Category: Assignments

Instagram:

“Come with friends, come alone but you will be enjoying a delicious cup of matcha!”

#Relaxing #MatchaLatte #Zenchai

Twitter:

Behind all the action with my cup of matcha.

Email Word Document to me by 9 a.m. on the above date.

This assignment should be your strongest and best post of the semester, especially with our focus on depth of coverage and quality of production. Here are the requirements: Continue reading “Reported Post No. 2: DUE MON., APRIL 30”

Focus will be on DEPTH OF COVERAGE and QUALITY OF PRODUCTION.

Continue reading “Blogging class — going forward”

1. A service post is content that is tailored very specifically to your readers. It should contain information that readers can use in their lives. It can take many forms. It can be advice from an expert about how to solve a problem, or a write-up about recent research that’s become available. It could be recommendations for doing things, or buying things. I can be a list. It can be an explanation of a complicated topic.

Continue reading “Notes on writing a service post”

By the above date, all students must have completed the following work:

–Created a blog using Blogs@Baruch, including the name of the blog in the URL. You might want to include a unique header image/logo graphic that reflects the character of the blog and includes the name of the blog and a cutline. (USE YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHS. DO NOT TAKE IMAGE FROM ANOTHER SITE TO ILLUSTRATE YOURS.) Continue reading “MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT DUE: MONDAY, MARCH 19”

DUE Fri., March 2, by 10 a.m.

For Fri., March 2. Report and write your first blog post. This is an original, reported post on a news story or feature related to your blog topic. It should include interviews with AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE and should be written in journalistic style. This post must include an original photo or illustration. More than one image is preferred.

You will write the post on a Word document that must be emailed to me by 10 a.m. on Fri., March 2. I will read and edit each post and will email you back a document with the needed revisions.

Hard copies due on Tues., Feb. 20

Your final planning step before beginning serious work on your blogs is to pull together a quick editorial plan. Now that you have your topic and a general focus stated in your mission statement, it is time to put some concrete thoughts on paper about what specifically you’ll cover.

You will write a four- to five-sentence introduction expanding from the mission statement to detail the types of information readers can expect to find on the site. This should include research into upcoming events you might attend, people you might profile and useful information that will be offered.

Next, you will drill deeper by describing how that content will be distributed among the following six types of posts. Write two to three sentences for each post type.

1. Reported posts – original features or news stories that cover developments in your topic area. Must include interview/s and photos.
2. Reoccurring feature – a cleverly formatted post that can be updated weekly or biweekly.
3. Aggregation roundups – let your readers know what else is being written about your topic by other outlets.
4. Multimedia — use of video, photos, maps, graphs and audio.
5. Q&A – one-on-one interviews with interesting people.
6. News you can use – informational posts that provide

 

Competitive analysis and mission statement: For this assignment you will research your competition and then write a statement that clearly outlines the mission you will accomplish with your journalistic blog.

For the competitive analysis, find four to five other sites that most closely vie for the audience you hope to reach with your blog. Explain briefly what each site covers and the types of posts they create to meet their missions. Include what you think they do well and areas where you think they fall short. Read their “About” pages and analyze whether you think they do a good job meeting their stated purposes. Make note of their use of multimedia, aggregation and original reporting. Highlight one or two of the posts that you think are well done. At the end of this analysis, draw some conclusions about where you think your blog fits into the network of blogs already working in your topic area. Identify areas where you can fill voids or offer fresh content that isn’t already being produced.

For the mission statement, look closely at the conclusions you reached in your competitive analysis and use them to shape a clear mission statement for your blog. Include who your target audience is and the type of content readers can expect to find. State clearly and simply why readers should come to your blog over others who are writing about the same subject matter. Describe the different type of posts that you will create. End with a clear statement of what you hope to accomplish with your reporting.

I’m looking for clear, grammatically correct writing that shows you have done your research and have thoughtfully set out a mission plan. This paper, which is one of your main grades for the semester, should be about four pages. You will hand in a hard copy to me on the 14^th.

In a post on our class blog, propose TWO topics that you are interested in covering for this class. For each topic, write 200-300 words explaining the focus and types of stories you envision writing if the idea were to be turned into a blog. Please post your ideas by the start of class on Mon., Feb. 5.

Types of blog posts we’ll be working on this semester:

1. Reported news story. These posts will be about an issue or event related to your topic that is NEWSWORTHY. It will include interviews with actual people as well as additional research.
2. Reoccurring feature. Each of you will develop and report at least two of these types of posts. Could be a profile of someone interesting related to your topic, either in written or Q&A form. Or some other kind of feature that can reoccur in a packaged form, such as “Pick of the Week.”
3. News you can use: Post that includes information that will be useful to your audience. Interview with an expert, list of events, etc.
4. Multimedia post. You will produce at least two of these posts built around some kind of multimedia – video, photo essay, interactive map, etc.
5. Aggregation roundup. Collection of content from other sites related to your topic.

 

Due Wed., Jan. 31 (Print out a copy of your written assignment and bring to class to hand in to me.)

Identify an established journalistic blog (based on our discussion in class today). You can also choose to compare two blogs that cover similar topics. Answer the following questions. Write three to four sentences for each of the seven following questions. I’m looking for analysis here, not one- or two-word answers.

1. What specific topic or niche does the blog cover? How effective is the blog at clearly stating its purpose? Does it stay focused on its topic, or do you find it confusing. Explain.
2. What kind of content does the site produce? Describe in detail the types of blog posts that are published on this blog – reported stories, Q&As, reviews, videos, photos, opinion pieces, etc.
3. Who are the main competitors for this site? How does the quality of the blog’s content compare to its competitors’? Explain.
4. Try to ascertain who is writing the blog. Is it one person’s blog or one with many contributors? Is it part of a larger organization? Describe whether the blog has a “voice.”
5. How do you think the site makes money, or how do you think it contributes to the business model of a larger news organization (if that is how it is structured).
6. How active is the blog on social media. What kind of social media strategy do you think it has?
7. How do you think the blog could be improved?