Opinion Writing Assignment

1. Go to the editorial folder in the box and download the file titled Opinion Writing.
2. Read it (four pages)
3. Answer these questions on a Word document
What do you need to remember when writing opinion pieces?
What are the responsibilities of an editorial writer?
What are the journalistic principles?
4. Upload your file to your individual folder on Google Docs.

High School Journalism Day at CSUN on Saturday, Nov. 2

On behalf of the California State University, Northridge Department of Journalism, I would like to invite you and the editors/staff of your school newspaper to our 19th Annual High School Journalism Workshop Skills Competition.

The event will be held Saturday, November 2, 2013 at CSUN in Manzanita Hall. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 1:30 p.m., with continental breakfast and lunch provided. Please find the registration form, campus map, and tentative program for the event attached. The deadline to register is Thursday, October 17.

The workshop will feature hands-on presentations and discussions. In addition, students will have the opportunity to compete in news, feature, opinion, or photojournalism contests.
 

See the invitation and workshop schedule in the Crimson Chronicle Shared Documents folder.

Journalism Collaborative Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26

The LAUSD Journalism Collaborative will have its first meeting this Thursday from 4-6 p.m. at Los Angeles City College. It will be a press conference with either Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino or Local Superintendent Michelle King. Plan to go, meet other people like yourselves, ask questions, and have pizza.

Los Angeles City College, 855 N. VERMONT AVE., LA, Chemistry Building, Room 206-208
Take the Red Line to Vermont and Santa Monica station.

Meet and Greet on Monday, Sept. 16

Go directly to the Faculty Lounge. If you don't know where it is, follow someone who does. Dress better than you normally do, as in how leadership dresses on Wednesdays.

The purpose is to break the ice with people you may interviewing, so that when you go to interview them they will know who you are. You don't have to take notes (because we want our guests to feel comfortable) but ask questions and take mental notes of possible story ideas.

It would be a good idea to go home and write down your thoughts, as class does not meet on Tuesday. We have an 81-minute period on Wednesday.

Quiz Makeup, Exchange Paper Assignment

If you bombed the Elements of News quiz, there is a makeup on Quizstar. I suggest you review the slides below before taking it. You may take it in class on Monday or on your own time, but the timer is set to 10 minutes. This means you have 10 minutes to answer eight questions. After the finishing the questions, click on review to see an explanation of each answer. Do not use Safari in taking the quiz, as it doesn't work properly. If you got a B and are aiming for an A, you are welcome to retake the quiz, but it really won't make that much of a difference in your grade in the long run.

On Monday, you will begin the Exchange Paper/Website assignment, which calls for you to read and evaluate another school's paper and website. You will take another school's newspaper from the archives and look to see if that school has a newspaper website. If the school does not have a website, go to my.hsj.org and click on Browse Student Media to choose from the many school websites there.

While you do this, Mr. Manriquez will call students one at a time to give out your MyMail accounts.

Exchange Paper/Website assignment is due Monday, Aug. 26.

The Elements of News

Eight Elements of News from Logan Aimone

Welcome to Journalism 1A/2A

I'm very pleased you have chosen to take Journalism 1A where you will learn the basics of journalism and put your knowledge to use in writing for the Crimson Chronicle newspaper and website. I'm also grateful to those returning staffers in Journalism 2A who will be showing the ropes to the "cub" reporters.

Please take a look at the class rules and syllabus in the box above. You will find it in the folder marked "Class Rules and Syllabus." Feel free to download any other files you find in the box. These resources are for you!

I'm looking forward to a fun and productive year,

Ms. Cusolito

AP Style flashcards | Quizlet

 Study this for your final on Wednesday. Be sure to try test, scatter and race (although I can't figure out race).
AP Style flashcards | Quizlet

Final Exam: AP Style

To prepare for your final exam on AP style ( you will want to know what AP stands for), review the AP style Powerpoint in the box in the folder marked style.

You will also want to review pages 11-22 in the file named handbook.pdf. It is right below the copy editing pdf in the box.

I will give you more direction and resources on Friday, but this is a good place to start.

P.S. Congratulations on a successful issue, our first magazine ever! You should be very proud of yourselves.

The Ultimate Guide To Infographics | Edudemic

The Ultimate Guide To Infographics | Edudemic

We need to incorporate infographics into the newspaper.

Journalism: This is the reason we don't do an April Fool's issue

http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/04/mandeville_high_students_fake.html#incart_river

Success is in your hands

For those of you who took the survey a second time, I put a comment in your folder telling you whether your score went up or down. (If you have more than one item in your folder, I put it on the most recent one.) This does not affect your grade in the class.

The survey measures efficacy, the belief in one's ability to do something (such as writing). Efficacy is important because if you believe you can do something, you are less likely to give up when the going gets rough. Those who persevere are more likely to succeed than those who give up. Therefore, efficacy is tied to academic achievement.

This is not to say that if your score went up, you are a superstar, or if your score went down, you are a loser. The point is, practice accounts for as much as natural ability. OK, not if you want to be a professional basketball player or professional ballerina, but in terms of achievement in school. This is exciting because it puts success in the hands of the student. All of you are capable of success. All of you know this. You have seen how your reporting and writing (and photography and layout) have improved over the year.

We have two more issues left this year. Let's make them better than ever!

Please take this survey again

Journal Entry #3: Press Conference

Now that you've asked the principal a question for your story and have gotten an answer, how do you feel? Powerful? Or do you want a do-over? Did you feel like a "real" reporter? Did everyone get a chance to ask a question or did one person do all the talking while everyone else stared at their notebooks? Was asking a question of an authority figure harder or easier than you thought it would be? If this was your first press conference, was it what you expected? Why or why not? If this was not your first press conference, how did this one compare to the others? Has your opinion of the principal changed after having personal contact with her? Was your question well phrased? Did you feel she took your question seriously? What did you think of the answer? Most importantly, did you write the quote word for word and can you read your writing? If not, you better hope one of your classmates can help you out.

Please upload your entry to your folder. Everyone has a folder now.

Design Challenge: Superheroes Center Spread

Editors: Your challenge is to design a center spread with the theme of superheroes by the end of class on Tuesday. Your center spread should include: a main story (with a headline and a deck), a sidebar (accompanying story in a box or with a different color background), and a dominant visual element (photo or graphic). Below are some notes from the InDesign workshop I took this summer.
 Design Principles  
Proximity: group related items together (like an outline)  
Alignment: every element should have a visual connection  
Repetition: develops organization, strengthens unity  
Contrast: adds visual interest  
Proximity Squint and see how many times your eye stops. Follow a modular format. Create packages with a dominant element ( big photo, big headline)  
Alignment Creates a clean look. Everything should line up evenly. Left justify: the last word is flush left. First line indent: no tabs in InDesign. Headlines, decks and captions are flush left every story should have a deck (in a different font) except briefs.
 Repetition Pick 3-5 fonts and stick with them. This creates consistency. Palatino for headlines, Palatino italics for decks. Avoid Times New Roman and Helvetica. Avoid repeating elements so much that they annoy.  
Contrast To be effective, it must be strong. Type size, font, colors. Make headline sizes at least 4 points apart. Don't make everything the same size or shape. 

Web resources Newseum.org
 Newspagedesigner.org
Timharrower.com (sample page PDFs)
 Collegefrontpage.com
Lynda.com has software training.
YouTube and Adobe have free tutorials.

Journal Entry #2

For the last journal entry, I asked you to consider your thoughts toward feature writing versus news writing. Now, with the recent changes in our class (Jackie returning, Kimberly C., Kimberly L., and Cristal entering, and Daisy leaving) I'd like you to consider your place in the class. Where do you see yourself fitting in? Do you have a niche? Are you a utility player (to borrow a term from sports), one who can play any position and does what is necessary? What position would you like to play? What are your strengths? What do you need to work on? What can we do to strengthen the staff? Feel free to add anything else that you think is noteworthy. (Also, tell me if something is private; otherwise, I may share your thoughts with William and Vanessa.) Upload to your folder.

Satire from| The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Frustrated Inner-City Students Running Out Of Ideas To Motivate Teachers | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Teen newspaper L.A. Youth to cease printing after 25-year run

 So sad. This is a quality newspaper. A Crimson Chronicle reporter did a summer internship there a couple years ago and they really worked with young writers.

Teen newspaper L.A. Youth to cease printing after 25-year run - latimes.com

The Ambassador | the news website of the Ambassador School of Global Leadership

 Take a look at this school's website, especially the student survey and the story ideas tabs.

The Ambassador | the news website of the Ambassador School of Global Leadership

Banned in Schools

 What do you think? Any possible editorials or feature stories here?

Banned in Schools