Electronic News Media	A course taught by Borzou Daragahi Fall 2001--Purchase College
About the class	This is a not a computer course. It is a rather advanced journalism writing and research class where we will use the Internet as booth a journalistic tool and a medium for publishing our work. Each student picks an international topic, gains the instructor's approval for that topic and then proceeds to research, report, write and produce a mini-website about that topic. Each student will become a veritable expert on his or her topic. Within limits and subject to my approval, you get to determine how your web section will look and read. You may also speak to me about writing extra-credit web-related articles for the Dispatch, Purchase’s campus newspaper. Student grades will be determined by the quality of work and class attendance. More than anything, however, the amount of work each student puts into his or her project will determine the grade. It meets Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. in room 1070 of the humanities building.
About the instructor	A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New School University, I have worked as an editor and writer for daily and weekly newspapers, monthly magazines and an Internet site. I am currently a staff writer at Money magazine. This is my second year teaching at Purchase. Call me Professor or Mr. Daragahi. My email address is borzou@aol.com. Please sign your name at the end of every email message, especially if your name is not in your email address. Please get me electronic (email or disk) versions of all assignments as well as hand them in to me on paper. Especially graded assignments.
Grades	Grades will be determined as follows: 90 points or higher=A, 80 points=B, 70 points=C, and 60 points=D. Your grades will be comprised of: Attendance: 15 points (subtract 1 point for one missed class, 3 points for two missed classes, 5 points for three, 10 points for four, 15 points for five, 20 points for 6. More than 6 absences and you fail the class). Students will be responsible for finding out about and completing any work missed due to absences or tardiness. Chronically tardy students will be penalized. Assignment 1/Query letter: 5 points Assignment 2/Country summary: 5 points Assignment 3/ Profile 10 points Assignment 4/Book review: 10 points Midterm: 20 points Final: 35 points Total: 100 points Extra-credit Dispatch story: 5 points Each assignment will be graded on punctuality (late assignments will be penalized), quality and neatness. But most importantly, each assignment will be graded on how much effort and thought the students put into it.
CLASS SCHEDULE	Subject to change. Visit http://www.borzou.com/en.htm for updates.
Class I Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001, 1:30 p.m.	Discussion First-person accounts of horror in far-away places: the journalist, the human rights worker and the mother. Spending a semester on one project; possible topics: Civil war in Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Conflict in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Global Warming, Civil War in Sierra Leone, Tibet and the Dalai Lama, Political Strife in Indonesia, Latin American Drug War, Aboriginal Rights in Australia, Political Turmoil in Chiapas (Mexico), International Terrorism, AIDS Epidemic in Africa, India and Pakistan, Economic Collapse in Russia, etc. Introductions and basic journalism concepts reviewed Assignment Write a 200 to 300-word piece comparing the international sections of either of the following two sets of websites: http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com and http://about.com, or http://news.bbc.co.uk and http://nytimes.com. Finish reading journalist. Definitely visit http://www.borzou.com/populargeography. Come up with three or more topics you might like to spend the semester researching and writing about. Using articles on the above websites, sketch a paragraph or two on each topic.
Class II Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your review of websites and list of topics.	Discussion Picking your subject and writing a query letter: the more specific the better—and easier your work will be. Workshop The search engines, http://www.google.com and others, and cool websites, including http://www.amazon.com, http://www.profnet.com and other tools for finding experts and sources. Visit http://www.guerrillanews.com and http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/dp/dp_intro.html. Combing through bulletin boards of http://messages.yahoo.com. Assignment Read packet of query letters. You can also visit: 3 Steps for Successful Query Letters, Sample Magazine Query Letter, and peruse sample 1 and sample 2. Write a 500-word query letter describing your topic, how you might go about researching it and what you would like to do with it.
Class III Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your query letter for a grade.	Discussion Guest speaker: Anthony Lappe, editor at http://www.guerrillanews.com , on international journalism online. Assignment Read my critiques of your query letters and rewrite for presentation to class next week. Find and review in about a paragraph five websites about your topic. Using http://www.amazon.com, other bookstore websites and Find three or four books about your topic. Pick a book. Begin tracking down some experts on your topic. Make a list of some of possible experts and sources. Read “The New Muckrakers,” by Vir Singh.
Class IV Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your revised query letters.	Discussion Meeting of the editorial board: critiquing each others’ proposals. Workshop Introduction to Microsoft’s FrontPage; the art of using tables. Assignment Find, print out and read 10 high-quality news articles about your topic. Write a 500-word article summarizing current events in your topic. This will be the seed for the introduction to your website. Begin reading your book
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001 Yom Kippur	No class
Class V Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in assignment 2/country report for grade.	Discussion Conducting interviews and writing a profile Workshop Tracking down people using the Internet. Assignment Come up with a list of questions for your profile candidate. Initiate contact with your profile candidate. Read packet of profiles. Begin working on your mid-term.
Class VI Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001, 1:30 p.m.	Discussion Guest speaker: Robin Lloyd, editor at Space.com on the world of online journalism. Workshop Compiling a list of websites for your mid-term Assignment Finish your profile, a 700 to 1,000-word article Read packet of “best of the web” articles
Class VII Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your profile/assignment 3 for a grade	Discussion: TBA Workshop Researching and writing your midterm. Assignment Writing your midterm: a 1,500 to 2000-word “best of the web” article chronicling some of the best online resources for following up and finding out about your topic. Write for the Internet, that is in 500 to 800-word segments. Articles can be merely a list of websites and reviews, or far more challenging, an exploration of an angle or aspect of your story through the prism of Internet coverage. Make sure to bring it on a disk as well.
Class VIII Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Bring your midterm materials to class.	Workshop Producing and polishing your midterm. Assignment Read your book and continue working on your midterm. Happy Halloween.
Class IX Thursday, Nov. 1, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your midterm assignment for a grade.	Discussion Book reports vs. book reviews. Workshop Continue polishing up your best of the web package. Assignment Finish reading your book Read samples of book reviews Think about your final
Class X Thursday, Nov. 8, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Bring your midterm materials to class.	Discussion Designing a website with thumbnails Workshop Writing and production: incorporating art and maps into your work Assignment Write your book review.
Class XI Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Hand in your book review/assignment 4	Discussion Guest speaker: Peter Spielmann, of the Associated Press and Columbia University; bringing international stories home. Workshop Writing and production Assignment Create a thumbnail sketch of your website, with at least half a dozen additional ideas and side stories about your topic that you could include: geography, history, the players, the factions, organizations, activists, etc. how about a movie review or an additional profile? In-person, telephone or email interviews will add to your grade.
Thursday, Nov. 22, 2001 Thanksgiving	No class
Class XII Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Bring your finals material to class	Discussion Workshop Writing and production, creating an introductory page for your website. Assignment Get started on your final: a multidimensional 7,000 to 10,000 word multidimensional website on your topic complete with maps, photographs and art Research and report and begin producing the various additional components, which can include past assignments, as well as articles on geography, history, the players, the factions, organizations, activists, movies or books. Include a main story, interviews, profiles, anecdotes, interviews with experts. Create a navigational strategy as well as an organization. Use the thumbnails as your guide. Remember, interviews will add to your grade.
Class XIII Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Bring all your work to class on disk and on paper.	Workshop Writing and production Assignment Continue researching and writing your final.
Class XIV Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001, 1:30 p.m. Bring all your work to class on disk and on paper.	Workshop Writing and production. Assignment Finish your final project. Bring it to me on one or more disks as well as on paper.
Class XV Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001, 12 p.m. Finals due. Projects should be nice and polished and ready to be publicized. Hand it in on disk as well as printed out on paper.	Pizza party and farewells.