New Media Workshop

Note: The due-date for this assignment is March 17

• Interview one of your classmates about the topic of his or her final project.
• Edit this into a 3-minute audio segment.
• Create a blog post that includes three things:
  1. the audio file;
  2. a picture of the classmate;
  3. a picture he or she took related to his/her topic;
  4. Maximum 200 words describing the classmate’s topic and motivations for doing the topic. The text should not be a repeat of what was said in the audio segment; it should help to introduce the person and draw our interest to listen to the audio interview.

Grading criteria:

• Quality of the audio recording, showing that you did your best to record clear sound as possible using available equipment;
• Quality of the audio editing: is the editing smooth and seamless without abrupt beginnings, endings or choppy edits in the middle
• Audio plays correctly after you have uploaded it onto your blog (make sure you replay it to check!)
• Photo is correctly cropped, resized, and formatted in the blog
• Explanatory text is coherent and of professional journalistic quality

Examples of similar assignments from previous semesters are here and here.

If you’re doing your assignment from home, you need to download Audacity and the Lame Encoder. Click here for instructions on downloading Audacity, and click here for instructions on downloading and installing the Lame Encoder.

I do not recommend waiting until the night before the assignment is due to download Audacity. Save yourself a lot of grief and get your software situation set up in advance so that you can get help from Ben during his weekday working hours.

If you don’t remember how to do anything discussed in class, remember that you can refer to several handy how-to guides for audio editing posted in this week’s class notes. You can also refer to the photoshop guides posted in the Week 5 class notes.

Due on Monday, March 10th at 10am.

This assignment has three parts, all of which need to be documented and correctly linked in a blog post on your blog:

1. Create an account for yourself on Wikipedia. While logged in, add some new information to a page on Wikipedia that relates to one of your projects or Hong Kong’s environment in some way. It doesn’t have to be a lot of information: just a couple of new facts are fine, or you can correct or refine existing information. (If you really want to start a whole new Wikipedia entry about a subject that you think ought to be addressed but isn’t, you are welcome to do that too, but that is not required.) Then on your blog, link to the specific changes you made via the history pages. If somebody else makes changes to or deletes your contribution, please make note of this on your blog and link to any discussion that you might have with other Wikipedians about what happened. (If you have any questions or problems while doing this assignment be sure to contact Ben.) Then in a short paragraph please tell us what this experience taught you about Wikipedia. Has the experience of editing Wikipedia changed the way you view the credibility of its information?

2. In class we created a collaboration page for each soundslides team. Work with your teammates to devise a plan, schedule, and division of labor so that your project can be completed on time. On your blog, link to your team’s collaboration page and specifically to the contributions you made on it.

3. In class we created a resource page to collect online information related to your projects. Contribute at least two new links to it. On your blog, link to the history page or pages showing the contributions you made.

(Be sure that you are logged in under your own username when contributing to the class wiki.)

This week’s assignment is in preparation for the Week 5 class, when we will use a class wiki to map out story ideas and Soundslides project teams.

By 10am on Monday Feb. 18th your assignment is to write a blog post suggesting at least one idea each for your two main projects this semester:

SOUNDSLIDES PROJECT: You will divide up in groups of three people to complete one audio-visual slideshow, telling a story through pictures and sound. (Examples of professional and student soundslides projects below.) You can use narration or interviews, or a combination – it’s up to your team to decide what works best for the subject. Think about what environmental stories in Hong Kong would best be told as a slideshow instead of as an article or some other way, and suggest one or two ideas on your blog, linking to the online sources for your ideas when appropriate. Your group will be decided on Feb.18th in part based on common or overlapping story interests expressed in your blog post.

FINAL “HONG KONG STORIES” REPORT: At the end of the semester you will complete an individual online report using multiple media about an environmental issue or phenomenon in Hong Kong. It will combine text, links, pictures and/or graphics and audio, as appropriate. The written text is not supposed to be too long, the point is to show that you know how to tell a story in an innovative way by combining visuals, text, and audio. Suggest one or two ideas that you would like to explore in this format, for further discussion on Feb. 18.

NOTE: This is not a final commitment and your ideas can change upon further discussion with classmates, and as collaboration and research continues. You are just being asked to propose ideas which we will work with in the Feb. 18th in-class brainstorming session.

This assignment is due Jan. 4th at 10am. NOTE: It’s important that you add your photos to the NMW Flickr group as stipulated below, otherwise I won’t know whether you did the assignment!

• Photograph an event, situation, activity, activist(s) or phenomenon related to environmental issues in Hong Kong.
• Upload 3-5 of your best shots, which best tell the story of what’s happening, onto your Flickr account.
• Include notes with each photo describing who is in the photo and what is happening.
• Add the photos to the NMW Flickr group, and ALSO give them the following tags: environment, hongkong, jmschku, (plus any other tags you think are appropriate like “pollution,” “recycling,” etc.).

NOTE: You need to make sure that whatever it is you photograph involves people in some manner. A shot taken out the window of a polluted skyline will not be acceptable for the purposes of this assignment. Posed mug shots of environmental activists in their office are similarly unacceptable.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU DO YOUR BEST JOB:
(You will not be tested or asked to write up these readings, but those who read them are likely to do the best work on this week’s assignment.)

• Journalism 2.0, Chapter 8: Shooting and Managing Digital Photos
• Hints from picture.com
• Digital Still Cameras from Berkeley’s Knight Digital Media Center.
• How to take pictures for online use from the Knight J-Learning website.
• Ten most common photographic mistakes by Andre Gunther.
• How to use Flickr by Mahalo
• How to use Flickr groups by Matt Nichols at Expert Village – part of a video tutorial series, How to Use Flickr to Share Photos Online.

A lot of the assignments in this course build on top of each other. Everything is interconnected… kind of like the web…

Assignment 2 helps you to prepare for next week’s Assignment 3, and also to lay the groundwork for Assignment 4. All of these in turn help you to build up towards the soundslides project and final reporting project.

Assignment 2 has three parts:

1. Identify at least one event, situation, activity, activist(s) or phenomenon related to environmental issues in Hong Kong, which will be possible for you to photograph between Jan. 29 and Feb. 3 (for Assignment 3, due Feb. 4). Use the searching and web research skills that you learned from Steve in class today, though you may need to follow up with phone calls or e-mails to pin down your information and confirm that you have permission to photograph the event, people, place, or activity, if it appears that permission would be necessary in order to gain access.
NOTE: you need to make sure that whatever it is you photograph involves people in some manner. A shot taken out the window of a polluted skyline will not be acceptable for the purposes of this assignment. Posed mug shots of environmental activists in their office are similarly unacceptable.

2. Subscribe to feeds from websites and blogs, in addition to e-mail alerts when feeds aren’t available, that will enable you to keep on top of environmental news in Hong Kong, and which will help you in determining a possible story idea which you will be asked to propose in Assignment 4.

3. Write a blog post describing the event you have identified and how you managed to find out about it. How useful were your web research skills in finding out about this event, and to what extent did you need to resort to old-fashioned reporting techniques like picking up the phone and calling people? Which websites and/or blog feeds did you choose to subscribe to in your Google Reader and why?

IN PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK’S CLASS:
Sign up for an account on Flickr if you don’t already have one.

DON’T FORGET to bring your digital camera to next week’s class if you have one.
Also bring a USB “thumb” drive if you have one. (I suggest you buy one if you don’t have one – they are essential and inexpensive tools for digital journalists.)

Readings:

Mark Briggs, Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive Introduction, Chapters 1-5 (Download the PDF of the whole book from the book’s website.)

Rebecca MacKinnon, Web-savvy young journalists in demand – and Chinese language doesn’t hurt either!

Browse links at: Digital Edge Award Finalists (cutting-edge digital journalism by U.S. newspapers large and small) on Cyberjournalist.net. Note that the websites are listed in categories from lowest circulation to highest.

Assignment 1 (due by 10am Monday January 21st):

Write a post on your new blog reacting to the readings and the Week 1 lecture: How do you think the Internet is changing journalism in Hong Kong, China or wherever you call home? What do you think that means for your future career as a journalist? Upon browsing some of the winners of the Digital Edge Awards, what is your reaction? Do you think these sites represent a step forward or step backward from traditional forms of journalism and why? Your blog post must contain hyperlinks to the websites and readings you cite. Your post needs to convince me that you have read and understood the readings, and looked closely at some of the Digital Edge award winners.

NOTE: Try not to exceed 500 words with your post. Short and clear sentences are best. Remember in blogging – and online journalism generally – less is often more! In real life, your audience has limited time and unlimited media competing for their attention. How do you convince the reader that your blog post is worth reading? You have to be clear, concise, and above all, interesting!

This week we are in the home stretch for the District Council elections!

Your advancer stories are due this week, according to the schedule on the wiki. I will publish your stories on the Hong Kong stories site after I’ve reviewed them and you’ve made any changes I request.

In class we will finalize our election coverage schedule. We will also discuss how to improve a couple of student stories that have already been uploaded in draft form. The purpose is to get everybody thinking about how to tell compelling news stories online.

In the last hour of the MJ class, Kevin Drew of CNN.com will talk to us about his experiences covering news online.

Week 8 assignment (by 9am the day of class): Upload one or two of the best photos that you have taken so far for your advancer story (cropped and adjusted but not resized) to your Flickr account and add it to the NMW group. Also prepare 15-20 seconds of accompanying audio to go with it (can be a “soundbite” from the person in the photo or some other sound from the scene). .

Progress report: by the beginning of next week’s class, please post a “progress report” on your blog letting me know how your story is coming along, whether you have any concerns or questions, etc.

Week 9 ADVANCER STORIES DUE. See Assignment Desk for your exact due date. Feel free to start putting up your content early if you would like comment or feedback before the deadline.

NOVEMBER 18 DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS: This is a Sunday. You are required to attend class on this day, as a make-up for the missed class in Week 5. Exact time will depend on which coverage team you are on. Go to the class wiki for Election Day coverage teams. Some of your stories will be posted on the same day, and other wrap-up stories will be posted on Monday, as warranted.

Final blog post assignments are due Monday December 3rd by 9am. More here about the assignment.

Week 8 assignment (by 9am the day of class): Upload one or two of the best photos that you have taken so far for your advancer story (cropped and adjusted but not resized) to your Flickr account and add it to the NMW group. Also prepare 15-20 seconds of accompanying audio to go with it (can be a “soundbite” from the person in the photo or some other sound from the scene). Upload it to the “files” section of the JMSC6019 Google Group.

Progress report: by the end of Monday, please post a “progress report” on your blog letting me know how your story is coming along, whether you have any concerns or questions, etc.

Week 9 ADVANCER STORIES DUE. See Assignment Desk for your exact due date.

NOVEMBER 18 DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS: This is a Sunday. You are required to attend class on this day, as a make-up for the missed class in Week 5. Exact time will depend on which coverage team you are on, TBD once we get a better idea of the timeline for that day. Some of your stories will be posted on the same day, and other wrap-up stories will be posted on Monday before and during class, as warranted.

Election coverage posts may be completed on that Sunday or may need to be completed on Monday/Tuesday, tbd.

Final blog post assignments are due Monday December 3rd by 9am. More here about the assignment.

NOTE: THE BJ AND MJ ASSIGNMENTS ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. Be sure not to confuse them.

Don’t forget to review the resources linked in our Week 7 Class Notes. I will be able to tell from the quality of your finished product whether you have absorbed the concepts discussed.

Week 7 assignment (due 9am next Tuesday): Write a blog post. Now that you know what your “advancer” story will be and when it will be due, your assignment this week is to make a plan. What are your elements? Who will you interview? What kinds of photos will best illustrate this story? What audio will you record? Which online and real-life sources will be most useful for background information? Link to any websites and articles that are relevant to these things.

Week 8 assignment (by 9am the day of class): Upload one or two of the best photos that you have taken so far for your advancer story (cropped and adjusted but not resized) to your Flickr account and add it to the NMW group. Also prepare 15-20 seconds of accompanying audio to go with it (can be a “soundbite” from the person in the photo or some other sound from the scene). More detailed instructions to come next week.

Week 9 ADVANCER STORIES DUE. See Assignment Desk for your exact due date. All BJ’s are working in teams, mainly of two. Stories should around 500-800 words (though they may vary a bit depending on subject matter and the mix of other non-text elements) and should emphasize the use of photos, graphics, soundslides, and audio. Some video may be possible with instructor permission. (The info and resources team will have a somewhat different assignment, which I will discuss with them separately.)

NOVEMBER 18 DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS: This is a Sunday. You are required to attend class on this day, as a make-up for the missed class in Week 5. Exact time will depend on which coverage team you are on, TBD once we get a better idea of the timeline for that day. Some of your stories will be posted on the same day, and other wrap-up stories will be posted on Monday and Tuesday, as warranted.

I am going to list your assignments for the next four weeks here.

Don’t forget to review the resources linked in our Week 7 Class Notes. I will be able to tell from the quality of your finished product whether you have absorbed the concepts discussed on those websites or not.

Week 7 assignment (due 9am next Monday): Write a blog post. Now that you know what your “advancer” story will be and when it will be due, your assignment this week is to make a plan. What are your elements? Who will you interview? What kinds of photos will best illustrate this story? What audio will you record? Which online and real-life sources will be most useful for background information? Link to any websites and articles that are relevant to these things.

Week 8 assignment (by 9am the day of class): Upload one or two of the best photos that you have taken so far for your advancer story (cropped and adjusted but not resized) to your Flickr account and add it to the NMW group. Also prepare 15-20 seconds of accompanying audio to go with it (can be a “soundbite” from the person in the photo or some other sound from the scene). More detailed instructions to come next week. (NOTE THAT THIS ASSIGNMENT HAS BEEN REVISED SINCE I FIRST POSTED IT ON MONDAY.)

Week 9 ADVANCER STORIES DUE. See Assignment Desk for your exact due date.

NOVEMBER 18 DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTIONS: This is a Sunday. You are required to attend class on this day, as a make-up for the missed class in Week 5. Exact time will depend on which coverage team you are on, TBD once we get a better idea of the timeline for that day. Some of your stories will be posted on the same day, and other wrap-up stories will be posted on Monday before and during class, as warranted.

Interview somebody briefly about the District council election. They can be a candidate, a campaign volunteer or worker from one of the political parties, a political analyst, a voter, or a journalist who covers local politics. Take his or her picture. Then create a blog post containing the following:

• The person’s picture – in action if possible. Nicely cropped and resized.
• A 2-5 minute interview segment (If you interview them for longer, you must edit it down to something NO LONGER than 5 minutes.)
• One written paragraph summarizing the most interesting things they said in the interview. Include any relevant hyperlinks that would be useful for the reader.

NOTE:

• The interview must be in English, OR you will need to overlay English translation over the person’s answers.
• Save and keep the full recording, especially if it is much longer than your edited interview segment, along with any notes you take. You may want to use other quotes or soundbites from the interview as part of your election coverage project.
• When you decide who you will interview, please list it on this page of the wiki next to your name.
• If you have suggestions for people who your classmates can interview in English, please post them on the experts & interviewees wiki page.
• If you know of political events where there are likely to be interesting people to interview please share them on the Events wiki page.
• Sign out an MP3 player if you need one on the equipment sign-up page.

Review these resources before recording and editing your audio:

• Super-Fast Guide to Audio Editing (PDF) and Editing Audio With Audacity (PDF) by Mindy McAdams.
• Audio section of the J-Learning website.
• “Chapter 7: Digital Audio and Podcasting” from Journalism 2.0
• Handy Audacity Tutorials

DUE TUESDAY 9AM: Shoot a photo essay, and choose the best 3-4 pictures that go together to tell a story. Use photoshop to clean them up, crop them, resize them, and upload them to your blog with appropriate formatting. Write accompanying text to go along with the photos. The goal is to use the pictures to tell a story in a more vivid way than would be possible with just text alone.

What topic should you choose? If you can find a photogenic subject that relates to local Hong Kong politics or the District Council elections, that is ideal. Will any of the political parties be holding events that you are able to attend? If not, you can choose a subject that relates to some kind of community issue in Hong Kong, and which you think may come up as a citizen concern for voters this Fall. Examples include: a controversial redevelopment project, environmental concerns, housing issues, etc.

It may be helpful for you to refer back to last week’s recommended resources and readings about good online photography.

Other Photoshop tutorials & references. For reminders about what we went over in class plus more detailed, advanced tips see these resources:

UC Berkeley Photoshop tutorial

Photoshop how-to’s from the J-lab:

• Preparing Images and Photos for the Web
• Checking and Changing Resolution
• Getting Familiar with Photoshop I
• Getting Familiar with Photoshop II
• Editing Photographs

DON’T FORGET YOUR ONGOING DC WATCH:
As explained last week: Keep an eye on the feeds and tags you have subscribed to about the district council election, and continue to update/add to them as needed. Post ONE PARAGRAPH (no need to be long) on your blog linking to and describing anything that comes up which you think is potentially relevant to our district council election coverage. (NOTE FOR THIS WEEK: If your photo essay is on the same topic as your DC watch post, you can combine them. It depends on what photos you get..)
Based on your new discoveries make one contribution (new item on the ideas list, a note about or an addition to an existing idea, etc.) to the story ideas or experts and interviewees page on the class wiki. (Feel free to help re-organize material your classmates have added into logical story clusters with headings.)

Shoot a photo essay, and choose the best 3-4 pictures that go together to tell a story. Use photoshop to clean them up, crop them, resize them, and upload them to your blog with appropriate formatting. Write accompanying text to go along with the photos. The goal is to use the pictures to tell a story in a more vivid way than would be possible with just text alone.

What topic should you choose? If you can find a photogenic subject that relates to local Hong Kong politics or the District Council elections, that is ideal. Will any of the political parties be holding events that you are able to attend? If not, you can choose a subject that relates to some kind of community issue in Hong Kong, and which you think may come up as a citizen concern for voters this Fall. Examples include: a controversial redevelopment project, environmental concerns, housing issues, etc. With the holidays this week and next, there could be a number of community activities.

DUE MONDAY 9AM.

It may be helpful for you to refer back to last week’s recommended resources and readings about good online photography.

Other Photoshop tutorials & references. For reminders about what we went over in class plus more detailed, advanced tips see these resources:

UC Berkeley Photoshop tutorial

Photoshop how-to’s from the J-lab:

• Preparing Images and Photos for the Web
• Checking and Changing Resolution
• Getting Familiar with Photoshop I
• Getting Familiar with Photoshop II
• Editing Photographs

Optional recommendation – at any time – for those who want to maximize photo skills: Take the online News University Course, Best of Photojournalism: What Makes a Winner.

DON’T FORGET YOUR ONGOING DC WATCH:
As explained last week: Keep an eye on the feeds and tags you have subscribed to about the district council election, and continue to update/add to them as needed. Post ONE PARAGRAPH (no need to be long) on your blog linking to and describing anything that comes up which you think is potentially relevant to our district council election coverage. (NOTE FOR THIS WEEK: If your photo essay is on the same topic as your DC watch post, you can combine them. It depends on what photos you get..)
Based on your new discoveries make one contribution (new item on the ideas list, a note about or an addition to an existing idea, etc.) to the story ideas or experts and interviewees page on the class wiki. (Feel free to help re-organize material your classmates have added into logical story clusters with headings.)

Reading & resources for your photography assignment:

Journalism 2.0, Chapter 8: Shooting and Managing Digital Photos

How to take pictures for online use from the photography and graphics section of the J-Lab’s J-Learning website.

Hints from picture.com

Ten most common photographic mistakes by Andre Gunther.

Assignments:

BY TUESDAY OCT.2, 9AM: Create an account on Flickr. Join the New Media Workshop group. (NOTE this second step is VERY important!)
Identify some event or lecture on campus, an event or gathering anywhere else, or a place you were already planning to visit at some time in the coming week. Take your digital camera along and shoot some pictures as if you were going to do a news story about this subject. Upload 1-3 (one is fine – no more than three!) of the best photos to your Flickr account and be sure to add them to the NMW group, and also tag them with “jmschku”. No need to go anywhere you weren’t already planning to go this week – take advantage of an event or place that you will be going to anyway. But try to shoot it like a journalist, not like a tourist.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to retain the original versions of your photos on your camera and/or on a memory stick. When you come to class on Oct. 2 be sure to bring the cameras on which you shot the original photos and/or bring the original unedited photos on a memory stick. EITHER WAY, you will need to bring a memory stick on which to store the edited versions of your photos that we will make in class.

WEEKLY FROM NOW ON, ANY TIME BEFORE THE START OF WEDNESDAY’S CLASS: Keep an eye on the feeds and tags you have subscribed to about the district council election, and continue to update/add to them as needed. Post ONE PARAGRAPH (no need to be long) on your blog linking to and describing anything that comes up which you think is potentially relevant to our district council election coverage.
Assign this weekly post to a “District Council” category on your blog.
Based on your new discoveries make one contribution (new item on the ideas list, a note about or an addition to an existing idea, etc.) to the story ideas page on the class wiki.

Reading/resources for your photography assignment:

Journalism 2.0, Chapter 8: Shooting and Managing Digital Photos

How to take pictures for online use from the photography and graphics section of the J-Lab’s J-Learning website.

Hints from picture.com

Ten most common photographic mistakes by Andre Gunther.

Assignments:

BY MONDAY SEPT 24, 9AM: Create an account on Flickr. Join the New Media Workshop group. (NOTE this second step is VERY important!)
Identify some event or lecture on campus, an event or gathering anywhere else, or a place you were already planning to visit at some time in the coming week. Take your digital camera along and shoot some pictures as if you were going to do a news story about this subject. Upload 1-3 (one is fine – no more than three!) of the best photos to your Flickr account and be sure to add them to the NMW group, and also tag them with “jmschku”. No need to go anywhere you weren’t already planning to go this week – take advantage of an event or place that you will be going to anyway. But try to shoot it like a journalist, not like a tourist.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to retain the original versions of your photos on your camera and/or on a memory stick. When you come to class on Sept 24 be sure to bring the cameras on which you shot the original photos and/or bring the original unedited photos on a memory stick. EITHER WAY, you will need to bring a memory stick on which to store the edited versions of your photos that we will make in class.

WEEKLY FROM NOW ON, ANY TIME BEFORE THE START OF MONDAY NIGHT’S CLASS: Keep an eye on the feeds and tags you have subscribed to about the district council election, and continue to update/add to them as needed. Post ONE PARAGRAPH (no need to be long) on your blog linking to and describing anything that comes up which you think is potentially relevant to our district council election coverage.
Assign this weekly post to a “District Council” category on your blog.
Based on your new discoveries make one contribution (new item on the ideas list, a note about or an addition to an existing idea, etc.) to the story ideas page on the class wiki.

Readings:
Chapter 2 in Journalism 2.0
Mark Glaser, Your Guide to Wikis (This article will prepare you for the Week 3 class.)

Assignment:
Start setting up your personal online research and information system. Bookmark various Hong Kong websites that will help you follow the Hong Kong District Council elections (Chinese and English are both fine.) Subscribe to some feeds from websites and local Hong Kong blogs, then subscribe to feeds of any del.icio.us tags that you think would be worth following as you try to get more information about Hong Kong’s politics and local issues.

Write a blog post: (Due 9am Tuesday Sept. 18th) Describe (and link to) the sites and local Hong Kong blogs whose feeds you have subscribed to in Google Reader, or which you have bookmarked in del.icio.us. From looking at some websites about the Hong Kong District Councils, District Council elections, and local Hong Kong politics, what do you think some of the key issues could be in this upcoming election?

Readings:
Chapter 2 in Journalism 2.0
Mark Glaser, Your Guide to Wikis (This article will prepare you for the Week 3 class.)

Assignment:
Start setting up your personal online research and information system. Bookmark various Hong Kong websites that will help you follow the Hong Kong District Council elections (Chinese and English are both fine.) Subscribe to some feeds from websites and local Hong Kong blogs, then subscribe to feeds of any del.icio.us tags that you think would be worth following as you try to get more information about Hong Kong’s politics and local issues.

Write a blog post: (DUE 9AM MONDAY SEPT. 17TH) Describe (and link to) the sites and local Hong Kong blogs whose feeds you have subscribed to in Google Reader, or which you have bookmarked in del.icio.us. (One paragraph.) From looking at some websites about the Hong Kong District Councils, District Council elections, and local Hong Kong politics, what do you think some of the key issues could be in this upcoming election? Which research tools discussed in class this week do you find most useful in finding information for this kind of subject, and why?

Readings:

Rebecca MacKinnon, Web-savvy young journalists in demand – and Chinese language doesn’t hurt either!

James Foust, Online Journalism, Chapters 1 and 2. (Textbook available at the HKU bookstore.) Textbook not available in bookstore and is no longer part of the assigned reading.

Mark Briggs, Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive Introduction and Chapter 1 (until p.22) (Download the PDF of the whole book from the book’s website.)

Homework assignment (due by 9am Tuesday September 11th):

Write a post on your new blog reacting to the readings and the Week 1 lecture: How do you think the Internet is changing journalism in Hong Kong, China or wherever you call home? Do you think the changes are good or bad? Are there things about what it means to be a good journalist that the Internet has not changed? What are they? Your blog post must contain several hyperlinks to other web sites or blogs. (Links to some Chinese-language websites are OK as long as you explain them in English on your blog post so that students who don’t know Chinese can read your post and understand what you are talking about.) Your post needs to convince me that you have read and understood the readings.

NOTE: Your post should be roughly 4-6 paragraphs. Short and clear sentences are best. Remember in blogging – and online journalism generally – less is often more! In real life, your audience has limited time and unlimited media competing for their attention. How do you convince the reader that your blog post is worth reading? You have to be clear, concise, and above all, interesting!

Readings:

Rebecca MacKinnon, Web-savvy young journalists in demand – and Chinese language doesn’t hurt either!

Dan Gillmor, We the Media, Chapters 1 and 2. (Download the chapter pdf’s from the book’s website.)

Mark Briggs, Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive Chapter 1 (until p.22) and Chapter 5 (How to Blog) (Download the PDF of the whole book from the book’s website.)

Homework assignment (due by 9am Monday September 10th):

Write a post on your new blog reacting to the readings and the Week 1 lecture: How do you think the Internet is changing journalism in Hong Kong, China or wherever you call home? What do you think that means for your future career as a journalist? Your blog post must contain several hyperlinks to other web sites or blogs. (Links to some Chinese-language websites are OK as long as you explain them in English on your blog post so that students who don’t know Chinese can read your post and understand what you are talking about.) Your post needs to convince me that you have read and understood the readings.

NOTE: Your post should be roughly 4-6 paragraphs. Short and clear sentences are best. Remember in blogging – and online journalism generally – less is often more! In real life, your audience has limited time and unlimited media competing for their attention. How do you convince the reader that your blog post is worth reading? You have to be clear, concise, and above all, interesting!