Our WAM course consists of 28 sessions across 14 weeks including a Spring Break, two holidays and two make-up Fridays.
Moodle and MS Teams are the main platforms of the course.
2_Intro & News Research sessions
8_Blog sessions
7_PSA sessions
6_Podcast sessions
4_Press Kit sessions
WAM Topic: You will pitch and write four different projects within the same umbrella topic you select for the semester. You will become an expert in the topic and experience communicating in four different media or languages.
Course material: handouts, manuals, script templates and numerous Internet resources including an ethics course are expected to be read and used.
Please refer to our Moodle course for a detailed and bi-weekly breakdown of each session, with resources, activities and assignments and other course material. Each in-class session requires both preparation and follow up (homework).
A course book is not mandatory. For further reference of instructor’s classes the recommended book is: The Basics of Media Writing (A Strategic Approach), by Andrew Lingwall and Scott. A. Kuehn, 2018. Our syllabus delineates page numbers to read. See Moodle for Google docs link.
Sessions: Each session covers a different step of your creative process. If you miss one session you miss one step, and thus are expected to catch up from the respective Moodle week.
Homework: In preparation to each deadline, you are expected to work outside the sessions on each project on a daily/weekly basis according to weekly material on Moodle.
Library workshops: research is key to this course and it is expected for every project submission. The schedule signals four different library workshops held throughout the semester.
Office hours and contacting professor: For questions or comments contact me via Moodle chat from Monday through Thursday. Questions or queries during the weekend will be resolved on Monday. For meetings and discussions, we can arrange a Teams chat on a weekday afternoon- before 5 p.m.
Electronic equipment policy- With the exception of learning accommodations or unless notified in advance for a class activity, the use of electronic equipment such as laptops, tablets, or phones is not idea during class. Please save battery and brain power.
Projects are submitted via Moodle every month in the order below= five submissions. Late submission policy- Late submissions will incur in a penalty of 3 percentage points per calendar day.
Projects and Weight / Submission Deadlines
Blog(25%)
|
Week 6: Monday, Feb. 21 before class |
PSA(25%) |
Week 9: Wednesday, March 16 before class |
Podcast(25%) |
Week 12: Wednesday, April 13 before class |
Press Kit(15%) |
Week 14: Sunday, May 1 before midnight |
Participation (10%) |
Class engagement, attendance |
See general view of semester below. For details, please see Moodle regularly. Syllabus may be subject to slight changes.
Week
|
Session
|
Date
|
Project
|
Topic
|
Homework/
Reading
|
Deadline
|
One
|
1
|
M
|
Introduction
|
Course projects & chossing
WAM topic
|
WAM Worksheet
|
|
One
|
2
|
W
|
NEWS
RESEARCH
|
News curation blog
|
Research
|
|
Two*
|
3
|
M
|
BLOG
|
Blog post research
(2 blog posts)
|
Library Workshop
|
|
Two
|
4
|
W
|
BLOG
|
Defamation, Copyright, Privacy, Fair use/
Plagiarism
|
Poynter
Quiz
Chapter8 Media Law & Ethics pp. 248 - 286
|
|
Three
|
5
|
M
|
BLOG
|
Blog homepage: name and tagline
About Page (target audience)
|
Chapter 9 Target Audience
pp. 297-299
|
Create website
|
Three
|
6
|
W
|
BLOG
|
Blog post anatomy
Choose review and org.
|
|
|
Four
|
7
|
M
|
BLOG
|
The Review Post and Organization Profile Post
|
Library
workshop
|
|
Four
|
8
9
|
W
Friday
|
BLOG
|
Headlines / Summaries/ Leads /
Writing for Credibility and Engagement:Opinion / sources CTAs / Attribution / Quotes Punctuation
|
Chapter 5 Multiplatform Story and Leads
pp. 142 - 151
|
|
Five
|
10
|
M
|
BLOG
|
Q & A
Preparing for Submission
|
Workshop
|
|
Five
|
11
12
|
W
Friday
|
PSA
|
Videos Screenings
|
|
|
Six
|
13
|
M
|
PSA
|
Ethos, pathos, logos persuasion /Print Ads / Aesthetics & Empathy
|
Chapter 11
Persuasive Writing
pp. 362- 389
|
BLOG DUE
|
Six
|
14 |
W
|
PSA |
Planning PSA video: the treatment
|
Library
Workshop
|
Begin filling out your factsheet
|
Seven*
|
15
|
M
|
PSA
|
Factsheet
|
Work on treatment
|
|
Seven
|
16
|
W
|
PSA
|
Script
|
Work on script
|
|
Eight
|
17
|
M
|
PSA
|
Storyboard
|
Work on storyboard
|
|
Eight
|
18
|
W
|
PSA
|
Workshop /Submission Instructions
|
Concluding
ideas
|
Last session
Q & A
|
Nine
|
19
|
M
|
PODCAST
|
Project & Treatment
|
|
|
Nine*
|
20
|
W
|
PODCAST
|
Searching for Scholar to
Interview
|
Library
workshop
|
PSA
DUE
|
Ten*
|
21
|
M
|
PODCAST
|
Anatomy of one episode in 3 segments & fair use
|
|
|
Ten
|
22
|
W
|
PODCAST
|
Script
|
Chapter 4 Interviewing
pp.121- 132
|
|
Eleven |
23 |
M |
PODCAST |
Writing for the ear
|
Chapter 13
|
|
Eleven
|
24
|
W
|
PODCAST
|
History or podcast/radio
|
Chapter 6
Radio
p. 176+Fig.6.3
|
|
Twelve
|
25
|
M
|
PRESS KIT
|
Intro &5W+H
|
|
|
Twelve
|
26
|
W
|
PRESS KIT
|
News hooks & event
|
|
|
Thirteen
|
NO
CLASS
|
M
|
|
Intro / History
|
|
PODCAST DUE
|
Thirteen
|
27
|
W
|
PRESS KIT
|
Pitch Letter & Press Release
|
News Values
pp. 110–111,
116 - 117
|
|
Fourteen
|
NO CLASS
|
M
|
|
|
Chapter 12
Press Release
pp. 417 - 419
|
|
Fourteen
|
28
|
W
|
PRESS KIT
|
Attachments
|
|
|
|
|
May 1
|
|
|
|
PRESS KIT DUE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you for reading.
Have a good semester.