WikiLeaks and Whistleblowers

We viewed a two-part documentary about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and you submitted a response to some of the issues explored in the documentary.

You will now extend on your learning and understanding of whistleblowing. Below are some suggested topics that you can explore, and a few links to help get you started. What you explore is pretty wide open as long as it is related to whistleblowing, WikiLeaks or leaked information.

So select something that you figure you will have some interest in and spend some time online doing some research on your topic.

Once you have read and/or viewed information, make a new Google or MS Word Document and write a reflection about your topic. Include in your reflection:

• An explanation/short summary of the topic (include links to any sites where you learned more about it)
• Your own reflection on the topic (consider, if possible, relating the topic to the documentary we watched; or if the issue is not easily relatable, provide new thoughts and opinions).
• Discuss how this topic can (or does) connect to the world of journalism. For example, what implications does it have for how the public receives information and how to trust online sources? What challenges do you think your topic raises for journalists and the news media? What struggles might occur when it comes to journalism ethics and standards? 

Don't forget to share your completed assignment with the teacher (allancarterspace@gmail.com or allan.carter@nbed.nb.ca).
Deadline is next Monday, December 16. 

The Interview (Note: For students who missed the class activity)

Below are the details for the class activity (The Interview) that has already been completed in class.
If you missed the class activity, please complete this assignment. 
NOTE: Make sure to let the teacher know you shared your completed assignment.

CLICK HERE to read the notes about interviewing.

Read the small biography on the journalist Barbara Frum. Frum died in 1992, but she is still known today for her talented interviewing style.

One of Frum’s most confrontational interviews was in 1975 when she interviewed Sandra Good a follower of Charles Manson and a roommate of Lynette Fromme who was also a follower of Charles Manson. The interview was held after an assassination attempt by Lynette Fromme on the United States President Gerald Ford.

CLICK HERE to see a breakdown to help explain who is involved.
CLICK HERE (if using Google Docs) or HERE (if using MS Word you can make a copy of them) to complete the questions while (and after) you listen to the interview. Read them over and have them opened as you listen. 
Click here to listen to the interview.

Caught in Lies

Below are links to articles on journalists who have been caught in lies. Read the two articles and complete a written response based on the questions below. Include a creative title for your entry and share with your teacher on Google Drive (allancarterspace@gmail.com) or Microsoft Word (allan.carter@nbed.nb.ca). Remember to look at how your work will be assessed. The assessment is below the questions. This assignment is to be completed and shared by next Monday, November 25. Please Note: Next Monday's class will include an activity and discussion, so you will not have the class time to work on this assignment. 

The articles

• Jimmy's World (you can also read more background information on the journalist here)


• The Wafer Story

Questions to use for your journal reflection:

• Have you ever considered that the news you read (or watch or hear) may be factually incorrect or even fabricated? Explain why or why not.


• What is your reaction to the two articles? Were you surprised to find out that professional journalists have fabricated news?


• Journalist Jack Shafer writes “most liars make things up for the simple reason that they don't have the talent or the ability to get the story any other way.” Do you agree with Shafer's assertion? Explain.


• Given what Shafer says, do you think that colleges and universities should make sure graduating journalism students can handle the responsibilities and pressures? Discuss your thoughts in your entry.


• Do you think when issues of ethics arise that a news ombudsman helps? A news ombudsman is a professional journalist whose sole responsibility is to respond to reader complaints and provide an independent critique of the paper's performance. Explain why or why not. You can read the beginning of this article if you require additional information.

How you will be assessed on the following (5 pts each for a total of 20 pts):

• Overall, the journal entry shows much thought and effort.


• There are fewer than three grammatical errors or sentence structure issues in the entry.


• Each question provided for the entry has been effectively addressed.


• The entry was completed on time and includes a creative title.

Reviewing Individual Participation and Hard News Vs. Soft News

This week your class assignment is in two parts. The first part extends on what you did last week when you reflected on your course participation and teamwork (plan of action and goals).

You will look over the reflection you did on your individual participation and consider what you think your participation/work mark should be for the midterm report. As part of this process, you will write a short rationale explaining how you came up with your mark and sometime during this week you will discuss your suggested mark and rationale with the teacher.

Next week, in your teams, you will also review your plan of action and your team's midterm goal(s).

Once you have completed this work, make sure to complete the second part which this week's class assignment, Hard News Versus Soft News (SEE BELOW). 

Instructions on how to help you determine your midterm participation/work mark. 

Click on the image to enlarge

Hard News Versus Soft News

Click here and click here to read what is hard news and soft news and how they are different. 

1. Find one news article that you consider is definitely hard news and explain why (include the characteristics of what a hard news article is). Provide a link for the article.
2. Find one news article that you consider is definitely soft news and explain why (include the characteristics of what a soft news article is). Provide a link for the article.
3. Find one news article where you think there is an "overlap" between whether it is hard or soft news. Then make a decision on how you would categorize the article based on the tone of the article and its purpose. Provide a link to the article.

Deadline: Next Tuesday, November 12

Work Assignments: Reflecting and Planning

OVERVIEW

You have been a few weeks in your work assignments, so now is a good time to consider:

• What you have done; what your team has done
• What others are doing and how they do it (for example, professional journalists)
• And what more you could aim to do and accomplish (plan of action with a goal)

This activity will essentially be a reflection on your team participation and work assignment. It will also be a plan of action where you will explore what is going on in the professional field and creating a team goal so you could enhance your work assignment to offer more to your audiences.

Individually, you will also reflect on your own class and team participation as well as the contributions you have made to the work assignments you have been involved in.

You (and your team) will do this work online by completing submitted forms.

What is Newsworthy?

You have looked at how a news story is structured, and in journalism class you started work on your work assignments. Every work assignment we have - from the yearbook and videography to the online school newspaper - deals with how newsworthy the story is. Whatever we are covering, we have to ask ourselves what is newsworthy to our audience.

Read the following article "What Makes a Story Newsworthy". This article provides a list of five factors that make a story newsworthy:

• Timing
• Significance
• Proximity
• Prominence
• Human Interest

Find two news articles online from news sources like CBC, Huffington Post, or VICE News, and using a scale from 1-4 (1 being the least, 4 being the most), grade each story on how newsworthy it is. Your score will total up to 20 points (5 factors X 4 points each).

Include in each score a summary explaining your mark for each factor. Also make sure to provide a link to each news story. NOTE: If you do not complete this assignment in the same day, make sure to get your links from the selected stories so you can easily access them the next day. See below for an example of this assignment.

You will be assessed on:

• Overall effort
• Spelling/Grammar/Mechanics
• Strong summary for each factor
• Links to each news story, story headlines and final marks are provided

Deadline is next Monday, October 28

Writing the News Article

In the last assignment, we looked at the basics for writing a news article, and then you selected two news article so you could analyze the writing structure. Today you will write your own news article to get a sense of how it is done. If you need to review the basics, click here.

Most of the time finding a news idea to write about is not hard, but for this assignment you will be creating your own news. You will be provided with a few photos, and you have to determine what is happening in one of the photos and then report the news in a written article. You will also create a headline for your article.

Starting with the Basics

Writing News Stories

Whether you are writing for newspaper, radio, podcasting, television, etc. there are some basic guidelines that most journalists follow when reporting news. Click on this link to get a concise formula for a well-written news article.

Notice the basics:

• Who, what, when, where, and why
• Try to catch the reader's attention (the news lead and/or hook)
• Use quotes (sources)
• Strive to be objective (remember our code of ethics)
• Tell the interesting information first

Now let's take some of this basic information and add to it.

Check out this link to see information about the inverted pyramid and writing news. The inverted pyramid is a writing style used by journalist to remind them to tell the most important and interesting information first.

Watch this video to view some tips on how to write a lead or hook (the first paragraph of a news article).

Exploring a Code of Ethics

Click here to access the online handout your team will need to complete today's assignment. 

Creating Team Norms and Planning Time

TEAM NORMS

• You have all been assigned your roles and teams.
• The first thing you will do is sit down as a team and create some team norms. 
• These are shared expectations that each team member agrees to follow so that the team can work together. 
• You will create these norms together. 
• Click here to access a copy of the team norms using one of your Google Drive accounts. OR Click here to view and copy the information into MS Word. 
• Discuss what norms you want to create and come to a collective agreement, then type them in the Google Docs template.
• Also complete the second part on what steps your team will take when someone is not following the team norms. 
• When you have completed the team norms, share the document with your teacher. It will be printed out so you can sign it and then be placed in your team binder. 

First Newspapers

NOTE: Make sure you have finished your letter of application before you do this assignment. CLICK HERE for the letter of application assignment.

Readings (2) and Image

1. Read about the first attempt of a newspaper in America, by clicking here. 
2. Click here to see an image of its first page.
3. Read about the first newspaper in Canada by clicking here.

Written Reflection – First Newspapers

Complete your reflection based on what you have read about the first newspapers (from the linked articles listed above).
Complete the reflection on Google Docs or MS Word. and share it with your teacher Docs: allancarterspace@gmail.com and MS Word: allan.carter@nbed.nb.ca

Make sure to title the assignment "First Newspapers (include your name in title)" when you share it.

Consider the following in your reflection:

• The delivery of information: Compared to today, what are some of the obvious differences between these historical newspapers and today’s modern newspapers or reading news online?
• Newspaper suppression: Publick Occurrences was forced to shut down because they were critical of the government. Do you think the government should have that kind of control or power today? Explain your position. 
• Publishing today: Many newspapers today can be critical of the government, businesses, etc. but still continue to publish. Why do you think that is? What do you think prevents the government from closing down newspapers or other media organizations? (Hint: Click here and Click here)
• Newspapers in Canada: What do you think about the first newspaper in Canada being established in Halifax?

You will be graded on the following (5 pts each, value: 20 pts)

• The reflection entry effectively discusses some of the ways modern newspapers and articles online are different from older ones.
• The entry includes substantial thoughts on newspaper suppression.
• The entry effectively addresses why the author thinks newspaper can be critical today and what he/she thought about the first newspaper in Canada being located in Halifax.
• The entry was completed on time with less than three grammatical or sentence structure errors (Deadline: Friday, September 20) 

Applying for the position

Below are the positions available this semester for the Journalism 120 class. They include the online school newspaper, podcasting and sometimes yearbook.

• Read through each of the positions carefully and decide on TWO positions.
• You will write ONE letter of application that you will share with the teacher on Google Drive.
• In the letter you will include any experiences or qualifications that are relevant to the position. Because you are not submitting a resume, ensure that you state in the letter what makes you the right person for both positions. Consider what talents and experiences you can bring to your desired position.
• Check out this link for information on how to write your letter.
• For an example of a letter, click here.
• When you have finished your letter, share it on Google Drive with at least one other student who can proofread it and then make any final revisions.

The World of Journalism in the 21st Century

Below is a link to a collection of commentaries where journalists consider how they think the world of journalism will change this year. You can consider our discussions in class (storytelling, the nature of news and social media/technology) as you select one of the articles. With a partner, discuss the article, what you think of the ideas in the article and whether you agree or disagree with the opinion(s) presented.

Do the following (you will be presenting this to the rest of the class):

• Summarize what you think are the main points of the article
• Provide an example of what the article is discussing (the article itself may have links to examples)
• State whether your team agrees or disagrees with the article and why