Item Pool

These activities are designed to get you discovering different aspects of real-world electronic news and content gathering and dissemination, developing a working knowledge of specific production protocols, and qualifying to use production equipment in this program. While much emphasis is placed on technical skills related to this end, high expectations exist in writing for this medium.

1. Information Gathering – Critical Skill Development
Develop a local story with regional or national interest. Gather facts from at least four stratified sources; interviewing, electronic correspondence, the Internet, and traditional publication. Document your information gathering and qualify your sources. Present your findings in an editorial meeting and submit your written work by the deadline indicted on the schedule.

2. Write to be Heard – Skill Development
Once approved by editorial, write your story. Choose your style; inverted pyramid, chronological, news narrative, or focus structure.

3. Shooting B-roll – Skill Qualification
Shoot B-roll to support your story. Execute news-photography techniques shooting general and wide, then paring down focus to transitional and detail shots. All aspects of videography should be practiced including proper set-up with a tripod, white-balancing, rolled bars for :30, and good composition. B-roll should ALWAYS be supplemented with natural (NAT) sound.

4. Stand and Deliver - Skill Qualification
Demonstrate your on-camera credibility and charisma in recording a stand-up and/or voice-over (VO) for your story package using proper microphone technique.

5. The Package – Critical Skill Development
Produce your package and relevant media. Initially you will need to find an editor to assist you if you don't have non-linear editing editing practice. If you do, you'll be expected to help and teach other reporters in your cohort. Your package should be no longer that 2:00 and should include a stand-up, an on-camera interview, B-roll with NAT sound, and a toss. Then cut a VO-SOT and a NAT-SOT of the same story.

7. Produce – Application
Collaborate with peers to produce at least six news broadcasts and engage in a minimum of four studio production positions including producer, director, technical director, floor director, reader, audio mixer, camera operator, and all field production positions including field producer, reporter and photographer.


Assessments
All assessments are designed to give me an idea of how you’re doing in understanding and applying the objectives of this course, and how I’m doing in teaching them. Assessments may be a combination of multiple choice, true/false fill-in-the-blank, and short answer. You will be accountable for and assessed on principles discussed in class and in the book.