Spring 2020
Tuesday, 1-4--online through Zoom and Canvas
JOHN RUSSIAL
323 Allen Hall 346-3750
Office hours: TBA
Prerequisites: J461/561 or permission of instructor
Books
We'll be using AP style in this course so you should keep the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual handy. As in other news sequence courses, it's important to keep up with the news. This means you should be reading at least the Emerald and the Register-Guard or Oregonian. The Guard has a paywall; The Oregonian's site--Oregonlive.com--doesn't.
Goals/objectives:
In this class you should develop:
Course overview
The course is an intensive workshop in editing, a term that covers copy editing, story selection, page design and other issues in editing, such as working with others in a newsroom. This term, the class will be handled remotely through Zoom and Canvas. Some class sessions will be a mix of brief lectures, exercises and discussion, with the emphasis on the latter. During about half the class sessions, we'll be producing pages on deadline. During these "production" sessions, students will work in teams that reflect typical desk positions at newspapers -- copy editor, slot and page designer. As in small newsrooms, some people may do more than one of these jobs on a given day. You will have the opportunity to work in all of the positions. The "Breakout Room" feature in Zoom or Canvas Conferences should provide the means of working in a team remotely.
We'll use Word (possibly InCopy if we can get it) and InDesign. The point of the course is not technology -- it's editing. Besides online producers and editors, copy editors are probably the heaviest users of computer technology in newspapers. Most journalists who work on Web sites, especially the producers, are really acting largely as copy editors.
Time pressure will be a big part of the course, as it is on any copy desk. Editing is a balancing act. Editors must learn how to manage their time -- to work quickly yet thoroughly. This is a worthwhile skill for any media professional to develop.
Class sessions
Class meets from 1 to 4 p.m. each Tuesday.
Attendance is crucial, because if you miss a class, you miss a week. Besides, when one editor is absent or late, others typically have to pick up the extra workload. I'm not suggesting you drag yourself in front of your computer if you're too ill to work; I just want to make the point that in the real world of a daily newspaper newsroom, absences hurt everybody. If you are going to miss a class, I need to know in advance, because I will have to adjust the lab exercise accordingly. If I do not find out before the class, it will affect your evaluation grade.
Other assignments
One standing assignment will be to critique the pages we produce in lab. These can be done in an outline form and should be no more than three pages (it can be done in two pages). I’m interested in quality of criticism. These critiques will be based on printouts of the pages, and they will be due at the end of class during weeks that follow the labs. The purpose is primarily to generate discussion during the critique sessions, but you'll turn them in at the end of class for a grade. Categories for the critiques will be news judgment, copy editing, headlines and other display-type, design and process. I will explain more about this assignment in class.
In addition, there will be a few outside editing assignments. These will be stories that need more than basic copy editing. Grad students are expected to do additional work in 400/500-level classes, and the extra work will involve additional outside assignments tailored for individual needs.
Grading:
Grading will be based on criteria newspapers use -- similar to criteria in J461. Criteria for editing, headlines and layout are based on publishability. An additional criterion for this class is how well you work with other students. Editing is a combination of individual skill and teamwork.
Grades will be based on the following formula:
| Workshop sessions | 50 |
| Outside assignments | 25 |
| Lab critiques |
20 |
| Evaluation * | 5 |
*I'm looking for contributions to discussions and evidence of improvement during the term.
Academic dishonesty.
This is a workshop-type course designed to reflect a newsroom environment, so there will be more discussion about the work with other students than you're likely to see in some other classes. In fact, this is a key part of the class--working together and critiquing work, such as headlines, so that we do the best job in the time available. There might be periods during the lab sessions when you are temporarily unoccupied. That doesn't mean it's time to break out the phone and start texting. It's a good idea to see if you can help others who might have more work than they can easily handle. You can communicate with others in your group through the Canvas Breakout Room. It should also go without saying that the lecture/discussion portion of the class isn't a time for multitasking. In other words, don't read your e-mail, check scores on ESPN, or bid on concert tickets on eBay, etc., during the discussion. As far as outside assignments go, you are expected to work independently.
Here is a statement from the Dean of Students office on academic misconduct: The University Student Conduct Code (available at conduct.uoregon.edu) defines academic misconduct. Students are prohibited from committing or attempting to commit any act that constitutes academic misconduct. By way of example, students should not give or receive (or attempt to give or receive) unauthorized help on assignments or examinations without express permission from the instructor. Students should properly acknowledge and document all sources of information (e.g. quotations, paraphrases, ideas) and use only the sources and resources authorized by the instructor. If there is any question about whether an act constitutes academic misconduct, it is the student's obligation to clarify the question with the instructor before committing or attempting to commit the act. Additional information about a common form of academic misconduct, plagiarism, is available at on the UO library website.
Learning Environment
If you need to share information about sexual harassment, sexual violence or discrimination, you can find a list of individuals here. Each resource is clearly labeled as either "required reporter," "confidential UO employee," or "off-campus," to allow you to select your desired level of confidentiality.
Tentative schedule
Week 1: (March 31)
Introduction; Overview of
systems, desk assignments and operation
How we'll work virtually
Micro issues--line editing,
mechanics
Week 2: (April 7)
Workshop session
Week 3: (April 14)
Critique Week 2 workshop
Macro issues,
organization, focus, type of story
Editing that's appropriate to the type
of story.
Week 4: (April 21)
Workshop session
Week 5: (April 28)
Critique Week 4 workshop
Clark and Fry, Coaching Writers, chapters
16, 17
News selection, layout and photo issues
Grading
stories. What criteria? Selecting and determining play
Week 6: (May 5)
Workshop session
Week 7: (May 12)
Critique Week 6 workshop
Clark and Fry,
Chapters 1-3 and 3-5
Writing better display type -- the copyeditor's
role
Critiquing display type -- the slot's role
New approaches
Week 8: (May 19)
Workshop session
Week 9: (May 26)
Workshop session
Week 10: (June 2)
Critique weeks 8 and 9