The primary motivation for this new syllabus is the recognition that the traditional model for the teaching of copy editing is rapidly losing relevance. Copy editors can certainly benefit from this class – ideally, it will be a foundation for their education – but the target audience is reporters and line editors. With that in mind, lesson plans are not linear as they are with most traditional copy editing classes. I want to get students out of their comfort zones, to get them used to jumping between editing platforms and concepts, between speed editing and the contemplation of ethics. Because collaboration is part of a copy editor’s repertoire and part of the newsroom culture in general, I have included two group exercises. “Jeopardy” and “Pimp My Headline” are intended to show the benefits of collaborative creativity.
The New Syllabus
Class time: 1 hour, 50 minutes once per week – 27.5 total hours in a semester
Some pundits say this is the worst time ever – ever – to enter journalism. If you read the news on some of the popular journalism industry blogs, you might agree. Mainstream media appear to be melting before our eyes. Some newspapers have failed and several others are in bankruptcy. Even the New York Times is on shaky ground. The rapid, roiling changes have driven top-tier veterans from the profession, many against their will.
So why are you here?
Contrary to the naysayers, this is the most propitious time for mass communication since the 15th century when Gutenberg put the monks out of business and spread literacy in Europe. To succeed, however, you are going to need a set of skills unlike any in the history of journalism. This class is designed to help you acquire some of those skills, to become a pioneer for this craft.
This class may appear to be about copy editing, but it’s much broader. In fact, it isn’t designed for copy editors. (If you are a copy editor, stick around; you’ll like what you see.) This class is intended for all journalists who wish to improve their command of language, story structure, deadline and ideas. You will learn about grammar and headlines, but more important, you will learn how to think more clearly about what it is you want to say. You will think about the ethics that are the bedrock of journalism.
This is a class for entrepreneurs. If you’re afraid to take command of your career, you might want to rethink not only this class, but your desire to be a journalist. But if you’re not afraid to take command, you’re in the right place.
Required texts: none
Website reading requirements (weekly):
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45 (Romenesko)
www.copydesk.org
http://www.theslot.com/
wikistylebook, the new testament for this class
Attendance: Students who miss class risk a lower grade because work cannot be made up.
Tests: No midterm or final.
Grading: A simple 1,000-point system, with 40 points of extra credit available via 10 four-question current events quizzes, which are given promptly at the start of class. Quizzes cannot be made up, and questions will not be repeated for those who are tardy.
In-class exercises: 600 points
Homework assignments, due at the start of class: 135 points
Blogging: 75 points
Wiki quizzes: 40 points
Twittering (as per instructions): 50 points
Wiki syllabus suggestions: 25 points
“Pimp My Headline and the Race for the Magic Glitter”: 25 points
“Jeopardy” performance: 50 points
Note: Some of the grading is subjective; that’s because journalism decisions are sometimes subjective. I am open to discussing grades during office hours but not debating them.
Decorum: Please turn off your mobile phone, Blackberry or similar device at the start of class. By all means bring your laptop computer, but refrain from checking e-mail and Facebook during class. It’s unprofessional and insulting. You may leave the room to take a break at any time, but don’t expect us to wait until you get back.
Course Schedule
Class 1 – Introduction and review of syllabus; “Who Am I, Why Am I Here?” lecture and discussion; set up blogs and compose your initial post on deadline.
HOMEWORK: Read my initial blog posting, “What’s the Frequency, Tim?”; read up on Twitter, open an account for classwork, post a couple of innocuous comments and start “following” each other; blog about who you are and why you’re here.
Class 2 –Review initial blog entries; edit a classmate’s blog entry on deadline; Twitter breaking news (everybody should be following everybody); a mini-module on great catches.
HOMEWORK: Read online ethics assignments and prepare to discuss them in class; look at the wiki stylebook and make two additions.
Class 3 – The mind-set of editing, with small exercises that highlight big catches; “Do we really want to do this?” exercise; review ethics readings.
HOMEWORK: Blog about an ethics challenge you’ve faced in journalism; Twitter (just once) about something you read on one of the required websites; look at the wiki stylebook and make two additions.
Class 4 – Now some language basics – but very quickly; review Twitter postings in class; “Do we really want to do this?” exercise; discuss blog postings about ethics challenges.
HOMEWORK: The Demonic Challenge (a blast from the past); add at least two items to the wiki stylebook; website readings on ethics.
Class 5 – Wiki quiz; a mini-module on things not yet on the wiki stylebook; group discussion of ethics based on website readings; Twitter breaking news.
HOMEWORK: Read website assignments on story structure and my blog post “On the Eve of Deconstruction.”
Class 6 – How to analyze story structure; five steps to building and deconstructing a story; deadline-driven editing assignments that focus on deconstruction.
HOMEWORK: Online readings about fairness, bias and informed opinion; blog about the importance of language and story structure.
Class 7 – Speed-editing lecture; in-class speed-editing drills.
HOMEWORK: Identify five specific things on the wiki stylebook that torment you and blog about them.
Class 8 – Wiki quiz; story structure and speed editing combined; in-class exercises with merciless deadlines.
HOMEWORK: Online readings about SEO headlines; blog about speed editing.
Class 9 – PowerPoint presentation on SEO; speed-edit a classmate’s blog entry about speed editing; SEO exercise on Twitter.
HOMEWORK: Read my blog post on “Jeopardy”; review wiki stylebook entries that torment you.
Class 10 – “Let’s Play Jeopardy.”
HOMEWORK: You deserve a break today.
Class 11 – Headline discussion; in-class headline exercises; a mini-module on 10 rules you shouldn’t live by.
HOMEWORK: Headline exercise on Twitter; read my blog post on “Pimp My Headline.”
Class 12 – “Pimp My Headline and the Race for the Magic Glitter.”
HOMEWORK: Website readings about how to write a photo gallery and digital refers.
Class 13 – Discussion on why we Twitter; review of “Pimp My Headline.”
HOMEWORK: Twitter four refers; comment on your blog about others’ tweets.
Class 14 – Putting it all together: an in-class exercise on story editing, headline writing and photo gallery captions, all on deadline.
HOMEWORK: Your final blog entries on how this class can be improved.
Class 15 – Discussion of blog entries on improving the class; review in-class exercise.
The Thought Behind the Syllabus
I’m not a huge fan of Twitter. Frankly, I don’t care what you had for breakfast or where you’re going this weekend. But it turns out that Twitter is ideal for teaching about editing, headline writing and text refers. The 140-character limit forces students to be concise. It’s the ideal length for lede-writing (about 25 words max), SEO heds and even most standard newsprint heds. Eight assignments in the syllabus require Twitter.
Students are also required to blog frequently and to edit others’ blogs. Assignments are not free-form; rather they require students to explore specific issues and to critique others’ thinking. Seven assignments on the syllabus require blogging, seven assignments require the reading of colleagues’ blogs, and two assignments require the editing of blogs.
“Who Am I, Why Am I Here?” is a lecture I developed five years ago at a Dow Jones editing workshop in Florida. I describe the life of a journalist in the newsroom and at home, citing personal experience and the experiences of colleagues; I challenge students to think about the advantages and disadvantages of a career in journalism; I answer any and all questions they may pose; and I emphasize personal and professional ethics throughout. I have found that it lays a very good foundation for subsequent discussions.
As I mentioned earlier, copy editing classes that deluge students with grammar, syntax, punctuation and AP style often do little more than sew confusion/despair/apathy (an “I’ll never get this stuff” reaction) or encourage students to cram for tests at the cost of not retaining knowledge. My solution is the wiki stylebook, which I require students to review, contribute to and blog about. I have only two wiki quizzes that constitute a combined 4 percent of the total grade.
Based on my experience at the L.A. Times, which has a copy desk dedicated to the website, I have become an adherent of speed editing. This is a mind-set more than a skill in that its practitioners must prioritize their editing decisions within a narrow time frame. Sometimes it involves settling for the lesser of two editing oversights. As newsrooms move to “two-touch” editing, and perhaps a “one-touch” model, speed editing will become more the norm. Teaching it now will put students ahead of the curve.
Even though journalism is moving to the lone-wolf entrepreneur model, collaboration is still a standard, and healthy, practice in newsrooms. Two classroom exercises, “Jeopardy” and “Pimp My Headline and the Race for the Magic Glitter,” are creative ways to emphasize teamwork and healthy competition. “Jeopardy” is a standard teaching device that is played in much the same manner as on television. The class, divided into three teams, competes to answer questions that are relevant to the subject matter: several types of editing, headlines and tech applications – with an occasional trick question thrown in. Members of the winning team receive 55 points (the maximum plus five points extra credit); runners-up receive 40 to 45 points, and the third-place finishers receive anywhere from 30 to 40 points depending on their level of participation.
“Pimp My Headline and the Race for the Magic Glitter” is based on a highly effective and well-received headline and creativity exercise I developed at the Dow Jones program. I dress as a hip-hop performer and lead the class (again divided into three groups) through a story line with 20 vignettes, each requiring a headline. Students confer – or sometimes just shout out – suggested headlines. The point of the exercise (and why I dress in character) is to demonstrate that creativity requires risk and potential failure.
And the magic glitter? During my “Who Am I, Why Am I Here?” lecture, I describe the way copy editors decorate their desks with talismans – items that serve no obvious purpose but which have symbolic meaning. Four small jars of glitter are awarded to students who suggest headlines that sparkle. As silly as that sounds, more than one Dow Jones editing alumnus has told me how much it meant to receive the talisman.