When Can You Use Twitter in Stories and Storify Curation?

First, let's define a few terms.

In the digital media world "curation" means the collection, archiving, and for us, the publication of trustworthy digital content.

"Aggregation" in the digital media world means gathering, categorizing, and presenting material from multiple sources to create a one-of-a-kind editorial experience for readers/visitors.

So how do you decide which tweet or which Facebook post to use?

Here's what the Storify editors think. We'll talk more about this in class.

Fewer People are Visiting Homepages

Homepage. The makes you think of a comfy place in cyberspace to call your own.

 Photo Courtesy: Columbia Pictures

This is the place where you start your journey into the World Wide Web. Companies of all shapes and sizes spend lots of money designing homepages they believe will attract viewers. They debate on if and where ads should be placed.

Remember this scene from the movie "The Social Network"?

Eduardo Saverin: Hey, you know what? Settle and argument for us. I say it's time to start making money from TheFacebook, but Mark doesn't want to advertise. Who's right?
Sean Parker: Um...neither of you yet. TheFacebook is cool that's what it's got going for it.
Mark Zuckerberg: Yeah.
Eduardo Saverin: You don't want to ruin it with ads because ads aren't cool.
Mark Zuckerberg: Exactly.

Well, the power of the homepage, at least for news paper sites,   is decreasing. At least that's what a report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism’s 2012 State of the News Media Report says.

According to the Nieman Lab, "as more people enter news sites sideways — via search engines, links they see in emails, or via Facebook and Twitter — newsrooms are finding their homepages aren’t the starting points they once were. And the propulsive growth of mobile devices has accustomed news sites to presenting more than one face to the digital audience, through some mix of mobile-optimized sites, native apps, and responsive design."

Nieman Lab reporters talked to Google’s Richard Gingras, head of Google's news products division, "has argued that shifts in audience flow mean that we ought to be reconsidering “the very definition of a website,” and the possibility that it’s time to put “dramatically more focus on the story page” rather than the homepage," according to the Nieman Lab report.

Welcome to the Class Blog; Please Take this Survey

This is the News Management & Production Class Blog.

During the semester Pam Moreland will post stories, videos, audio, class assignments and other posts that should be of interest to students.

Today, click here and take a few minutes to fill out this survey. It will help Pam customize the curriculum so it meets the needs of all students.

Scroll down and you should find the class syllabus.

Stop in any time. Read the posts. Add your comments and thoughts. Enjoy!

Syllabus for Fall 2012

NEWS MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTION

FALL 2012

Adviser: Pamela Moreland

Room: Brawner Hall, Room 402

Phone: 415.246.1578 (Yes, you can text to this number)

Office hours: Tuesday, 4-5 p.m.

Email: Pamela.moreland@menlo.edu

SUMMARY:

In this class, we will write, edit, design and publish The Menlo Oak, the school’s student news website. Microsoft Word, Blogger, Photoshop, YouTube, Storify, Facebook, Pintrest and other software programs are used to produce content, publish, and market the site. In addition, students will learn reporting, writing and multimedia skills that will serve as a foundation for all types of 21^st century communications endeavors.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Associated Press Style Book

DIGITAL CONNECTIONS:

Menlo Oak website:

http://www.menlooak.com

Class blog:

http://menlonewsprod.blogspot.com/

GRADING:

Attendance: 20%

Published work: 40%

Non-published work: 30%

Weekly Story Ideas: 5%

Weekly Style Quizzes: 5%

WEEK BY WEEK OUTLINE:

Week 1: Opening Day. Overview. Fill out class questionnaire. Reporting building blocks. First Five Paragraphs: A template for clear writing.  Storify Basics.

 Homework: “What’s new at Menlo” story idea. Due: Friday, 6 p.m.

Week 2:  More First Five Paragraphs. Interviewing techniques. In-class writing assignment Blogger Basics. Storify practice

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Read and prepare to discuss in class your 2-3 paragraph view of “Elements of Journalism.” (Handout).

Week 3: Discuss “Elements of Journalism.  Crafting a story. AP Style overview. Self-editing and copy editing skills. Blogger practice.  Photoshop Basics (Photo editing for the Menlo Oak: icons vs. story-level photos).

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m.  Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.

Week 4: AP Style Quiz.  Effective use of Quotations in Stories. Photoshop practice.  College Publisher basics.

Homework: Story Ideas: Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.  Bring your favorite print headline to next class.

Week 5: AP Style Quiz. Writing Headlines: Digital vs. Print and SEO techniques. College Publisher practice.

Homework:  Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.

Week 6: AP Style Quiz.  How to Write Effective Opinion Articles. College Publisher Practice: Menlo Oak production.

 Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Digital Media Law handout: Fair Use. Write 2-3 paragraph view on issue and be prepared to discuss in next week’s class.

Week 7: AP Style Quiz.  Discuss Fair Use issues. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.

Week 8: AP Style Quiz.  Presidential Election 2012: Content Audit. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7. Stories. Read and be ready to discuss content audit materials

Week 9: AP Style Quiz.  Building content audit spreadsheets. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Name of publication to be used in content audit. Due: Friday, 6 p.m.

Week 10: Discuss progress of content audits. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Handout: Case Study on using Facebook, Twitter and other online resources as material for stories. Write 2-3 paragraph view point and prepare to discuss in class.

Week 11: Happy Halloween!  Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Content Audit Due: Friday, 6 p.m.

Week 12:   Election Post-mortem. Discussion of Use of online resources in reporting. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.

Week 13:   Final project discussion/assignment. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Story Ideas. Due: Friday, 6 p.m. Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories.

 Week 14: Thanksgiving break (no class).

Homework: Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories. Final project description due Nov. 21.

Week 15: Work on final project in class. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories

Week 16:   Work on Final Project. Menlo Oak production.

Homework: Storify: 7 Days, 7 Stories

                                                                             

Final Project Due

Story Ideas: Don't Leave Yourself at the Door

It's your world. Write about it. That's the goal of submitting weekly story ideas.

Spotting and developing a story is a skill. First, look at yourself. What music are you listening to? What are you reading and why? Do you belong to any campus clubs or groups? What's your major and why are you majoring in that subject? What makes you worry? What are your friends talking about? What makes them worry?

The answers to any of these questions make a good foundation for a story idea., and eventually, a great story for publication.

Every student in News Management & Production is required to submit a story idea every week. This isn't difficulty.

Just write one fat paragraph (3-4 sentences) on the story. Tell me the best way to tell this story (narrative, video, audio, even animation). If you want to tell the story in text, you also need to describe an image (photograph) that you would use to illustrate the story.

Share it with me in Google Docs, or email it to me.

Here's an example of a great New York Times story that I bet started with a story idea from a college intern.

The story is about harassment of females playing online video games.

In addition to being a great story, check out the embedded links to video and original sources.