News Editing

227-383000-01

Professor Ed Bond

Office: Park 274

Phone: 274-1423

E-mail: ebond@ithaca.edu, edbondny@yahoo.com

Web site: www.edbond.com

Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10 and 11:40 to noon and by appointment.

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 design. The occupational, legal, and ethical responsibilities and concerns of news editing are stressed in a historical and comparative media context.

Course objectives and outcomes:

Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to copy edit news stories using proper grammar, spelling and Associate Press style; write headlines; make judgments on presenting news; design and produce clean and eye-catching news pages; understand the principles of libel, ethics, fairness and taste in the editing and presentation of news stories; understand the source of errors and inconsistency as they appear in print and online; develop strategies to create a news product in a deadline-driven environment that is constantly shifting because of new technology. Students should expect a weekly quiz on spelling and news style. The closing weeks of the semester will be spent 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.

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 and a final project.

* Weekly quizzes and midterm: One-third

* Newsroom rotation: One-third

* Final project: One-third

I will also grant bounty hunter points to those who can present to me errors found in professional media that can be referenced in the handbook 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. Web sites that are not professionally copy edited – such as personal sites or those put out for public relations purposes – are not eligible. Books are not eligible. Bounty hunter points will be applied at the end of the semester to boost your quiz scores.

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.

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.

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

Aug. 27 and 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.

Sept. 3 and 5: Role of the editor. Chapters 1 and 11 in ≥Words.≤ Chapter 2 in Harrower. Review pre-test.

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

Sept. 15 to 19: Libel, taste and fairness. Chapter 2, 3 in ≥Words.≤

Sept. 22 to 26: Headline writing and editing for length. Chapter 4, 5 in ≥Words.≤ Form teams for final projects.

Sept. 29 to Oct. 3: More on headlines. Chapter 6 and 7 in ≥Words.≤

Oct. 6 to 10: Review for midterm. Layout and Design; using Photoshop and Indesign.

MIDTERM – Oct. 15.

Oct. 16 and 17 - FALL BREAK

Oct. 20 to 24: Chapter 4 in Harrower. First Rotation.

Oct. 27 to 31: Chapters 8, 9 in ≥Words≤; Chapter 6 in Harrower. First Rotation review. Style guide for final projects due.

Nov. 3 to 7: Chapter 10 in ≥Words≤. Chapter 7 in Harrower. First Rotation corrections.

Nov. 10 to 14: Chapter 8 in Harrower. Second rotation.

Nov. 17 to 21: Second rotation review.

Nov. 22 to 30: Thanksgiving break.

Dec. 1 to 5: Third rotation.

Dec. 8 to 12: Review of third rotation.

Dec. 18: Final exam period, 10:30 to 1 p.m. Final projects due.