Media Writing

Out of Class Assignments

2009-04-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to post your out of class assignments on your blogs, everyone - after they've been edited twice by me.

What is the Future of Journalism?

2009-02-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

It is up to you guys, and I want to know what you think. The media landscape is shifting dramatically in a number of important ways with the advent of digital technologies.

Instead of a news quiz, for next Wednesday, February 25, I would like you to write a blog post telling me what YOU think about the future of news.

What will journalism look like in the next 10 to 15 years? How will people get news and information? How will your area of interest (e.g. magazines, television, etc.) be most impacted? What kinds of new business models might we see emerge?

First, please read the following for background:

"Intro" and "Major Trends" in Overview section of the State of the Media Report 2008.

Due Wednesday February 18

2009-02-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

1. News Quiz
2. Profiles
3. Revised TV Leads

Don't forget - you must take and pass the grammar test no later than March 20!

Due Wedesday Feburary 11

2009-02-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

Choose two leads - one hard news, and one anecdotal - that you like. (Can be from the NYT, the Commercial Appeal, or other mainstream news source).

1. Please include the lead and a link to the story in your post (so that we know what you are talking about.)

2. What did you like about each lead? Why? (Or if there was something you didn't like, include that as well.)

3. What do you think the reporter/editor thinks is the MOST IMPORTANT part of each story, and why?

Email

2009-01-21T13:55:00.001-08:00

Hi all -

I just sent you an email with the syllabus. If you DID NOT get it, please let me know asap.

Article To Read

2009-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

And Then They Came For Me

Welcome to Media Writing 2009!

2009-01-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

What is due by Monday at classtime:
1. Set up your own blog and email me the URL. Your first post should be a brief bio of yourself (see mine as a sample) with a photo.
2. Blog post: What is the purpose of journalism? This can be brief - a paragraph, or even a list.
3. Read the article posted above (the one by the Sri Lankan editor who was recently killed). This could give you some ideas for your blog post on the purpose of journalism.
3. READ: Elements INTRO AND CHAPTER ONE, Textbook Chapter 6
***SKIM OVER Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5*** You do not need to know the copy editing marks!!
4. First news quiz Wednesday

Brown Bio

2008-08-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my bio, a sample of what you want to do on your own blogs:

Carrie Brown is a recent transplant to the land where Elvis lives and the sweet tea flows. She began working as an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Memphis last fall, teaching media writing and mass communication theory and attempting to spit into the ill wind blowing at quality journalism. Her research examines how daily newspapers are adapting to the Internet.

Brown graduated from the University of Missouri with a PhD in journalism. She got her MA in communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in journalism and conservation biology from the University of Wisconsin, in the state where she was born and raised.

Brown has also spent time slogging away in the newsroom herself, as a reporter for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in WI, an intern at the Philadelphia Inquirer, an associate newsletter editor covering Capitol Hill in DC, and most recently, as an assistant city editor at the Columbia Missourian. Brown also managed a training program for the Committee of Concerned Journalists for three years, which took her to newspapers across the United States, both big and small, to talk with newsrooms about how they could best handle the changing economic and technological realities of their business while remaining true to their values.

In her virtually non-existent spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading, running, yoga, and sharing domestic macrobrews with her friends. She lives in East Memphis not far from the university with her fiance, Grant, and her dogs, Sam and Pippi.