Students will be judged on their ability to handle different types of assignments, including: researching and writing interactive news quizzes; reporting and writing a variety of multimedia stories, including some with video; writing breaking news pieces and an audio/photo slide show (see below); writing headlines, captions and smart Web links; coding and packaging Web content; selecting, sizing and cropping digital photos for story pages and special reports; collecting and posting audio on the Web and collecting, editing, digitizing and posting video on the Web.

You'll be assessed on your ability to follow Associated Press style, to follow rules of good grammar and to write accurately and fairly.

Your grade will also reflect your demonstrated news judgment -- since you'll be asked to help pick stories for display on the home page and elsewhere.

And you will be judged on your creativity in suggesting interactive projects and special reports or other features for the site. 

It is essential that you meet deadlines and complete assignments.

In addition to the points noted above, your final grade will reflect on your work habits, time management, attendance, punctuality, attitude and demonstrated improvement.

In the bureau, you will get routine, informal feedback on your progress on particular assignments. You'll also get a written mid-term evaluation, similar to a professional job evaluation, in which we will discuss your strengths and weaknesses and you will be given advice on how to improve your work. 

Each week, you will be given responsibility for updating the home page and/or one or two section fronts. This means as a news editor, you will have a say in what stories are selected for packaging, how they'll be displayed, and what photos, graphics, maps and headlines will be used to accompany text. You should always talk to me before changing out a section front or home page. You'll be working from Maryland Newsline templates when you update.

In addition, you also will be juggling some multimedia reporting, research and photo assignments, as well as building at least one special report and collecting, editing and posting video and audio. 

Here are the minimum requirements that grad students are expected to complete to earn a grade in the B range. To bump your grade up to the A range, you'll be expected to turn in superior work on these assignments (which means turning in publishable copy that requires little editing on first draft), and to complete additional assignments.

• You must research and write at least two interactive news quizzes or google map mashups for existing or new Special Reports on the site. Topics should be cleared with me. For strong examples of quizzes, see Raechal Leone's "They Said What?," Rachel Mauro's "Invisibility in Books and Films"; Lisa Tossey's "Physical Traits of Presidents," Daina Klimanis' "The Future of Hubble" and her "Bartlett vs. Rolle, on the Issues," Nicole Albowicz's "History of Slots in America," Nicole Richardson's "How Well Do You Know Cole?" and Nikki Hawkins' Maryland symbols quiz. Here are examples of map mashups: on homeless services in Baltimore, from Diego Mantilla, and on holiday events for families, from Laurie White. (See bottom of page for map.)
• You must report, shoot and write at least one audio-photo slide show, produced in Soundslides (flash software) on a newsy event or a feature topic. Please clear a topic with me before setting out on it. Your pictures, audio and captions should tell a story. For inspiration, check out James Sanborn's slide show on the Pentagon Memorial for victims of the terrorist attacks; Michelle Williams' slide show on an Easport sock-burning ritual and her slide show on a choir rehearsal before the pope's visit to Washington; Raechal Leone's "Fans Find Favorite Authors at Book Fest," and Carrie Dindino's "UMD Students Help Transform a West Baltimore Neighborhood."
• You must report, shoot and write at least one photo slide show, produced in Soundslides Plus (flash software) on a newsy event or a feature topic. Please clear a topic with me before setting out on it. Your pictures and captions should tell or complement a story. For inspiration, check out Tamra Tomlinson's slide show on the opening of the Newseum in Washington and her piece on historic homes in College Park. Both accompanied text stories.
• You must report and write at least two light, bright feature stories with audio. (The narrative for this will be driven more by the text, whereas the narrative for the photo essay is driven more by the photos and audio.) You must include at least two relevant Web links for the piece. You must also include at least one photo -- either one you took or one you got permission from the copyright holder to re-use -- and one audio clip from your interviews. (A short video clip could be used in lieu of the audio.) You must also write a proposed headline and caption. For strong examples, see Carrie Dindino's "Everything Must Go at the Watergate Hotel," Kelly Martini's "Ellicott City Hosts 'Haunted' History Walks"; A.J. McComb's "Ghostly Tales Offered on University Tours," Melissa Pachikara's "UMD's Turtle Sculptures Go on Auction" and Danny Conklin's "From Torts to Tarts."
• You must report and write at least two breaking stories on a daily deadline. You must include at least two relevant Web links for each story. You must also write a proposed headline. Photos and audio are optional. For examples, see Arelis Hernandez and David Byers' "Dry Spell Ends With Gentle Rainfall, More Possible"; the Newsline staff's "Parade Spectators Claim Their Own Pieces of Inaugural History"; Stephen Mather's "Hundreds Remember Muppets Creator With Statue Dedication at UMD"; and Daina Klimanis' "Circus Fun Erupts When Seuss Is Honored With Reading, Stamp."
• You must report and write at least one profile of up to 1,000 words of a soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan or an interesting or quirky person, businessman or inventor, public official or candidate running for office. Multiple sources must be interviewed during the reporting phase; information must come from paper and people sources; LexisNexis should be used for backgrounding; and, preferably, some government records will be searched. Sidebar stories and boxes can be used to accompany the story, to fit in vital info that exceeds the 1,000 words in the main piece. The profile must include digital photos taken by you or archival photos retrieved and cropped by you and at least one audio or video clip collected by you and edited for the Web, which we will link from the story page. Extra points for using flash or a nonlinear format. If written in a linear format, you must include subheads in the body of the text, to aid in readability. (One subhead per screen length, please.) Please clear this assignment with me before beginning on it. For examples of other students' work, see Raechal Leone's "Maryland Author Turns to Family for Inspiration," Tamra Tomlinson's " 'Cupcake Queen' Attracts an Enthusiastic Following"; April Chan's profile of a New Orleans family displaced by Hurricane Katrina; and Mike Santa Rita's profile of a Maryland soldier killed in Iraq.
• You will be required to report and write one complex story of 800-1,000 words. Students should pitch their ideas to the editor. Possibilities include: a trend story (see Melissa Pachikara's "Maryland Revs Up for Alternative Fuels Market," Mike Santa Rita's "Wounded Soldiers Return from a Different Kind of War," Desair Brown's "For the Love of Anime: Middle Schoolers Plunge into Japanese Language Classes," Kaukab Jhumra Smith's "Internet Fraud Grows in Maryland," Jessica Shyu's "Kids Partner With Adults to Conduct Research for Kids," Fanen Chiaheman and Amanda Karr's "Baltimore Struggles to Slow Spread of Drug-Fueled HIV," Maha Ezzedine's "Comics Finding Niche Audiences on the Net," and Kim Harris' "Final Score: Wrecking Ball Razing Memorial Stadium,") or a database-driven story (see this piece by Kathleen Johnston Jarboe). All stories must include at least two relevant Web links, at least one audio clip collected and digitized by you, and at least one photo taken or collected by you. You must also write a proposed headline. It is strongly recommended that your story be included in a special report you or others are building on our site (see below).
• You will be required to report and Web-produce at least one video-driven news or newsfeature story, using our hand-held video cams and either Final Cut Express or Movie Maker for editing. For examples, see James Sanborn's feature on the ship the Amistad (scroll to bottom of story page for video); Michelle Williams' and Paula Vasan's reaction story on the pope's 2008 visit to Washington; Arelis Hernandez and David Byers' report on how much that proposed sales tax hike could affect prices on big-ticket purchases; Carrie Dindino's report on a long-shot presidential candidate from Maryland; and Arelis Hernandez and David Byers' reaction story from the UMD campus on race relations following the discovery of a noose hanging near a minority student cultural center.
• You will be asked to pull together archival and current stories, links, photos and video or interactive features and then build at least one major new package for the special reports area. You may be assigned to work on this with another student. Packages from previous semesters include: "Economy in Crisis"; "Elections '08"; "The Pentagon Memorial"; "The Pope in Washington"; "2007 Special Session: Budget Crisis"; "2007 Maryland Inauguration"; "2007 National Cherry Blossom Festival"; "Homeless in Maryland"; "Maryland Votes 2006"; "Green Energy"; "Teens and Technology"; "Final Auction"; "Katrina's Aftermath";"Casualties of War"; "Inauguration 2005"; "Uncovered: Maryland's Health Insurance Crisis"; "Maryland Votes 2004"; "Brown vs. Board of Education 50 Years Later"; "Saving the Chesapeake Bay"; "AIDS: Dealing With an Epidemic", "In War's Shadow"; "Census 2000"; "Political Ethics in Maryland"; "Reach the Beach"; "Farewell to Cole"; "State Symbols"; "The Death Penalty"; and "The Tobacco Industry."  Special reports will only be produced on ongoing stories with staying power. Please clear this assignment with me before beginning on it.

In addition, you will be asked to update/add to existing Special Reports on the site, to demonstrate to others in the bureau any new tools you teach yourself to use during the semester, and to use your creativity to pitch ideas for new features and pages for the site.

You will also be asked to write weekly posts to Maryland Newsline's blog.

Remember, employers want new hires to demonstrate a fearlessness about picking up new tools and technologies! 

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