PARK SCHOOL SYLLABUS TEMPLATE dmg 7/07

News Editing
227-383000 01

Professor Ed Bond
Office: Park 251
Phone: 274-3637
E-mail: ebond@ithaca.edu, edbondny@yahoo.com
Web site: http://www.edbond.com/editing/
Office hours: 1-2 p.m., M, W; 9-12 T.
Virtual office: PrfBond on AOL Instant Messenger.

Course description:
Students critically discuss the role news editors have in deciding what is news and how it is presented. News judgment decisions in print are analyzed; students then produce projects where they apply their news judgments. Technologies used include newspaper layout and design software for print and the Web. The occupational, legal, and ethical responsibilities and concerns of news editing are stressed in a historical and comparative media context.

Course objectives and outcomes:
Students should expect a weekly quiz on spelling and news style. The middle of the semester will focus on The Rotation Assignment. For this assignment, the students will produce a news page under deadline pressure and under conditions similar to that of an actual newsroom. During the rotation, the students will be broken into teams and each week rotate into different newsroom assignments. For example, in the first week of a rotation, a student may be a metro editor, in the second week, a copy editor, and in the third, a page designer.
Upon completion of the course, the student will:

Be able to copy edit news stories using proper grammar, spelling and Associated Press style. Assessed through weekly quizzes, midterm, final exam and in The Rotation Assignment.
Be able to write headlines. Assessed in the Rotation.
Make judgments on presenting news. Assessed during in-class exercises, the Rotation assignment and the final project.
Design and produce clean and eye-catching news pages for print and the Web. Assessed in the Rotation assignment and the final project.
Understand the principles of libel, ethics, fairness and taste in the editing and presentation of news stories. Assessed in quizzes, midterm and the Rotation.
Understand the source of errors and inconsistency as they appear in print and online. Assessed through quizzes, the Rotation Assignment and in the collection of Bounty Hunter points, during which students actively read the newspaper and online media looking for errors.
Develop strategies to create a news product in a deadline-driven environment that is constantly shifting because of new technology. Assessed in the Rotation Assignment and the final project.

REQUIRED TEXTS / READINGS
"The Newspaper Designer's Handbook" by Tim Harrower ; "Working with Words" by Brian S. Brooks, James L. Pinson and Jean Gaddy Wilson; and ≥The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law."
Recommended text: "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING SCHEME
Grading will be determined by quizzes, a midterm exam, the rotation, a final project and a final exam.

*            Weekly quizzes and midterm: 25 percent.
*            Newsroom rotation: 25 percent.
*            Final project: 25 percent.
            Final exam: 25 percent.

I will also grant bounty hunter points to those who can present to me errors found in professional media that can be referenced in ≥Working with Words≤ or AP Stylebook. Students would get points depending on how impressive the catch is and where it was found. The error must be found in an example of professional media that should have been caught by a copy editor. You should bring the error to my attention before the publication prints a correction. To claim a bounty hunter point, either bring in the newspaper clipping or a printout ≠ if you found it on a news organization's Web site ≠ at the end of class. Do not e-mail bounty hunter requests. Web sites that are not professionally copy edited ≠ such as personal sites, blogs or those put out for public relations purposes ≠ are not eligible. Books are not eligible. If you happen to come across a story I had used in the Rotation Assignment, that is not eligible either. Bounty hunter points will be applied at the end of the semester to boost your quiz scores. If at the end of the semester you have used the bounty hunter points to give yourself a quiz grade of 100 percent, then additional bounty hunter points may be applied to the midterm score.

COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: Your active attendance and participation is required. After a third unexcused absence, your grade for the semester will drop by one step for each subsequent absence. For example, a student getting a B+ in class would drop to a B. Excused absences are for bereavement or documented illness. If you have a conflict with another class assignment, let me know about the situation ahead of time. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to get assignments, handouts, notes from discussions and lectures, etc, from a fellow student. Please come to class prepared.
Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class. At the beginning of each semester, instructors must provide the students in their courses with written guidelines regarding possible grading penalties for failure to attend class. Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences. Written documentation that indicates the reason for being absent may be required. These guidelines may vary from course to course but are subject to the following restrictions:

Ä In accordance with New York State law, students who miss class due to their religious beliefs shall be excused from class or examinations on that day. The faculty member is responsible for providing the student with an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirement, which the student may have missed. It is suggested that students notify their course instructors at least one week before any anticipated absence so that proper arrangements may be made to make up any missed work or examination. Any such work is to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the faculty member.

Ä Any student, who misses class due to a verifiable family or individual health emergency, or to a required appearance in a court of law, shall be excused. The student or a family member/legal guardian may report the absence to the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which will notify the studentπs deanπs office, as well as residential life if the student lives on campus. The deanπs office will disseminate the information to the appropriate faculty. Follow-up by the student with his or her professors is imperative. Students may need to consider a leave of absence, medical leave of absence, selected course withdrawals, etc., if they have missed a significant portion of class work.A student may be excused for participation in College-authorized co-curricular and extracurricular activities if, in the instructorπs judgment, this does not impair the specific studentπs or the other studentsπ ability to succeed in the course.

For all absences except those due to religious beliefs, the course instructor has the right to determine if the number of absences has been excessive in view of the nature of the class that was missed and the stated attendance policy. Depending on the individual situation, this can result in the studentπs being removed from or failing the course.

Academic honesty: The use of work other than your own without proper citation or credit is a serious offense. Penalties for plagiarism include: failure on the assignment and/or failure in the course and/or College academic discipline, which could mean suspension or dismissal from the College. Plagiarism can involve not only written work but computer programs, photographs, artwork, films, videos, and audios. If you are at all unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, or how to give credit, see your instructor and consult the Student Handbook (see "plagiarism" in the index).In a collaborative project, all involved students may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they are either knowing participants in plagiarism or complicitous. Our recommended style manual is published by the American Psychological Association and is available in the bookstore.

Students with disabilities : In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case by case basis. Students must register with the Office of Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the college before any academic adjustment will be provided. To contact that office call 274-1005, or contact Leslie Schettino, Director of Support Services for Students With Disabilities, at lschettino@ithaca.edu.

Mental health: Diminished mental health, including significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, or problems with eating and/or sleeping can interfere with optimal academic performance. Problems with relationships, family worries, loss, or a personal struggle or crisis can also contribute to decreased academic performance. Ithaca College provides a Counseling Center to support the academic success of students. The Counseling Center provides cost-free services to help you manage personal challenges that threaten your well-being. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do ≠ for yourself and for your loved ones.

Safety: You must respond to and report conditions and actions that may jeopardize your safety, or that of other people and/or equipment. Report to the responsible College employee. During class sessions that person would be your instructor or lab assistant. Outside of class the person might be your instructor, lab supervisor, co-curricular manager, equipment and facilities manager, or one of the engineering support staff. You must be aware that misuse of equipment or use of damaged equipment can create the risk of serious injury, infectious contamination, and expensive damage. You may be liable for damage or injury resulting from such use. Unsupervised use of facilities puts you at risk. Failure to be alert to safety problems, or to report them, may have serious consequences for you or others.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Jan. 25-29: Course overview; Copy editing symbols. Overview of industry. Introduction and Chapter 1 in Harrower. Introduction of ≥Working with Words.≤ Pre-test in AP Style, grammar, spelling and word usage.

Feb. 1 - 5: Role of the editor. Chapters 1 and 11 in ≥Words.≤ Chapter 2 in Harrower. Review pre-test. Layout and Design; using Adobe Indesign.

Feb. 8 - 12: Editing for precision and style. Chapters 12, 13 and 14 in ≥Words.≤ Chapter 3 in Harrower.

Feb. 15 - 19: Libel, taste and fairness. Chapter 2, 3 in ≥Words.≤ Form teams for final projects.

Feb. 22 - 26: Headline writing and editing for length. Chapter 4, 5 in ≥Words.≤

March 1 - 5: More on headlines. Chapter 6 and 7 in ≥Words.≤ Practice rotation.

March 8 - 12: Layout and Design; using Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Style guide for final projects due. MIDTERM ≠ March 12.

March 13 to 21: Spring Break.

March 22 to 26. Chapter 4 in Harrower. First Rotation.

March 29, 31, April 2: Chapters 8, 9 in ≥Words≤; Chapter 6 in Harrower. First Rotation review.

April 5 - 9: Chapter 10 in ≥Words≤. Chapter 7 in Harrower. Second rotation.