COMM 150, COMM 209: BBC On the beat with a local reporter

On the beat with a local reporter 1min report, follows young reporter interviewing candidates, voters, etc. She uses shorthand!

Local newspaper reporters have been working overtime in the run-up to the British elections.
Katie Davis, news editor of the local north London newspaper the Ham and High, gave this first person account of what it's like to cover the campaign.

Peter Ellertsen / Resume

Peter Ellertsen, 2125 South Lincoln Avenue, Springfield, Illinois 62704. Telephone: (217) 793-2587. Email: peterellertsen@yahoo.com. [Updated 11-23-10]

Professional experience

Free-lance writer, living history interpreter and amateur musician, 1995-present. I have articles on music in Dulcimer Players News, the EverythingDulcimer.com website and regional history magazines in Illinois and Missouri [see below for list]. As a trained volunteer interpreter at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, Route 1, Petersburg, Illinois 62625, I staff interpretive stations and demonstrate period music on the Appalachian dulcimer in an 1830s historical village. I developed presentations on shape-note singing schools and 19th-century "ballads, Bobby Burns and fiddle tunes" for the Road Scholars Program, a speaker's bureau of the Illinois Humanities Council, 2001-2004, and currently give talks on music history for a negotiable fee. I also coordinate meetings of the Prairieland Dulcimer Strings, a group of amateur musicians in Springfield.

College instructor and associate professor, 1993-2010. Taught English, journalism and interdisciplinary humanities courses in Native American cultures and American roots music at Benedictine University at Springfield [formerly Springfield College in Illinois]. Served as faculty adviser to campus literary magazine,The Sleepy Weasel, and chaired faculty Assessment Committee,dealing with learning outcomes assessment and accreditation issues. Named to the LaFata Endowed Chair for distinguished service to the College and its students, 2002-03. Listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers. I continue to teach mass communications classes as an adjunct instructor.

Webmaster and editor of campus publications, 1998-2010. As faculty adviser to The Sleepy Weasel, I produced an online magazine featuring public affairs, research and creative writing by students, faculty, alumni and others in the Benedictine/Springfield College community. As assessment committee chair, I wrote and edited Nuts & Bolts, a monthly newsletter for faculty providing updates on federal education policy and learning outcomes assessment techniques and issues.

Web log administrator, 2006-present. The blogs were initially created for student assignments at SCI-Benedictine and maintained for my own research notes. Hogfiddle, at http://www.hogfiddle.blogspot.com/, contains my notes on Appalachian dulcimers (also known as "hogfiddles"), shape-note hymnody, Doctor Watts spirituals, gospel, blues, Anglo-Celtic ballads, old-time string band music, cultural studies and folklore. The Mackerel Wrapper, at http://www.mackerelwrapper.blogspot.com/, has assignments for my mass comm. students, plus links and comment on newspapering and journalism.

Desktop publisher. 1992-2000. Rosehill Press, Springfield. Sole proprietor, with wife Debi S. Edmund, of home-based desktop publishing business specializing in short-run literary titles including the chinkapin oak: poems, 1993-1995 by John Knoepfle and Tramping Across America (1999), a reissue of Vachel Lindsay's travel writing.

Administrative assistant. 1991-1993. Office of the Treasurer, Illinois Capitol, Springfield 62706. Researched banking, taxation and legislative issues assigned by state Treasurer Patrick Quinn; wrote office profile in the Illinois Blue Book and estate tax manual for county treasurers; drafted press releases and assisted with downstate news media advance.

Political reporter and columnist. 1985-1991. The State Journal Register, One Copley Plaza, Springfield 62701. Covered city, county, state and federal elections and political news. Wrote op-ed column, spoke to civic groups and moderated candidate debate panels.

Courthouse reporter. 1984-1985. The Rock Island Argus, 1724 4th Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois 61201. Covered county government, political and economic news. As weekend city editor, assigned spot news stories, sized photographs, edited copy, wrote headlines and laid out inside pages.

Reporter and state editor. 1975-1982. The Oak Ridger, 785 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37828. Covered government, schools, politics, environmental and nuclear industry issues, labor relations, courts and police news in a four-county area. Supervised and edited regional correspondents, helped train beginning reporters.

Articles and presentations

"Psalmodikon: A Joyful Revival." Dulcimer Players News Fall 2010: 50-53+.

"Vachel Lindsay, Edgar Lee Masters and the Roots of Oldtime Music." Illinois State Museum Brown Bag Lecture, Research and Collections Center, Springfield. Sept. 22, 2010.

"The Music Behind the Poetry: Vernacular Traditions in Vachel Lindsay's and Edgar Lee Masters' Writing." Vachel Lindsay Home, Springfield. Sept. 18, 2010.

"Years of Jubilee: Music of the Civil War Era." March 7, 2010. Decatur Public Library, Decatur, Illinois. [See coverage by Kenneth Lowe, "The Sounds of Lincoln's Time: In Music as in Life, the Past is Prologue." Decatur Herald and Review March 8, 2010. http://www.herald-review.com/news/local/article_86354fe6-2ab7-11df-8ad3-001cc4c002e0.html.]

"Drones, Picks and Popsicle Sticks: The Ancient Sound of the Dulcimer." EverythingDulcimer.com. Sept. 1, 2009. http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:drones-picks-and-popsicle-sticks&catid=30:dulcimer-happenings

"Minding the Store at New Salem." Illinois Times Nov. 13, 2008. http://illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A8908

"What Does an Old Fiddle Tune Have to do With Rev. John Berry’s Service in the War of 1812?" The Prairie Picayune [Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site] October 2009. Available at http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2009/10/period-music-workshops-at-new-salem.html

"A Legend about Peter Cartwright." Prairie Picayune July 2008. http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2008/06/legend-about-peter-cartwright.html

"Tales of Sir Galahad." Illinois Times Jan. 17, 2008. http://illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A7238

"A Shape-Note Sing-Along." Presentation at Pioneer Days, W.H. Sommer Park, Peoria Park District, Peoria. Aug. 26, 2007.

"Alaskan Liturgical Hymns, Our Lady of Sitka and the 'Presence of the Holy' in Cross-town Traffic." The Sleepy Weasel 12 (2007-2008). http://www.sci.edu/comm_arts/sleepyweasel/v12/sitka.htm and http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-lady-of-sitka-in-cross-town-traffic.html

Sacred Music: Early Black and White Gospel Music Traditions." Presentation at Dixon Mounds State Museum, Lewistown, Illinois. July 22, 2007.

"A 'Doleful Sound' at Springfield's First Hanging." Prairie Picayune March 2006.
http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2006/02/at-springfields-first-public-hanging.html

"Anglo-Celtic Ballads and Fiddle Tunes in Southern Illinois, 1800-1850" Presentation at John A. Logan Museum during Apple Festival, Murphysboro, Illinois. Sept. 16, 2006.

"Seeking the Old Paths: Shape-Note Singing at Eagle Creek." Midwest Open Air Museums Magazine 37.1 (Spring 2006) 22-28.

"Sacred Harp Singing in a Living History Environment." Paper presented at Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council, Fall Conference, Eagle Creek Conference Center, Findlay, Illinois, November 10, 2005. http://www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/livinghistory.html

"For Dulcimer: Gospel Hits of 1830s?" Prairie Picayune November 2005.
http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2006/02/appalachian-dulcimer-1830s-style.html

Classroom Assesment for Continuous Improvement: A Guide for Instructors. Springfield: Springfield College/Benedictine University, 2005.

Introduction, The Missouri Harmony Songbook [with Karen Isabell]. Wings of Song ed. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society, 2005.

"Healing Power of Art" [Review of prayer against famine & other irish poems by John Knoepfle]. Sleepy Weasel 10 (2004-2005) http://www.sci.edu/comm_arts/sleepyweasel/archive/weasel05/review.html

"The Missouri Harmony: Revisiting the Hymnbook of Shape-Note Music" [with Karen Isabell]. Gateway [Missouri Historical Society] 25.1 (Summer 2004): 33-41.

"Praise on the Prairie: The Dark Poetry of the Missouri Harmony." Illinois Heritage, April-May 2004: 8-9.

"'Untaught melody of grateful hearts': Southern Appalachian Folk Hymnody in Illinois, 1800-1850." Journal of Illinois History 5.4 (Winter 2002): 258-82.

"Closing the Loop: Assessment in the Springfield College English Department" [with Judi Anderson and Lynette D. Shaw-Smith]." Presentation at Allerton Community College and University English Articulation Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 26, 2001.

"Soul of the Wind." Illinois Times April 19, 2001: 9. http://www.sci.edu/classes/ellertsen/cedarflute.html.

"'It Takes a Whole Village' ... to Pass a Referendum." [with Debi Edmund]. Illinois School Board Journal Nov.-Dec. 2000: 4-7 http://www.iasb.com/files/J0111202.htm; Jan.-Feb. 2001: 26-31 http://www.iasb.com/files/j1010206.htm.

"American Folk Hymnody in Illinois, 1800-1850." Paper presented at Conference on Illinois History, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield, October 14, 2000. http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/05/american-folk-hymnody-in-illinois-1800.html and http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/05/works-cited-1.html

"Dulcimer: Home-Made Southern Upland Music." Prairie Picayune September 2000. http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2006/02/for-dulcimer-gospel-hits-of-1830s.html

"Faith, Hope and Poetry: (Pre-)Postmodern Ways of Knowing in the Poetry of Kathleen Norris." Last Lecture Series, Springfield College in Illinois, March 9, 2000. http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/08/faith-hope-and-poetry-2000.html

Tramping Across America: Travel Writings of Vachel Lindsay. Springfield: Rosehill Press, 1999. Edited, designed, researched and wrote endnotes for the book, which was self-published by William Furry of Springfield.

"[Paul] Simon: We Have to Stand for Something" [with Debi Edmund]. Illinois School Board Journal Nov.-Dec. 1998: 8-11.

"Beyond Press Releases: Building Community while Building a School" [with Debi Edmund]. Illinois School Board Journal July-Aug. 1997: 18-22.

"Shape Note Singing Returns to New Salem." Illinois Times 14 Nov. 1996: 14.

"The Battle of Belmont and the Citizen Soldiers of the 27th Illinois Infantry." Civil War Regiments 3.4 (1994): 24-67.

"Richard Durbin: Congressman Who Loves his Job." Illinois Issues April 1991: 11-13. http://www.lib.niu.edu/1991/ii910411.html

"Paul Simon: First Stop, Iowa." Illinois Issues July 1987: 8-11.

"Moline Election Fouled Up by Computer." Illinois Issues Nov. 1985: 12-15.

"James Agee, the Bomb and Oliver the Cat." Christian Century 31 July 1984: 709-11.

Education

Workshops in Appalachian dulcimer, ballad, folk hymn and shape-note singing traditions, 1999-present. Appalachian State University, John C. Campbell Folk School; Western Carolina University; and annual Dulcimerville conference, Black Mountain, N.C.

M.A., journalism, 1983. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.

Ph.D., English, 1975. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

M.A., history, 1967. University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Studied Norwegian language and history, 1966. International Summer School, University of Oslo, Norway.

B.A., history, 1964. Albion College, Albion, Michigan.

COMM 150 (intro to mass comm.): Final exam

Communications 150: Intro to Mass Comm.
Benedictine University at Springfield
Instructor: Pete Ellertsen pellertsen@sci.edu

Final Exam, Spring Semester 2010

Below are one 50-point essay question and two 25-point short essay questions. To earn maximum credit, please write three to four pages (750 to 1,000 words) on the 50-point essay and at least a full page (250 words) on each of the 25-point essays. This means you will write answers to all three questions below. Use plenty of detail from your reading in the assigned books, the Internet and handouts I have given you, as well as class discussion, to back up the points you make. Your grade will depend both on your analysis of the broad trends I ask about, and on the specific detail you cite in support of your analysis. Due at the regularly scheduled time for our final, at 1:30 p.m., Monday, May 10, in Dawson 220.

1. Essay (50 points). In a September 2009 interview with Steve Kroft of CBS News, President Obama said, “The truth of the matter is that-- there has been I think a coarsening of our political dialogue.” Among its causes, he added, is sensationalized media coverage of politics. “I will also say that in the era of 24-hour cable news cycles that the loudest, shrillest voices get the most attention.” Based on your reading of John Vivian’s “Media of Mass Communications,” class discussion and website we have visited in COMM 150, would you agree that media coverage of politics is loud, coarse and shrill? Or is it just entertaining? Do the economic pressures of making a profit in a competitive media environment contribute to an emphasis on entertainment at the expense of reasoned public debate? If so, how? Or do you think competition gives us a better selection of information, opinion and entertainment as consumers? If so, how so? Be specific.

2a. Self-reflective essay (25 points). What have you learned in Communications 150 that surprised you the most? How, specifically, did it surprise you? What was your overall impression of the mass media before you took the course? How has that changed as a result of your reading, class discussion and research for the course? Consider it in the context of what you knew at the beginning of the semester and what you know now. In grading this essay, I will evaluate the relevance of your discussion to the main goals and objectives of the course; the detail you cite to support or illustrate your points; and the connections you make. Be specific.

2b. Short essay (25 points). In our textbook John Vivian says public relations and advertising both contribute to effective brand management in a good integrated marketing communications plan. “The new wave of IMC, according to one of its primary texts, is “respectful, not patronizing; dialogue-seeking, not monologic; responsive, not formula driven. It speaks to the highest point of common interest – not the lowest common denominator.” How can public relations practitioners incorporate an organization’s mission statement fit into a well-designed IMC program? Why would they want to? Be specific. Always be specific. Remember: An unsupported generalization is sudden death in college-level writing.

COMM 209 (basic newswriting): Final exam

Our final exam will partly consist of the story you covered Friday, April 30, of the SpringFest celebration in Gingko Square. I check my Yahoo! account several times a day. The exam, posted below, is a takehome, but you have the option of coming in and writing it during the regularly scheduled period, from _____ to _____ Friday, May 7, in Dawson Hall. In the meantime, I'll keep banker's hours in my office during final exam week, and I'm always available by email.

COMM 209: Basic Newswriting
Spring Semester – May 7, 2010
Instructor: Pete Ellertsen pellertsen@sci.edu

Final Exam

Question 1. Write a story (50 points). On Friday, April 30, the university’s annual SpringFest was held on Gingko Square. Your assignment: Write a color story about the event in modified inverted pyramid newspaper style. Length: 10 to 15 column inches, at least 450. Quote at least three sources. Organize it with a narrative lede, a nut graf that sums up your overall impression of the event and pertinent detail including quotes and description in the body of the story.

Question 2A. Self-reflective essay (25 points). How has your perception of yourself as a writer changed as a result of what we have studied in COMM 209? What was your overall sense of your writing before you took the course? How has that changed as a result of your reading, class discussion and the stories you wrote? How much have you used what you learned in COMM 209 in your other writing? Consider it in the context of what you knew at the beginning of the semester and what you know now. In grading this essay, I will evaluate the relevance of your discussion to the main goals and objectives of the course (which are listed in the syllabus); the detail you cite to support or illustrate your points; and the connections you make. Be specific.

Question 2B. News value (25 points). Attached to this exam is a story from the New Orleans Times-Picayune on the blessing of fishing boats in south Louisiana where the economy is threatened by an oil spill. Evaluate it in terms of the elements of news value outlined by Tim Harrower in “Inside Reporting” and his principles of writing a good news-feature story. Be specific: How do specific elements of news value correspond to specific angles in the story? Quote specific examples of feature elements, human interest and color in the story.