WCC COMM 106 course introduction (asynchronous) LUTHER
1. COMM 106: MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
Professor Eric Luther
• TX Community College transfer student
• SMU: Dallas, TX – Bachelors of Humanities
• NYU: New York, NY – Masters in Arts & Humanities
Education
• 10 years in media production (mainly TV news)
• Taught communications and media courses as adjunct at
other community colleges, but came full-time to WCC as
of Fall 2010
• Curriculum Chair; Communications & Media Arts
2. TODAY’S OVERVIEW:
• Go over Class Outline
• Discuss Journalism Basics
• Class Materials are posted on
Blackboard prior to class meeting
• GO TO THIS COURSE SECTION ON
BLACKBOARD NOW
COMM 106: MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
3. USING BLACKBOARD
• All assigned class work and materials can be found in the
corresponding WEEKLY LEARNING MODULES area of the course
blackboard shell:
5. USING BLACKBOARD
• There you will see all the assigned work & material for that week
that you are to do in the order they are assigned
6. COURSE OUTLINE OVERVIEW
•CONTACT INFO – see BASIC COURSE
INFORMATION/COURSE OUTLINE
•COURSE DETAILS
• This course is an introduction to the basic elements and
tools of multimedia journalistic storytelling including audio
and online journalism platforms with the goal of giving
every student a rudimentary knowledge of how to produce
and publish news stories using multimedia.
• The course examines the challenges presented by the
explosion of journalism on the Internet and assesses the
role of the journalist in an online society. The class will also
expose students to both practical skills and a broader
understanding of multimedia journalism issues.
7. COURSE OUTLINE OVERVIEW
•REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
• Advancing the Story-Quality
Journalism in a Digital World,
Fourth Edition – Wenger & Potter,
SAGE Publishing
• Multimedia Journalism is a
dynamic field and, in addition to
the textbook, we will also be using
real-world current examples,
instructor-supplied information,
and practical lab experience as our
course source materials.
8. COURSE OUTLINE OVERVIEW
• Required Course Materials/Supplies:
• Windows PC or MAC with ability to install
free audio editing program, AUDACITY
(or access to school lab with AUDACITY
installed as in TECH 13-E):
https://www.audacityteam.org/
• Audio-recording ability via smartphone
or digital recording device (or access to
COMM/JOURNALISM TECH LAB
equipment check-out when available
Other Required Supplies:
• Steady Internet connection
• Working web cam and microphone
• Quiet location without noise or
distraction
• Desktop or laptop computer (rather than
a phone or tablet)
9. COURSE OUTLINE OVERVIEW
•GRADING DETAILS
• Course Assignments & Quizzes (In-Class, Blog, &
Blackboard) = 25% (lowest score dropped)
• Production Exercises = 25% (lowest score dropped)
• Discussion Boards = 20% (lowest score dropped)
• Completed Multimedia Project = 30%
• TOTAL = 100%
• + DISCUSSION BOARD EXTRA CREDIT
***
• Your current grade should always be available in
BLACKBOARD: MY GRADES: CURRENT GRADE
10. COURSE OUTLINE OVERVIEW
•LATE WORK POLICY: Journalism is all about
deadlines so, typically, NO LATE WORK IS ACCEPTED FOR
FULL CREDIT (50% maximum)! Material covered in class
will always be posted in the appropriate area/weekly
class module of Blackboard so physical absences/not
checking into the online course are not an excuse for
falling behind when completing work. You are held
responsible for the material whether you are physically
present/logging in or not. There will plenty of time
allowed for any and all work and Blackboard will be
consistently updated.
11. BASIC COURSE SECTIONS:
•LECTURES/COVERAGE OF CLASS MATERIAL
•CLASS BLOG POSTINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
•BLACKBOARD QUIZZES AND/OR
ASSIGNMENTS
•LAB TIME TO WORK ON EXERCISES AND
MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS
12. OUTLINE OVERVIEW
•Course Outline is subject to change
•Remember to use the Discussion
Boards as we would a “real” class
discussion - be polite and responsive
•Questions?
13. What is “COMM 106: MULTIMEDIA
JOURNALISM”?
•Multimedia (dictionary)
•Using or involving several forms of
communication or expression
•For our purposes, we’re going to focus on
AUDIO and VIDEO as our primary media
forms along with text, interactive, and
photo elements
14. •Journalism (dictionary)
•the activity or job of collecting, writing,
and editing news stories for newspapers,
magazines, television, radio, and/or the
web
What is “COMM 106: MULTIMEDIA
JOURNALISM”?
15. BASICS OF JOURNALISM
•Journalists should always perform two basic
function (the 2 “I’s”):
•INVESTIGATE & INFORM
•And they should always perform them:
•As ACCURATELY & FAIRLY as they possibly
can
16. MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM PROJECT
•You will pick a topic to Investigate & Inform as
Accurately & Fairly as you can
•You will build a basic AUDIO multimedia
project around your topic (text + audio +
interactivity)
•Your project is due at the end of the semester
•We will cover finding and presenting your
story topic in upcoming classes
17. INTRODUCTIONS + BLOG EMAIL SUBMISSION
+ CHAPTER #1
• You have three assignments this week:
• #1: Simply submit an email address so I can add
you to our class blog as an author
• It can be ANY email address, personal or your WCC
address
• You will receive info at this address that you will need
to post on our class blog – SAVE THIS EMAIL!
• You will find this assignment in the WEEK #1
LEARNING MODULE
• #2 Discussion Board: INTRODUCTIONS
• #3 Read CHAPTER #1: The Multimedia Mindset
• (a quiz/assignment will be forthcoming)
