COMM 209: No class Wednesday, April 7; assignment for Friday, April 9

SInce a lot of our students are taking the CAAP tests in math and writing skills Wednesday, I'm calling off class ... but assigning a 10- to 15-inch feature story on the CAAP tests or any subject of your choice.

You will be graded on how well you use the advice in Chapter 6 in Tim Harrower's "Inside Reporting" on choosing a viable story idea, reporting and writing the story. I will post further tips and requirements to this blog post ... so take a look at it from time to time!

WARNING: You also may be given the opportunity to express yourself in writing about how specifically you followed Tim Harrower's sage advice in "Inside Reporting."

COMM 209: In-class assignment

Specific things you read in Harrower on writing reviews (pp. 136-37 in my edn. and 132-33 in yours) that you can use in covering "Tunes at Noon" performances and/or SpringFest. Post as comments to this post.

COMM 150: Wednesday, March 31

For next week: Read Chapters 14-16 on entertainment, research and "media effects."

Here are a couple of stories that have a bearing on what we've been taling about - whether the news media contribute to a "broken society" or political culture.

One is about CNN's continuing decline in the ratings while more opinionated cable TV nets - Fox and MSNBC - hold onto their viewers.

Another is a piece by media critic Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post on Sarah Palin's latest assault on the media ... Kurtz says:

As a potential candidate, Palin has done nothing to show that she's boned up on the issues that often tripped her up in 2008. As an emerging media star, she's played her cards just right. She makes news with a couple of paragraphs on her Facebook page. Can [GOP presidential hopefuls] Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney say the same?

And this:

For now, Palin takes an obvious delight in tweaking the very media establishment that is fueling her fame. At a rally in Nevada, she took aim (sorry) at news reports that she might be encouraging threats against Democrats by calling on her followers to "reload" against lawmakers whose districts were marked on a map by crosshairs ...

Let's read on.

Ezra Klein, who blogs on economics and politics for the Post, has a tongue-in-cheek list of what a political journalist fears most. In this case it's Politico, a popular website put up by an inside-baseball print publication. His money graf:

Politico isn't afraid of being known as the most sensationalistic, horse-race-oriented, controversy-focused news outlet. That's their business model, or at least the business model of the front page (the stuff inside Politico is a lot better, presumably because it's aimed at lobbyists and Hill staffers). What Politico -- and other campaign-obsessed outlets -- fear are the narratives that expose much of their work as simple distractions.

I especially like No. 5: "The media is a political actor, not an observer." But the others are worth discussing, too. Especially No. 6: "Pretty much no one watches cable news."

Got that? Let's follow Klein's link, to a a blog on the Mother Jones magazine website that looks at the demographics. Klein's conclusion: "This stuff isn't done in bad faith, but it's still bad."

Finally, here's something I wrote a couple of years ago about presidential campaign coverage and medieval morality tales in which "political questions [were] reduced to stories of adventure.”

COMM 209: Define difference between news and features

Be clever. (See paragraph on page 116 [112] in the book.)

Post your definitions as comments to this post.

'Yes We Can' / 'Hell no, you can't'

COMM 150: Assignment over the weekend

For Monday, March 29 ...

Read the op-ed piece "The Broken Society" by David Brooks in the March 18 issue of The New York Times. Brooks doesn't really have a "nut graf" [which is short for nut paragraph and means the kernel of his argument or his main point in a nutshell], and his main idea hard to sum up, but it goes something like this: "Essentially, [we need to follow British author Phillip Blond, who] "would take a political culture that has been oriented around individual choice and replace it with one oriented around relationships and associations." Let's read Brooks' piece, foloow the links and ask ourselves:

• How have the news media contributed to what Blond and Brooks call a broken society?
  
• How have newsmakers and their spokesmen contributed to it?
  
• What can each do to help try to fix it?

This discussion will help us focus what we've been learning in Chapters 11, 12 and 13.

COMM 209: Link to well-constructed feature story

It's in the Asheville Citizen-Times in Asheville, N.C. In fact the whole paper's pretty good. Let's read it in class today. Note the difference between the routine woods fire story and the account of the guy who found the nitro in the trailer park. It's what I'd call a "news-feature" story, i.e. a news story with that little something extra that might have readers wanting to know more.

COMM 209: Notes and story, in-class press conference on student government book fund, March 24

Selected notes. In case you can't read my writing ...

..1.......2........3
Sam Becky Joy

" = learning w/ each page turning"
book fund
... down in the cafe
drawing at SpringFest
* * *
1 (circled) this is kind of a test run
See how the names are keyed to numbers (circled) at the bottom. That way I don't have to keep the names straight when I'm taking notes.
* * *The story. How I might write it ...

Student Government at Benedictine University's campus in Springfield is trying to help students with the high price of textbooks.

Details are sketchy, but Student Government representatives told a journalism class Wednesday they want to have a fund-raiser next month to earn money for a "book fund" that would help students defray book-buying costs.

"This is kind of a test run," said Sam Bertolozzi. She said she hopes area businesses will donate prizes for a drawing to be held April 30 at Benedictine's annual SpringFest celebration.

Joi Mauk, student government vice president, said the hoped-for book-buying fund is one of several initiatives aimed at helping students with high textbook prices. Also in the works are a survey and an end-of-semester used book exchange.

Mauk said student government plays an important role on the Springfield campus.

"It's about being able to have a voice," she said.
- 30 -

COMM 150: Assignment for Wednesday

Media vs. public relations -- watchdogs and adversaries.

Does the watchdog function of the media put them into an adversarial relationship with public relations professionals? What are the ethical values of each?

What does John Vivian say about this issue?

What do you say about it? Be prepared to post your answers as comments to this blogpost.

COMM 209: Friday - in-class press conference

Media Advisory
Who: Representatives of Student Government
What: Will explain a publicity campaign promoting a textbook clearing house they propose.
When: Friday noon, March 26.
Where: Dawson 220.
Why: That's up to you guys to find out. Be there (here). Your stories will be due Monday, March 29.

David Brooks cites 'Red Tory' communitarian, thinks out of box

David Brooks crosses ideological lines in a March 18 op-ed piece in The New York Times headed "The Broken Society." Thought provoking.

Money graf(s):

Blond argues that over the past generation we have witnessed two revolutions, both of which liberated the individual and decimated local associations. First, there was a revolution from the left: a cultural revolution that displaced traditional manners and mores; a legal revolution that emphasized individual rights instead of responsibilities; a welfare revolution in which social workers displaced mutual aid societies and self-organized associations.

Then there was the market revolution from the right. In the age of deregulation, giant chains like Wal-Mart decimated local shop owners. Global financial markets took over small banks, so that the local knowledge of a town banker was replaced by a manic herd of traders thousands of miles away. Unions withered.

The two revolutions talked the language of individual freedom, but they perversely ended up creating greater centralization. They created an atomized, segmented society and then the state had to come in and attempt to repair the damage.

And this:

In a much-discussed essay in Prospect magazine [U.K.] in February 2009, Blond wrote, “Look at the society we have become: We are a bi-polar nation, a bureaucratic, centralised state that presides dysfunctionally over an increasingly fragmented, disempowered and isolated citizenry.” In a separate essay, he added, “The welfare state and the market state are now two defunct and mutually supporting failures.”

The task today, he argued in a recent speech, is to revive the sector that the two revolutions have mutually decimated: “The project of radical transformative conservatism is nothing less than the restoration and creation of human association, and the elevation of society and the people who form it to their proper central and sovereign station.”

Economically, Blond lays out three big areas of reform: remoralize the market, relocalize the economy and recapitalize the poor. This would mean passing zoning legislation to give small shopkeepers a shot against the retail giants, reducing barriers to entry for new businesses, revitalizing local banks, encouraging employee share ownership, setting up local capital funds so community associations could invest in local enterprises, rewarding savings, cutting regulations that socialize risk and privatize profit, and reducing the subsidies that flow from big government and big business.

Brooks links to the originals.

COMM 209: Today's assignment - Tunes at Noon

Truman, a pop/rock band consisting of brothers Ben and Chad Truman of Nashville and Provo, Utah, is playing today in the student lounge downstairs in Dawson Hall. For Tunes at Noon. That's like right now. So we'd better get down there, so you can cover the gig and write it up for Monday.

Here's the assignment: 10 to 12 column inches (how many words is that?) written like you would for a metro newspaper. Write it like one of those "dumb little stories" I keep talking about, but make it sparkle. Due in class Monday.

Sparkle?

He say what? If it's a dumb little story, how do you make it sparkle?

1. Make your writing sparkle. A catchy lead that sums up the experience. Quotes. In 10 to 12 column inches, you'll have room for two or three snappy quotes. String them together with supporting detail like a "quote-kebab." What else? Short sentences. Little words. Action words. Description. Color. Engage the reader's senses.

Which leads me to ...

2. Make your reporting sparkle.

Take notes on the scene. Description. Dialog. Put us there. How do you do that? You notice detail. What's the room look like? What do the students look like? Sound like? What are they doing? Are they listening with rapt attention? Or are they doing something else? If so, what? Get it in your notes. You won't remember it later.

Some background on Truman and their brand of "blue-eyed soul" is available on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/trumanboys at http://www.myspace.com/trumanboys, and there's more on their THE TRUMAN SHOW (Rock with Caution) at http://bentruman.blogspot.com/

There's also an article in Deseret News, one of the big dailies in Salt Lake City, that gives a little more background on the Truman Brothers. And it's a pretty good example of how a professional newspaper writer handles quotes, sentence structure, word choice, paragraph length, objectivity, etc., in writing about the act.

COMM 150: In class ... mission statements

Your assignment: Find something on the World Wide Web that clearly explains what a mission statement is and what it does.
* * *
Please post what you find out as a comment to this blog. And be sure to include a Web address. Copy and paste it from the address field in your browser into your comment. Like this:

http://www.brs-inc.com/news002.html

Business Resource Software of Austin, Texas, says, "A mission statement may look simple but it should communicate the core of your organization with a precise statement of purpose. Words should be chosen for meaning and clarity - not technical jargon." There's more. I like it. It's simple. It's clear. And it tells you what to do and how to do it. What's not to like?

hyperlink

COMM 150 and COMM 209: Assignments for Wednesday

COMM 150: Skim-read Chapters 12 (Public Relations) and 13 (Advertising), paying special attention to the sections on "image consulting" (pp. 300-303), integrated marketing communications, (303-304), media relations (304-307), the "tarnished image" 0f PR (309) and brand strategies, brand names, branding, the unique selling proposition and positioning (329-333).

COMM 209: Ellertsen’s Iron Law of Attribution

Any time you ever say anything you didn’t know before, attribute it to your source.

Written assignment:
Write a 10-inch advancer or pre-story on Claire Annette’s upcoming concert (p. 92 in my edition. page 88 in yours, #2)
Figure 45 words to an inch.

COMM 150: In-class quiz, 30,000 extra credit points (if you take it today)

In what large EastWest Coast city is The New YorkLos Angeles Times located?

a. Pawnee
b. New Berlin
c. Rochester
d. Illiopolis
e. New York CityLos Angeles.

Please post your answer as a comment to this blog post.

COMM 209: In-class quiz, 30,000 extra credit points (if you take it today)

In what large East Coast city is The New York Times located?

a. Pawnee
b. New Berlin
c. Rochester
d. Illiopolis
e. New York City.

Please post your answer as a comment to this blog post.

COMM 150: Assignment, first paper on brand management

According to our syllabus for Communications 150, " Each student will write, (1) a documented term paper (at least 2,000 words or eight pages) on a subject to be chosen by the instructor on some aspect of mass communications, to be agreed upon ahead of time by the instructor and the student; or (2) two documented essays (at least 1,000 words of four pages each) reflecting on topics to be assigned by the instructor. So let's take advantage of spring break and get started now.

Here's the topic for the first paper. (If you make it long enough, it will also be your last paper because it will be your only paper; if you come up short, you'll write a second shorter paper in April. It's up to you which way you want to do it.) I'll state it as a question:

How does ________________ (*insert name of corporation or celebrity here) practice brand management? Our textbook by John Vivian doesn't say much about it, but a brand is the image a corporation or a product has with the public. So the Cardinals or the Cubs are not only ball teams, they're brands. How do they maintain their images? Think of other corporations that are in the news. Google. Apple. Toyota. Political causes. PETA isn't just an animal rights organization named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It's a brand, one with an off-beat -- and controversial -- way of attracting attention to its cause. Think of celebrities. Vivian mentions Paris Hilton. Is she really a brand? Is an entertainer a brand? Is Tiger Woods? Jay Leno? Are Bill and Linda Gates? Brad Pitt? Angelina Jolie? Some are very good at brand management. Others aren't. Some might get better at it if they paid attention in rehab. How do they -- or don't they -- keep a consistent image with the public?

Due Friday March 19, at the end of the week after spring break. Choose the right brand, and you can have some fun with this one.

The paper is documented. In my classes, that means sources of information in all of your writing must be attributed or documented according to an academic system like MLA or APA. Key concept: If you write down anything you didn’t know before, say where you found it! Failure to do so, even unintentional, is plagiarism. In our field, it may also be copyright infringement. Do not write just to fill up space. Create clear, concise, accurate, and relevant thoughts. And convey them to readers in a well-written, grammatical, engaging fashion.

Let's start working on it in class today.

John Vivian's discussion of branding defines the practice as: "Enhancing a product image with a celebrity or already-established brand name, regardless of any intrinisic connection between the product and the image" (332). He uses Paris Hilton as an example, citing "a Paris Hilton handbag, a Paris Hilton wristwatch, a Paris Hilton whatever."

Whatever.

True enough, but there's more to it than that. A good starting place is Vivian's discussion of "brand image" (330-332). He cites adman David Ogilvy, who pioneered the concept during the 1950s and 60s. A certain type of dress shirt (a Hathaway), a certain type of whiskey (Jack Daniels) was hooked up with a certain type of image (a pirate with an eyepatch, down-home sippin' whiskey, whatever). Whatever. It does sell product, though. Or does it sell product by selling the experience? See how all this stuff starts fitting together?

Vivian defines a brand as a "non-generic product name designed to set the product apart from the competition" (330). Ford. Chevvy. BMW. They're all cars. What's the image of each? The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller." Done right, branding reinforces in our minds something that marketing people call a unique selling proposition i.e. something that sets one product apart from all others. The Nike swoosh. "Just Do It." Tiger Woods. Oops! What's he doing to Nike's brand management program? What's he doing to his own image?

Wikipedia defines brand management as "the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand." Here's how it works:

[Brand management] seeks to increase the product's perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with future purchases of the same product. ...

If time permits, we can brainstorm on branding issues presented by different people, products and causes that have been in the news.

COMM 150: Live dead(tree) blogging a class discussion

Well, it's not exactly liveblogging, there's no such thing as deadblogging and it's not in dead-tree or print format. But here are notes from your answers when I went around the room today asking: (1) how do you define news; and (2) what does it do for you?

Your answers (but the typos are mine):

- lifestype put on paper, magazines - tells what’s happening today - pretty much just tgives you information\

Im portant happenings in the community and around the world - I rarely watch the news but when I do it gives me an insight on what’s going on.

The latest ijnfo that needs to be heard by the general public - keeps me informed what’s happening locally and around the world

Basically it’s whats going on in the world, but we don’t hear everything. Impact. Controversy. Timeliness of it. Things that are odd. Prominent, li8ke Tiger woods. Yeah we don’t need to know about it, but we do.

Any type of proximity timelness blah blah blah from COMM 207 --

COMM 150: Where do Americans get their news?

Let's try something in class today. Three steps: (1) I'm going to ask you some questions; (2) you'll post your answers as comments to this post; and (3) we'll follow the link at the bottom of the post and see how our answers compare to a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Here are the questions:

• Where do you get your news from? (a) newspapers; (b) local radio and television; (c) national TV like CNN, Fox, NBC or ABC; (d) the World Wide Web; or (e) other. If you get your news from more than one source, list them. If you checked "other," please say what it is.
  
• Do you access news on your cell phone? If so, how often?
  
• Do you access news on a laptop or desk computer? If so, how often?
  
• Do you access news in "dead tree format" (i.e. paper)?
  
• Do you comment on the news via a social networking site?

The Pew report is linked below:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2360777,00.asp