Themes: Introduction to the course. We’ll discuss assignments and expectations. We will unpack case studies of digital journalism and establish the language we’ll use over the course of the semester to analyze works of modern journalism.
Assignments for next week:
Due Sep. 12: Show and Tell.
Due Sep. 14: Pitch Aleszu the Storybench Q&A you’ll be doing: What project are you dissecting and whom are you interviewing?
Readings for next week:
Eric Newton,“A New Age of Communication,” Chapter One, Searchlights and Sunglasses, 2013.
John Wihbey,“Rethinking Viral: Why the Digital World Is Not as Democratic as We Think,” Pacific Standard, 2014.
Emily Bell, “Facebook is Eating the World,” Columbia Journalism Review, 2016.
Introduction to Design Thinking, Stanford D School
Due Sep. 12: Show and Tell presentations.
Due Sep. 14: Pitch Aleszu the Storybench Q&A in person.
Themes: We’ll take 5 minutes per presentation and then discuss journalism’s charge in 2017, including which tools and methods have evolved and which have held constant. We’ll look at case studies profiled on Storybench and explain the tools and techniques used. We’ll introduce a suite of tools we’ll be using next class and throughout the semester. We’ll meet break into groups and begin the design process for developing your desk’s beat, your audience and the product itself.
Lab: Digital Storytelling card game. In groups of two, you’ll shuffle, deal out, select and learn how to use at least two digital storytelling tools during class time. These include JuxtaposeJS, StoryMapJS, TimelineJS, IFTTT, Twine, SoundCiteJS, Polarr, Imgur, Google Cardboard Camera App, and PicGIFlite.
Assignments for next week:
Due Sep. 19: Find 2 sources each for your 3 story pitches. Pitch your group your first newsletter contribution. Send out emails to sources by end of the week.
Due Sep. 21: Before class: Draft of your Storybench Q&A. By end of class: A production plan and layout mockup for Newsletter #1.
Readings for next week:
Newsletters
Ann Friedman, “Email newsletter etiquette for journalists,” Columbia Journalism Review, 2013. Ann Friedman example newsletter. Archive here.
Liza Darwin and Casey Lewis, “The Problem With Email Newsletters,” Medium, 2016.
Tweetstorms
“How the Texas Tribune uses tweetstorms and other social media strategies to drive audience engagement,” Storybench, 2017.
Fighting hunger, Texas Tribune on Twitter, 2017.
David Uberti, “Recognizing American journalism’s finest tweetstorms,” Columbia Journalism Review, 2017.
Hot takes
John West, “How hot takes drowned out journalism and ruined our Facebook feeds,” Quartz, 2016.
Jacob Harper, “Brace Yourself for the Greatest Hot Take in the World,” McSweeney’s, 2016.
Blogging
Joseph Lichterman, “The Atlantic is returning to blogging,” Nieman Lab, 2016.
Due Sep. 26: Contact two more sources for your newsletter story if initial sources have not gotten back to you.
Due Sep. 28: Emailed to Aleszu before class: Storybench Q&A.
Themes: In groups we’ll brainstorm how reporting has changed over the last 30 years. We’ll discuss case studies in newsgathering using social media. We’ll discuss projects in data science, epidemiology, marketing and journalism that have mined data to gain insights and tell stories. We’ll discuss interesting analyses of social media published by journalists as well as issues with verification. We’ll introduce social media strategies at each point along the newsmaking continuum, from idea to pitch to publish, with an eye towards your social media campaign assignment. We’ll quickly touch on 360-degree photo and video, which groups are encouraged to use in their newsletter reporting.
Lab: We’ll use Twxplorer, Mentionmapp, Tweetdeck, and/or Hashtagify to explore social media platforms, find related hashtags and visualize influence networks. The goal is to find sources, influencers and readers with an interest in your beat. Groups will decide which client publication they will take on for their social media data audit assignment. Groups will start devising the first phase of the audit.
Assignments for next week:
Due Oct. 3: Email Aleszu a draft of your reporting for newsletter #1.
Due Oct. 5: Ship newsletter #1 by the end of lab.
Readings for next week:
“Interviewing Sources,” Nieman Reports, 2002.
Laura Helmuth, “Pitching Errors: How Not to Pitch,” The Open Notebook, 2012.
Miguel Paz, The Pitch, CUNY J-school, 2017.
Due Oct. 3: Email Aleszu a draft of your reported piece for newsletter #1.
Due Oct. 5: By the end of lab: Ship newsletter #1.
Themes: The art of the interview and considerations for digital storytelling, data gathering and dissemination. Email etiquette. The art of the pitch and examples of pitches across journalism. In-class exercise for finding sources and drafting up emails to potential sources for newsletter #2.
Lab: In groups, final tweaks to first newsletter and ship by end of class. Ideally, begin planning out coverage for newsletter #2.
Assignments for next week:
Due Oct. 10: Email sources and conduct interviews for newsletter #2.
Due Oct. 12: Pitch your groups your story for newsletter #2.
Readings for next week:
“Most shared articles on Facebook in 2011,” Facebook, 2011.
“What 120 Billion Facebook Impressions Can Tell Us,” Blitzlocal, 2012.
NPR, “An analysis of 3,000 Facebook posts,” 2015.
Trevor Eischen, “8 headline tips to draw readers on social media,” Poynter, 2017.
“How the Associated Press is experimenting with headlines and modular stories to win Facebook,” Storybench, 2017.
Due Oct. 17: Email Aleszu a draft of your reported piece for newsletter #2.
Due Oct. 19: Ship newsletter #2.
Themes: Come prepared to dig into data and find some stories. We’ll explore the basics of geospatial design and learn how to organize data for charts and graphs.
Lab: We’ll explore the content analytics data from our client publications to learn the finer points of Excel. We’ll finalize and ship newsletter #2.
Readings for next week:
“Our Favorite Pew Research Center Data Visualizations from 2014,” Pew Research Center, 2015.
“The 52 Best — And Weirdest — Charts We Made In 2016,” FiveThirtyEight, 2016.
Ross Crooks, “16 Captivating Data Visualization Examples,” HubSpot, 2015.
Mike Ananny and Kate Crawford, “Designer or journalist: Who shapes the news you read in your favorite apps?” Nieman Lab, 2014.
Jeremy Singer-Vine’s curated dataset collection: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZhPLMCHKJvwOkP4juclhjFgqIY8fQFMemwKL2c64vk/htmlview?pli=1
Ana Swanson, “Six Maps that Will Make You Rethink the World,” Washington Post, 2016
Themes: Using Google maps, we’ll explore digital cartography and discuss best practices of information design. We’ll also be usingRaw for more ambitious, less mainstream visualizations. We’ll look at examples of maps, data GIFs, other visualizations in the wild. We’ll focus on* best practices, formats, platform, style, and tools.*
Assignments for next week:
Plan social media campaign. Delegate tasks.
Readings for next week:
Josh Stearns,“Journalism’s Theory of Change: From Community Engagement to Community Action,” Local News Lab, 2014.
Jennifer Brandel, “What We Mean When We Talk About ‘Engagement,’” Medium, 2016.
Nicole Froio, “New Community Tools: Hearken,” Coral Project, 2016.
ProPublica, “What’s Next For ProPublica’s Engagement Reporting Team,” 2017.
Bridget Peery and John Wihbey, “The story of ProPublica’s maternal mortality series and its structured call-out to the crowd,” Storybench, 2017.
Themes: We’ll discuss efforts in community engagement in journalism – like the 6,000 stories collected by ProPublica onAgent Orange – and audience development strategies. Guest speaker: Tory Starr, WGBH.
Assignments for next week:
Due Nov. 7: Draft of your piece for newsletter #3.
Due Nov. 9: Ship newsletter #3.
Due Nov. 7: Email Aleszu a draft of your reported piece for newsletter #3.
Due Nov. 9: Ship newsletter #3.
Assignments for next week:
Due. Nov. 16: Social media campaign design proposal.
Due Nov. 16: Social media campaign design proposal.
Due Nov. 30: Launch social media campaign on 30 and continue posting through the weekend.
Due Dec. 5: Final presentations.