Special Topics in Journalism: Digital Journalism I
(Fall 2008)
Roger Williams University
YouTube Page video homepage
Special Topics in Journalism: Digital Journalism I is a course on electronic media taught by Communications Professor Michael Scully at Roger Williams University. The purpose of this class is to expose students to the tools they may need to succeed in the evolving world of Internet journalism. To do this, Professor Scully will review current multimedia news sites and cite them as examples for student work. He will also train the students to think about nonlinear multimedia storytelling techniques. This class has 21 students, and currently meets on Tuesdays from 5 pm to 8 p.m. in Roger Williams' North Campus classroom building.
Students are required to purchase a Flip Video Ultra video camera as part of their course materials. The mini camera is about the size of a cigarette box, it uses two double-A batteries, it has a hard-drive memory chip that can record 60 minutes of video, and it costs $150. (See video consumer review.) Professor Scully first learned about the Flip Video Ultra camera from Arik Hesseldahl, a technology editor at BusinessWeek.com. Hesseldahl, who attended grad-school with Scully, found that the relatively new camera was cheap, easy to use and fun. Scully promptly purchased his at Wal-Mart in Newport, R.I.
For their part, the students will have to create blogs on BlogSpot.Com, open a YouTube page, and establish a GMail account.
Professor Scully began teaching New Media at Roger Williams University in Fall '07. It was during his opening days at RWU when Professor Ted Delaney approached him about conducting an independent study with three Communications students. Delaney then introduced Scully to seniors Michael Hurley and Phil Yacouby, and junior Lorin Richardson. That same independent study, entitled, Special Topics in Journalism: New Media, was soon launched.
Lessons
Taking Video from Flip Video Ultra to Facebook
NOW OPEN FILE
Camera Techniques
Working with the Canon HG-10
In class on 9-9-08, we had a lecture along with a tutorial in taking videos outside in the natural light. Today, the sun was gone at 7:03 pm, so the class quickly went outside to take small videos of each person. In each video, everyone said their name, year, major, where they were from, and then said "Roger Williams is..." We stationed the camera so that it was facing the field down in north campus. The sun was right over NC, so having the camera facing the field, allowed the person being taped to have the best natural light. Once the tripod was set up and all levels were even horizontally, we went over the system for taking videos. You need three people, producer, video cameraman, and anchor. The producer tells the anchor when to start and once they signal, the camera man starts recording and then the anchor starts. Anchors begin by saying "3, 2, 1," and then they begin their script.
Because each person appeared differently in the camera, whether it was skin tone or height, we had to make adjustments for each person. Also, adjustments were made so that there would be some variety in the final tape. With height problems, we were constantly tilting the camera up or down, or moving the tripod height itself. We had to make sure that any lines were not distracting to each person. Some people approached the camera by turning their body in a little or being straight forward. We centered and right and left justified people. A few select anchors were given a close up while some were given a long shot. Problems we encountered were natural sounds. Cars driving by and shuttles were disturbing to some videos, so we had to frequently wait, or hurry to get everything in before more disturbances came. All people needed to project their voices so that it came in clear. The wind was also a factor to the noises.
A Little History
The Feed (Fall 2007)
In Fall 2007, Professor Scully taught his first version of this class to three Roger Williams University communications students. Those included Michael Hurley, Phil Yacouby and Lorin Richardson. During that 15-week semester, the students created a video news digest called "The Feed," which published three-minute television news packages and published them online. During the course of the semester, the team published 12 video stories on YouTube.Com and Facebook.
About a month into the Fall semester, Professor Ted Delaney decided to shoot and produce a mini documentary on The Feed team, which he entitled "We Are the Feed." In it, the three students explained what they were doing in the course and what they were getting out of the curriculum.
Special Topics in Journalism: New Media (Spring 2008)
In Spring 2008, Professor Scully launched a full-course offering of Digital Journalism. The class opened with 15 students but dropped to 14 (because of a student's scheduling conflicts). The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is slowly easing its way into television tools for the Internet, blogging and building a collective WIKI page.
Building a Curriculum
In January 2008, Professor Scully addressed the Roger Williams University Curriculum Committee about his petition to add two new classes to the Journalism concentration. Those classes, Digital Journalism I and Digital Journalism II, are designed to address the systemic changes currently underway in the news media community. Digital Journalism I is an introduction of multimedia storytelling that fuses video with the written word. Digital Journalism II is about a more complex model for non-linear multimedia storytelling. In February, the committee tentatively approved COMM 355: Digital Journalism I and with some revisions also tentatively approved COMM 455: Digital Journalism II. Both these classes should turn up in the Fall 2008-2009 catalog. In March, the administration officially approved COMM 355 and COMM 455 for the 2008-2009 school year.
Past Stories
"The Feed's" first story was about the new entrance gate at the University. In this story, Lorin Richardson worked through her first reporting assignment as Phil Yacouby and Mike Hurley experimented with the camera, a Canon XL-1. The team had many technical problems throughout the editing process which lasted several hours. Starting at 3 p.m., The Feed filed its first story around 10 p.m.
Their next story was on the 9/11 memorial exhibit on campus.
In the fourth week, The Feed reported on Roger Williams' smoking initiative.
The Feed's most popular video package was on Roger Williams Professor Marilynn Mair, entitled, "My Mandolin." In it, Professor Mair plays her mandolin and talks about her career both in and outside the classroom. To shoot this interview, they set up a set inside an on campus dorm called Stonewall IV. They used a white wall for the background and used two lighting kits. They also used one microphone, which was mounted on a small mic stand in front of her. This report was a direct duplication of The Washington Post's "On Being..." series, which is running on its multimedia pages. Here, producers set the subject in a static environment and let them speak about a specific topic. With Professor Mair, The Feed spoke to her about her relationship with her mandolin. The idea is hyper edit the video to the essence of the conversation. The process also creates a series of "jump cuts", which are historically considered bad form in traditional television news settings. Oddly enough, the jump cuts are esthetically pleasing in this format. This issue of The Feed continues to be the most viewed video in the '07 catalog.
In the middle of October 2007, Professor Scully assigned The Feed team a song and told them to tell a story without words. The song was "The Breeze" by J.J. Cale. The idea was to get the students thinking about editing and images instead of words. This drill was also about continuity and storytelling. The team shot images from around the campus and the nearby Mount Hope Bridge, focusing on seasonal pictures and people in motion. And while the shoot went easy enough, the editing became a bear. The team spent several hours laying the video over the audio. The final project was aptly entitled, "The Breeze."
Fall 2008
Michelle Bazinet is from Taunton, Mass. and is majoring in Journalism and set to graduate in May of 2009.
Liz Birchall is a senior from Topsfield, Mass. and is majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Psych!
Codie Eisenberg is a senior originally from Woodstock, NY, I am a major in PR with a minor in Photo, and a core in Italian studies, i enjoy long walks on the beach and peach smoothies.Kelley Holahan is a public relations major with a double minor in psychology and marketing. She plans to graduate in the spring of 2009 and is originally from Southbury, Conn.
Tess LeConche is a "super-senior" from Farmington, CT, majoring in Public Relations with a double minor in Psychology and Music. She can't wait to graduate in December, but is still a bit sad to leave RWU and to venture out into the unknown.
Jillian MacDonald is a senior at RWU from East Sandwich, MA. She will graduate in May of 2009 with a degree in Communications.
Michael Naymie is a super senior, but likes to be refrerred to as a "senior." PR major, graphic design minor. Part time security officer at Museum of Science. Lives in Westwood, MA. Likes sports and poker!
Shannon McNally is senior here at Roger Williams, from Auburn, Massachusetts. She is a Public Relations major with a minor in Psychology.
Kara Olson is a Public Relations major, Political Science minor. She is from Worcester, MA
Alyssa Persinger is a senior from Brick, NJ and a journalism major. What she really wants to do is become a professional ghostbuster.
Leslie Rumanoff is a Public Relations major with a minor in Music. She is from Cheshire, CT and plans to graduate in May 2009.
Ioana Hotnog is a senior from Romania, majoring in Communications/PR with a minor in Spanish. She wishes to move to Las Vegas and work in the entertainment industry.
Erica Scranton is a senior graphic design major with a minor in communications and music. Erica wishes to one day work in publication for a major magazine or in PR campaign/advertising design.
Mike Spark is a global communications major and a photo minor and is set to graduate in 2009. He resides in Barnegat Light, NJ located on Long Beach Island. Sailed for two and a half years at Roger Williams Team and will perpetuate his love for the sport for the remainder of his life after he graduates college.
Lindsey Spinella is a Senior Communications Public Relations major with minors in Spanish and Creative Writing. Lindsey was born and raised in Waterbury, CT. She plans to graduate in May 2009, but has yet to figure out what she is going to do with her degree.
Libby Stout is a psychology major and a double minor in communications and american studies. She plays lacrosse for RWU. Lives in Concord, Mass next door to Professor Scully's sister!
Kyle Toomey, once a teen heart throb, has now turned to education as a source of inspiration. A senior journalism major and creative writing minor from Hingham, MA, Kyle still enjoys writing and recording his own music.
Phil Devitt is a Communications major with a journalism concentration. He is editor of the campus newspaper, The Hawk's Herald, and news director for 88.3 WQRI, the campus radio station. He lives in Westport, Mass. and works part-time as a staff writer for a daily newspaper in New Bedford, Mass. When he had free time, he liked to play the drums.
Jennie Vaz is a Communications/Public Relations major in her senior year. She's from Dartmouth, Mass and currently resides in Bristol with her 5 other roommates.
Spring 2008
Geoffrey Baranger is a future RWU graduate from Fairfield, Connecticut; a journalism major and plays basketball. Geoff was recently named RWU Male Athlete of the Year, and will graduate in Summer 2008.
Ben Camobreco is a graduate of Roger Williams University with a Journalism degree. He is from Duxbury, MA and played on the RWU basketball team.
Brittany Costa is a 2008 graduate of Roger Williams University and is a Global Communications major from Rhode Island. She also has a double minor in Political Science and Creative Writing. Brittany has much experience in on-air reporting with local network affiliates in Rhode Island as well as within her job outside of school. Brittany is planning on continuing her work in the communications field.
Max Covill is a senior Computer Information Systems major from Rhode Island; also a minor in Music. He is a graduate of the Roger Williams University class of 2008. Max brought to the table experience with different computer technologies. He is pursuing video editing after college and hopes to continue in the field.
Greg Curtin is a graduating senior from Massachusetts majoring in communications PR and has a psychology minor. He still does not have a job.
Diana DeQuattro prefers to be called Dee. She is a double major in Political Science and Journalism and is a part of the class of 2009. Someday she expires to work as a producer for T.V. or radio.
Jake Dumond is a RWU Graduate. He majored in PR Communication with a core concentration in Psychology. He has learned a lot from New Media and plans to use his experience to persue a job in the television or radio field.
Katherine Fleming is member of the class of 2008 and a Global Communications and Spanish double major. She recently completed her Core Concentration of Italian Studies while abroad in Florence, Italy. After graduation she plans on landing a job, any job, to be able to live comfortably in Boston with friends.
Shaun Hogan is a member of the class of 2008. I was a communications major with a concentration in journalism and I plan on attending the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, NH next fall.
Joanna Nettelfield is a 2008 graduate Communications major from New York. She played on the women's tennis team for four years and is very sad to leave RWU behind. She doesn't have a job lined up for after graduation yet, but is excited to see what is outside of Roger William's little bubble.
Charles Schipani is a graduate of the communications dept. at Roger Williams University. And he is a champion at everything he does.
Kristen Seturins is a member of the class of 2009, a Communications major, and a Creative Writing minor. She is also a member of the Varsity Equestrian Team at Roger Williams. She hopes to do graphic design for a publishing company or work as a copy editor. Eventually, she would like to relocate closer to Boston at some point in her life so she can further establish her love for the Red Sox and Patriots.
Jason Smith is a senior Communications major studying Public Relations. He is from Weymouth Massachusetts.
Sophia Tiberi is a junior Communications (public relations) major and is finishing her core concentration in psychology. She was born and raised in New York and enjoys it in Bristol, RI. Sophia is a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America and has a positon on the e-board as the historian. Sophia is part of Roger Williams University's class of 2009.
Greg Walsh is a 2008 graduate of Roger Williams University from Massachusetts. He majored in Communications, with a double minor in Marketing and Psychology. He was the DJ Manager for 88.3 WQRI and is starting an independent film company.
Fall 2007
Michael Hurley is a graduate of the Roger Williams University Communications Department from Massachusetts. He was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a field producer, writer, editor and cameraman. He aspires to write and produce sports stories for newspapers, television and the Internet.
Lorin Richardson is a Communications major graduating in 2009. She was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a reporter and writer. She wants to be an on-air reporter for a television news company.
Phil Yacouby is a graduate of the Roger Williams University Communications Department from Massachusetts. He was with The Feed in Fall '07 and worked as a reporter, field producer, editor and cameraman. He aspires to work as a Final Cut Pro editor for a production company or news operation. In The Feed's story on the campus smoking ban, he appears in the opening and closing stand-ups.
Faculty and Staff
Michael Scully is an Assistant Professor of Communications at Roger Williams University where he primarily teaches journalism classes. His classes include Writing for Mass Media, Feature Writing, Mass Media Law & Ethics, Digital Journalism I and Digital Journalism II. He has been working as a college professor since the Fall of 2004. Prior to academia, he wrote for a variety of new organizations including CNN, Fortune Small Business magazine, The (Middletown, NY) Times Herald-Record, The Fairfax Journal, Washington Technology, The Vienna Times and The (Glens Falls) Post-Star. He also worked for New Century Networks, an Internet news operation launched in the late 1990s by a consortium of newspaper companies.
