BROOKLYN COLLEGE Department of Television and Radio TVRA 4040 (Section RQ2): Convergent News Platforms Spring Semester 2015

Professor John Anderson Class meets Thursdays, 2:15-6:45 PM / 302 Whitehead Hall (Radio Lab) Contact: 404S Whitehead Hall / (608) 395-4389 / [email protected] / @diymediadotnet Office Hours: Wednesday 4:00-5:30 PM / Thursday 12:30-2:00 PM in 404S Whitehead or by appointment

Course Description

Catalog Description: Exploration of online platforms that extend the reach of broadcast media. Introduction to the tools and techniques of online newsgathering and production, with special focus on the effective use of social media and livestreaming. Production of content for the Brooklyn News Service.

Detailed Description: Media convergence is loosely defined as the blurring of previously distinctive media systems, and the settlement for all of them on a unified distribution platform— today, we call this the Internet. Convergence has been an incredibly disruptive force in the field of journalism, but it has also created new opportunities to find and tell stories. This class is an introduction into the tools and techniques for doing journalism on convergent news platforms.

First, the good news: this is an emerging field where there are no hard-and-fast work-protocols (save for those traditionally defined by the standards of quality journalism, which are the same regardless of platform), so we have a lot of latitude in how we navigate this course. This is also the challenge: because journalists are effectively making up the workflow for these new platforms as we go along, there very few definitive “lessons” to be taught regarding convergent news reporting. Therefore, you should think of this class as an experiment—and all of us are the lab mice.

We’ll focus our inquiries in two particular directions: social media and streaming media. Both of these subjects are now robust enough to have their own degrees; in fact, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism just launched a master’s degree in Social Journalism this year, and I would strongly encourage you to read the program description and think about it in the context of what we might do here: http://www.journalism.cuny.edu/academics/social-journalism/

Course Objectives

1. You’ll gain a rudimentary understanding of the basic principles behind journalism on convergent news platforms, including their broader social implications. (DO3)

2. You’ll acquire a basic proficiency in the use of tools, applications, and services used in convergent journalism, and use this creatively to generate worthy content. (DO4, DO9)

Grades will not be discussed via e-mail, but anything else is fair game, although detailed questions about assignments are best discussed in person. All questions regarding readings, assignments, etc. may be answered during class. I am also available for questions immediately after class or during office hours, and am quite flexible about making special appointments to meet with you.

Please note: In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services: http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/disability/

Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell, at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services please provide me with the course accommodation form and I will make every effort to accommodate you.

Course Materials

There is no single assigned text for this course; instead, a series of readings will be made available through the course’s Blackboard site on the CUNY Portal system (https://cunyportal.cuny.edu/). Please make sure that I have your most-used e-mail address on file so that I can communicate with you on class business throughout the semester.

This course requires a mobile media device, such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop capable of wireless Internet access and audio and/or video recording. Though TVRA 4040 is classified as a production course, a significant portion of the work we will be doing will be on these devices. I also strongly encourage you to explore the markets for newsgathering peripherals and applications to use with your devices.

You should also establish a account, if you have not done so already. We will be using Twitter as a primary means to explore journalism in the context of social media, and participation is mandatory. As the semester progresses, you may very well find it advantageous to explore and subscribe to other online services to help manage your online workflow (such as Storify, SoundCloud, etc.), many of which allow for auto-login via Twitter.

Although convergent news reporting has introduced new styles of communication, the basic rules of coherent writing still apply. This is why you should also have a copy of Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference, 6th Edition (New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007). This is a required text for all TV/Radio classes, so please retain it. You should consult this book concerning all style and grammar questions in your writing for this course. You may also use Andrea Lunsford, Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition (New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005), if you have already bought it.

Department e-Group

You should subscribe to the Yahoo! Group for BC majors in TV & Radio: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCTVR-Majors/

This list posts announcements about departmental and campus events, guest speakers, scholarships, internships, and more. All TV/Radio majors should join this Group: to do so, send a blank message to [email protected].

It’s also a good idea to subscribe to the department’s Yahoo! Group for job opportunities: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TVR_Jobs/

This will be especially helpful as you near graduation. To join, send a blank message to [email protected].

Course Requirements and Grading

Attendance is required. Attendance will be recorded for each class. Please be on time. Persistent tardiness will diminish your grade for class participation.

If you must be absent, you must either inform me beforehand or submit valid excuses immediately upon returning to class. Excuses for absences accrued during the course will not be accepted at the end of the semester. The only exception to this policy is that afforded by state law due to religious beliefs.

Two unexcused absences will automatically lower your final grade by a half-letter. Four unexcused absences will automatically lower your final grade by a full letter. Six or more unexcused absences will result in automatic failure, barring divine intervention.

All readings in the course are required. You should bring copies of all readings to class, and come to each class ready to answer questions about them.

Assignment-wise, over the course of this semester you will be responsible for:

1. Regular participation in the course’s Twitter hashtag, #4040. There are a variety of ways to do this; some include reacting to or summarizing weekly readings, notions and/or reportage from a story you have under development, or even relevant observational information, including live- tweeting the class.

2. A series of in-class exercises where we will explore tools, techniques, and trends related to online newsgathering and production.

3. A contribution to the Brooklyn Listening Project, a new interdisciplinary initiative designed to chronicle life-experiences in Brooklyn through subject interviews and observation. The configuration and duration of these stories will depend entirely upon the subject you propose and the most effective means you believe are available to tell the story.

4. A review of an application, site, or service that is useful in the practice of convergent journalism. This will consist of a short paper in conjunction with a short presentation to the class on your chosen subject, in which you will demonstrate the app/site/service’s functionality. Each of you will conduct your own review (no duplicates allowed). This assignment effectively constitutes the course’s final exam.

Your reviews, as well as some of your contributions to the Listening Project and perhaps some selected weekly assignments, may be published to the Brooklyn News Service (http://brooklynnewsservice.info/), a collaborative blog maintained by the Journalism programs here on campus (ours and the one in English).

Late assignments will not be accepted without good cause. If you expect to turn in an assignment late, please see me to determine whether we can work out a mutually beneficial solution.

Grading Scale

I grade on a 100-point system. Participation in the course hashtag (#4040) is worth 10 points, while in-class participation is also worth 10 points. The in-class exercises are collectively worth 40 points (8 assignments @ 5pts each). Your contribution to the Brooklyn Listening Project is worth 20 points, and your review and presentation is worth 20 points.

A+ = 100+ B = 84-86 C- = 70-73 A = 94-99 B- = 80-83 D+ = 67-69 A- = 90-93 C+ = 77-79 D = 64-66 B+ = 87-89 C = 74-76 D- = 60-63

In Summary

Grade Breakdown: 1. #4040 Participation 10% 2. In-class Exercises 40% 3. Brooklyn Listening Project Contribution 20% 4. App/Site/Service Review and Presentation 20% 5. In-class Participation 10% 6. Attendance Required 7. Readings Required

Grade Reductions: 1. 2 unexcused absences grade reduction of half letter (5 points, e.g. B to B-) 2. 4 unexcused absences grade reduction of one letter (10 points, e.g. B to C) 3. 6 unexcused absences F 4. Failure to complete/late assignment automatic zero for the assignment

Extra Credit: There will be extra credit opportunities to be announced later in the semester.

Academic Integrity

The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives.php (see “Academic Affairs”).

If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report it.

You should also be familiar with Brooklyn College’s Student Handbook, which outlines your rights and responsibilities as a student: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/pubs/handbook/shandbook.pdf

Basic Respect

To create a learning environment in which thoughts can be freely shared, it is essential to show respect for the class as a whole. Here are a couple of ground rules we will follow:

1. Unlike most other courses at Brooklyn College, the use of mobile and other electronic devices is part and parcel of the learning process in this class. Even so, please turn off all audible ringers and alerts before entering the classroom. In the event I discover you engaging in other online activities not related to class, you may be asked to leave and will not receive attendance credit for that day. In addition, your course participation grade may be negatively affected.

2. All non-course-related conversations are to be conducted outside the classroom. This includes messaging of any form. If necessary, please leave the room quietly and take care of your business. If your conversation becomes disruptive you will be asked to leave and will not receive attendance credit for that day.

In Discussion and Story Development

Listen carefully: every speaker in class is entitled to respectful attention. This is doubly true of the subjects of your stories.

Never be afraid to ask questions if you don't fully understand something or are curious to learn more (there is no such thing as a "stupid question" in this class, and chances are your classmates may be in the same boat).

Constructive criticism does not mean personal attack. Focus on ideas, not personalities.

The instructor is not always right. The topics in this course are dynamic, and learning is a two- way street.

Outcomes Assessment Rubrics

ACTIVITY EXCEEDS MEETS DOES NOT MEET EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS

Attendance Attends every class Attends class; makes Consistently late on time arrangements to deal and/or absent without with excuse tardiness/absences Class Participation Helps to foster an Engages regularly in Does not engage in or environment where class discussion; does is disrespectful to student discussion is not shy away from class discussion; lively being called upon; avoids responding listens respectfully when called upon Hashtag Contributes Contributes to #4040 Does not contribute to Participation regularly and hashtag with content #4040 hashtag with meaningfully to the relevant to the relevant content; does #4040 hashtag; course; demonstrates not demonstrate demonstrates savvy a rudimentary working knowledge use of Twitter understanding of of Twitter functionality Twitter functionality functionality In-class Exercises Lively engagement Works diligently Neglects or resists with exercises; through exercises; exercises; does not exceeds assignment meets assignment meet assignment minimum standards minimum standards minimum standards Listening Project Demonstrates Meets assignment Fails to make a Contribution creativity in minimums regarding coherent contribution innovation in subject and to the Listening storytelling, both in presentation; work is Project; work is rife content and form; by and large free of with errors and engages in glaring technical difficult to follow transmedia errors and in a proper storytelling context App/Site/Service Paper and Paper and Paper and Review and presentation are presentation are presentation are Presentation creatively designed logically and clearly unclear and poorly and executed; executed; organized; does not demonstrates demonstrates a demonstrate a fluency in selected working knowledge working knowledge app/site/service of selected of selected app/site/service app/site/service

WEEKLY COURSE SCHEDULE

WEEK 1 – INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL CONCEPTS

Thursday, January 29: Class Introduction and Overview

WEEK 2 – THE DIGITAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM

Thursday, February 5: Reading and Discussion ---Keenan Mayo and Peter Newcomb, “How the Web Was Won,” Vanity Fair, July 2008: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/internet200807 ---Jay Rosen, “The People Formerly Known as the Audience,” from The Social Media Reader (2012), p. 13-16. [pdf, available on Blackboard] ---Eric Newton, “To the Journalism Students: Yes, There Are Jobs,” Searchlights and Sunglasses, 2013: http://searchlightsandsunglasses.org/c1a ---Dan Gillmor, “Call me an optimist, but the future of journalism isn’t bleak,” , December 27, 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/27/journalism-future- not-bleak-advertising

WEEK 3 – NO CLASS College closed on Thursday, February 12 for Lincoln’s birthday

WEEK 4 – FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CONVERGENT JOURNALISM

Thursday, February 19: Reading and Discussion ---Alfred Hermida, “From TV to Twitter: How Ambient News Became Ambient Journalism,” M/C Journal, 2010: http://journal.media- culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/220 ---Jay Rosen. “How to be Literate in What’s Changing Journalism,” PressThink, November 9, 2014: http://pressthink.org/2014/11/how-to-be-literate-in-whats-changing-journalism/ ---Jay Rosen, “Designs for a Networked Beat,” PressThink, May 13, 2013: http://pressthink.org/2013/05/designs-for-a-networked-beat/ ---Josh Stearns, “Five Kinds of Listening for Newsrooms and Communities,” The Local News Lab, November 10, 2014: http://localnewslab.org/2014/11/10/five-kinds-of-listening-for- newsrooms-and-communities/

WEEK 5 – WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS (AND IS NOT)

Thursday, February 26: Reading and Discussion ---Hal Hodson, “The Secret System Controlling Your Facebook News Feed,” New Scientist, July 31, 2014: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329804.200-the-secret-system-controlling- your-facebook-news-feed.html ---Julie Posetti, “Facebook Has All the Power,” The Atlantic, July 10, 2014: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/facebook-has-all-the-power-you-have- almost-none/374215/ ---Melanie Stone, “Social Media Editors in the Newsroom: What the Job is Really Like,” PBS MediaShift, March 17, 2014: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2014/03/social-media-editors-in- the-newsroom-what-the-job-is-really-like/ ---Justin Ellis, “Reported.ly puts its social-first journalism model to work covering the Charlie Hebdo attacks,” Nieman Lab, January 13, 2015: http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/01/reported-ly- puts-its-social-first-journalism-model-to-work-covering-the-charlie-hebdo-attacks/ ---Exercise #1

WEEK 6 – USING TWITTER FOR JOURNALISM

Thursday, March 5: Reading and Discussion ---Paul Balcerak, “A Very Simple Way to Use Twitter to Produce a News Story,” Paulbalcerak.com, October 12, 2010, http://paulbalcerak.com/2010/10/12/a-very-simple-way-to- use-twitter-to-produce-a-news-story/ ---Mark Frankel, “Twitter basics for journalists,” BBC Academy, 2014: http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/skills/social-media/article/art20141010155316360 ---Susan Mernit, “Storify: Popular curation platform tells stories with social media,” Knight Digital Media Center, February 25, 2013: http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/blogs/smernit/2013/02/storify-popular-curation- platform-tells-stories-social-media ---Henry Jenkins, “Twitter Revolutions?” Spreadable Media, 2013: http://spreadablemedia.org/essays/jenkins/ - .VMEbL8ZYF7q ---Exercise #2

WEEK 7 – FINDING AND CURATING CONTENT

Thursday, March 12: Reading and Discussion ---Robin Good, “Real-Time News Curation: Process, Key Tasks, Workflow,” Master New Media, September 29, 2010: http://www.masternewmedia.org/real-time-news-curation-the- complete-guide-part-4-process-key-tasks-workflow/ ---Mathew Ingram, “Future of Media: Curation, Verification, and News as a Process,” GigaOm, May 20, 2011: https://gigaom.com/2011/05/20/future-of-media-curation-verification-and-news- as-a-process/ ---Peter Jaszi and Pat Aufderheide, Set of Principles for Fair Use in Journalism, June 2013 [pdf] ---Exercise #3

WEEK 8 – FACT-CHECKING SOCIAL MEDIA

Thursday, March 19: Reading and Discussion ---Rachel Bartlett, “How to: verify content on social media,” Journalism.co.uk, April 3, 2012: https://www.journalism.co.uk/news-features/how-to-verify-content-from-social- media/s5/a548645/ ---Craig Silverman,” B.S. Detection for Digital Content” [slides] Poynter, 2013: http://www.slideshare.net/craigsilverman/bs-detection-for-digital-content ---Josh Stearns, “Lessons from the Fake New York Times Wikileaks Op-Ed,” Storify, 2013: https://storify.com/jcstearns/lessons-from-the-fake-new-york-times--op ---Craig Silverman, “Since Twitter hasn’t built a correction feature, here are 3 things journalists can do instead,” Poynter MediaWire, November 25, 2014: http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/214484/since-twitter-hasnt-built-a-correction-feature- here-are-3-things-journalists-can-do-instead/ ---Is Twitter Wrong? [tumblr]: http://istwitterwrong.tumblr.com/ ---Exercise #4

WEEK 9 – MOBILE JOURNALISM: STORY IDEATION AND PRODUCTION

Thursday, March 26: Reading and Discussion ---Alison Young, “Cultivating Sources and Better Interviewing,” Investigative Reporters and Editors, 2012 [pdf] ---Peter Marsh, “5 tips for news writing with mobile in mind,” International News Media Association, August 13, 2014: http://www.inma.org/blogs/ahead-of-the-curve/post.cfm/5-tips- for-news-writing-with-mobile-eyes-in-mind ---Kevan Lee, “The Optimal Length for Every Social Media Update and More,” Buffer, October 21, 2014: https://blog.bufferapp.com/optimal-length-social-media ---Exercise #5

WEEK 10 – A/V ON THE GO

Thursday, April 2: Reading and Discussion ---Tow Center for Journalism, Video Now (2014): http://videonow.towcenter.org/ ---Stuart Dredge, “How Vice’s Tim Pool Used Google Glass to Cover Istanbul Demonstrations,” The Guardian, July 30, 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/30/google-glass- istanbul-protests-vice ---Eric Athas, “From explainers to sounds that make you go “Whoa!”: The 4 Types of Audio that People Share,” Nieman Lab, January 20, 2015: http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/01/from- explainers-to-sounds-that-make-you-go-whoa-the-4-types-of-audio-that-people-share/ ---Darren Rowse, “12 Tips for Improving Camera Phone Photos,” Digital Photography School (2014): http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-a-camera-phone/ ---Cooperative of Photography, “7 Smartphone Photography Tips and Tricks” [video], 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTz4Nhgm_SQ ---Witness, “10 Tips for Filming Protests, Demonstrations, and Police Conduct,” 2014. [pdf] ---PadCaster Demonstration ---Exercise #6

WEEK 11 – SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS

WEEK 12 – DATA JOURNALISM – I

Thursday, April 16: Reading and Discussion ---Andrei Scheinkman, “Debugging the Backlash to Data Journalism,” Tow Center Blog, March 26, 2014: http://towcenter.org/debugging-the-backlash-to-data-journalism/ ---Milena Marin, “From Idea to Story: Planning the Data Journalism Story,” School of Data, May 2, 2014: http://schoolofdata.org/2014/05/02/from-idea-to-story-planning-the-data- journalism-story/ ---Paul Bradshaw, “How to be a Data Journalist,” The Guardian, October 1, 2010: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/01/data-journalism-how-to-guide ---Michael Morisy, “Ask the Right Questions: MuckRock Makes FOIA Requests Easy,” NiemanReports, June 13, 2013: http://niemanreports.org/articles/ask-the-right-questions- muckrock-makes-foia-requests-easy/ ---Exercise #7

WEEK 13 – DATA JOURNALISM – II

Thursday, April 23: Reading and Discussion ---Milena Marin, “Using Excel to Do Data Journalism,” School of Data, May 5, 2014: http://schoolofdata.org/2014/05/05/using-excel-to-do-data-journalism/ ---Flowing Data, “Data Visualization Year in Review, 2013”: http://flowingdata.com/2013/12/16/data-and-visualization-year-in-review-2013/ ---Ravi Parikh, “How to Lie with Data Visualization,” Heap, April 14, 2014: http://data.heapanalytics.com/how-to-lie-with-data-visualization/ ---Wall Street Journal, “U.S. Unemployment: A Historical View,” ongoing: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703338004575230041742556522 ---Exercise #8

WEEK 14 – INFORMATION SECURITY – I

Thursday, April 30: Reading and Discussion ---Josh Stearns, “Criminalizing Journalism: Manning, Media, and You,” Free Press, August 1, 2013: http://www.freepress.net/blog/2013/08/01/criminalizing-journalism-manning-media-and- you ---Nicky Woolf, “Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for ‘merely linking to hacked material,’” The Guardian, January 22, 2015: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/22/barrett-brown-trial-warns-dangerous- precedent-hacking-sentencing ---Democracy Now!, “Barrett Brown Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison After Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms [video],” January 23, 2015: http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/23/barrett_brown_sentenced_to_five_years

WEEK 15 – INFORMATION SECURITY – II

Thursday, May 7: Reading and Discussion ---Quinn Norton, “We Should All Step Back From Security Journalism. I’ll Go First,” Medium, January 23, 2015: https://medium.com/message/we-should-all-step-back-from-security- journalism-e474cd67e2fa ---Trevor Timm, “Obama and Cameron’s ‘solutions’ for cybersecurity will make the Internet worse,” The Guardian, January 18, 2015: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/17/cameron-obama-ban-encryption- improve-cybersecurity ---Freedom of the Press Foundation, “Encryption Works: How to Protect Your Privacy in the Age of NSA Surveillance,” July 2, 2013: https://freedom.press/encryption-works ---Electronic Frontier Foundation, Surveillance Self-Defense [resource], 2014: https://ssd.eff.org/

WEEK 16 – IN CONCLUSION

Thursday May 14: Brooklyn Listening Project Story Critiques

FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, May 21 from 1-3 PM in 302 Whitehead ---App/Site Review Presentations