Final Project: Meeting Story Package (25 pt.)

This is a multi-stage, multi-part assignment to develop a news package enhanced for online publication. All elements of the story package and related activities must be completed to receive full credit for the package.

Deadlines:

Meeting proposal memo due in the Week 5 discussions by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.

Draft meeting story for peer reviews due in Week 7 assigned workgroup discussion area by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 14.

Peer reviews due in Week 7 assigned workgroup discussion area by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 17.

Draft sidebar and revised final meeting story for peer reviews due in the Week 8 discussions by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 21.

Final project package consisting of the revised meeting story, news sidebar, and online enhancements due Week 8 in Assignments by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 24.

Final projects cannot be accepted after the last day of the course.

Story packages about meetings that have not been pre-approved by the instructor generally may not be accepted and may receive a grade of 0. 

Story packages that are not on the assigned topic for this project may receive a grade of 0. 

Story packages that have been found to contain plagiarized material may receive a grade of 0. 

In lieu of a final exam, you will complete a major final project that includes the following elements. Your instructor will give you further instructions in the weekly modules as the course progresses. You will:

Write a 500- to 700-word news story about a public meeting that you attend in person. You must submit the dates and agendas of two newsworthy public meetings in Week 3 (one as a backup) and get your instructor's approval before covering it. You may not attend and write about a meeting that was not pre-approved by your instructor. You may not submit a story package about a meeting that was not pre-approved by your instructor. You must attend the meeting in person. (If there's going to be a problem meeting this requirement, please contact your instructor for alternate possibilities by the third week of the course.) Your story must include quotations from officials at the meeting, as well as reaction quotations from at least two audience members who attended the meeting. Unless otherwise assigned by your instructor, failure to attend the public meeting in person about which you write will result in an automatic 0 grade for the final project. 

• You are required to submit the meeting story twice: once as a complete draft of your story and again as a perfected, revised final story.Failure to submit a completed draft of your final meeting story by deadline will result in a 10 percent reduction in your final project's final grade.

• Research, report and write a150-word sidebarin inverted-pyramid style with a summary newslead on a topic that is newsworthy and relevant to the topic of the meeting you covered.The sidebar should not be about the meeting, but about a separate-but-related topic. Your sidebar must include a quotation from at least one sourcewhois familiar with the information whom you interviewed.Failure to include this sidebar as part of your final package will result in a 10 percent reduction in your final project's final grade.

• Enhance both themeeting story and your sidebarwith at least one hyperlink each and other interactive or multimedia elements for possible publication on an online news site.Some suggestions: a Twitter alert teasing the story's content, an interactive Q&A with people featured in the story, a discussion question with the reporter (you!), an audio clip from an interview you did, a video clip from the meeting, etc., which could be included with the package to engage the readers about the story.Failure to enhance your story and sidebar for online publication will result in a 10 percent reduction in your final project's final grade.

Participate in peer-reviewing the required drafts of your classmates in online study groups as assigned by your instructor. Failure to submit your own work for peer review by deadline and/or failure to complete the required number of substantive reviews of your classmates' work by deadline will result in a 10 percent reduction in your final project's final grade.