by smudigitaljournalism

Take-home audio gathering exercise

*** SEE FULL ASSIGNMENT ON CANVAS — YOUR 3 SOUNDCLOUD LINKS ARE DUE TO CANVAS BY 11:59 P.M. MONDAY, MARCH 18 ***

The ultimate goal of our two-part audio gathering/editing lab exercise is to produce a short audio clip of 30 to 45 seconds that tells a coherent story. Here’s an example from Digital Journalism alum Laura Rowe, who visited an SMU isotope lab:

And here is your intrepid professor’s version of this same assignment:

Batsell — The Fountain on a Late Winter Day

From these examples, you can see that you will need 1) NAT SOUND; 2) VO and 3) a short INTERVIEW describing the sound (preferably with someone you don’t know).

Upload your three (SHORT) raw audio files from your phone to your computer or an external drive and post them individually to SoundCloud. Copy your SoundCloud links and submit them via Canvas by 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 18. On Tuesday, March 19, bring your original files to class, along with your laptop and some earbuds or headphones. You’ll use GarageBand to edit your three clips into an NPR-worthy masterpiece!

P.S. Looking for some tips on voiceovers? Here’s a great tutorial from the Knight Digital Media Center.

by smudigitaljournalism

Personal Branding and the Job Hunt

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, we’ll start talking about jobs, personal branding and how to land that first gig. Soak in the advice from a few #j4398 student favorites: Hey, Students: 5 Things That Are Wrong With Your Cover Letter; Poynter’s 10 Ways to Make Your Journalism Job Application Better Than Anyone Else’s; and this Dallas Morning News graphic about the social résumé. Come to class prepared to discuss:

  • What were the most memorable tips/insights you took away from these readings?
  • Browse through some of Batsell’s favorite media job sites below. What trends/patterns do you see in what employers are looking for?

JOB/INTERNSHIP LISTINGS:
JournalismJobs.com
Poynter.org’s searchable job database
MediaBistro jobs
DFW Communicators Job Bank
Negotiating tips

by smudigitaljournalism

News as Conversation

My book, Engaged Journalism: Connecting With Digitally Empowered News Audiences (Columbia University Press, 2015) examines the changing relationship between journalists and the audiences they serve. I’m eager to hear your reactions. For Tuesday’s class, please read Chapter 2: News As Conversation (the PDF is on Canvas under “Files”). By 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, post a reaction of roughly 100 words to the #j4398 Google Form (http://j.mp/batsellreax) addressing the following question: How (if at all) did the chapter change the way you think about the role the audience plays in the journalistic process? For full credit, cite specific examples from your own reading of the chapter, as well as your own observations and experience. This assignment is worth 5 class participation points.

by smudigitaljournalism

Meet Your Professor

Welcome back to SMU, and welcome to Digital Journalism! I look forward to navigating the digital jungle with you this semester.

Here’s a short self-profile I produced for the Video Journalism Movement soon after I started teaching at SMU. Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time visiting newsrooms to conduct research on how audience engagement is changing journalism as well as best practices in the business of digital news.

I also invite you to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, as well as our still-developing class Twitter list.