JOMC 491.4 - "Newsdesk" - Spring 2009

Course Syllabus

Grades: Class Project - 30 percent

The final project will be a single "sustainable journalism" project on which all members of the class work. Everyone works on the same project, but everyone does not get the same grade on this assignment.

"Sustainable journalism" takes its name from sustainable development. My own definition of it is "journalism that meets the needs of the present news audience while also contributing to the ability of future news audiences to meet their own needs." At its core, it is reusable and not perishable. Some of you might know this kind of journalism product as an "evergreen."

We will discuss examples of this type of journalism more in detail during the course of the semester.

Each student in the class will present his or her own project proposal. The proposals will be presented to the class, the class will vote and I will take that in to consideration when I choose one of the proposals to be the class-wide final project. The person whose idea is selected will become the executive producer of the project. The person whose project is selected will receive a 10 percent "extra credit" increase on his or her final project grade. In other words, if the grade would have been an 80 it becomes an 88. If I think that none of the proposals have a very good chance of being successful, then I reserve the right to create a final project of my own choosing and no student will receive the 10 percent "extra credit."

Upon completion of the project, grades will be assigned using a "360 review" that includes self-evaluation, peer-evaluation and professor evaluation.

Due Dates

March 19: Proposals due and presented to class

March 26: I select final project

May 2, 8 a.m.: Final Due Date

Grade Criteria

The two mandatory components for the proposal are:

1. a completed "Idea Resume" that can be found on page 32 of the Newspaper Next report.

2. A detailed project plan on Basecamp.

But successful proposals will also likely include explanatory memos, PowerPoint presentations, asset lists, "graffles" or any other means of demonstrating that the idea that will have meaningful impact on the audience and a high chance for success.

The final grade will have three components:

1. each student will review his or her own performance on the project
2. each student will review all other students' performance on the project
3. I will issue a final grade by looking at those two components and determining whether the project meets key criteria outlined below.

For the self-review students will answer these questions:

What am I most proud of?

What am I least proud of?

What obstacles did I overcome?

What were my direct and unique contributions to the project?

What would I do differently next time?

Was I a kind and fair teammate -- the kind of colleague I'd like to have on a similar project the next time?

Do I think we accomplished our goal?

What grade would I give myself?

For the peer-review, students will answer these questions for each of the other members of the class:

On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being "strongly disagree" and 5 being "strongly agree," the student is ...

* Patient when necessary
* Self confident
* Open to feedback and criticism
* Avoids negative politicking and hidden agendas
* Willing to take a courageous stand
* Trusts others appropriately
* Respected by others
* Sincere and straightforward
* Serves others; avoids selfishness
* Accepts responsibility for own mistakes
* Can be trusted with sensitive information
* Eagerly pursues new knowledge, skills, and methods
* Knows own strengths and limitations
* Avoids bias in attitude or treatment of people * Sensitive to satisfaction and morale in the group
* Provides a positive example; "walks the talk"
* Tolerates honest mistakes as learning experiences
* Met all deadlines
* Produced high-quality work with which I was proud to be associated
* Was a valuable member of this team

For the professor review, I will be looking to see whether...

* The project is complete, provides a service to the reader and leaves no questions or uncertainties.
* The project is free from factual error.
* The project is free from grammar and style errors (including broken links)
* The project is easy for the reader to use
* The project meets the definitions of success determined by the team at the start of the project.
* It is overall a professional caliber product.