Proofread your papers!

In class on Monday, I talked about some of the things that good writers do.

Careful writers, I noted, choose the right words and phrases, including concrete nouns and vigorous verbs. They provide details, including relevant information and focused observations. And they make sentences flow by cutting unnecessary words, using active voice, and varying sentence lengths to create rhythm and pacing.

Another thing good writers do is proofread. They get good at catching errors and fixing them … before submitting their work. That’s what professionals do, and that’s what you need to do.

That’s why I emphasize the Copy Edit the World assignment … and that’s why I’m cracking down on copy editing errors this semester.

Here’s how it’s going to work: If I find three errors (in AP style, spelling or grammar) as I’m grading your paper, I will stop grading it and return it to you for further revision. I will not finish grading your paper until you’ve revised it and resubmitted it. Every time I have to hand a paper back to you because of errors, you will lose a grade — that is, a “B” paper will become a “C” paper. This also applies to assignments submitted as blog posts and assignments that are graded Credit/No Credit.

So please make sure to proofread your assignments carefully before you submit them.

Getting Linked

When you send me the web address of your new blog, first I subscribe to it … then I add a link to it on the sidebar of this blog. That way, you can check out your classmates’ About Me blog posts and see who’s who.

So far, I’ve heard from about half of you. We’ll get the rest of you blogging by the end of class tomorrow.

Revised word-count spreadsheet

To demonstrate that you’ve fulfilled the 8,000-word GE requirement for this class, you must complete the 100W word-count spreadsheet. It’s due on the last day of class.

Click here to download the updated 100W word-count spreadsheet (an MS Excel document). This spreadsheet is color-coded to indicate which assignments were dropped and which were added during the course of the semester. Just add your word counts to this spreadsheet and it will automatically total them.

Alternatively, if you don’t have Excel on your computer, you can click here to download the pdf version of the updated word-count spreadsheet. You’ll need to fill in the blanks by hand and add up the numbers yourself.

I hate to be a downer, but …

I’m sure it’s no news to any of you that the job market for journalism and mass comm. grads is very tough right now.

A recent AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication) survey of the job market, focusing on how 2008 grads have fared, found that “six in 10 of the graduates had full-time employment six to eight months after graduation” The article noted this is “the lowest level of full-time employment reported by graduates of the nation’s journalism and mass communication programs in the 23-year modern history of the Annual Survey of Journalism & Mass Communication Graduates.”

Here are some highlights of the report, titled Job Market Turns Much Worse:

• “In contrast to the experiences of graduates with a print journalism or a telecommunications preparatory track, those who had studied for entry into advertising and public relations had more success in 2008, and their level of full-time employment was closer to that of their 2007 counterparts.”
• “As in the past, female students (who disproportionately seek work in advertising and public relations) had more success in the job market than male students.”
• “…graduates have increasingly reported that the work they were doing involved various uses of the Internet…. Those graduates who found work with a daily newspaper actually were more likely in 2008 than in 2007 to do writing or editing for the web.”

Wish we had better news.

PR Day on Nov. 5

If you want to attend PR Day on Nov. 5, you’ll need to buy your ticket in advance … and the deadline to purchase advance tickets online is Monday, Nov. 2.

Tickets are $25, and that includes lunch, the keynote speaker, and a choice of afternoon panel sessions, and job/internship fair. Log on to brownpapertickets.com to buy tickets.

For more information, check out the PR Day web site.

Some good advice

In a recent blog post, JMC alum Ryan Sholin offers some good advice for J-school students. His basic concept — become an expert at one thing digital and at one thing analog — also makes sense for students majoring in public relations and advertising.

Sholin, who is now director of news innovation at Publish2, a collaborative journalism web site, graduated from JMC’s master’s program last spring. His thesis project was a journalism site called ReportingOn, which was funded by the Knight News Challenge. (Disclosure: I was one of Sholin’s thesis advisors.)

Word count spreadsheets

I’ve added a link to download the word count spreadsheets for 100W, s. 2,  to the Resources page of this blog.

The word count spreadsheet is a Microsoft Excel document. You must submit a completed copy of this document at the end of the semester to demonstrate that you’ve fulfilled the 8,000-word GE requirement for this class.

Here is the direct link to the spreadsheet: http://cynmccune.com/100w/wordcount-f09.xls

See a broadcast, earn extra credit

KTEH (Public Television 54) is broadcasting a town hall meeting on the mortgage crisis at 6 p.m. this Sunday, Aug. 30 … and JMC students are invited to join the studio audience.

“Facing the Mortgage Crisis,” a live program, will feature a panel of local mortgage and foreclosure experts answering questions about coping with the mortgage crisis.

By taking part in this broadcast, you’ll have the opportunity to see how a five-camera shoot is handled. Broadcast Prof. Diane Guerrazzi adds that the KTEH station manager will give students a tour of the control room after the broadcast.

To reserve a spot in the studio audience, please email KTEH (ljohnson@kteh.org). Include your name, telephone number, email address, and number of tickets you would like. If you have a question for the expert panel, please include it.

When: 5:45 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 30
Where: KTEH, Channel 54, 1585 Schallenberger Road, San Jose

P.S. If you write a blog post about this experience, you can also earn 10 points extra credit for 100W.

Broadcast internships

Sabrina Hughes, producer of KNTV’s Press:Here, is looking for some interns. She writes:

“I am looking for 2 interns that are interested in technology and business reporting to help me work on Tech Now and Press:Here.  I am now producing Press:Here, and we have become KNTV’s most successful show. It takes a lot of work and we could really use some help.

“The interns would be doing some writing, editing and web updating in the internship and also have the chance to go out to the Tech Museum for Tech Now shoots and get a tape together.”

If you’re interested, contact Hughes at sabrina.hughes@nbcuni.com.

P.S. Thank Bob Rucker for passing on this internship opportunity.

Doug gets enterprising

You can read Doug Cardozo’s enterprise article, Jadakiss is Back, on Universal Music’s The New Music Report blog, which is taglined as “an L.A. guide to new music releases and events from Universal Music.”

Now I don’t know bupkiss (consider this a “Word of the Week” from me) about Jadakiss — or about rap, for that matter — but I do know good writing, and I like Doug’s review.

So, way to go Doug! And I encourage the rest of you to get enterprising about getting something published this semester … whether it’s a letter to the editor or a short news article or news feature (150-250 words) for our own JMC Journal blog.