Week 2 - June 25
Lecture: How web journalism differs from traditional journalism and other media. What are the characteristics of the online writer/journalist? What are the new roles of journalists in the Internet age? What are the different kinds of online journalism? What are the characteristics of the different kinds of online journalism? What are some of the emerging trends in web/online journalism?

Lab: Brief discussion/lecture on the writing process - audience analysis, concept documents, content planning, copyright issues, file management, flowchart, organization, storyboard, structure, testing and web page elements. Read pages 1-41 of Sammon’s The Internet Writer’s Handbook; work on Resume/Biographical web page

Response paper for next week: Are online search tools lulling journalists into laziness? by Mark Glaser

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 3 - July 2
Lecture: Conducting online searches, research and interviews, online searching techniques
Resource: How to choose a search engine or directory
Lab: Begin planning the Interview Stories web site (group work). Phase 1: This web site project will be all about student workers in AUP. Using the Internet, research and gather information about student workers in general. Before the end of the class, each student must submit 10 questions to ask this group of people.

Due today: Resume/Biographical web page

Response paper for next week: Great journalists credit others by Aly Colon

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 4 - July 9
Lecture: Plagiarism, copyright and the Internet
References: page 100-109 of Writing Online: A Student’s Guide to the Internet and World Wide Web (Handouts); Copyright Issues and Answers
Lab: Phase 2 of your Interview Site project - Submit accomplished information forms of your interviewees. Each of you must interview 3 student workers. At this time, you must have interviewed them or have scheduled an interview appointment with them. Your goal in the interview is to discover personal stories - anecdotes - of each student worker (e.g., stories in the workplace, first day on the job, how he/she balances work and academic). You can use a tape recorder but also take written notes to be safe.

Important: You must have interviewed your subjects on or before July 14. As soon as you finish interviewing your subjects, you must transcribe your interviews, clean them up, and e-mail them to me on or before July 14. Your notes will be graded.

Response paper for next week: Is it appropriate for reporters to ‘lurk’ in online chat rooms?

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 5 - July 16
Lecture: Journalism ethics and restraint in new media (accuracy, privacy, fairness, linking and journalistic integrity); Citing Internet sources (MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style)
References: pages 111-132 of Writing Online: A Student’s Guide to the Internet and World Wide Web (Handouts); Style guide for online hypertext

Lab: Phase 3 of your Interview Site project - by this time, you should all have finished interviewing your subjects. As a group, you will collate and identify at least 5 themes in your interviews (e.g., first day anecdotes, receiving first salary, workplace blunders, etc.) For each theme, you will write 150 to 300-word articles per interviewee (e.g., 4 first day anecdotes to feature 4 student workers). Attempt to finish first drafts of all interviews today. You will submit what you have finished collectively. Your output as a group will be graded.

Response paper for next week: Ideas for online publications by Dan Froomkin

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 6 - July 23
Lecture: Overview of web writing; 5 web journalism styles; linear vs. nonlinear form; writing for the screen vs. writing for print
Reference: pages 1-36 of Writing for the Web by Crawford KilianLab: Final Phase of your Interview Site project - as a group, you will assemble your stories on a web template. You will create separate web pages for each story and link them together. This is the time you may assign someone to do the linking, another student to edit stories, another to do the proofreading, and so on. You will decide the best way to present the stories on your site. This activity will give you an idea of how it is to work with a team of online journalists and collaborate on presenting your stories in a nonlinear way. Response paper for next week: The Web and the future of writing by Chip Scanlan

Read for next week’s topic: News writing for the Web by Carol Rich

Week 7 - July 30
Lecture: Structuring: chunking and scrolling, 3 principles of web text, navigation cues, web page writing techniques
References: pages 97-169 of The Internet Writer’s Handbook by Martha Sammons

Lab: Re-write several print news items for the Web.

Begin Phase 1 of the Online Community Site project (individual) - Use search engines to find communities of people online who share a common interest. Choose a community that interests you that you do not have enough knowledge on and you’d like to know more about it. You will submit an information form about your 2 online communities and e-mail it on or before August 3, Tuesday, for my approval. Each of your topics must have an identifiable community of people associated with it. You will search for and compile at least 20 active discussion forums, mailing lists, web sites, weblogs, etc. on your approved topic. You will write their brief descriptions and URL and submit this resource list on August 6, Friday.Response paper for next week: The e-mail paradox: ban and boon for journalists’ productivity by Mark Glaser

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 8 - August 6
Lecture: Types of web writing, web page style, writing good web text, editing web text
References: pages 257-329 of The Internet Writer’s Handbook by Martha Sammons; pages 39-61 of Writing for the Web by Crawford Kilian

Lab: Writing and editing exercises based on this week’s lecture topics.

Phase 2 of your Online Community web site project - You will observe the online community you chose for 4 weeks by joining mailing lists, participating or reading the discussion threads, visiting sites related to it, etc. By the second week, you must have a good idea of what the community is all about, what are the issues and concerns that are of importance to its members, what they talk about, etc. After observing, you will initiate private e-mail exchanges with at least 3 members of this community and interview them by e-mail. This will give your audience a glimpse of the people belonging to the online community you’ve chosen. Also, at the end of 4 weeks, you will prune your list of resources and only include the best mailing lists, discussion forums, weblogs, and/or web sites.

You will be given a web page template for this project. You are to turn in 5 web pages that you must link together - Resources, Issues, Members, an overview or introduction (the home page for the story) and an "About the Reporter" page. The deadline for your Online Community web site project is September 17.

Due today: Your list of at least 20 resources for your Online Community web site project

Response paper for next week: Responding to hoaxes online by David Cassel

Read for next week’s topic:

Week 9 - August 13
Lecture: Criteria and tools for evaluating web sites

Lab: Search and compile at least 15 media sites, annotating each site. You will create a web page for this list and link it to your Resume/Biographical web page. From your list, you will choose one for your analysis/critique paper. Deadline of the analysis/critique paper is October 1.

Due today: Interview Stories web site project

Week 10 - August 20
Lecture: The future of web journalism, some trends
Lab: Work on Online Community web site project - particularly on Issues and Resources components of the site

Week 11 - August 27
Lecture: Class reporting. Each student will do a 10-minute report about news he/she has read on an online site. Areas to focus on: Summary of the news, what media site the news came from, the treatment done on the news (was it accompanied by video, photos, audio, polls, etc?)

Lab: Begin Informational Site web project. For this last project, you will be given a list of topics to research on. You will use the different skills, techniques and tools you learned in the previous weeks (researching, writing, citing, interviewing, etc.) to create a comprehensive, informative and credible site for your topic. You will be given a web template but you will be responsible for the different components of your informational site. You have the whole month of September to research on your topic and create a site for it. Deadline for this web site project is October 15.

Continue working on your Online Community web site project.

Week 12 - September
Lecture: Class reporting. Each student will do a 10-minute report on a local news site: Is it an online version of a print publication? What kind of news stories can be found on the site? Does the site look credible? Professional?
Lab: Online Community web site project and Informational Site project

Week 13 - September 10
Lecture: Class reporting. Each student will do a 10-minute report on a Web-only publication: Who is the audience? What is the overall tone or voice of the site? What kind of content can be found on the site? Does the site look credible? Professional?
Lab: Online Community web site project and Information Site project

Week 14 - September 17
Lecture: Class reporting. Open topic.
Lab: Information Site project
Due today: Online Community web site project

Week 15 - September 24
Lecture: Class reporting. Open topic.
Lab: Informational Web Site project

Week 16 - October 1
Lecture: Class reporting. Open topic.
Lab: Informational Web Site project
Due today: Analysis/Critique of a Media Web Site

Week 17 - October 8
Lecture: Class reporting. Open topic.
Lab: Informational Web Site project

Week 18 - October 15
Due today: Informational Web Site Project