This media project complements broadcast journalism courses or feature writing units. The primary objective of this project is for students to produce a feature segment on an extracurricular club of their choice, which may then be used by the school for promotional purposes. This project reinforces the principles of quality interviewing skills, as well as organization and prioritization of details using the inverted pyramid technique. Further, it promotes the conventions of broadcast writing. This .zip file contains all the materials I use for this project. The items are .docx files for easy editing. Included are: 1. A project description. 2. Brainstorming materials designed to maximize student learning about their chosen club (functionally speaking, a KWL). 3. A document on which students jot down open-ended questions to ask an interviewee, plus a reflective piece to ensure students have written quality questions. 4. A prewriting document designed to help students discern vital information from lesser information, aligned to the inverted pyramid concept. 5. An exemplar script modeling the conventions of writing for broadcast, plus instructions for how to write for broadcast. 6. An evaluation rubric.

This file contains two Word documents: a unit test and corresponding key. The test is 47-questions in total. The format varies and features several multiple choice, true/false, matching, and essay questions. The test assesses the following: - Understanding of the various functions of the media, including the political function, the economic function, the sentry function, the record-keeping function, the entertainment function, the social function, the marketplace function, and the agenda-setting function. - Understanding of journalistic credibility and concepts such as the journalistic code of ethics, the First Amendment, and the American perception that the media has become increasingly dishonest and unfair. - Understanding of key terminology pertaining to journalistic integrity. These terms include libel, slander, defamation, ethics, credibility, objectivity, attribution, plagiarism, sensationalism, right of reply, fairness to all, fair comment, prior restraint, privilege, in loco parentis, news judgment, and synergy. - Understanding of the elements of news, including timeliness, proximity, prominence, consequence, human interest, conflict, and more. - Understanding of the brainstorming process. - Understanding of key court cases whose impact on journalism is noteworthy, including the Tinker Case and the Hazelwood Case.

This 14-slide PowerPoint covers the following: - Several general interviewing tips - Quotable responses (open-ended questions) - Preparing and asking questions - Generating stock questions - Several listening tips - Tips for conducting an interview - Going off the record - Prepublication checking - Prior review

This is a 10-slide introductory PowerPoint covering various functions of journalists, including the political function, the economic function, the sentry function, the record-keeping function, the entertainment function, the social function, the marketplace function, and the agenda-setting function.

A 34-slide PowerPoint on ethics in journalism. Concepts covered include: The Janet Cooke Incident Code of ethics Journalistic credibility Journalism and the Constitution Prior restraint Journalistic objectivity Sensationalism Overstatement Right of reply Attribution Fairness to all Plagiarism The Stephen Glass Incident Slander Libel Libel laws Examples of libel Defenses against libel Privacy lawsuits Limits on scholastic journalism In loco parentis The Tinker Decision of 1969 The Hazelwood Case of 1988