WEEK 16

FINAL  
Thursday, Dec. 12  10:30 - 1

First, I want to thank you all for coming in last week prepared for production. It is much appreciated.

Photographers:  
E-mail a list of links to photographs you took for all stories/shoots assigned.

Section Editors:
I have kept track of your work each week and will connect with Natalie to confirm.

Contributors
E-mail me a list with all the links to the stories/content/videos that your wrote and were published. For those that are not yet published, either turn in a hard copy or send me a link to access your content by the end of final.

I have decided not to assign the JOUR 106 class a final but instead have the section editors work on wrapping up all loose ends for the semester, and preparing their sections for winter. Contributors will assist.

We will have a last editorial board meeting at 1 p.m. Only section editors, EIC and managing editor must attend.

WEEK 15

This week is our last production! Class will begin at 11:30 with short presentations by the students who travelled to DC and have not yet presented:  Chris, Abraham, Josh, Travis, Brigette, Lily, Lux, Natalie and Leni

After presentations, we will go straight into production. Please come prepared with content for the current week, finals week, and a list of all stories coming in from the 101s and 102s to be published in winter in your sections. Connect with Ferry to work out a publishing schedule and to make sure all content is put on the calendar.

Contributors: You will be working on completing the Basque story.

Photographers:  Check with the editors to see if there is any photos needed, and also connect with our photo editor, Abraham.

Please come prepared to work late since it may take a while to get everything ready for winter!

WEEK 14

Editors/Senior Staff Writers/Photographers,

This is the last two weeks of the semester, with finals approaching rapidly.

I was impressed with several of the editors last week who came prepared and ready to go on production!

Also, I LOVED the presentations by Ferry, Skye and Emerald.

This week's production will be held on Tuesday, beginning at 1 p.m.

My 114 students will be working on their final videos on Tuesday but you may begin working on production at 11:30 (if that works best for you. If any of you cannot be in the newsroom at 1 pm for production on Tuesday, please let me know ASAP so we can make other arrangements for you to prepare your sections.

Week 15's JOUR 106 class will begin with presentations by Lux, Leni, Chris and Abraham, followed by production.

We will see the final presentations by Travis, Brigette, Natalie, Josh, and Lily during the finals time for JOUR 106 .

Please keep your presentations no longer than 10-15 minutes each.

If you are not producing content for the publications, you will find yourself at a disadvantage when the semester ends and I am grading your work.

If you are an editor of a section and you are editing other people's work and you are making sure that your sections are complete and updated (this does not mean just publishing 101's stories. It means actually pitching stories to senior writers enrolled in the class and making sure they meet deadlines imposed by you), then you are doing your job.

If you are a contributor, your job is to create weekly content. If you are a freelance photographer, you are checking in with Abraham every week to make
sure you are taking photos required for completing the class.

If you are confused, SEE ME!!

Please be sure to check in on the Slack pitch channel to let Ferry and Natalie know what's being published this week, and next week.

ALSO:  If you are planning to return in the spring, please see me so we can discuss the role you'd like to take on our staff. I hope you are all figuring out what you like, and what you don't like about your positions!  I hope to see all of you return.

NEWSROOM IS CLOSED ON THURSDAY!

See you on Tuesday!

WEEK 13

Hello everyone!

It is very important that you are all checking this blog weekly and that you understand how close we are to the end of the semester.

Students taking this class as editors are responsible to complete their editor duties this week. This means that editors come to class prepared with content for THE FOLLOWING week. The student leaves production when all content is ready to be published for the following week. Content edited, headline and sub-headline written, visual or graphic for header, cutline/credit. And last, signed off by Natalie or Ferry. The only exception to this rule is breaking news or future events.

Students taking this class as contributors need to have weekly content prepared and ready for each week. This means signed off by the section editor as ready to go.

Students taking this course as freelance photographers need to have weekly assignments completed, assigned by Abraham.

I planned to have a workshop each week from the students that went to DC but this week, a group of students left to get food and were not back until close to noon. The class/production begins at 11:30. From now on, get your lunch before that. We will begin with these workshops at 11:30 on Thursday and if you are not there, you will not receive points for the week.

This week, we will have presentations from: Emerald, Skye, Natalie, Ferry, and Lily. Please come prepared to share what you learned at the sessions you attended and to give tips to the students who did not get to come. I am inviting the 101s and 102s to come by if they are interested. Each presentation should be about 10 minutes long. That will have us done by 12:30 at which time we will go into production.

The following week is Thanksgiving week so production will take place on Tuesday. If you are not free on Tuesday, you will need make alternate arrangements with Natalie to have all of your content ready for the following week.

The week after Thanksgiving will be an extended production (for editors) so be prepared to stay long. We will be preparing content for the winter break so  you will need to gather as much content as possible so that we can publish at least once a week in your sections.

Everyone will be given a final assignment, and the there will be an Editorial Board meeting for the editors during the scheduled finals time.

See you on Thursday!

WEEK 12

Hey, everyone. We have four weeks left of classes, and one week of finals!

We had an Editorial Board meeting for the section editors on Thursday, and contributors were told to have a story ready for next week. Those stories must be turned in at the beginning of class on Thursday.

Photographers:  Check with Abraham for assignments. You should all be checking in each week either on Slack, or in person in the newsroom. Photographers and contributors should have at least 8-10 stories/photo shoots by the end of the semester.

Section editors must continue to do their duties as editors for the next five weeks. Sections should be ready to go - meaning content scheduled with Ferry with deadlines for each week leading up to the finals week. We will need a queue of stories and content to get us through winter so please encourage staffers to create content for you.

Also, be sure to plan ahead for week 14. We will need to have production on Tuesday of that week because the newsroom will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving (Nov. 28).

Let's also plan to have pitches in person with your EIC/Managing Editor and me so that I can help guide you with your stories/content ideas.

See you next week!

WEEK 11

Hi, everyone,

We just returned from the CMA/ACP conference and we will have workshops at the beginning of each class through the end of the semester. I will be asking each person who attended the conference to present what they learned in the next five weeks in a 45-60 minute workshop.

Here is the schedule:

WEEK 11: Emerald/Skye
WEEK 12: Natalie/Lily/Ferry
WEEK 13: Brigette/Travis
WEEK 14: Josh/ Abraham/Chris
WEEK 15: Lux/Leni

It is very important to note the following:

CONTRIBUTORS

You will be given assignments each week and you will need to have those assignments in at the beginning of class each week through Week 16, which will include a digital portfolio of everything you created and that was published.

You need to stay for the workshops, and then you may leave. Editors need to be able to concentrate on production and having chaos and distraction in the newsroom from people hanging out.

If you need to set up video tutoring, those hours will only be offered on Thursdays from 11-3. The tutors will leave after that so that production can continue.

To reiterate, ONLY SECTION EDITORS WILL REMAIN IN THE NEWSROOM ON PRODUCTION THURSDAYS.

EDITORS:
All your stories should already be in the drive for this week, and should be complete with visuals, headlines, subheadlines, and cutlines. In other words, everything being published this week should be ready to go.

All stories for next week should be in and ready to go by Thursday.

See you on Thursday!

WEEK 10

REMINDER:  CLASSES ARE CANCELLED ON THURSDAY, OCT. 31 AND NEWSROOM IS CLOSED. WE ARE IN WASHINGTON, DC AT A CONFERENCE.

EDITORS: Production is on Tuesday. Please come prepared with your content for the week, and the one that follows. 

IF YOU ARE TRAVELING:  Think about stories to cover while in DC. This is your chance to write a story, or create a video, interviewing some of the biggest and best in journalism, not to mention, politics. Go live!! Create some awesome content that you will be proud of for years to come.

FREELANCERS/CONTRIBUTORS:  Please have content ready for this week, and the following week. If you are unsure what to cover, contact the section editors on Slack for suggestions, or DM.

See you on Tuesday

WEEK 9

Last week due to midterms finishing early in the 102 class, production began early. Everyone was working on something and we appear to be on schedule. Melody continues to work on our website, and Kassandra has designed a new logo. She and I have a meeting with the Washington Post tech person on Thursday so I am hoping our web issues will be resolved.

All students in the JOUR 106 class are to be working on SAC.Media and @SAConScene, producing content as requested by the EIC or section editors, or initiated by you as an editor.

It is YOUR responsibility to check the course blog every week.

It is also YOUR responsibility to let Josh and Natalie know what is coming in. It is YOUR responsibility to meet all deadlines, or if you cannot meet a deadline, to create content to replace the one you cannot complete.

ALSO:  IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF YOU ARE AN EDITOR, YOU MUST BE IN PRODUCTION UNTIL NATALIE SIGNS OFF ON ALL OF YOUR WORK.  I will be checking the Arc Platform this weekend to see if all the section editors have their content for next week signed off to Leni, and ready to go with headlines, subheadlines, and visuals coordinated with Abraham.

PHOTOGRAPHERS:  Please check in with me this week to go over your assignments to date.

IMPORTANT:  NEWSROOM IS CLOSED ON THURSDAY, OCT. 31 AND PRODUCTION IS MOVED TO TUESDAY, OCT. 29. If you are an editor and cannot be there on Tuesday, you must let me know on Tuesday, Oct. 22 an alternate date to complete your sections.

See you on Tuesday.

See you Thursday!

WEEK 8

Hello everyone!

We have now reached midterm! If you are working as a freelance photographer and have not met with me, you MUST meet with me on Thursday.

See you next week.

WEEK 7

Hello everyone.

EDITORS:
Just an FYI for the editors: In case you didn't hear, I've hired my former student and SAC.Media EIC Melody Waintal as my web expert to solely work on our website. She is currently a student at USC Annenberg where she was hired to work on their website -  also in partnership with the Washington Post and powered by Arc Publishing. I am hoping she will be able to work out our bugs. Please take the time to go over our site and make a list of the things you notice that are not working properly, or that you think can be improved.

Also, editors must participate in pitch meetings each week. I need to know how many of you are available on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. If that time doesn't work for you, please leave a Slack message as to what time on Tuesday does work. This only applies to EICs, managing editors, and section editors of SAC.Media.

Also, editors and contributors will find a checklist on their computers when they arrive on Tuesday. We will discuss this at a mandatory editorial board meeting at noon on Thursday, This meeting is just for editors.

This week, we will have a workshop on promoting your stories since I don't see everyone posting stories on SAConScene. Every single story that is published needs to be posted with a short tweet and link to your story. If you do not have access to sign into Twitter, please ask ASAP.

I will also need to get all editors on Arc Publishing. If you do not have privileges, please let me know. This requires you to have a short bio and photo.

CONTRIBUTORS/BEAT EDITORS/PHOTOGRAPHERS

You will need to see me on Thursday to sign a contract as to what is expected of you for your grade.

We need to have a brainstorming session this week with section and beat editors. I will join your teams to help get the juices flowing, and to help guide you to finding stories.

See you on Thursday.

WEEK 6

Hello editors and freelancers!

PHOTOGRAPHERS:  Be sure to check in with Abraham for your assignments. I will be giving a short photo ethics workshop on Thursday.

EDITORS: We are all still getting organized and finding the best ways to pitch stories for your sections. Please keep in mind that as an editor or beat writer/contributor, your job is to keep a note pad and jot down ideas for your section that think of the student audience first, and then the local community audience. You are also expected to promote your stories once published, and keep track of how those stories are doing each day. Brigette will create a handout for you to use that outlines the steps to promoting stories.

Editors are required to attend Editorial Board Meetings and Production Thursdays. Editors may not leave until they check in with the EIC or with me. These activities are your weekly points.

NOTICE:  The newsroom will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 31 (*A group of editors will be attending a conference in Washington DC from Oct. 30-Nov. 3) and classes are cancelled so we will have production on Tuesday, Oct. 29 beginning at 2:30 p.m. Please come prepared to have your section ready for the current week and the week that follows. *If you are unable to attend production on Thursday, you must meet with Natalie to work on an alternate day to prepare your section.  

See you on Thursday.

WEEK 5

This week's workshop will be on headlines and sub-headlines. You will be given a worksheet to complete for points.

After completed, we will break into a general editors meeting regarding restructuring the organization of the newsroom, editor's duties, collaboration, etc. Remember that the class runs until 2:40 p.m and has 3.25 hours by arrangement.

If you are working as a contributor/freelancer, please see me for a contract this week.

*Please note that this is a loosely-structured 2 point course (see syllabus) for editors, senior staff reporters, and freelancers (writers, photographers). Freelance photographers are required to complete photo assignments but are not required to attend lectures that are not related to photography.

See you on Thursday!

WEEK 1

Welcome to JOUR 106, online media lab. If you are a returning staff writer or editor, welcome back. If you are new to our staff, glad to have you on board!

If you are taking this course as an editor, you will be following a weekly editor's schedule which includes pitch meetings, editorial board meetings, and weekly Thursday productions. 

If you are taking this as a two unit lab course, you will have weekly assignments that are coordinated between myself and the editors.

Be sure to check here for weekly updates, readings, assignments, etc.

Here is the syllabus:  

*Assignments adjusted for editors and freelancers. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kbZCF8482tRc9j4-8HaMtMJUkYnk2pqW2fc7kuKOku0/edit?usp=sharing

WEEK 2

Hey everyone!

Welcome back!

If you are one of the editors, you will attend a workshop in the first part of class, and then you will begin production which takes place on Thursdays.

Section editors must complete their sections before leaving the newsroom.

If you are working as a freelancer on our staff (illustration, graphics, animation, photographers) you may attend the workshops which will be posted one week in advance.  If it is a workshop of interest to you, you should attend. If not, you may check in for your assignment in person or via e-mail no later than Thursday at 5 pm.

If you're confused, e-mail me at talbertson@mtsac.edu

See you all on Thursday.