Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication
JMC 401 Special Topics: Digital Media in Journalism and Communication
COURSE PROFESSOR:
Shelley A. Jack
CONTACT INFO:
E‐mail:
sjack@sbu.edu
Mobile:
412.651.8753
Website:
www.shebejack.com
Twitter:
shebejack
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/shelleyjack
Office Hours: Monday, 1 to 3 and Wednesday, 1 to 3
CLASS SESSIONS
January 17th, 2011 – May 15th, 2011
Mondays/Wednesdays, 4 to 5:15 p.m.
Classroom: Murphy Building, Room 104
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Digital and social media are dramatically altering the fields of journalism and communications.
Communication channels are now more open and fluid than ever before, creating greater transparency
from organizations and giving the ‘average person’ a more powerful voice. For journalists, the use of these
new media channels affects research, interviews, writing and promotion of news content. Likewise, for
communications professionals, these channels offer fresh considerations in areas such as market research,
media law, marketing, and customer, employee, media and community relations.
COURSE PURPOSE
The course will balance academic consideration, how communication itself is changing as a result of social
technologies, and practical application, how we can optimize the channels and tools to align with our
personal and professional goals.
New applications and branded social networks will come and go. However, this course will help students
understand the broader context of how communication is being revolutionized by digital and social
technologies. It will also foster the skill of applying the core principles and practices of strategic, purposeful
communication to digital and social media tools in productive, creative and intelligent ways. Finally, it will
encourage students to be flexible, open to new communication channels and willing to experiment.
REQUIRED READING
Books:
Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live & Do Business by Erick Qualman (ISBN-13:
978-0470477236)
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky (ISBN-13: 9780143114949)
Websites for Reference/Research:
www.mashable.com
www.socialmediaexaminer.com
www.imediaconnection.com
www.clickz.com
www.pr-squared.com
www.socialmediatoday.com
www.chrisbrogran.com
www.briansolis.com
LEARNING OUTCOMES & OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate competency in:
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Examining how information and culture are shared and organized in the digital space
Understanding digital & social media influence on society, politics, journalism and marketing
Determining the strategies and best social media tools used to obtain ethical communication
objectives
Working knowledge of social media tools and applications
Understanding the relationship between social media and other communication tools
Creating well-written, relevant content
Applying writing techniques specific to digital channels
Participating in virtual communities
Executing and understanding the ‘rules of engagement’ and proper etiquette within each channel
GRADING
The grade for this class will be based on the elements listed below. Additional information on each graded
project will be discussed further in class and on Moodle. The class will be dynamic and responsive to
student learning needs and wants. Therefore, the schedule may be modified.
A Note on Writing:
With the onset of digital communications, it seems that we have grown lax in our writing skills for the sake
of less characters or brevity. However, this is a communications school and you are preparing to be
professional communicators. Therefore, while perfection is not expected, writing in all channels and
assignments must demonstrate high proficiency in proper sentence structure, grammar use, editing and
proofreading. Write to fit your channel, but give proper respect to the English language. In this upper-level
course, strong writing is a given and the opposite will be graded harshly.
Attendance Policy:
Class attendance is required, just as you would show up at your job every day. After two absences (for any
reason), your final grade will be lowered as follows: A to A-, A- to B+, B+ to B, B to C, C to F. If you are
absent, email me in advance to let me know, also as you would do in a professional work environment.
Class Participation:
Consistent participation both in class and online are expected. This includes completing assigned readings,
listening and responding to ideas and questions posed by the instructor and other students. This also
includes small assignments that will arise during the duration of class and are not listed in the Projects
below. We will learn from and encourage one another throughout the semester. This is the culture of the
web and one we will foster in class.
Class is designed to be interactive, interesting and engaging. If it isn’t for you, then please express your
concerns to me and offer your recommendations on how to improve it. I am open to continuously making
the class better, for your benefit and mine.
Projects:
Blog - Reflection Posts
Wikis Presentation
YouTube Reporting
Twitter
Research Reports (2)
Class Participation
20%
20%
10%
20%
20%
10%
GRADE WEIGHTS AND SCALE
Grades awarded are: A, A‐, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and F.
Weight Scale
A = 93 and above
A- = 90-92
B+ = 88-89
B = 83-87
COURSE OUTLINE
Jan. 17, 19
B- = 80-82
C+ = 78-79
C = 73-77
C- = 70-72
D+ = 68-69
D = 63-67
D- = 60-62
F = 59 and below
How Digital and Social Media have altered the way we communicate
Social Media Objections/Concerns
Due Jan. 17: Chapters 1-2, Here Comes Everybody
Due Jan 19: Chapters 3-5, Here Comes Everybody
Jan. 24, 26
Social Media Tools and Applications – Overview of Twitter and Blogging
Due: Jan 24: Chapters 6-8, Here Comes Everybody
Due: Jan 26: bring in an example of an organization that you think uses Twitter
and Facebook well and explain why.
Finish Here Comes Everybody, Chapters 9-11
Due Jan. 28: Blog Post #1 – Review/Analysis of one interesting concept in Here
Comes Everybody
Jan. 31, Feb. 2
Crowdsourcing, the ‘Tribe’, identity in social networks, Cult of the Amateur
Digital Etiquette
Due Jan 31: Read Microblogging at the Fortune 200 on Moodle
Due Jan 31 and Feb 2: Student 5 min. presentations: Examples of leveraging the
Tribe in Politics, Journalism and Marketing
Due Feb 2: Blog Post #2: Use your presentation example for your post
Feb. 7, 9
Best Practices in Marketing, Journalism, Nonprofits, Social Causes – building
credibility and social capital
Due Feb 7: Social Media Research Report 1
Feb 9: Blog Post #3: Feature an org. that effectively uses multiple digital/social
tools to reach their audience
Feb. 14, 16
Digital & Social Media Strategy
Strategic Planning Session
Due Feb. 16: Blog Post #4
Feb 21, 23
In Class Wiki Team Work
Due Feb 23: Wiki Team Presentations
Feb. 28, March 2
Spring Break
March 7, 9
Socialnomics & Social Media in Marketing
Due March 7: Read Socialnomics: Chapters 1 – 2
Due March 9: Read Socialnomics: Chapters 3 - 4
Blog Post 5: How Social Media can help or harm PR
March 14, 16
Social Media in Journalism
Due March 14: Read Socialnomics: Chapters 5 – 6
Due March 16: Read Socialnomics: Chapters 7 - 8
Due March 16: Blog Post #6: The Citizen Journalist
March 21, 23
Digital Media Ethical and Legal Considerations
Due March 23: Blog Posts #7 and #8. For 7: Identify an ethical or legal issue
arising from the use of SM. For 8: If you were to revise Socialnomics in 2011, what
issues/areas need to be added or updated?
March 28, 30
Career Planning, Networking and Professional Etiquette in a Digital World
Due March 30: Social Media Research Report 2
April 4, 6
Social Media Worst Practices: What Not to Do
Present Examples
Due April 6: Blog Post #9 : Use your example from above
April 11, 13
Technology as a tool for social change
Blog Post #10: Feature and analyze an example of above
April 18, 20
Social Commerce and other Emerging Trends
Blog Post #11: Feature and analyze a new social media tool
April 25, 27
Easter Break (April 25)
May 2, 4
Social Media in the Workplace
Open Class
Blog Post #12: What did you learn about social media that you did not understand
before this class?
Final Class
YouTube Reporting
Blog Posts
You will use the blog to reflect on and analyze topics explored in class. Blog writing best practices will be
discussed and your blog should reflect those best practices. Post content should be well-edited and
organized (vs. stream-of-conscious writing which can be common among bloggers). Pose questions at the
end to invite conversation, since blogs are social and should not be treated as a one-way communication
method. Length should be between four and six well-written paragraphs. Posts should also include use of
headers, tags, photos, links, videos, etc. as/if appropriate.
Additionally, any time there is a post due, comment on two of your colleagues’ posts to foster conversation.
Be encouraging, share your views and always be respectful of the community. Be sure to ‘rotate’ your
comments, so that everyone has the benefit of comments/notes.
Social Media Planning/Research Reports
These reports will give you an opportunity to practice professional writing for businesses and organizations.
It is a research paper. Therefore, you will be expected to have within your report an executive summary, a
clear thesis statement, proper use of the English language, an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Short
paragraphs and headers should also be included to help organize information and invite readership. You
will provide support via cited examples, quotes, data, etc. Those citations must fit within MLA or APA
format. Improper citation is a form of plagiarism. It is imperative that you learn how to cite correctly. A hard
copy of the report should be submitted on the due date. The report must be stapled or in a plastic jacket.
Report topics and further details will be discussed in class
Twitter
Part of this class includes learning how to use social media tools for professional purposes. Therefore, you
will tweet throughout the duration of the course. Twitter tips and guidelines will be provided. At least ten
professional tweets are required for each week of class, beginning the week of January 24 th.
Video Reporting
Since video continues to be important component of social media tools for communicators, the final
assignment will be a video on a social media topic, which you will post to YouTube. The video reporting
should offer quality, well-organized content and demonstrate a familiarity with using editing and sharing
video tools available on the web. More details will be provided in class.
ACADEMIC HONESTY ADVISORY
In this course, any suspected cases of plagiarism, fabrication, or any other kind of academic dishonesty will
be prosecuted according to the university’s policy on academic dishonesty, as specified in the St.
Bonaventure University Student Handbook.
PLAGIARISM
I take academic integrity seriously and will not tolerate plagiarism or any other form of cheating. Improper
citation is a form of plagiarism. For further information, these resources on proper citation and how to
avoid plagiarism may be of help:
 "Writing With Sources" (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~expos/sources/)
 Plagiarism Defined (http://www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_what_is_plagiarism.html)
 Plagiary and the Art of Skillful Citation (http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/immuno/citewell/)
 Using Sources (http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/usingsources.html)
SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES STATEMENT
Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to
contact the Disability Support Services Office, Doyle Hall, Room 26, at 375-2066 as soon as possible to
better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. Documentation from this
office is required before accommodations can be made.