Lab Instructor: Mitch Combs

E-mail:

Office: Fell 53

Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 12:40 pm – 1:40 pm

Teaching Times: Section 002 – Friday 9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.

Section 003 – Friday 10 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.

Section 004 – Friday 11:00 – 11: 50 a.m.

Learning Objectives:

Convergent Media Writing will prepare students:

  • To develop a critical understanding of quality print, radio, television and feature film writing.
  • To develop writing skills sufficient to write for print, radio, television, or film
  • To acclimate students to the demands of writing for a living. Toward this end, students will be faced with seemingly incessant and fast approaching deadlines and upheld to professional rigor.

Assignments and Evaluation Opportunities:

Assignments and Evaluation Opportunities: Points are not rounded up

Assignment 1: (Straight Print) News Story or Press Release100 points

Assignment 2: (Feature Print) News Story or Press Release100 points

Assignment 3: Radio News Story100 points

Assignment 4: Television News Story (VO/SOT)100 points

Assignment 5: Webpage, Twitter or PSA100 points

In-class Assignments/Quizzes (Point total subject to change)100 points

Exams (Midterm/Final)100 points

Final Project200 points

Participation/Attendance100 points

Total:1000 points

Scale:

A: 900-1000 points

B: 800-899 points

C: 700-799 points

D: 600-699 points

F: >600 points

Writing Guidelines: All assignments must be typed unless otherwise noted. Hand-written assignments will not be accepted for credit. Typewritten guidelines: 1-inch margins; 12-point font in Times New Roman only.At the top of each page, include your name, the assignment number, and the date of submission, single-spaced. Assignment MUST be turned in stapled.

Late Policy: All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. Out-of-class assignments are considered late ten minutes after the beginning of the class period in which they are due and will receive an automatic deduction of two full grades (20 percent, or A to C, B to D, C to F) for that assignment.

Assignments will not be accepted after your class/lab time is over. Please do not ask for an exception.

Predictable problems, such as printer glitches or running out of paper, are not excuses for turning in work late. Make sure to anticipate those predictable problems so that you can prevent them.

Grading: Accuracy and readability are such essential parts of media writing that writing errors that normally might be excused cannot be excused in this class (as they are not excused in the media professions we are studying).

All out-of class assignments will be graded in accordance with the style guide provided in the textbook. In addition, spelling and punctuation errors (such as misspelling [anything other than a proper noun], providing an incorrect address, writing run-on sentences, using sentence fragments when a full sentence is required, using inaccurate information, etc.) will result in an 8-point deduction from the overall grade for each error. This also means 8-points off each time you commit the same error.

IMPORTANT: Misspelled proper names will incur a 16-point deduction. Clearly, you will want to edit and re-edit your work before turning it in for a grade. If editing is not your strong suit, find a partner either in this class or a roommate/friend who is willing to read the piece.

Additional Policies for Lab

  • All assignments must be stapled. 5-points are automatically deducted from unstapled assignments.
  • If you would like us to look at your assignment, you MUST come with specific questions about your assignment. We will not just proofread your assignment.
  • All assignments must be turned in on paper; assignments will NOT be accepted electronically.