Week 14 (April 10)

For our last class meeting we addressed the topic of journalism and trauma. The As a Dart Center Educator in 2003 and 2004, I was introduced to the ideas I shared in class: that trauma victims, our audience, and journalists themselves are all affected by exposure to traumatic incidents and that we can take steps to prevent causing harm. I’ve since become convinced that it is a moral imperative to expose journalism students to these ideas. Please consult the Dart Center web site for the wealth of information offered there.

Tonight we also distributed the take home final, which is due to be uploaded to turnitin.com by the last day of finals.

Thank you for a great semester. Good luck to everyone.

Week 13 (April 3)

Tonight we circled back to the very first question I asked you at the beginning of the semester: Who is a journalist? In fact, I’d like you to reflect on all we’ve discussed since that first day of class and write an essay on your blog in which you revisit this question. (Please print it out and bring it to class next time.)

As we considered this question we examined citizen journalism and looked at a specific project underway at the Deseret News. Here are the slides and videos we used:

Week 12 (March 27)

Group 11

Monica Lewinski interview (via ABC News)

Trayvon Martin case (via LA Times)

What if China collected on US debt (via ABC News)

Top 15 most popular websites

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Group 12

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Extra credit opportunity — Due March 27

If you were able to attend the David Bornstein lecture of Friday, you’ll need to bring your blog entry to class on Tuesday to get extra credit.

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Week 11 (March 20)

Group 10 led our discussion on faith and journalism. Here are the group’s slides:

Group 10 shared the following video clips:

This group also referenced this website: http://www.christiancentury.org

Group 9 led our discussion on journalism as a public forum.

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Week 10 (March 13)

Group 7 started by serenading us with “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Sara, Sugene, Chandler, and Isabelle went all out to tell us about Watchdog journalism, including having special t-shirts made up.

Their slides can be found here:

And their handouts here:

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Austin, Sydney, Porter, and Melanie (Group 8) led an excellent discussion on ethics. Their slides and the video clips they shared follow:

Week 9 (March 6)

Carli, Max, and Natalie (group 5) covered the topic “Independence from faction.” Here are their slides:

Update March 24: I still don’t have any material to post from Group 6. Rebecca, Michelle, and Alan gave an excellent presentation on journalism and ideology. Here is their handout:

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I goofed!

My apologies to everyone (but particularly to Groups 1 & 2). In my haste I gave you the wrong blogging rubric, causing a certain amount of panic. The correct rubric does not have a dimension for tweeting. The correct one can be found here:

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Again, sorry for the goof!

Extra credit opportunity

Toronto Star photo

If you are able to attend a lecture on Wednesday, February 29 at 3:00 p.m. in the HBLL auditorium and will blog about it, you can receive extra credit.

The lecture is by Luis Najera, a Mexican journalist who fled to Canada because his life was in danger for covering the drug cartel. Mr. Najera is a member of the LDS Church and has a very compelling story.

Just print out a copy of your blog entry (as always, don’t forget to put your name on it) and bring it to class next time.

Fine print: Blog entries submitted after next class period will not be given extra credit. Extra points will be applied to the class participation section (in other words, to take the place of a quiz score). If you can’t attend this lecture, don’t worry; there will be other opportunities.

Week 8 (February 28)

Group 4 (Lauren, Taylor,  and Christie) led our discussion on verification. Here are their slides:

Here is group 4’s handout:

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Group 3 (Madi, Sarah, Megan, and Trevor) led our discussion on professionalism. Here are their slides:

Here is their handout:

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Here are the videos referenced:

Here are they other links referenced in the discussion:

USA Today article on endorsing candidates 
PBS “Newswar” reference to objectivity

World Journalism Institute Statement  
Parvin/Freedom Forum
Matters of Varying Insignificance Blog on ethnocentrism

Reporter Held in Contempt in Anthrax Case (NYTimes)

The Janet Cooke Case (PBS) 

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)

American Society of Newspaper Editors