wmi spring 2012 syllabus
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WASHINGTON MEDIA INISTITUTE
SEMINAR
SPRING 2012
Time: Tuesday: 7:00-9:00pmFriday: 9:30am-5:30pm
INSTRUCTOR
Name: Amos GelbPhone: 202-285-4352
E-mail: [email protected] hours: By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Washington Media Institute Seminar is the academic component of the WashingtonMedia experience. It is designed to work with and around the internship that you are
undertaking.
The seminar has three primary areas of focus:1) Increasing students creative metabolism2) Sharpening their decision making process3) Broadening their conception of media
The seminar itself is a very different kind of academic course based on the foundation of
a very different learning experience: experiential learning.
Experiential education is learning-by-doing and then reviewing both what has been doneand the lessons learned. At the core of this form of education is empowering students to
become active participants thereby honing their decision-making processes. To thatextent, skills training, lectures and other exercises are designed to work in tandem.
Those skills are then honed to be put to work at the accelerated rate expected in todays
professional world.
The course itself is built as a pedagogical pyramid. At the base skills, theory, andexercises are married to prepare students to maximize their internship experience. That
experience is then put into perspective by hearing from leading media professionals whodiscuss specific concepts as they are applied in the media today.
The overall goal for the course is to give students the skills, knowledge and experience of
the practical world they will soon enter by exploring the form and shape of media todayand how it is changing through the prism of the forces in Washington, DC: political,
social and economic.
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By the very nature of the Washington Media Institute, this is a survey course that coverstopics that are rich enough to entail a course in and of themselves. Instead, by giving
students a broader sense of the entirety of todays media, the Washington Media Instituteis designed to be a rigorous experience that is very different from the normal course work
students experience at their home schools.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
In line with the nature of experiential education, the goals of the seminar are practically
oriented. By the end of the course students will:
1) Understand the state of, form of, and players in the media as it exists inWashington, DC and the seismic forces reshaping it, so as better to understand
their future opportunities.2) Understand and critically analyze the interactions between journalism, politics,
economics and other forces and how those inter-actions shape todays media.3) Develop the technical skills needed to work across all todays different media at
the rate of production that is needed to compete today.4) Produce multi-media content, using new forms of media and storytelling.COURSE COMPONENTS:
The course is comprised of five parts:1) Skills training2) Lectures3) Speakers4) Site visits5) Assignments1) Skills: To understand and compete in todays media environment, students need to
have baseline skills so that they can work across all media. A difference inapproach of experiential learning is that rather than develop skills through
extensive training, students are given the core abilities and then hone and advancethose skills by completing projects that are concept-driven rather than skill-
development drive. Skills that will be developed are:
Writing (across all media) Video shooting/editing (using a variety of digital cameras and digital
editing technology)
Web presentation (using Wordpress and other programs) Social Media (Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin and other programs)
2)Lectures: There are at least two and a half hours of lectures each week that willlay out the themes or focus on practical concepts that will be covered in thecourse. These lectures will explore the media across the entire landscape in
Washington, DC, from political journalism to public relations and beyond,providing a holistic look at todays media as well as repeatedly revisiting skills
concepts as students abilities evolve.3) Speakers: As noted about, hearing from leading media professionals is the
capstone of the course, putting internship experience, skills and theory into
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professional perspective so that the lessons learned are placed in context. WMIstudents will hear from more than 30 speakers during the course of the semester.
It is important to note that this is not a speakers series where a set of disparatevoices offers little more than war stories, a chance for superficial networking and
an autograph. Rather, these speakers and their expertise are targeted at specific
topics and serve specific purposes.4) Visits: Just as speakers can add context and perspective, so too can site visits. Forexample, one can study Congress for a lifetime but a whole new level of
understanding comes from the experience of walking onto the floor of the Houseof Representatives or visiting a Congressional office. To that end, WMI students
will experience news organizations, government institutions and other relevantsites.
5) Assignments: The assignments are a key ingredient in getting the most out of DC.These assignments will challenge students to apply the skills introduced and make
decisions about what they should present. Initial assignments will focus ondecision-making and application of skills. Once baseline levels have been
established, assignments will grow in complexity and direct relevance to themedia today. All assignments will comprise of written, video and web
components reflecting the reality of todays media.
TEXTS:
Author Title PublisherMark Feldstein Poisoning of the Press Farrar Strauss Giroux
Jeff Jarvis What Would Google Do Harper CollinsPew Research Center State of the News Media 2011 Pew (online)
Clay Sharkey Here Comes Everyone Penguin
Plus selected articles and other work, which will be posted on the delicious.com page.
The selected texts represent different components of the course:Feldstein is a historic text to give some background on how the media evolved to its
current state
Jarvis captures the ethos of the new media world and the changing relationship
between news supplier and audienceState of the News Media offers a snap shot of todays media
Sharkey explores the influence the new media is having on information.
ASSIGNMENTS:
There are four types of assignments for this course:
Multi-media projects
There will be series of assignments (four), which will put into practice the skills
and concepts we address in class.Reflective Papers
There will be two reflective 5-page papers that will require you to take stock ofwhat you have been learning and hearing.
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External CommissionsAfter the initial projects, we will produce work for external organizations to raise
the stakes in the quality of your product.WMI Challenge
A WMI challenge project that allows students to reflect upon all they have
learned in a multi-media presentation.
GRADING
Attendance: 10% Papers: 10% Team Assignments: 25% Pop quizzes: 5% Commissions: 25% Challenge: 10% Class participation: 15 %
While each element will contribute a percentage to the final grade, failure tocomplete any single assignment will result in negative affect on your grade of up to 3
full grades.
COURSE CONTENT:
The course is broadly divided into three sections:
Old Media explores the values, skills, and characteristics of the legacy media as theyexist today and how they evolved.
New Media explores the new and social media as they relate to journalism andcommunication in practice today and, more importantly, how the foundations of old
media translate or dont - to the new age. The issues range from legal and ethical, tobusiness and content forms.Everything beyond explores those elements of the media that may not fit cleanly into
the rubric of earlier elements. Included but not limited to issues ranging fromdocumentary and reality television, to branded networks and issues arising from global
journalism and content creation.
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Provisional Schedule
The schedule is subject to change
Week 1:
January 9th
January 14th
Orientation and boot camp
OLD MEDIA: WEEKS 2 6
WEEK 2
WHERE IS JOURNALISM TODAY?
Tuesday1/17NO CLASS FIRST DAY OF INTERNSHIP
Friday1/20ASSIGNMENT
REVIEW
9:00-10:00 AM
CRITIQUE
ASSIGNMENTS/WEBPAGES
LECTURE
10:00-12:30 PM
WHATS WRONG WITH
JOURNALISM TODAY?
A review at the prevailing views
on the state of journalism.
Readings:
State of the
News Media
Come to class
with 5
problems you
see in
journalism
today
SPEAKER
2:00-3:000PM
Tommy Burr Salt Lake
Tribune. Tommy is a newspaper
report from a traditional regional
paper. It is an interesting place to
be in journalism today.
National Press
Club, 14thand
F streets DC.
Site Visit/SpeakerVoice of America
The Voice of America is a verytraditional newsroom,
broadcasting traditional news on
radio and video. This is a place
where traditional journalism is
very much alive
300Independence
Ave,
Washington
DC.
SPEAKER
4.30-6pm
Steve Springer senior executive
producer.
WEEK 3
JOURNALISMS ROLE IN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL LANSCAPE
Tuesday 1/24WATCH STATE OF THE UNION
PLAY THE DUNKING GAME!
Friday 1/27LECTURE
9:00-10AM
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
An examination of the vital historical
role journalism has played in shaping
US society from John Paul Zenger to
Readings:
Poisoning
the Press.
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Watergate. How does that traditional
role and influence translate in an age
of Kim Kardashian, the Arab Spring
and Herman Cain?
WATCH
10:00-12:30PM
ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN
Washington journalism cannot be
discussed without understanding thepivotal role of these events.
SPEAKER
3:30 5:00PM
Mark Feldstein GW Professor and
award-winning journalist. Feldstein
will discuss his book (the assigned
reading) and talk about the history of
investigative reporting and why it has
been so important.
WEEK 4
COVERING WASHINGTON AND THE HILL
WEEK 5
HOW THE ECONOMICS SHAPED THE MEDIATuesday 2/7
LECTURE
7:00-8:00PM
STORYTELLING
We will return to the art of
storytelling raised in boot camp.
Particularly, we will look at narrative
storytelling techniques and explore
how different kinds of stories can be
told.
Reading:
Excerpt from
On Writing
Well, Zinsser;
Autism article
in Atlantic,
John Donvan
SPEAKER
8:00-9:00PM
John DonvanABC NewsNightline
Donvan is the best storyteller in
television today and will talk about
his processes and style.
Friday 2/10
Monday 1/308-9pm Kalb Reportspeaker tba. National Press
Club, 1400 FStreet
Friday 2/3
SITE VISIT
10:00-4:30PM
Visit Capitol Hill
Meet the players from journalists to
press secretaries to Capitol staffers to
understand how the media covers the
Hill. Details TBA.
Tour the
Capitol
Take Metro to
Capitol South
and walk straight
to the Capitol
Dome. Meet on
House side.
DISCUSSION
4:40 5:15pm
Covering the Hill
After meeting all the players we will
discuss why coverage of the Hill is
not only so sparse but how that
coverage influences peoplesnegative impression of the Hill.
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ASSIGNMENT
REVIEW
9:30-11:00AM
REVIEW SECOND
ASSIGNMENTS
LECTURE
11:15-12:30 PM
THE ECONOMICS OF
JOURNALISM
We will explore how the economics
of media have shaped the nature andform of legacy journalism.
Begin reading
Jarvis
SITE VISIT
2:00 5:00PM
WJLA/POLITICO
The WJLA newsroom in DC houses
both a legacy media entity the
ABC-affiliate local television station
and the hottest new media journalism
Politico.
We will explore how legacy media is
faring as it shares space with new
media.
SPEAKERS BILL LORD Station manager
WJLA
LEON HARRIS Chief anchor
JAKE SHERMAN Politico,
Congressional correspondent.
WEEK 6
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH PRTuesday 2/14
LECTURE
7:00-9:00 PM
EPORTFOLIOS
We will begin the process of building your
eportfolios, which are the newest, and
rapidly growing in popularity among
recruiters, way of presenting your work
and resume.
ASSIGNMENT TURN IN FIRST 5 PAGE PAPEREVALUATE THE SPEAKERS SO FAR
AND, BASED ON THEIR
COMMENTARY AND WHAT YOU
HAVE READ, HOW HAS YOUR VIEW
OF THE MEDIA CHANGED, IF AT
ALL.
Friday 2/17
LECTURE
10:00-12:00PM
Press and PR an uncomfortable
symbiosis.
A look at the underlying factors in the
relationship between PR and journalism inD.C. and explore how the stakeholders and
motivations create a contentious
relationship and how the lines between the
two are getting blurred.
SPEAKER
2003:30PM
ELLIOT NEGIN Union of Concerned
Scientists. There is a whole business of PR
that is related to the issues rather than
products. The Union of Concerned
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Scientists is just trying to save humanity
and Elliot is the press person.
SPEAKER
3:45-5:00PM
KEITH BLACKMAN a leading media
and pr consultant. He has worked with big
pr firms, corporate America, and a range
of other organizations. A former NBC
producer he made a successful voyage tothe dark side.
NEW MEDIA: WEEKS 7-9
Week 7
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRANSITION TO THE NEW MEDIATuesday 2/21
SCREEN
7:00-9:00 PM
STATE OF PLAY
The quintessential DC journalism
movie that explores the conflict
between old and new media.
Finish
reading
Jarvis by
this week
Friday 2/24
SITE VISIT
10:00-12:00 PM
THE WASHINGTON POST
We will spend the day at the
Washington Post learning how this
fabled newspaper is adjusting to the
new media age and exploring the
culture wars between old and new
media taking place.
SPEAKERS Rajiv Narissetti Managing editor
Nurith Aizenman - Reporter Editor
Amy Shinns - Reporter
DISCUSSION
4:00-5:00PM
WashPost recap we will review
and consider the complex issues
surrounding this newspapers
evolution to a new media entity.
WEEK 8: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NEWEST MEDIATuesday 2/28
ASSIGNMENT
REVIEW
7:00-9:00PM
SCREEN AND REVIEW THIRD
VIDEO/WEBPAGE
ASSIGNMENTS
Friday 3/2
LECTURE
10:00-12:00PM
The Social Network
What is behind them and how do they
really work and what is that impact on
journalism? Are they really as game-
changing as conventional wisdom
would suggest.
Reading:
Sharkey
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SPEAKER
2:00-3:00PM
Joe Gizzy
New Media Strategies one of the
top communications strategists in the
city.
SPEAKER
4:00-5:00PM
Andrew Noyes
Public Affairs Communications
Director at Facebook.
SPRING BREAK MARCH 5TH 9TH
WEEK 9
THE GOVERNMENTS ROLE IN THE NEW MEDIATuesday 3/13
NO CLASS
Friday 3/1
LECTURE
10:00-12:00PM
NEW MEDIA NEW POLICIES
The new media changes everythingfrom copyright to net neutrality. How
is the system adjusting? What are the
limitations and how does the old
relationship between media and the
government translate? What is net
neutrality and why it matter? What is
governments role in this new media?
Reading:
Sharkey
SITE VISIT
2:00-5:00PM
Federal Communications
Commission
SPEAKER
4:00-5:00 PM
Haley Van Dyck - FCC New Media
Director
Colin Crowell FCC Special Counsel
EVERYTHING BEYOND: WEEKS 10-14
WEEK 10
RADIO THE OTHER BROADCAST MEDIUMTuesday 3/20
TBD
Friday 3/23
LECTURE
10:00 12:00PM
Radio the Forgotten Medium
Much ignored amidst the glamour of
TV and the web is the enduring
quality and power of radio. Rather
than being killed by television and theinternet, today more people listen the
NPR than watch the combined three
Network TV newscasts. How has it
survived when it was ruled dead so
many times? What are the different
models and how it is evolving?
SITE VISIT
2:30-4.30pm
SIRIUS-XM RADIO Sirius-XMNewYork Ave, NE
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SPEAKER Bob Edwards former NPR host
now star of Sirius-XM
SPEAKER
6:00-6:30pm
Dan Raviv CBS Radio one of the
journalistic work horses of the city.
CBS Radio 2000
M Street DC
WEEK 11
LONG FORM PRODUCTIONTuesday3/27
ASSIGNMENT
DUE
SECOND PAPER DUE (EMAIL) NO CLASS
Friday 3/30
LECTURE
9:30-12:00PM
LONG FORM PRODUCTION
How does long form production differ
from short form? How is the story
telling different? What can be learned
from reality television?
SPEAKER
1:30-3:00PM
SEAN FINE AWARD WINNING
DOCUMENTARIAN. Jason
SPEAKER
3:30-5:00PM
JASON WILLIAMS FORMER
CNN PRODUCER TURNED
REALITY SHOW EXECUTIVE.
Jason is one of the leading makers of
non-fiction television for networks
such as Discovery and National
Geographic.
WEEK 12
THE MILITARY AND THE MEDIA
Tuesday 4/3TOPIC UNDERSTANDING
NETWORKING
SPEAKER THOMAS COOK, THOMAS
COOK ASSOCIATES. Thomas is the
master networker. He will show you
how the game is really played.
Friday 4/6
SITE VISIT
9:00-12:00PM
THE PENTAGON
We will visit the White House and
talk to communications leaders.
Exact details to come
Tour the
Capitol
Take Metro to
Capitol South
and walk straight
to the Capitol
Dome. Meet on
House side.SPEAKER
12pm- 1pm
COL JIM FLEIGAL
Assistant Director of Social Media
Office of the Secretary of Defense
LECTURE
2pm 3.30pm
THE MILITARY AND THE
MEDIA FROM EMBEDDING TO
CENSORSHIP the military
specialized at keeping secrets, the
press at revealing them. We will look
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at the push and pull of media covering
them military under the banner of the
1st amendment. And how that
discussion extending to issues like the
Arab Spring and the role of
journalism and the media in the US
and abroad.
WEEK 13
ALTERNATE CONTENT CREATIONTuesday 4/10 TBD Friday 4/13 LECTURE
10-12pm
ALTERNATE CONTENT
CREATION
Increasingly there are alternate forms
of content being creating by alternate
organizations. This week will look at
some of these alternate content formsand who is creating them.
SPEAKER
2-3.30pm
Joie Chen Branded Networks. Joie
worked at CBS and CNN before
leaving traditional journalism to
establish what she called the third
rail of information.
SPEAKER
4-5pm
Jon Senior Canvas Bag
Productions. Jon creates road shoes
for corporations. It may seem far from
journalism but it is about content
creation, and as he tells it, story
telling.
WEEK 14
THE WHITE HOUSETuesday 4/17
TBDFriday 4/20
SITE VISIT
10:00-12:00PM
WHITE HOUSE
We will visit the White House and
talk to communications leaders.
LECTURE COVERING THE WHITE HOUSE
How has coverage of the President
changed from Watergate? How do
reconcile the 24/7 news cycle withbeing managed by the White House
press staff?
SPEAKER Ed Henry FOX White House
Correspondent Henry has covered
the White House first for CNN and
now for FOX
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WEEK 15: WRAPPING UPFriday 4/27
PRESENT
10am -10.30am
CAPSTONE
PROJECTS
PRESENT
10:45am - 11.15am
EPORTFOLIOS
PRESENT
11.15am-11.30am
INTERN
PRESENTATIONS
FINAL COMMENTS/
HOUSE CLEANING
11.30am-1pm
WRAPPING UP
THE SEMESTER
GRADUATION LUNCH
1-2PM
GRADUATION
LUNCH
CLASS POLICIES
Attendance policy: unless arranged and approved by the Professor ahead of time, thereis a zero tolerance for absences. Each absence will contribute to grades being deducted.
Two unexplained absences will cost one grade.Late work: the media world is unforgiving. Late work will not be accepted withoutexceptional reasons.
Policy on Religious Holidays:
Please notify faculty and staff as early as possible of any conflict with religious events.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Simply put dont cheat or plagiarize. Punishment can include dismissal from the program,In the real world you will be fired or worse.