"Tellme,andIwillforget.Showme,andImayremember.Involveme,andIwillunderstand."

JOMC 491: Public Affairs Reporting for New Media

Fall 2010 SyllabusAssistant Professor Ryan ThornburgOfﬁce: 219 Carroll | Phone: 919-962-4080E-mail: ryan.thornburg@unc.eduGoogle Talk: thornburgr | Twitter: @rtburg | Mobile Phone: 919-667-5613

WELCOME“

Ifyoudon'tknowtheanswer,wherecanyou4indtheinformationyouneed?”Newsconsumersandcollegestudentsoften4indthemselvesfacingthesamechallenge.Itisnotlackofknowledge.Weallhavethat.It’sthattheydon’tknowwhattheydon’tknow.Andiftheydidknow,theywouldn’tknowwheretoturnto4indtheanswer.Fordecades,newspapershavebeentheplacetowhichmillionsofNorthCarolinianshaveturnedtotellthemwhattheydon’tknow,butprobablyshould.Andnewspaperswereoftenthe4irstresourceforpeoplelookingto4indanswerstotheirownquestions.Whatwasthescoreofthegame?What’stheweather?WhydidIhearsirenslastnight?Aretomatoesonspecialthisweek?Whichfriendsarecelebratingbirthsordeaths?Butwherewillyourgenerationturntoanswerthosequestions?Google?Facebook?Craigslist?Ifso,whatdoesthatmeanforthewatchdogandagenda-settingrolesofprofessionaljournalists?ThecommunitiesofWhitevilleand[Little]Washington,N.C.,arefacingthesequestions.FollowingonresearchandanalysisfundedbytheMcCormickFoundationandperformedPennyAbernathy,theKnightChairinDigitalMediaEconomicsatUNC,thenewspapersandeditorstherebelievethattheymustrede4inetheirroleasthe4irststopforcommunitynewsandinformationinordertoprotecttheroleaswatchdogandagenda-setterinthecommunity(andthe4inancialhealth.)Duringtheservice-learningexperienceofthisclass,youwillhelpdesignandprototypeanewonlineeditorialproductthatcanbeusedbythesenewsorganizationsandothers.Todayyoudonotknowhowtodothat.Youprobablydon’tevenknowhowto4indouthowtodothat.That’snotOK,that’sgood.Forthevalueofthisclass,inadditiontoservingthepeopleofthesecommunities,isthatitwillprepareyoufortheunknownfutureofjournalismbyteachingyouhowtode4ineandsolveproblems.Andgreatthananytechnicalskill,itisthisabilityto4indcreativeandef4icientsolutionswithinadiverseandpioneeringgroupofpeersthatAmericanjournalismneedsfromyou.

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OURPROBLEM

We’vebeengivenageneraldirection:Createanonlinedatabaseofcurrentandrelevantcommunityinformationinawaythatwillprotectthesenewspaperbusinessesfromcompetitorswhoarenotasdeeplyinvestedinthecommunityandwillsoongenerateadditionalrevenuetosupportfurtherpublicaffairsreporting.Believeme.Thatain’tmuchdirection.Likealljournalisticenterprises,wehavealotofquestionstoanswer.“How?”isanobviousone,butnotasimportantas“Why?”Toanswerthesequestions,we’regoingtohavetounderstandalittlesomethingabouttechnology,theaudience,publicrecordsacquisition,socialmedia,newsroomculture,andadvertisingandsubscriptionsales.AllbyThanksgiving.Here’showwe’regoingtodoit...

DesignThinking

“DesignThinking”isaninnovationprocessthatwasdevelopedandadvocatedbyIDEO,adesigncompanyinNorthernCalifornia.Someofthetenetsofdesignthinkingareradicalempathyforthecustomer,radicalcollaborationbetweendiverseviews,generativebrainstormingandrapidprototyping.Allthingsbeingequal,itfavorsactionoverinaction.Youcanreadmoreaboutdesignthinkingin

The ArtofInnovation

byTomKelly.Inmanyclasses,youmayhavebeenaskedtowriteorcreateonebig4inalprojectthatdemonstratesyourknowledgeofwhatyoulearned.Butinthisclass,you’llpracticetheartof“fertilefailure”—tryingalotofideas,makingalotofmistakesandlearningfromthem.Youwillberewardedforfailingfastandfailingsmart.WewilluseeverythingfromtoothpickstoMySQLtobuildourprototypes.You’llstartbyusingthematerialswithwhichyou’recomfortableandendthesemesterbyusingtoolsthatterri4iedyoujustthreemonthsearlier.Thesewillbedifferenttoolsforeachstudent.Prototypingwillbe30percentofyourgrade.Participationandcollaborationwillbeanother30percent.

ServiceLearning

ThisisanAPPLESservice-learningcourseinwhichyouarerequiredtocomplete30hoursofworkwithoneofourpartners.Muchofthattimerequirementwillbemetbyvisitingthetownswithwhichweareworkingandobserving“reallife”there.Youwillalsobeinfrequentcontactwithour“clients,”thenewsorganizationsandthepeopletheyservetodevelopsomethingtheycanactuallyuselongafterthissemesterisdone.Akeypartofservicelearningisthere4lectionprocess.You’lllaunchyourownblogandupdateitatleasttwiceaweekwithyourthoughtsandobservations.SomeweeksIwillgiveyouspeci4icassignments(writeadescriptivereportaboutWhiteville,discussthereadings,etc.)butmostofthetimeyou’llsimplywriteaboutyourexperiences.

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Inyourre4lectionsIwillnotbeasinterestedinreadingaboutthefactsyoulearnedasIwillbeinyourabilitytoeachweekcomeupwithanewquestionoranewproblemtowhichyoudonotknowtheanswer.Theblogswillbeworth30percentofyourgrade.Andparticipation--akeycomponentofservicelearningandonethatI’vementionedbefore--willbeanother30percent.

ProblemSolving

(LiftedfromtheCHEM342syllabuscreatedbyHalWhiteatTheUniversityofDelaware)

Probablyyouwill4indPARNMunlikeanycourseyouhavetakenbefore.Inmostcourses,thegoalsareprimarilyonlearningcontent.Whilecertainlythatisasigni4icantgoalinPARNM,italonewillnotassuresuccess.Infact,somest udents whoareusedtoexcellingacademically4indthiscoursedif4icultbecausethe“rulesaredifferent.”Successfulstudentsinthiscoursecanbecomparedtodecathalonathleteswhodependonavarietyofskills.Studentswhoexcelinthiscourseworkwellwithotherstudents,communicateeffectively,haveordevelopgoodinformationsearchingskills,rememberwhattheylearnedinprerequisitecourses,canrelateandintegrateinformationfromvarioussources,areabletode4inewhattheydon’tknowandneedtolearn,andknowhowtomanagetheirtime.Societyvaluesthesetraits.PARNMprovidestheopportunitytopracticeandenhancethesetraitsinalowriskenvironment.Successfulstudents,likesuccessfuljournalists,recognizeandmanagetheirignorance.Whatdon'tyouknow?Whatdoyouneedtoknow?Whatwouldyouliketoknow?Whatismostimportanttolearn4irst?Thesearelearningissues.Whileknowingfactsmayhelpyouonanexamination;understandingconcepts,sothatyoucanapplythemtonewsituationsandappreciatethefacts,ismuchmoreimportantinthelongrun.Cultivatingtheabilitytoconfrontyourignoranceisanexerciseinhumilityandbuildingcompetence.InPARNM,"Idon'tknow,"willpointthedirectionforyourlearning.

RECOMMENDEDMATERIALS[Updated8/24/10]

Ofcourse,youshouldkeepup-to-datewiththenewsfromtheWashingtonDailyNewsathttp://www.wdnweb.com/andtheWhitevilleNewsReporterathttp:// www.whiteville.com/.

RECOMMENDEDMATERIALS

Youwillneedthecopiesofthe

APStylebook

andthe

UNCStylebook

youpurchasedforJOMC153.Ifyoudon’thaveacopy,youwillneedtogetone.

ProducingOnlineNews:DigitalSkills,StrongerStories

,RyanThornburg.Selectedchapters.ForthcomingfromCQPressinOctober.