NETWORKED
JOURNALISM
MCOM 3160
Spring 2016
Tuesdays+Thursdays
12:00-1:50 pm TR
Shwayder Art
Building 118
Professor:
Adrienne Russell adrienne.russell@du.edu
Office Hours:
by appointment
Office: Sturm
Hall 212
Over the past 2 decades a
transformation has taken place in journalism due to the widespread
proliferation of digital and mobile technologies. Rather than eroding the
quality of news and, thus, the quality of public culture, these new
journalism tools, practices, and products have the potential to improve the
quality of journalism by reviving some of the old values of journalism that
were overshadowed in the era of commercial media like dialogue and pluralism,
and strengthening existing values such as holding power elites accountable.
This course traces this transformation from mass-mediated journalism to
networked journalism, with emphasis on experiments in new-style news and the
changing relationship between journalists and their publics.
The objectives of this course are
two-fold: 1) to become familiar with the various cultural, economic, and
political forces that help shape networked journalism; 2) develop analytical
and theoretical tools to examine a specific journalism outlets, issue, topic,
or phenomenon. The aim of this course is not simply to accumulate facts, but to
develop analytical and theoretical tools to examine journalism products and
practices. We will use two methods in our research. The first centers on our
own observations. Students are encouraged to bring examples to class that
relate to the issues and ideas being covered. The second method is based on
close reading of the assigned texts. Students are expected to have read the
assigned chapters and articles before the class period for which they are scheduled
to be discussed.
Classes will combine lectures and
discussion. Please remember that discussion is a way of helping you to see
different sides of issues and to evaluate different arguments. It is essential
in the development of your thinking that you participate in discussions and
that you work to express your thoughts effectively.
Book
Networked: A contemporary history of news in transition by Adrienne Russell
Blog
You will receive an
invitation via email to join our course blog. Please follow the directions in
the email. You will find weekly assignments and other course communication
there. I will also occasionally ask you to post assignments or comments.
Topic Panels
For many of the class sessions throughout the
quarter we will organize our discussions around panels in which student
panelists will give five-minute presentations on something related to the topic
of the day. After each panelist presents, the discussion will open up to the
rest of the class to ask questions, add comments, or offer critiques. Each
student will present on 2 panel over the course of the quarter. Here is what is
expected:
Panelists:
- Your job is to be an engaging panel that presents
information and examples that add to our exploration of the theme at hand.
You should check in with your co-panelists to be sure that you are not
focusing on the same material or topics. Feel free to collaborate and
share resources.
- You must prepare by reading additional information on
the topic and thinking of an angle, example, or case that would best add
depth to our discussion of the topic. For example if we are talking about
changes to personal life you might focus on online dating, if we are
talking about copyright laws in the era of digital culture you might talk
about crack downs on remix musicians in general or a particular artist.
- By midnight the night before your scheduled panel you
must post your presentation to the class Blog. There are 4 things that you
should be sure to include: 1) A description of your key points; 2) A list
of at least 2 references from scholarly or insightful popular press
sources besides the required reading that you used to inform your
presentation. Acceptable references include books, journal
articles or scholarly blogs, Ted talks, articles from other quality
outlets such as Vice, Tech Crunch, Salon, Wired, and many more. If in
doubt, ask me. See the Recommended Outlets of Info and Analysis section
below; 3) A link to one slide or visual you want to use during your
in-class presentation. This slide should not contain video or
extensive text. No reading off slides. Never ever; 4) a question or 2 that
you would like to pose to class about the topic to spur discussion.
- You must be prepared. If you are not, do not try to
wing it. That will waste all of our time and be embarrassing for you.
- Feel free to bring in notes but be sure not to read
your presentation.
Everyone else:
- Your job is to be an engaged audience and then to jump
into the discussion once the panel presentations have concluded. Think of
question and comments for panelists and the class in general.
- Please have your computers closed and do not talk,
leave the room, or do other distracting things while your classmates are
on the spot.
Recommended outlets and
people to follow on twitter. This is just suggested places to start!
http://pressthink.org/
@ggreenwald
@neimanLab
@freepress
@jayrosen
@rww
@CJR
You can find more here.
Exams
There will be 2 essay exams that cover the reading and in-class discussion and lectures.
Final
Story or Paper
For your final assignment you may
either write a paper or create a story on some element of networked journalism.
The guidelines for each are below.
Prospectus
Everyone must turn in a prospectus, which will serve as an outline for your research paper or article. It should be 1-2 single-spaced pages and include:
1) a clear statement of your research
question story focus;
2) a description of specifically what
you are going to look at;
3) an outline of the theoretical and
empirical literature that will inform your work;
4) a preliminary bibliography.
Paper
Choose networked journalism product, organization, idea, trend, or treatment of a particular story and evaluate it by comparing it to traditional news media products and norms. Your paper should be between 4-5 single-spaced pages and should use Chicago style of bibliographic reference. All papers must build on literature in the field and include a literature review.
Story
Chose a newsworthy issue, outlet, trend, idea related to journalism and create a story about it. The story should be posted online and include links and/or audio and video and images. The length of stories will vary (if you shoot a video the text portion might be shorter, for example) but the story should be roughly 4-5 single spaced pages (roughly 2000 words) and must be informed by interviews with at least 3 sources.
Evaluation
Class Participation (including attendance, contribution to discussions, panels) 300 points
Exams
200 points
Final story or
paper 200 points
Paper prospectus 50 points
Final presentation
50 points
Personal Standards
Please note that 300 out of 800 possible points in this class have
to do with you showing up and engaging with the class material. If you do not
come to class or you come unprepared you will not do well in this class.
Please keep your phones and
computers in your bags except for the occasions when I ask you to bring them
out to look something up or work on an assignment.
Please don’t ask me questions that can be answered by looking at the
syllabus or class schedule. And please listen in class so I don’t have to
repeat things a million times. That’s boring for everyone. If you are having
trouble understanding expectations, assignments or course material, please
speak up. It’s important to me not to leave anybody behind.
Please don’t make excuses about why you cannot attend or prepare for class. If you truly have a crisis that is a different story and your wellbeing comes first.
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