Ashford 6: ­ Week 5 ­ Instructor Guidance

MULTI­TASKING: ?Ever wonder if reporters should carry cameras with them on assignment? Here is a shot that La Grande (Ore.) Observer reporter Kelly Nesbitt captured while out shooting photos for a story. I (Dave) worked for The Observer as a reporter and editor from 1975­77 and from 1981­2004.

Hello everyone!

You've been hired. You have been sent to a remote community in Eastern Europe to "cover" the news. The only hitch is your news agency wants you to do it all. You must cover all platforms. How about it? Are you ready??You've got your laptop computer. The company has also
provided a small, high­def video camera that is easy for you to operate. You can easily load video onto your computer for transmission through YouTube or some other means. You have an Internet connection.

As you cover breaking news about a river spilling over its banks in the valley or ongoing reports about a civil uprising to overthrow the government, you are expected to write daily stories that you can transmit by e­mail back to the agency. You also are asked to post your comments of what you are observing on a blog site. But that's not all. Since there are radio stations counting on your reporting, you should plan to file audio reports using your best announcer's voice.

Fortunately you can use some of this audio to back up the videos you are taking for the television stations associated with your news agency. You are out in the field for six hours that day?photographing the water that is sweeping
through the villages. You check the latest online reports on how the government protests are doing. It is approaching late afternoon and you are back in your quarters. Where do you start?

Do you edit the video, write your e­mail stories, compose your blog, prepare audio reports or mix audio with the visual? The job pays pretty well. But your platforms for expression are overwhelming?. Do you work eight hours, 10 hours, 12 hours or more a day before turning in and preparing to go through a similar routine the next day?

Discussion 1: Isn't one platform enough?

Does this job description seem frustrating, even not doable? Maybe I've exaggerated a bit here on all the work required, but how long would you be able to continue to provide "journalism" for these various platforms? Does any journalist have all the skill sets? Is burnout possible?
Discussion 1 in Week 5 asks: "Isn't one platform enough?" Read Ben Hammersley's remarks in Chapter 13 of our textbook and reflect on: (1) What are the journalistic and professional practice arguments for and against asking journalists to work across all platforms? (2) What are the advantages/disadvantages of this approach?

While engaging in the work in the first discussion, you are addressing the first learning outcome of Week 5 in which you will:

? Identify the journalistic and professional practice arguments for and against journalists to work across all platforms. The second learning outcome in Week 5 will have you:
? Analyze how much journalists should rely on the information provided by humanitarian and relief organizations as well as how to guard against misleading or hyped representations of crises.

Discussion 2: Telling the real story: A true humanitarian approach Week 5's second discussion question asks you to probe another aspect of international reporting: covering issues of poverty, disease and famine in third­world countries in Africa or elsewhere. Where do you go to get the story? Are you satisfied with talking to officials with human­aid organizations like the Red Cross, CARE International or Save the Children? Often they have excellent background and interesting facts to relate. Should you base all of your information on what a spokesman from CARE, the Red Cross or a United Nations agency tells you? Is that the extent of the story? Or should you dig a little deeper? Sorious Samura Specifically, you will examine the impact?that documentary producer/correspondent Sorious Samura had in his report on foreign­based charities in Africa in his How to Make a Difference in Africa. Should a reporter trust everything to be forthright and complete when information is being passed on by an agency head or representative? How ethical were the operations of the AfriKids organization in Ghana? What alternative is there to the top­down approach that has dominated the human­aid industry for decades?

As in the other discussions in this class, your initial response to each question should be at least 250 words. Support your claims by the text and/or other academic resources. You will need to respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts by Day 7 (Monday). Responding earlier in the discussion week can foster greater class interaction and I encourage that.

Week 5 Assignment: Final Research Paper / Worth 25 points You've spent nearly five weeks studying principles of good reporting in this Global Journalism course. Now is your time to gather together and discuss in your final research paper many of the things you have picked up in the five weeks. Your final research paper is due next Monday (the final day of class). How would you as an international journalist choose to analyze and report the news as it relates to war coverage? You will research and evaluate the report of a single incident related to an international military conflict somewhere in the world. The recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria come to mind, but you might choose to address another global conflict in a place like Africa, Asia or Central America.

Once you have selected a conflict area in the world, you will:?(1)?Identify the obstacles that are faced by international correspondents in that area.(2)?Describe the structure of the news organizations in the area of the country that the conflict is taking place. (3)?Compare and contrast the freedoms of the press in the country where the conflict is taking place and the freedoms that journalists have in the United States. (4) Describe the steps that an international correspondent should take in identifying and verifying sources for the story. And (5)?Discuss strategies that the international journalist should use in understanding the social and political culture of the area in which he/she is reporting.

Click on "Final Research Paper" under Week 5 (on the left) and particularly note the eight steps in preparing the final research paper. Here is the "Grading Rubric" I will be using to evaluate your paper. These include: Content Criteria?/ Points possible

? Identifies the obstacles faced by international correspondents. / 3
? Describes the structure of the news organizations in the area of the country that the conflict is taking place. / 3
? Compares and contrasts the freedoms of the press in the country where the conflict is taking place and the freedoms that journalists have in the United States. / 5
? Describes the steps that an international correspondent should take in identifying and verifying sources for the story. / 5
? Discusses strategies that the international journalist should use should use in understanding the social and political culture of the area in which he/she is reporting. / 5

Critical thinking?/ Points possible
? Explanation of Issues / .5
? Student's position / .5

Creative thinking?/ Points possible
? Solving problems / .5

Written communication?/ Points possible
? Control of syntax and mechanics / .7
? APA formatting / .6
? Page requirement (8­10 pages ­­ excluding the title and reference pages) / .6
? Resource requirement (minimum five­to­eight scholarly sources) / .6
(?Note:?Points in other categories might also be reduced if the paper falls under the specified length.)

Please also note that your final paper would normally be due no later than midnight (your time zone) on Monday, May 30. However because Monday is a holiday (Memorial Day), I will allow you to submit your paper without penalty on Tuesday, May 31. ?After that, late­paper deductions (­ 10 percent per day) apply through Thursday, so be sure that you are staying on schedule! Papers are not accepted after Thursday. If the text of your paper begins to approach 2,000 words, you can begin to put together your conclusion. You will be close to the minimum assignment length.

Since the paper is worth 25 percent of your overall grade,?it would be worth your while to follow all the instructions carefully. I also recommend that you utilize the Writing Center's Writing Reviser Tool, which you can access via the Learning Resources link on the left. Your final research paper should be as error free as possible, so leave time in the writing process for proofreading. Sometimes a family member or friend can provide a helpful eye in looking over a paper for misspellings, incomplete thoughts and/or grammatical errors. Ask them to circle what they see and you can make corrections.

The following are links to short articles and podcasts offering sound advice about proofreading:

1. Proofreading Tips (from "Grammar Girl")
2. 8 Proofreading Tips and Techniques (from "Daily Writing Tips")
3. Proofreading (University of Wisconsin Writing Center)

Here are some sites about computer systems and software that assist with proofreading:
1. Grammarly (an automated, online proofreader)
2. PaperRater (an automated, online proofreader)
3. MS Word Optimization (a checklist for leveraging Word as an automated proofreader) Finally, if you have any questions about the final paper or this course, don't hesitate to contact me via email at: Dave.Stave@faculty.ashford.edu .

It has been my pleasure working with you as your instructor for JRN 339 Global Journalism. My best to each of you in the final days of class and as you move forward.