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General Information | Grading | Class blog | Week-by-week | Useful links | Viking Code | Berry COM Job Bank

Note: This Web page will change; please refer to it frequently. Do not merely print it out the first week of class.

Lose your paper syllabus? Download another one

Looking for a job? 301/303 collaboration wiki | New York Times subscription form? | Dr. C's textbook | AP Style presentation schedule

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Welcome!

News editing is not just something that goes on in a newspaper city room or at the news desk of WSB-TV. Clear, effective writing, speaking and thinking are vital in any form of communication, be it a news story, public relations campaign, broadcast script, sermon or application to graduate school.

This course will make you a more effective communicator, no matter what your career plans are. Of course, the focus here is on newswork, and editing is one of the most sought after job skills in the news business. If your career interest is in newspaper editing, this is the course for you. We'll introduce you to how editors think, how editors work and how editors solve the problems encountered in every newsroom every day throughout the world.

The design of this course reflects my experience in newspaper work. I have been a writer, reporter, photographer and editor. Before earning a doctorate and getting into full-time teaching, I was an editor and reporter covering Internet-related businesses and technologies. Why bring that up? Because my goal is to make this course as real-world as possible. We'll be looking at real issues, real problems and real solutions.

During our time together, I plan to treat you as fellow professional journalists acquiring new skills. I expect you to respond in kind by the quality of your assignments, ability to meet deadlines, active participation, class attendance and punctuality. Since you already have acquired news writing skills as prerequisites for this course, our relationship is roughly analogous to orienting and training a reporter for the copy desk.

Journalism and the roles of journalists continue to evolve. This course will introduce you to what is changing in copy editing -- and what is not. We will be discussing the fundamentals of editing that have been vital to newswork for generations. We also will be looking at how new technologies, including the Web, and new challenges are affecting copy editing today and for the future.

Several themes will guide our explorations, including:

· Precision. If the information is not truthful, i.e., accurate, it's not journalism. Our job  as editors is to ensure the accuracy of everything we handle.

· Basics. No matter how high tech things get, good copy editing requires the consistent, skilled application of fundamentals.

· Imagination. Great editing requires creativity and flexible thinking.

· Convergence. The walls are coming down within and between media. You need to be able to operate in multiple domains.

· Critical thinking. In journalism as in life, you will find that not every question has a clear, unambiguous answer -- or even only one answer. You can expect to be challenged to think on your feet, to analyze ambiguous information, to find answers on your own, and to evaluate the credibility and utility of various sources of information.

In this course, it is critical that we communicate well. If there is anything you do not understand, please ask about it immediately. Do not be shy; do not wait, hoping it will all become clear; do not assume that you are the only one who does not get the material. The rule still holds: There are no dumb questions. Fairly early in the term, I will invite each of you for a brief chat about whatever is on your mind. However, you need not wait for that opportunity to get in touch with me; nor should that be the last conversation we have during the term.

I love journalism and I want to help make it better by training a top-flight group of new journalists to enter the field. My goal for you is to learn about editing, learn to edit and, I hope, for you to gain some of my enthusiasm for news and news editing. If you don't come to share my passion, that's OK, too. Even if this is not your cup of tea, you will gain skills and perspectives that will make you more effective in any communicating you do.

“Editor: A person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is
to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.”
--Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915

"Eloquence is an art of saying things in such a way that those to whom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure; that they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them more willingly to reflection upon it."
--Blaise Pascal, 1657

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Catalog description: Selection and preparation of written and pictorial materials for newspapers, magazines and related media. Laboratory included. Prereq: COM 301.

Course Purpose & Objectives: Wherever people use language, they need editors. Students will learn to edit and write accurate, relevant and timely news articles, press releases, magazine articles and other communications. There will be an emphasis on grammar, spelling, syntax, style, electronic editing and other elements of complete, concise and accurate publishing. Current events, online news environments, and editing in and for digital media also will be emphasized.

By the end of this course, my goal is for students to:

• Know how to gather, select, organize and evaluate information.
• Successfully write and edit news stories on deadline.
• Demonstrate improved news selection and judgment, critical thinking skills and professionalism.
• Better understand the legal and ethical contexts of mass communication.
• Better understand how editing for print differs from editing for the Web and online environments.

The Week | Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Rome News-Tribune | New York Times | Guardian Newspaper | Times After Deadline blog

Week-by-week

Caution: This calendar will change, and it will change often, so please refer to it frequently.
You should not merely print it out the first week of class.

Calendar	Topics & Assignments	Readings/Notes
Week 1: Aug. 24	Introductions, syllabus, key course concepts; how COM 301 and 303 hook together; the news media future Current events quiz dry run Friday (doesn't count for grade; from the New York Times print edition) Fundamentals | Roles of Editors	Read: Syllabus; ch. 1 of Contemporary Editing textbook; ch. 1 of Dr. Carroll's book (download the .pdf); New York Times print edition Due Friday: Four current events questions
Week 2: Aug. 31	Dow Jones diagnostic test Monday News Values | AP "Entry of the Day" Chapter 1 of Dr. C's textbook, Chapters 1 & 2 of CE text Current events and revising with feedback	Familiarize yourself with Romenesko media blog Read: for Wednesday, Chapter 2 of Contemporary Editing | "WED" | Search Engine Tutorial | "Perfect Copy Editor" | Seven Deadly Sins" | "Personal Responsibility" | Reading quiz on CE chs. 1 & 2 Wednesday Due Monday at beginning of class: Writing assignment from Dr. Carroll's chapter 1 (follow format proscribed on syllabus) Due Monday at the end of class: Dow Jones diagnostic, omitting last section. Due Friday: five questions for current events discussion; Grammar Slammers
Week 3: Sept. 7	News judgment | Grammar Slammer | AP Style tip-of-the-day No class Monday: Labor Day No class Friday: BC at UNC	Read: We Are Not Bemused | High-Speed, High-Stakes Copy Editing | Read AP style primer (.doc download) Due Wednesday: Revised writing samples; AP Style drill
Week 4: Sept. 14	Monday in the lab: Floydada scrimmage Multi-step editing and editing skills (CE chapter 3) Sites, Sources and Resources Friday: Current events quiz (bring four questions from Thursday's print New York Times)	For Monday, read: Clichés | Words Commonly Confused | Keys to Successful Editing | Grambo |  Spelling Test & Chapter 4 of CE textbook Due Wednesday: completed Floydada edits Due Friday: AP Style Drill (attribution)
Week 5: Sept. 21	Monday in the lab: United Way live edit (numbers!) AP Style | Punctuation (.ppt download) | Confusing Words (.ppt download) | Quotation and Attribution (Read CE text, chapter 4, pps. 87-117) >>the apostrophe	Due Monday: AP style drill Due Wednesday: United Way story edits Due Friday: Punctuation drill; four current events questions & their answers Read: How to use the dash; Quote, Unquote; A Dilemma Within Quotation Marks; CE Chapter 4: Grammar & Mechanics of Language For funsies: Headline Generator
Week 6: Sept. 28	Monday in the lab: Acworth robbery live edit (crime!) Wednesday: Rome meth story (the quoted report)| Math (.ppt download) | Numbers | Polls Friday: Quiz on polls & surveys based on Ch. 11	Read: Chapter 11 Surf: Using wire copy | Math.com | OnlineConversion.com Due Wednesday: "In the Numbers" drill Due Monday at the end of class: Acworth edits
Week 7: Oct. 5	Monday: Finish math/numbers/polls/surveys Friday: Dr. Carroll's Chapter 2, Digital Media v. Analog (quiz possible, so make sure you've read it) Also Friday: current events quiz (using Monday's & Thursday's Times in print) No class Wednesday: BC in Birmingham On your own: Reading a balance sheet | Where the bailout money is going >> a visual map	Due Monday: AP style drill on numerals; Read Ch. 11, this article on usability findings, and Dr. C's Ch. 2 Due Friday: poll assignment
Week 8: Oct. 12	Wednesday: Joint/jumbo budget meeting (301 & 303) Friday: Headlines (and decks, subheads, lists, hyperlinking); Quiz on Chapter 6 and Dr. C's Ch. 4 (10 questions)	Due Wednesday: Three story ideas, with potential sources and a photo idea for each, typed up and submitted Read for Friday, Toward Headline Excellence | Chapter 6 of textbook; Dr. Carroll's Chapter 4 Due Friday: Headlines assignment
Week 9: Oct. 19	Headlines primer | Monday in the lab: Headline writing For funsies: A Copy Editor's Lament | headline generator | Comparing apples to apples? Friday: Copy due from COM 301 reporters | wiki for collaboration Current events discussion	Read: Chapter 6 and Dr. C's Ch. 4 Due Monday: Headlines diagnostic (Word .doc download) Due Wednesday: Headlines exercise begun in lab Monday Due Friday: Five current events questions and their answers
Week 10: Oct. 26	Monday in the lab: Working with live copy (your midterm) Working with quotes and attribution Wednesday & Friday: Introduction to photo editing | Cropping, sizing, cutline writing Photo ethics: Gov. Corzine | Columbine myths	For this week: Read Chapters 13 & 14 of C.E. textbook, photo and information graphics | 10 Tips for Better Captions Due Friday: Cutline exercise
Week 11: Nov. 2	Video editing | Finish photo editing | Webbifying the news packages Video editing primer (.pdf download) Watch FinalCut tutorial in Design Lab sometime this week (7-9pm each night reserved for COM 303; budget 1.5 hours)	Due Monday: Finished midterms (live copy from 301) Due Wednesday: Cutlines for photos Friday: Current events quiz | Times quiz
Week 12: Nov. 9	Getting ready for news vid projects (Kermit). Video editing in the lab Wednesday with Mark Hannah >>vids due from COM 301 Webbifying/digital storytelling | Two models: C|Net and The New York Times	Due Friday: Three story ideas on the wiki | Take current events quiz (top line, or most recent) and email Dr. C your score. Failing to send the score =s a 0.
Week 13: Nov. 16	Monday in lab: Working on video projects | Citizen journalism at YouTube Online sourcing >> Xiaojing's special library Web page created for COM 303 | Source credibility | Searching people | Web searches Ethics of linking, including a linking dilemma (download) Read: Kristof on ethics (Word .doc) | How to make an ethical decision | Principles of Linking | WR blog post on an ethics dilemma | A New Credibility	Read Chapter 16, Dr. C's Ch. 7 & "Online newsroom skills" from Poynter Surf: Memorial Library's online resources (peruse what databases are available) ; NICAR; Google Advanced Search; FactCheck.org; CIA World Factbook Due Wednesday: Edited 301 video packages
Weeks 14: Nov. 23	Collaboration Round II >> get your fresh copy here Emergent Journalism | Online sourcing (cont'd) No class Wednesday or Friday: Turkey Day!	Peruse: Poynter on Ethics column Due Monday: Site credibility assignment (Word .doc) Due (by end of lab) Monday: Dbase treasure hunt (Word .doc)
Week 15: Nov. 30	In the lab: Working on final projects Review for the final (.doc download) | And here, too! No class Friday: BC in New York Final projects due Monday, Dec. 7, 12:30 pm	Read for Friday, Hyperlocality with Rob Curley | Storming the News Gatekeepers | The Josh Marshall Plan | Surf: The Week Last reading: The future of storytelling
>>	Presentations on color | SND Tips for Better Design | Newspapers going tabloid	kkk keep your eye on the prize!

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General Information

• Associated Press Stylebook
• Contemporary Editing, 2d edition, Cecelia Friend, Don Challenger, Katherine C. McAdams (New York: McGraw Hill).
• Subscription to the New York Times
• Access to local newspaper (Rome News-Tribune OR HometownHeadlines) and major daily (i.e., New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal).

• George T. Arnold, Media Writer’s Handbook: A Guide to Common Writing and Editing Problems
• Irene Hammerich and Claire Harrison, Developing Online Content
• Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald, When Words Collide: A Journalist’s Guide to Grammar and Style
• Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism
• Andrea Lunsford, The Everyday Writer
• William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style
• Lynne Trusse, Eats Shoots & Leaves
• Richard Craig, Online Journalism

• Students will be given quizzes on news events, spelling, grammar and style.
• We might conduct a budget meeting to determine content for our next newspaper issue, magazine issue or press release.
• I might make a presentation, with Q&A and discussion. I will introduce new material, go over previous exercises and perhaps involve students in peer editing.
• Students will write and edit . . . a lot.

• Attendance: Attendance is a part of your grade. Be here every day on time, just as you would be for a surgery, a job or even a haircut. One absence is forgiven and forgotten. Two might be. More are penalized, one percentage point per unexcused absence, and that’s a point off your final total grade (ouch!). Unexcused lateness, too, is penalized.
• I am easily distracted. Ringing cell phones, therefore, will be lobbed out of the classroom window. Late arrivals will be stared down unmercifully. In short, be professional and civil. If you are unclear about the meaning or operationalization of these terms, I would be more than happy to elaborate. Some examples: during class and labs, no e-mail, IM or Web surfing. These activities prevent you from getting the information you need and it is distracting to your classmates and to me. If I tell you to stop, then stop, immediately and completely.
• Preparation: Complete the assignments and be ready to tackle the activities of the day. Be ready to discuss and debate ideas, approaches and opinions.

• Quizzes: What resources students may use will vary. Before each quiz, I will tell the class whether the quiz is open-book. Students will be free to use the Associated Press stylebook in most cases.
• In-class/in-lab assignments: Unless otherwise instructed, you can and should use reliable references, including stylebooks, dictionaries and online sources. Be careful with information found on the Web, however.
• Collaboration: I support collaboration, but any graded work must be the student’s own. In some cases, I will encourage feedback sought from one another. For other assignments, I may require solitary work. Generally, students should operate under the assumption that they are accountable for their own work. When in doubt, ask.

• When an in-class/in-lab assignment is due, it is due. This reflects the reality of many mass communication professions and work environments. Late in-class assignments will not be accepted unless permission for extension had been granted prior to deadline. Turn in whatever has been done by deadline.
• Late out-of-class assignments will be accepted no later than the next class period, but the assignment grade will be lowered. Remember, penalized work is not necessarily the same as 0 (zero) points, so endeavor to submit the work even if it is late. Complete out-of-class assignments and learn from them, even if they are turned in late.
• Please note: If a student misses a class when an assignment is due and that student has a legitimate excuse, I will accept the late assignment without penalty at my discretion. I define what constitutes a legitimate excuse and reserve the right not to grant full credit for assignments turned in under these circumstances. The same holds true for exams.

Checking Facts

Census.gov: U.S. Department of Commerce portal to local, state and federal census information.Fedworld.gov: Government portal to millions of federal Web pages by category, topic and title.Stateline.org: News, issues and statistics on state government, education, courts, transportation, environment, from the Pew Center on the States.Searchsystems.net: Locates public records by state, nation or keyword, from Pacific Information Resources. Links to 10,000 databases on criminal and court records, licenses, businesses, missing people. CDC.gov: Centers for Disease Control, good for public health information, health and safety statistics, news on epidemics, consumer advice, links to state and local health agencies.Journalist's Guide to the Internet: comprehensive guide to information sources for journalists and how to use them.Assignment Editor: Links to hundreds of research sites, media outlets, maps and images. Infospace.com: Reverse directories that allow you to find a name and address if you know the phone number, or to find all of the residents of a street.Investigative Reporters and Editors: Huge library database, but it requires a paid subscription. Links, however, are free and helpful.Refdesk: Portal to journalism tools, such as databases, online publications.Nolo.com: Legal research site for nonspecialists. State and federal laws, cases, definitions and help deciphering legalese. Project Vote Smart: Public interest site that tracks current candidates, status of legislation, votes of Congress members, appropriations.Follow the Money: Database on campaign contributions, spending and lobbying, maintained by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. And general resources for journalists: Journalists Toolbox | Cyberjournalist.net | Poynter Institute

Copy Editing

The Slot: Washington Post copy editor Bill Walsh's wide-ranging site should be in everybody's list of bookmarks. Humorous at times, the site has tips, essays and general information. The Poynter Institute is a fount of material for journalists. Paul Martin, a copyeditor at the Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years, publishes Style & Substance, a blog for WSJ writers, but of use to us all. He identifies problems in language and defends the paper's austere style.

Journalism Internships, Jobs and Salaries

A good page that can get you started in a lot of good directions is the Scripps Job Resources page. Among its several good links are American Journalism Review's JobLink for Journalists. The American Society of Newspaper Editors' Careers in Journalism site has some good information, including an up-to-date internship guide and information targeted to that first job at a small newspaper. Some good information is to be had at the National Diversity Newspaper Jobs Bank, including listings of minority job fairs. Sources of minority internships and fellowships are also available at the National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association sites. Likewise, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association has a jobs board at its site. For internships, start by looking at the opportunities in the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund program. The Cincinnati SPJ chapter has an interesting report on trends in journalism pay at the "Show Us the Money" site.

Math for Journalists

Grammar & Language Skills

Know what a "solecism" is? A "tautology"? Want to brush up on spelling skills? Mindy McAdams' Words for Copy Editors has a lot, including the syllabus for a course she teaches in magazine copy editing. Stumped on spelling? Not sure of an acronym? Need a thesaurus? Looking for off-beat dictionaries? Robert Beard's one-site shopping center, On-Line Dictionaries, links to more than 400 searchable references. Copy editors who use pop words and phrases -- buzzwords -- do so at their peril if they do not know the word's meaning. BuzzWhack identifies and critiques the latest language trends.

Geography

Searches, Finding Stuff

Journalism from A to Z

Professional Associations

American Copy Editors Society
Associated Press Managing Editors Association
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Society of Professional Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
Asian American Journalists Association
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Native American Journalists Association