New Media/ Multimedia ENG 721 Syllabus
English 721 Office Phone: (603) 570-2202
Spring ’08 Home
Phone: (603) 580-5444
Howard Altschiller Cell Phone: (603) 686-0738
Office:
Overview:
The audience for
news and information is moving rapidly to the web. The pace of this migration
increases with each passing day. It is essential for anyone planning a career
in communications to know how to create content for an online audience. This
class will provide an overview of online journalism as it is practiced today as
well as introductory training in audio, still photography, video, multimedia
and blogging. Students will study best practices in
multimedia; create audio reports, Soundslides, videos,
a blog; and learn how to publish online.
Course
Outline:
Class 1, Jan. 23: Welcome:
Introductions:
The class blog
Why a class in New
Media?
Equipment Needs
Review Schedule
Conference Hours:
Assignments for Jan.
30:
Class 2, Jan. 30: Audio storytelling:
Jon Greenberg,
executive editor at NHPR, talks about telling stories with sound. He’ll discuss
how to plan, interview, edit and broadcast audio stories. Jon will also discuss
the growing importance of podcasts and other changes the
online revolution has brought to the radio industry.
Assignment for Feb.
6: Conduct an audio interview. Choose your interview subject carefully as you
will be spending a lot of time with him or her. Make sure you can conduct
follow-up interviews and will be able to photograph them later doing whatever
activity it is they discuss in your interview. The interview should focus on
something the subject feels strongly about. Perhaps it is a hobby or volunteer
work, religion or politics. The goal of the interview will be to get to the
heart of your subject in a way that is meaningful. Please bring this audio clip
with you to class on Feb. 6.
Reading
Assignment: Sound in the Story (handout); first lesson in audio for
journalists, Mindy McAdams, link off class blog.
Class 3, Feb. 6: Editing Sound:
We’ll have a visit
from Scott Yates, a recent UNH graduate and staffer at the Portsmouth Herald
who will show how he puts together slide shows using Audacity and SoundSlides. We’ll spend the remainder of the class on the
lab computers using Audacity to edit the sound we’ve captured.
Assignment for Feb.
13:
Class 4, Feb. 13: A Detour with Damon Kiesow, managing editor for online news at the Nashua Telegraph:
Damon’s topic will
be Speaking Digital:
The invention of the
printing press brought us mass literacy, public libraries, and the Protestant
Reformation. The Internet will have no less of an impact on culture and
civilization worldwide. As journalists, we need to understand the who, what, where, when and why
people are living online. YouTube, Flickr and Facebook are examples,
but they are only second-generation products. Newspapers and other media need
to start living online, or at least start speaking the language, or face
irrelevance.
Damon will touch on
trends in digital media, talk about innovative examples – Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, Google, etc. and generally try to evangelize for
thinking of the medium less as a series of disconnected products and tools and
more as a revolution in how people understand themselves and each other.
There will be plenty
of hands-on examples and opportunities for questions.
Assignment For Feb. 20: Update your blog with
observations on Damon’s presentation.
Finish your Audacity
Audio Project.
Class 5, Feb. 20: Finish and Post Audacity
projects to the web.
Class discussion about the projects with
input from Wally Keniston, director of the WUNH News
Department.
If time: Shooting
quality still images:
Award-winning
photographer Deb Cram shows us the basics of how to take quality photos with point
and shoot cameras.
Assignment For Feb. 27: Shoot a series of portraits of the person you
profiled on your audio story. You’ll need at least 20 images.
Blog about your experiences taking the photos.
Bring your photos to
conference so I can show you how to pull them into photo story or soundslides.
Class
6, Feb. 27: Putting it all together.
We’ve got our audio
and our still photos. Now let’s put it all together using Soundslides.
Photographer Rich Beauchesne will be on hand to offer guidance and tips as we
spend this class doing a hands-on project.
Assignment: Continue
work on Soundslide project. Perhaps we’ll have just
one big conference and open the lab to let people continue working.
Class 7, March 5: Class critique of what we
have done in soundslides.
Assignment:
Class 8, March 12: Introduction to video: Deb Cram
Assignment: Have fun.
March 19: Spring Break
Class 9: March 26: Natalie Jacobson visiting
professor discusses her new web-based project.
Class 10: April 2: Which medium should I use?
Don Himsel, chief photographer for the Nashua Telegraph, discusses
the advantages and disadvantages of stills, Soundslides
and video. Are there still times when print alone still makes the most sense?
Don will also provide
a hands-on introduction to editing video.
Class 11: April 9: Posting to the web: Oh the places
you (and your content) can go.
Class 12: April 16: Television, too
David Hurlburt, WMUR Executive Producer, coordinates the
crossover between on air coverage and coverage on the web. How is web
publishing impacting how broadcasters do their jobs? What changes has broadcast
television made to its workflow? Guest TBA
Class 13: April 23: Pushing content. Don’t wait for
the audience to come to you. E-Mail newsletters, text alerts etc.
Class 14: April 30: TBA
Class 15: May 7: Wrap up
GRADING
CRITERIA
20 percent of your
grade will be determined by class participation. Specifically, this means you
must come to class prepared, with your assignments completed, and actively
participate in discussions.
20 percent of your grade
will come from your blog: For this class you will
create a blog and then keep it updated. You will
create the blog using Google’s free blogger tool. Use this blog for
class-related subjects only. If you have personal items you want to broadcast
to the web please do that on a separate, personal, not for class or anything
that has to do with me blog.
10 percent of your
grade will come from small assignments such as capturing audio, shooting stills
or shooting video. You will need to do these assignments well in order to
succeed at your major projects which will encompass the remainder of your
grade.
50 percent of your
grade will be based on two multimedia projects. They can either be soundslides or video. One will be due March 12 and the
other will be due at the end of the semester.
How will your
projects be graded?
An A project would
be publishable on a news website with minimal editing.
* B project would be
publishable on a news website after moderate editing and perhaps a small amount
of additional reporting. ("Editing" means content editing as well as
technical editing.)
* C project would be
held for publication because it needs substantial additional reporting and
revision; the story would give your editor some doubts about whether you could
do the job. That's because in a newsroom, what might be average elsewhere isn't
good enough.
* D project would be
rejected entirely either because it doesn’t convey information of value or is
technically deficient.
Technical criteria
will include:
Quality of subject
covered: Is your subject interesting? Did you get to the heart of the matter or
are you wasting the viewer’s time. If it is a profile of an individual, have we
really gotten to know the person or is this just a superficial glimpse? If it
is a news topic, what have we learned as a result of your piece?
Quality of content:
If it is a Soundslide are the photos high quality and
compelling. Is the audio clear and edited concisely. If it is video, is it
steady, well focused? How is the sound quality?
Conference:
Every week we’ll
meet in Hamilton-Smith Room 103 for 15-minute conferences to discuss your
completed work and ongoing projects. Please let me know in advance if you
cannot make a conference otherwise you’ll be marked absent which will lower
your grade.
Attendance:
Attendance in class
and conference is mandatory, as is completing your weekly assignment.
* Missing one class,
conference or deadline is forgiven.
* If you miss two of
the class, conference or deadline you will receive a raised eyebrow and a
warning.
* If you miss any
combination of three classes, conferences or deadlines, your final grade will
drop a full letter.
* If you miss any
combination of four classes, conferences or deadlines, you will flunk the
course.
* Three late
arrivals to class or conference equal an absence. Your grade will be affected.
Keep in mind that if
you miss a class, you also will miss a deadline, which is counted as two
absences. One more slip and your grade will drop. If you encounter an emergency
and cannot possibly make it to class, call before 1 p.m. Wednesday. An absence
from class or conference is only excused with a legitimate reason.