goals in an average manner. Work can be made suitable for publication only if supplemented with additional raw material. Work demonstrates serious effort to fulfill the assignment but falls short.
WNotr kp uisb olifs bhealbowle :a v e r a g e q u a l i t y a n d w h o l l y 0-64% unacceptable for publication due to technical or editorial reasons. Work does not demonstrate serious effort to fulfill the assignment requirements and goals.
Work that is not submitted or submitted after deadline: 0% (zero points)
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 4 Deadlines are very important in the real world and in Deadlines this class. An assignment that is late will earn zero (0) points for that assignment.
Assignments will be due at the times stipulated on the schedule page of this syllabus.
Project one — Camera Experiment 25 Assignment Project two — Point Values People/Places/Things 50 Project three — Event Photo Story 75 Project four — Video Interview 100 Project five — Audio/Photo Story 100 Project six — Video Essay 150 Project seven — Website Project 0 ED CANCEL Project eight — Portfolio Website 0 ED CANCEL Midterm exam 100 Live Blogging Assignment 50 Attendance and Participation 50 EDUCED Weekly Lecture Quizzes 100 R TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS 800
Assignments will usually involve many hours of time outside class for planning, shooting, editing and designing. All work submitted must have been produced this semester for this class or a media outlet. Content created for graded assignments in other classes mustn’t be used in this course. Doing so will earn a zero for that assignment.
Final grade: Minimum percentages A+ 96% B+ 86% C+ 76% D+ 66% F 59% A 93% B 83% C 73% D 63% and A– 90% B- 80% C– 70% D– 60% below
Assignment W1. iFthin eisahcehd a pssroigjencmt wenitth, yyoouu rm nuasmt pe uobnl/iisnh :it published Components onto your WordPress site before the deadline. 2. Your Goal statement must be emailed to me before you start the project but no later than Friday the week before the assignment is due. It must also be included in the project, usually on the Intro page of your website.
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 5 3. Your Editing statement videos must be published with each assignment. Present yourself professionally, have clean audio, camera at eye level.
You must write a brief (3-4 Gseonatel nScteast emmaexnimt Eumma)i el:xplanation and justification of Goal Statement your content goals for the assignment. This should answer the questions: “WhGato dalo I iSnttaetenmde tnot communicate?” “How am I going to do it?” “Why is this an effective topic and valuable to my readers?” This should be written BEFORE you shoot/record any pictures/audio-video or program any pages.
To make sure you do so, the completed goal statement must be emailed to me a week before the assignment is due. For example, say an assignment is due Sunday the 16th. You must email the goal statement by the previous Sunday the 9th.
You are required to format the email subject line as follows: Goal Statement Goal Firstname Lastname Assignment # j215 REQUIRED email Goal Brian Johnson Assignment 3 j215 “subject” format Example: Once you have your cEodnitienngt: Spthaotetomse, nvitd veiod,e aou bdliog, e: tc. you will need to Editing decide what to use and how to present the information. Statement Your Editing Statement Video Blog will briefly explain how you arrived at your decision. This video should answer the question: “Why did I choose these items: Pictures, video and/or audio for the project and why do I think the project communicates effectively?” Also justify the presentation of the project. Include this video on the last page for that assignment on your website. You can use your camera, lab computer, cell phone to record this. Speak conversationally, clearly.
ProEjxepcetr Oimneen t— w iEthx ypoeurri mcamenetr aw biyt hsh Cooatminge rtahe eight Assignments following “diptychs” or picture combos, one selfie and two videos. For most of this assignment you will have your camera set in the “Program” Auto mode. Don’t use the same or similar pictures in more than one category. In other words, if you use a picture for stop action for example, you cannot
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 6 use the same or similar looking pictures for, let’s Assignments say, wide-angle.
Continued Wide-angle / Telephoto 1T.he telephoto settings on the lens makes something that is far away look closer. The wide angle settings gives you an encompassing view of the location. The zoom control is the barrel around the lens. Rotate the barrel to the right and the lens will adjust to wider angle settings. Rotate the barrel to the left and you will go to the telephoto settings. Set the lens to a telephoto setting before shooting the telephoto shots and to a wide angle setting before shooting the wide angle shots. Some kits have a second lens for even more range.
“Stop” Action / Blurred Action S2.hoot stop action shots outside in the daytime. Put your camera in the TV mode and set the shutter speed to 1/500. Don’t use flash to stop the action! Shoot the blurred action shots inside a building or at dusk outside. Put the camera in the TV mode and set the shutter speed at 1/15. This intentional blur is caused by the subject or camera moving not from taking an out-of-focus picture. This planned blur can help illustrate the motion of the subject (think ballroom dancers swirling about the floor). The stop action photos help show the intensity of the subject at the peak of their action (imagine a volleyball player in midair spiking the ball over the net).
COLOR / No Color (monochromatic scene) Two i3m. ages from the world around you: one that illustrates the concept of color and a second image that seems like there is no color in it, or predominantly just one color. – Don’t change color pictures into black and white through a camera effect. This is a scene from real life that basically has no color, or just one color). Don’t take pictures of posters, paintings, fabrics, textiles or another other flat piece of someone else’s creative output. These are to be photos taken “out in the wild” from the physical world.
. High Angle / Low Angle S4hoot a picture from a high angle, like standing on
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 7 a chair, in a tree or from an upper window. Shoot another picture from a low angle — lay flat on the Assignments ground for example. Continued Hard Shadows / Soft Shadows H5. ard light has lots of highlights and shadows — like light coming directly from the sun on a day with no clouds, or a spot light on a statue. Soft light has few to no shadows and is taken, for example, on an overcast day or with light coming through sheer curtains. Don’t use flash as your light source. Look for these different types of light and take some pictures of scenes with each. Turn in one of each.
Close Up / Super Close Up 6E.xamples: Close Up – someone’s nose. Super Close Up – the pores on someone’s nose. Sometimes the camera has a difficult time focusing on close objects so you might try putting the camera into “Manual” focus and do the focusing yourself. Another example: a single flower filling the frame for close up and just the center of the flower for super close up.
Morning (7 a.m.) / Noon / Night (9 p.m.) 7. “triptych” Show how the sun changes the look of an outdoor scene throughout this time period. Shoot all three pictures from the same location of the same outdoor scene, using the same framing so all three pictures will be composed the same way. Use your tripod for the shots. Don’t cheat and take the morning and noon photos just minutes apart – I can tell when you do this and you’ll earn a zero on the assignment.
Video with tripod / Video without tripod S8.hoot similar subject matter for both videos. Final clips should each be about 5 sec. long. Keep your camera in the Green Auto setting and to start shooting video just press and release the round silver button with the red dot in the middle to start shooting video. Press that same button again to stop shooting video.
Do not zoom the lens or move the camera by panning or tilting while you are shooting. Decide
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 8 where to point the camera and keep it there Assignments without moving the camera.
Continued . Selfie with YOUR CELL PHONE S9hoot a “selfie” of yourself using your cell phone. Experiment with controls the phone has for focus and exposure.
Create a WordPress page for each combo with text labels by each photo indicating what that photo represents – “Wide-Angle” for example. Have an intro entry with your goal statement and assignment explanation, using your best photo as the main image on the page. As the second to last page, I’ll show you how to make a PDF “Contact Sheet” with ALL the pictures you SHOT for this assignment, even the ones that you didn’t use. (don’t include video). Include a last page with your editing statement video blog.
Your project will have a minimum total of 12 pages: [Intro – Wide/Tele – Action – Color – Angle – Light – Close Up – Time of Day – Video – Selfie – Contact Sheet file – Video Blog] Publish to your WordPress site under a 25 Points menu named “Experiment”
Project Two — People/Places/Things: Photos aYonud a Areu tod icoapture photographs and natural sounds: Some each of the categories of People, Places, Things. These must be “found” situations and may NOT be set up (except the portrait). Get caption information from the people and about the places and things. Photos: 1. Take an interesting portrait shot of a person. 2. Capture a moment between two people in a REAL moment (not sports and obviously not posed, set up or recreated) where you can see their faces and expressions. Get close! 3. Take an interesting photo of a location with either an unusual shooting vantage point or with interesting light (or both if you want). The “subject of interest” is the LOCATION. 4. Take three DIFFERENT shots of one thing. Show how different the thing can look based on the
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 9 shooting vantage point, light, distance from the object, etc. Only one picture should show the Assignments whole thing. DON’T just take three pictures with very little difference between them. Continued 5. Use YOUR CELL PHONE to take an interesting picture in a candid situation. Audio: 1. Record an audio clip of your portrait person telling you about their favorite thing. Edit this down to a 10 second clip. 2. Record the “sounds of nature” and edit the file to a 5-10 second audio clip. 3. Record the “sounds of civilization” and edit the file to in a 5-10 second audio clip 4. Record the “sound of a thing that makes noise” (NO buses!) and edit the file to in a 5-10 second audio clip Be creative. 5. Use YOUR CELL PHONE to record ambient audio of the sounds in a classroom before a class starts.
Make a WordPress menu/pages with your content: people – places – things. and explanatory teIxntc ilnu dthee c paopstti.o Hnsa vfoer y eoaucrh pgohaolt ostatement/assignment explanation.
You will create a PDF “Contact Sheet” with ALL the images you SHOT for this assignment (even the ones that did not turn out well). Include your editing statement video blog.
Your project will have a minimum total of these components [Intro – Photos 1-5 – Audio 1-5 – Contact Sheet file – Video Editing Statement]
Publish to your WordPress site under a 50 Points menu named “PPT” D Project three — Event Instagram Story UPDATE You may tell the story of an event with friends and family for this assignment. This is a change from the earlier syllabus where it said you couldn't have any connection with the event. Remember that you are a journalist cover this event, even if your friends and/or family are the subjects of the event. You still need to write a short story about the event. You still need to post some photos to Instagram while the event is happening. Remember that
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 10 stories are usually about PEOPLE and have a Assignments beginning, a middle and an end. To add interest be sure to shoot overall pictures to show the location; Continued medium pictures of people interacting; close up pictures that show details the viewer would miss otherwise. — using journalism style and inW thriet eth ai rsdh opretr sotonr —y of about 250 words to compliment the images.
While you are at the event, post some effective, journalistic photos from your phone on Instagram as you shoot them. Add captions and tags on Instagram. Then embed your Instagram photos into your class WordPress site along with other pictures you shot with your camera on pages representative of the event. Include your short story as a text block and NOT as extended captions.
Remember that this is a photo story so try to design your WordPress pages so that the photos are large enough to have impact. In your presentation use a minimum of five photos and a maximum of 20 photos. Have an introduction photo with your story. Display your embedded photos in a way that helps tells the story of the event in addition to the photos you took with your camera. Then, also make a PDF “Contact Sheet” file with ALL the images you shot for this assignment including the pictures from your cell phone (even the ones that did not turn out well). Include your editing statement video blog.
Your project will have a minimum total of five components: Your Instagram posted photos and captions, and four pages on your class WordPress site [1. Intro with story; 2. Picture Story images with captions; 3. Photo Gallery; 4. Video Editing Statement]
Publish to your Instagram account and to your class WordPress site under a 75 Points menu named “PhotoStory”
D Project four — UPDATE V idTehois Iisn ttoe rbve iae swh owrti (tohn eB m–Rinoultle ) video of a person. You will find the person and interview them on
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 11 camera about an interesting aspect of their life, something that expresses their personality. Assignments Include B-Roll video sequences (including “cut away” and “cut in” shots) of them “at work” (as it relates Continued to their topic). You may use still photos if appropriate. Use the lavaliere mic connected to your class audio recorder to record the interview audio. Pay attention to the light for the interview. Use YOUR CELL PHONE to record wide angle video A-Roll that you may use to intercut with the medium/tight A-Roll shot with your class camera.
The final video must NOT be a single continuous A- Roll clip. Ask them several questions relating to their interesting aspect and edit together the best answers into your video. Don’t ask just one open ended question and use their whole answer for your video. You should have at least 10 minutes of raw A-Roll to work with. You must have at least 10 different B-Roll shots to choose from, most edited together into sequences.
Export a web-ready version by following the instructions given in class and in the information sheet on the class wiki. This exported video will be uploaded to YouTube and then embedded in your webpage for this assignment. Target lenth 60 seconds. Include your goal statement/assignment explanation and your video editing statement.
Your project will have a total of three components: [Intro – Video Interview – Video Editing Statement]
Publish to your WordPress site in a 100 Points menu named “PersonVideo”
D Project five — Audio Story with photos UPDATE Produce an audio story, complimented with photos, . Shoot still pictures and recoorfd a anm ibniteenret satnindg n paltaucreal sounds. You can also record and use sound bites from people in the location but due to “social distancing” you are not required to. Include pictures of them and identify them on screen if you do interview people for the story. If you don’t interview anyone you must use some voiceover. Remember though this is an AUDIO story so keep comments to a minimum.
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 12 Use Premiere Pro software to create the final product. Assignments Match the audio with the images. Continued Maximum length: 2 min. Minimum length: 1 min. 20 sec.
Create a webpage for your goal statement/assignment explanation. Include your video editing statement on a separate page.
Your project will have a total of three components: [Intro – Audio Story – Video Editing Statement]
Publish to your WordPress site in a 100 Points menu named “AudioStory”
D Project six — Video Essay UPDATE Tell a story in the form of a video essay using all the audio, photo, and video skills you’ve learned during the semester. The topic of this project is: Coronavirus You can cover any aspect of this topic and it's best to choose a narrow aspect of the topic to cover. You need to send me your ideas about how you will cover this topic by April 10 by 11:59 p.m. The assignment stipulates that you have three interviews and we will just need to see what happens with the "shelter in place" order. It could be that you have audio interviews with people with photos. It could be that you do Zoom or FaceTime interviews and record them using your class cameras. We'll talk more about this in the coming weeks. Maximum length: 3 min. 30 sec. Minimum length: 2 min. (longer is rarely better than shorter) This is a video in form and not an audio slide show. You may include still pictures and info graphics in your video essay. Some provided photos or videos may be OK too. Check with me.
Create a page that has your goal statement/assignment explanation. Another page will have your embedded YouTube video essay displayed. Your last page for this assignment will have your video editing statement.
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 13 Your project will have a total of three components: [Intro – Video Essay – Video Editing Statement]
Publish to your WordPress site under a 150 Points menu named “VideoEssay”
ED Project seven — Project Website CANCEL Create a separate site or a new menu item to show how you would tell a newsworthy story on your video essay topic. You will use the project six video essay as one component of your final project. Think of how you would include at least four of these media types in your project: Photo Story, Audio Story, Text Story, Video Essay, Timeline, Alternative Story Forms, Graphics
no later than your lab day Topaifct emr uthset bmei datpeprmro veexdam.
This Final Project must be your own work. It must follow traditional journalistic standards of neutrality, balance, truth. It is NOT opinion and NOT advocacy. While you may use some portion of source-provided content it cannot be more than 10 percent of the finished product. See me to validate the amount of outside content used.
Any and all content not produced or created by you MUST BE CREDITED to the source of the material and include a usage statement located in the project where that material is used. You must have permission IN WRITING (email is fine) from the source to use the content. The content may be Creative Commons as long as you follow the usage allowed by the CC licence. Verify that the source of the material has the rights to grant usage of the content.
Publish to your WordPress site under a 0 Points menu named “FinalProject” ED Project eight — Portfolio Website CANCEL Create a Website or create a section on your WordPress site to showcase your work from the semester. This will be an overview of the semester and a unique way to showcase your work. Start
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 14 with an introduction page that gives your users a sense of the class and what the site is about. Then have one or more pages that include links to all your assignment webpages with a short explanation of each project. Include an “About Me” page that is part resume, part cover letter.
Publish a new website or to your WordPress site under a 0 points menu named “Portfolio”
D Event Blogging — Live Lecture Coverage UPDATE You will live-blog from a multimedia lecture assigned to you using . Use the “hashtag” #j215topic a2s4 tLhIeV tiEtlBeL oOf Gyour live event For example, if we are adlioscnugs wsinitgh vyioduero nsatomrye. telling your hashtag would be If you live blo#gjg2e1d5 voindee ofF oirusrtn calamsse Lleacsttunraems ge reat you have completed this. If you HAVEN'T blogged yet choose a televised news event or press conference to live blog using 24LiveBlog. This could be a CNN Coronavirus Town Hall, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Coronavirus press conference, White House Press Briefing on Coronavirus or another other live news event that last at least 30 minutes. If the press conference you cover is too short you can cover an additional conference. It doesn't need to be about the Covid-19. YOU MUST have a page on your WordPress site with a link to your 24LiveBlog.
Publish to your WordPress site in a 50 Points page named “LiveBlog” There is a list of hashtags or titles for each lecture on the live-blogging schedule page. In other words on your assigned day take your lecture notes using . Free registration required. 24LIVEBLOG You will be teamed up with a “critique buddy” at the Critique Buddies! start of the semester. “What’s a ‘critique buddy’ anyway?” If you ever spent a day at the pool or summer camp lake as a child you might remember being paired with a “swimming buddy” who was there to look out for you — to make sure that if 12 kids went into the water, 12 kids came out. Critique
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 15 Buddies are the same thing: we don’t want to lose anyone along the way. Plus it’s nice to have someone’s hand to hold and say “we’re in this together.” “Don’t worry, I’m watching out for you.” “Hmm, maybe you could think about adding a photo of the scientist when we first hear them speak?”
How will this whole Critique Buddy thing work? You and your buddy will help each other by acting as a sounding board/coach/honest friend during the planning stage and later in the editing stage of your projects. You won’t be working on assignments together but will help bring out the best in each other in the conception and completion stages. Want to know if that face is too green? Ask your critique buddy. Does this audio fit with this video? Ask your critique buddy. Can this project be tightened up? Ask your critique buddy.
Most of your critique buddy interaction will be during your scheduled lab hours and you should certainly feel free to seek the advice of your critique buddy whenever you need it. If your critique buddy isn’t available don’t be afraid to ask another group to be your surrogate critique buddies while your’s is MIA.
Why is the critique buddy system a good thing? The hope is that having an emotionally safe and constructive relationship in this class setting will help both of you to become better multimedia journalists. You will help each other learn the techniques and methodology of multimedia reporting practice and technology. You will learn from each other’s mistakes and successes. You will have someone to commiserate with when things get messed up and someone to high- five when you “nail-it” on assignment.
•Capture content needed for your project in the best medium for the message. Tips for doing assignments •The assignments are only starting points. Don’t limit your projects to only the minimum requirements for assignments. Shoot more pictures, gather more sounds, produce more videos if needed to tell your story completely.
•Take pictures, shoot video, record audio or program
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 16 pages as soon as you can. Don’t wait until the day the assignment is due. It will rain or the equipment will malfunction. This is pertinent especially to all assignments where you will program because of the time involved in producing the project. •Always strive to make your content interesting and meaningful for those who consume it and not exclusively for yourself. •Make sure you include all the required components of an assignment. •Always turn in your assignments on time! A “perfect” project turned in late is much less useful professionally or in this class than a “slightly flawed” project turned in on time. The grading is strongly weighted to encourage on-time performance. •Above all: Be Creative and communicate with your work.
During the semester I may need to change, correct, Changes, delete or add to this syllabus, including assignments, corrections, as needed to accommodate our progress through various tasks and assignments. I’ll give you notice of deletions and any alteration to the course in lecture, lab or via e-mail. additions Advance notice of any assignment or test/quiz change which shortens the time until the deadline will be given at least seven days in advance of the new date.
The change of any due dates or assignments does not change other dates or assignments. In other words, if I give you more time to work on one assignment you should plan that the upcoming due dates will be as listed in the syllabus. So, I reserve the right to change the syllabus as needed to best accommodate the educational needs of the students in the course.
•In all reporting for this course your work will Important Course eventually be seen and heard by the public. NEVER Policies/Rules tell a source you are simply doing a class project. DO tell them that it will be on the Web •Remember that accurate reporting is always of the utmost importance. Reporting errors (fact errors, misspelled names, incorrect titles, etc.) result in substantial project grade reductions.
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 17 •When producing projects for this course, keep your original, unedited recorded interviews safe until the project critique has been returned. I may want to hear or see the original material during the grading process. Failure to supply any requested content may result in a loss of all project points. •This is a journalism class and your projects must follow standard journalistic ethics and all information must be true, accurate and properly attributed. You are to be a neutral observer and journalist in your reporting/editing/presentation.
The National Press Photographers Association Ethics guidelines can be found here: https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics
Professional conduct is required in lecture and labs at all times. This is a multimedia reporting class so it is Professional acceptable to use technology for notetaking in lectures conduct in and labs. What is is to use technology not acceptable lecture and lab during lectures and labs for texting, facebooking, emailing, chatting, web-surfing and/or other work that is not directly related to Jour 215, Multimedia Reporting. If your use of technology, that in my estimation disrupts class or your attention/focus on class material you will be required to stop using the technology for the rest of the class period. Three violations will require you to not use technology for the remainder of the semester in class except for assignments.
No eating or drinking in ANY journalism or computer lab at ANY time.
Not all people learn the same way. Some of you might learn best through reading material, some through Learning styles classroom lectures and others through demonstrations. There are likely some of you who have special needs or a learning disability which can be accommodated through an alternate learning style. Please let me know now at the start of the semester of any concerns or needs you may have concerning learning style. I will
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 18 make every attempt to provide a positive learning environment for you. Feel free to speak with me at anytime about any concerns about the course.
To insure that disability-related concerns are properly Disability addressed from the beginning, students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to considerations participate in this class should see me as soon as and possible. Also, please contact Disability Resources and accommodations Educational Services (DRES) at: http://www.disability.illinois.edu for specific accommodations
Class Info Servers https://bkj.web.illinois.edu
Your Class Server Account for Assignments https://web.illinois.edu Create an account using “jour215” plus your UI NetID
For example, my website for class would be: jour215bkj.web.illinois.edu
Live Blogging https://24liveblog.com Create an account (free)
D You will submit these Weekly Lecture Quizzes, in UPDATE Weekly either a PDF or DOC format, to your individual Lecture Quizzes UofIBox class folders. All are due no later than "Reading Day" 11:59 P.M.,Thursday, May 7.
D This will be a "take home" exam where you can use UPDATE Midterm your notes and other sources of information. I will Exam distribute this to all of you on April 10 in your individual UofIBox class folders and you will submit it back into the folder by 11:59 P.M., Monday, April 20.
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 19 Listed below are Professional Values specified by the Professional Values and Competencies, Accrediting Council on Education in and Competencies: , that apply to Jour n2a1l5i,s Mm ualntidm Medaisas R Ceopmormtinugn iacnadti othn e at which you will acquire them. Learning Level • Demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of groups in a global society in relationship to communications; [ ] Awareness • Understand concepts and apply theories in the use and presentation of images and information; [ ] Application • Demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity; [ ] Application • Think critically, creatively and independently; [ ] Application • Conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the communications professions in which they work; [ ] Awareness • Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and purposes they serve; [ ] Application • Critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness; [ Understanding] • Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work. [ Application]
Level of Learning definitions •Awareness: familiarity with specific information, including facts, concepts, theories, laws and regulations, processes and effects. •Understanding: assimilation and comprehension of information, concepts, theories and ideas. •Application: competence in relating and applying skills, information, concepts, theories and ideas to the accomplishment of tasks.
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 20 Required Readings Week 3 jn 1 and 2 Foreword and Preface jn 3 Introduction: Journalism Is About People jn Chapter 2 Power of Publishing: Blogging
Week 4 jn Chapter 1 Digital Lives, Digital Journalism jn Chapter 6: Visual Storytelling with Photographs
Week 5 jn Chapter 3 Crowd-powered collaboration jn Chapter 4 Going mobile
Week 6 jn Chapter 7 Making audio journalism visible jn Chapter 5 Telling stories with video
Week 7 jn Chapter 8 Data-driven journalism
Week 8 jn Chapter 9 Building a digital audience
Week 9 jn Appendix Suggested Web Resources
Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson 21 Lecture Live-Blogging Bloggers and Hashtags/Titles #j215composition January 31 oabbott2; alpasan2; tballog2
#j215photos February 7 abranne2; amandab6; devinb2
#j215audio February 21 jameswb2; mollykc3; dwc2
#j215sequence February 28 tianbin2; jaredde2; rse3u
#j215MultimediaVideo March 6 mehret2; garibay5; biancah2
If you live blogged one of our class lectures great D UPDATE you have completed this. If you HAVEN'T blogged yet, choose a televised news event or press conference to live blog using 24LiveBlog. This could be a CNN Coronavirus Town Hall, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Coronavirus press conference, White House Press Briefing on Coronavirus or another other live news event that last at least 30 minutes. If the press conference you cover is too short you can cover an additional conference. It doesn't need to be about the Cover-19. YOU MUST have a page on your WordPress site with a link to your 24LiveBlog.
24LIVEBLOG.COM D UPDATE You can use your smartphone, tablet or laptop to do your Blogging. Mobile app available for iOS and Android
Place a link or embed your live blog on your Jour215 WordPress site. I’ll also create a page with everyone’s links on the class info website.
Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson University of Illinois Journalism Multimedia Reporting 22 Lab Activity (Monday, Wednesday): Lecture Activity (Friday): •Course content, What is multimedia January 24 journalism?
•WordPress, 24LIVEBLOG, cameras •Composition, Assignment 1 continued January 27, 29 January 31 and equipment, Assignment 1
•Photo editing, WordPress, cameras •Telling a story with photos, content February 3, 5 February 7
•Color, color correcting on computer Class Canceled February 10, 12 February 14 §Project one — “Experiment” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Sunday, February 16 • WordPress, Adobe Premiere Pro •Telling a story with audio, Podcasts February 17, 19 February 21
•Audio, mic’ing, “nat” sound •Video grammar/sequence shooting February 24, 26 February 2
•Lighting, sequence editing exercise •Video in Multimedia — it’s NOT TV March 2, 4 March 6
•Sequence shooting exercise •How and Why: Video storytelling March 9, 11 March 13 §Project two — “PPT” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 13 NO CLASS: Spring Break NO CLASS: Spring Break March 16, 18 March 20
•Sequence crits, work on Project three •CMS, Interactive content, SEO March 23, 25 March 27
•Work on Project three •Video Essay March 30, April 1 April 3 D U P D A T E §Project three — “PhotoStory” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, April 1 •Lights, sync, work on project four •Midterm Exam in your UofIBox folder April 6, 8 April 10
•Work on Project four •Ethics and Diversity April 13, 15 April 17 D U P D A T E §Project four — “PersonVideo” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 13 •Work on Project five •How Web differs from other platforms April 20, 22 April 24 §Midterm Exam — “Take Home” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 20 in your class UofIBox folder •Work on Project six •Future of multimedia April 27, 29 May 1 D U P D A T E §Project Five — “Audio Story” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 27 •Work on Project six May 4, 6 To Be Determined Return Equipment to be determined
D §Weekly Lecture Quizzes — DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 7 UPDATE §Project six — “VideoEssay” D First Draft DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Friday, May 8 UPDATE Final Version DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. Thursday, May, 14 D U P D A T E §Live Blogging — “24LiveBlog” DUE no later than 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 14 Multimedia Reporting University of Illinois Journalism Course Outline–Brian K. Johnson