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We are getting close to the end of the semester. Before you hand in your final assignments, I thought you might like to know how I am going to grade them.
1. Is the item newsworthy? I will not evaluating whether this is breaking news or hard news, I will evaluate whether it fits into one or more of the elements of news.
There are a number of places that list these elements and the lists vary a little, but this is the list I will use.
Oddity – Strange is news.
Emotion – How do people feel about it, how does it make the reader feel?
Consequence – What is the effect/impact on the reader?
Proximity – Where is the story geographically or otherwise in relation to the reader?
Drama – Dramatic events and experiences.
Human Interest – People doing interesting things.
Prominence – Famous people are always interesting because they show humanity amongst the glamour.
Progress – Advance in technology, education, society, etc.
Conflicts – Man v. man, man v. nature, man v. machine, man v. himself
Timeliness – The sooner a story can be reported the better, but make sure the facts are accurate.
It can be argued that any article can fit into one of these categories, but the more obvious the fit, the better the grade.
2. Does the medium fit the message? GJMole is a multimedia website and a story can be covered using audio, video, writing or a combination. You will be graded on how well you used the medium for your story.
3. Does the content show effort? In addition to excellent writing, other forms of effort are obvious in emerging media. Use of Twitter, YouTube and other tools demonstrate effort as well.
4. Is the content professional? Keep in mind that GJMole is an experiment and there are different standards for web content. However, your content should show that you are a competent journalist. Spelling, style, grammar, etc. will all be evaluated. In other words, you are upperclassmen in college, I expect that to show in your writing. Basic news writing and reporting techniques are expected.
Related articles
- GJMole project categories (talkingdigital.org)
- GJMole Assignment details (talkingdigital.org)
