Blogger Tutorial

This online aid will help you set up a Blogger account and set up your News Blog. On the first page, click the "Create a Blog" button:

http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

Sample Blogs

Here are a few news blogs created by students in previous classes:

http://www.haileybranson.blogspot.com/

http://boomerbloggin.blogspot.com/

http://ounews.blogspot.com/

http://ashleybody.blogspot.com/

http://lillychapa.blogspot.com/

Elements Chapter 1

You can download a poorly-scanned copy of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of Elements of Journalism from the Contents section of D2L.

Textbooks

I have only two required texts in the class: "Elements of Journalism," by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, and the Associated Press Stylebook.

You probably already have an AP Stylebook. Any edition will do.

You will need to purchase "Elements" as soon as possible. I will ask you to read the first chapter and prepare a short summary of its contents by next Wednesday's class session. For those of you who cannot obtain the book that quickly, I will post a scanned copy of the first chapter online. But you will need to get the book as soon as you can. I suggest you order one today, unless you prefer to buy it at the OU Bookstore.

Here's Amazon.com's link for the book. It goes for $10 new. Used copies are available, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Journalism-Newspeople-Completely-Updated/dp/0307346706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282071952&sr=8-1

Self-Bio Assignment

Assigned Aug. 23, 2010
Due midnight Aug. 29, 2010

Write a Self-Bio of 500 words or more. Write it like a feature story. Use a creative lead. Make it revealing. Tell me something distinctive about you. Your story doesn’t need to focus exclusively on your interest and experience in journalism or your career goals, but mention them in passing so I’ll know where you’re headed. Format your story as a Word document. The filename should start with your last name, like this: ViethSelfBio.doc.  Double-space the text. At the top of the first page, include the following information, substituting your name, etc.:
Self-Bio
Warren Vieth
wvieth@ou.edu
Aug. 20, 2010
523 words

I rue the day I was born…

Upload your Word file to the Self-Bio Dropbox in D2L by midnight Sunday, Aug. 29.

Handycam Manual

Go to the Contents section of D2L to download a .pdf version of the Sony handycam manual.
(Warning: Don't try to print it at home. It's 128 pages.)

Required Equipment Purchase

You must purchase an external hard drive by the third week of class. You'll need this drive to store and manipulate the massive files your video projects will generate. Unedited video files are far too large for storage on flash drives, cheap hard drives or Gaylord College's overtaxed file servers.
We recommends that you buy an OWC Mercury On-The-Go, 7200-rpm “Combo” (FireWire 400+USB 2.0). This is a reasonably priced and extremely versatile drive that can handle the heavy demands of video editing. It should suffice for all of your future video coursework at Gaylord College. The cheapest model provides 250 GB of storage for $90. Here’s the website link:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MS4U7250GB16/ 


You’ll also need a FireWire 800-to-400 adapter so you can use the drive with the iMacs in the new wing of Gaylord Hall. The adapter costs $10. You can order it at the same time you order the drive. Here’s the link:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/FIR1369AD/

If you’d like to compare prices of bigger drive configurations, check out the next link. But make sure you’re getting a 7200-rpm model with FireWire capability.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

In addition, you will need at least three mini-DV tapes by the third week of class. You may purchase them anywhere. They cost about $5 each if you buy several at a time. Here are Web links for two reasonably priced options at Wal-Mart:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/TDK-3-Pack-60-Minute-MiniDV-Tapes/14015251
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-60-Minute-MiniDV-Tapes-6-Pack/10262875

Class Syllabus & Schedule

Click "Syllabus" and "Schedule" under the "Pages" heading in the right-hand column.