This document outlines an assignment for students to remix local news using interactive storytelling tools like Zeega. Students would select 3-5 noteworthy local stories each day, write short summaries, and publish a 1-2 minute interactive news product to share on social media. The goals are to engage students with news, teach news judgment and storytelling skills, and have them learn by practicing daily deadlines. Assessment focuses on newsworthiness, accuracy, design, and meeting deadlines. Resources for the Zeega tool and tutorials are provided.

1. Remixing the News
Presented at the Teach-A-Thon
Journalism/Interactive 2014
Donica Mensing
@donica
Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno

3. WANTED:
A better way to engage
beginning students with news

4. And, a better way to learn:
How to find and evaluate local news
How to make defensible news judgments
How to create a news product to engage an
audience
How to share a product to reach an intended
audience

5. Teach students to
remix the news

6. Storify
Zeega
Spundge
Pop
Trove
News Peg

7. Zeega is a fun interactive media tool
students can use to curate news.
It was created by Matter, a San Francisco-based
accelerator for mission-driven games
committed to changing media for good.
http://zeega.com

9. Washington: A Zeega by NPR

10. Assignment
Create an engaging news product that takes one to
two minutes to watch
Include three to five noteworthy local news stories
(can also include weather, sports & entertainment)
Of importance and interest to students
Publish daily and share on social media

12. Learning from mistakes
Search skills
Story selection
Short, accurate writing
Visual design
Meeting deadlines
Punctuation and spelling

13. Assessment
Did you include "newsworthy" stories for the day?
Is your writing accurate, concise, and correct?
Is your visual storytelling legible and attractive?
Do your choices violate professional standards?
Did you meet your deadline?

14. Resources
Zeega FAQ:
http://blog.zeega.com/faq
How journalists can use interactive storytelling tool
Zeega, IJ Net, Margaret Looney
KQED Tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMoZuiLegU
Poynter’s News University free tutorial/webinar on
Zeegas: http://www.newsu.org/digital-tools-zeega

15. If you have examples of Zeegas you like,
please tweet them!
And if you try this assignment, let me
know.
@donica
dmensing@unr.edu
Reynolds School of Journalism