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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM-212Bergen Community College Division of Arts and Humanities Syllabus COM-212.001HY Copy Editing Department of Communication Course description Learning Objectives Textbooks Course Procedures Grading Classroom Policies Moodle Communication Written Work Students with Disabilities Support Services Safeguards Plagiarism Important Dates Stress Schedule Instructor: Office: Office hours: Email: Catalog Course Description <top> This course provides hands-on training in all phases of editing and preparing news copy for publication in various print and online media, and the writing of headlines and photo captions and cutlines. It covers local news, wire copy, assembling and shaping the various elements of news stories, the requirements of news style and safeguards against errors. Three lectures, 3 credits. Prerequisite: WRT-101 with a minimum grade of C Student Learning Objectives <top> As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, students will be able to:  Edit news and feature stories using standard copy editing marks.  Edit copy for spelling, grammar, punctuation, Associated Press style and accuracy.  Identify the major differences between the primary style guides, including AP, MLA, APA and the Chicago Manual of Style.  Write headlines and photo captions and cutlines for newspaper, magazine and online publication.  Demonstrate an ability to handle properly issues involving national, regional and local taste concerning privacy, intrusion, nudity and other sensitive subjects.  Lay out pages for newspaper, magazine and online publication in accordance with the basic principles of news design.  Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of ethical and legal issues affecting contemporary journalism, including libel, privacy, copyright and the First Amendment, and ethical issues including naming accusers in sex crimes, using unnamed sources and anonymous news leaks, staging the news and conflicts of interest. Required Texts: <top>  The Associated Press, The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, 2017 edition.  Brian Brooks / James Pinson, The Art of Editing in the Age of Convergence, Pearson, 10th Edition.  The New York Times, print or www.nytimes.com;  The Record, print or www.northjersey.com;  The Star-Ledger, print or www.nj.com;  Other online news sources, e.g., www.cnn.com, USAToday.com Course procedures <top> Editing/Rewriting. You will be editing, rewriting or revising stories every week of the semester. Quizzes. There will be quizzes of two different kinds: 1. AP style quizzes. The AP Stylebook is the “bible” of the news industry. Working journalists must have a firm understanding of and familiarity with AP style. 2. Quizzes and exercises based on the textbook and lectures. These quizzes will confirm your understanding of the readings and the materials covered in class. Computers. This is a Web-enhanced course, using Moodle. (See section on Moodle.) All quizzes and exercises will be done online. All written assignments will be submitted via Moodle. You MUST have ready access to an off-campus computer to take this class. You are also required to bring a jump (flash, thumb, etc.) drive to every class. GRADING <top> Your grade will be based on accumulation of points for work accomplished through a combination of quiz and exercise results, class participation and midterm and final exams, as follows: Quizzes and exercises (up to 300 points) AP and other style quizzes, up to 50 points Subject-related quizzes and exercises, up to 250 points Midterm and final exams (up to 300 points) The midterm exam, up to 100 points The final exam, up to 200 points Class participation (up to 200 points) This portion of your grade will be based on your input during class and your contributions to online discussions. Note: Grades are assigned based on the percentage of possible points achieved, thusly: A 90% - 100% B+ 85% - 89.9% B 80% - 84.9% C+ 75% - 79.9% C 70% - 74.9% D 65% - 69.9% F 0% - 64.9% Classroom Policies <top> Class Attendance From the college’s attendance policy: "All students are expected to attend punctually every scheduled meeting of each course in which they are registered. Attendance and lateness policies and sanctions are to be determined by the instructor for each section of each course. These will be established in writing on the individual course outline. Attendance will be kept by the instructor for administrative and counseling purposes." Because so much of what we will do in this course requires your participation, your consistent presence is required. Studies show that students learn as much from one another as they do from their instructor. Since your absence could affect someone else’s learning, you must be in class. In this twice-weekly course, each student is permitted two absences. Each absence in excess of four will result in a loss of 10 percent of the class participation grade. Tardiness Persistent tardiness will result in a loss of all class participation points assigned by the instructor. Cell phones Cell phones must be off or set to vibrate on incoming calls. Initiating calls, texting or sending tweets during class is rude and hinders your and your classmates’ attention, and is thus not permitted. Violation of this policy will result in cell phone confiscation. Moodle <top> COM-212HY is a hybrid class. We will meet only once a week; all other work will be done online. This means you must learn to use Moodle. Through Moodle, you will turn in assignments, communicate with class members and me, take exams and receive all important announcements regarding the class. In choosing to remain in this class, you agree to the following: 1. You will check Moodle daily for information regarding the class. 2. All communication between instructor and students will be through Moodle. 3. Unless otherwise stipulated by me, all quizzes and exams will be given via Moodle. All exams will have a specific time limit. 4. You will keep Moodle deadlines. In the event that you have technical difficulties, you are required to have an alternative means of accessing Moodle 5. Unless otherwise specified, all written assignments should be turned in through Moodle. 6. Time Management is critical in your use of Moodle. If an assignment is available for a week, technical problems during the last 10 hours before an assignment or a test is due will not be a strong reason to extend the deadline. 7. Problems with course content on Moodle will be addressed by me. Please do not hesitate to call or text me if there is a question. 8. Problems with Moodle administration (password, logging in, technical issues) will be addressed by BCC’s Service Desk at 877-612-5381 9. To access the site, go to http://moodle.bergen.edu or the Bergen Portal and fill in your user name (your Webadvisor ID) and password (up to eight letters of your last name, first letter capitalized, and last four digits of your BCC ID number). Communication <top> This is a hybrid course, meaning we will meet only once a week. All the rest of our work, including communicating with one another and with me, will be online. Here's how we will stay in touch with one another, and how you can contact me, when we aren't in class: • Virtual Office Hours: I'll be in my office three days a week for office hours as shown at the top of this document; feel free to drop in. I'll also be available on Moodle if you want to use the "Chat" function. (Click the "Chat" link at the top of the course page or on the right under “Upcoming Events” and post your question, problem, etc.) • Contacting me: I'll be checking my BCC e-mail daily (you should too) during the work week (Monday-Thursday) and occasionally Friday-Sunday. I'll get back to you within 24 hours during the week, but don't hesitate to contact me at any time in an emergency. Use your Bergen email (yourID@me.bergen.edu); you can set up this account to forward email to your gmail, Yahoo, or other email account – see instructions on Moodle. • Forums: We will have online forum discussions on important topics. You are expected to post to all forum topics, using proper English sentence structure, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Your postings will receive a grade. • Netiquette: Basic rules for online communication include -  Be respectful -- use the words and tone you'd use in a face-to-face conversation.  Keep responses to e-mails and posts on topic. Start a new discussion/message for new topics.  Reply substantially and add to the discussion -- don't just say, "that's right" or "I agree."  Avoid jargon and Web-talk, such as IMHO and BTW. Written Work <top> All written assignments must meet college-level standards and conform to AP style. Pages should be formatted with one-inch margins, double spaced with a standard 12 point font (use a formal font such as Times Roman or Arial). A spelling check and grammar check is expected before you submit your assignment. Grammar and spelling will be taken into consideration in the evaluation. All written assignments must be submitted through Moodle. All assignments MUST be submitted as either MS Word documents (with a .doc or .docx extension) or as Rich Text File (with an .rtf extension) documents. If you upload a document that I cannot read, the assignment will be deleted from Moodle, the assignment will be considered as “late” and you will need to resubmit it in the proper format if you want partial credit for it. Late Assignments Assignments are expected on the day that they are due. For every day an assignment is late, the grade will be reduced by 10% until the fourth day. After the fifth day, the assignment will receive a “0.” If a written assignment is late, the student will receive only a grade without comments. A grade for a late assignment cannot be appealed. Students with disabilities <top> It is the policy of Bergen Community College to provide equal access to employment and educational programs, benefits, and services to any qualified individual, without regard to disability. Individuals with disabilities are responsible for reporting and supplying documentation verifying their disability. Requests for accommodations must be initiated through the Office of Specialized Services, Room L-116, Pitkin Education Center (http://www.bergen.edu/pages/676.asp). Student and Faculty Support Services <top> The Henry and Edith Cerullo Learning Assistance Center The Tutoring Center, English Language Resource Center, and Writing Center are collectively known as the Henry and Edith Cerullo Learning Assistance Center. The Cerullo Learning Assistance Center is located in the Pitkin Education Center, Room L-125; the telephone number is 201-447-7489. The Tutorial Center The Tutoring Center, staffed with peer and professional tutors, offers free individual and group tutoring, supplemental instruction, and online tutoring for subjects offered at the college. The English Language Resource Center is located in Ender Hall, Room 126, and provides help to students whose native language is not English. Writing Center The Writing Center, located in the Learning Assistance Center (L-125), is designed to help students improve their writing. Individualized tutorials in all facets of the writing process including the development of ideas, organization, editing and proofreading are available to all students enrolled in college-level courses. Online Writing Lab (OWL) The Bergen Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a website designed to help students with all aspects of the writing process. It contains links to sites about how to generate ideas for writing, organize written ideas, write resumes and cover letters, do research papers, write papers for various college subjects, and edit and proofread papers. It can be accessed at http://www.bergen.edu/OWL Sidney Silverman Library Students in this course should take full advantage of the Sidney Silverman Library (2nd level, Pitkin Education Center). The library is an important resource for information, study and intellectual enrichment, and is an integral part of the College’s educational program. To support the curriculum, the library acquires, organizes, and provides access to a variety of print, media, and electronic resources for individual and classroom use. The library is open seven days a week during the fall and spring semesters, and weekdays during the summer. Safeguards <top> It’s always better to be prepared for disaster rather than surprised by it. YOU MUST KEEP BACKUP COPIES OF ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS. In the event that an assignment is lost, you must produce the backup in order to get credit for the assignment. Plagiarism <top> College policy is clear that copying another person’s work, downloading without documenting sources and/or using another’s ideas as if they were your own are serious violations. If discovered, plagiarism will result in your failure of that assignment and can lead to failure of the course and your suspension from the college. All assignments will be checked with plagiarism-detecting software (Turnitin.com). It’s serious. Don’t do it. If you are unsure about this policy, check out http://www.bergen.edu/pages/2307.asp and http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_understand_plagiarism_1/ Important Dates: Keep these in mind <top> • Sept. 7 Last day for drop/add; last day to receive 100% refund • Sept. 14 Last day to receive 50% refund • Sept. 21 Last day to receive 25% refund • Sept. 8 Last day to request Audit Status • Nov. 22-26 Thanksgiving break, college closed • Dec. 1 Official Withdrawal Deadline • Dec. 21 Classes End Pay attention to your health; watch out for stress <top> The American College Health Association reports that stress, sleep problems, anxiety, depression, relationship/family problems, loss, alcohol/drug use are among the top 10 health reasons why students perform poorly in College. If you or a friend is in distress, consider contacting a Personal Counselor for a confidential, free appointment. They can be reached in either HS-100 (201-447- 9257) or in A-118 (201-447-7211), or personalcounseling@bergen.edu (for non emergency matters). Counseling is confidential and free. Tentative Class Schedule <top> COM 212, Fall 2017 Weeks Topic Reading / activities 1 Class introduction; syllabus review Introduction to Moodle and Newsroom101, Syllabus review 2 The editor’s job: Editing for Changing Media, Managing the Story Brooks/Pinson textbook (hereafter TEXT) Ch. 1-2; Online resources, including the American Copy Editors Society (ACES); Newsroom101 registration and first quiz 3 Micro editing for grammar, usages, style and spelling TEXT Ch. 6-7; online exercises; Dow Jones Internship Grammar Test, Newsroom 101 diagnostic pretest 4 Macro editing for the big picture TEXT Ch. 4 and 8; The NYT, NY Post; tabloids versus broadsheets 5 AP style versus other style guides The AP stylebook and other style guides (MLA, APA, NLGJA, Chicago Manual of Style); AP style quiz 6 Headlines and summaries, principles and types; First Half Review TEXT Ch. 9; Online exercises; ACES headline tips and examples 7 Midterm Exam MIDTERM EXAM 8 Legal and ethical issues; photo issues of taste, ethics TEXT Ch. 5; Associated Press Stylebook section on media law; legal quiz 9 Photo editing and selection; cutline writing; intro to print editing TEXT Ch. 10; Quiz on photo ethics and taste; cutline writing exercise 10 Editing for newspapers and magazines; Elements of print design TEXT Ch. 11-12; Society of News Design; Newseum front pages 11 Editing for online TEXT Ch. 13; SND online examples; WordPress and other online resources 12 Editing for broadcast TEXT Ch. 14; AP Stylebook section on broadcast guidelines; radio script; Newsroom 101 post-test 13 Working in public relations and advertising; Second half review TEXT Ch. 15; Opportunities in public relations; PR news release 14 Final exam FINAL EXAM 15 Course and final exam review Final exams returned