Inverted Pyramid AND LTQT. Assigned 9/17, due 9/22 - Minor AND Minor

Google Site Page 1 - Inverted Pyramid

The first thing I want you to do today is to go find a copy of the Inverted Pyramid, save the image and then created a new Google Site subpage and call it Inverted Pyramid. All you need to do is to a Google image search and find one you like. Remember this is about newspaper, more specifically hard news writing, so get something appropriate. Insert that image on your page. 

Now go and take a peek at this website and read just a little about what the inverted pyramid is all about.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/journalism_and_journalistic_writing/the_inverted_pyramid.html

Now make a new text box on the subpage called Inverted Pyramid and tell me in your own words why you think we would use the inverted pyramid style in a hard news story?

We are going to write our first set of stories using this story shape, meaning you will write in inverted pyramid style where the most important stuff is at the beginning and gradually tapers off. Please be aware that there are other story shapes and we will visit them in the future.

So now you know what kind of information you need to gather, it is important to learn the writing structure your stories will take. We call this formatting LTQT. Lead-transition-quote-transition.

Google Site Page 2 - LTQT

So let's go to this site and begin exploring how we are going to set up your first story. Make a new page on your site and title it LTQT. On that page, create a text box and answer the questions below.

https://www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/journalism/news-overview.pdf

First up Leads:

This are the first paragraph of your story and they are very important to grab the readers attention.

1. What are the three "good" leads to use?
2. Why are these types of leads better?

Now - direct Quotes:

3. What is a direct quote?
4. What do these quotes do?
5. What is the format of a direct quote? meaning how is it punctuated, you can just type in a quote in the correct format - steal from the presentation.
6. What is an attribution?
7. What form should it take?

Transitions:

8. What is a transition?
9. What are the three types of transitions?

Conclusion

10. Type in the checklist of 7 items you should always do when writing a news story
11. What are some pitfalls you might encounter?

News Values. Assigned 9/15, due 9/17 - Minor

We are going to begin our exploration of journalistic writing and style by examining the reasons a publication might choose to cover an event. Some experts have come up with a variety of reasons for this and from my experience, based on those experts research, I have come up with eight solid reasons to cover a story. Today we are going to learn about those eight, and to completely understand them, I want you to be able to pick out some stories to prove to me that you understand each reason.

Here are the reasons:

1. Timeliness - - the newness of the facts

2. Proximity - - the nearness of a given event to your place of publication

3. Prominence - - the "newsworthiness" of an individual, organization, or place.

4. Impact - - the effect of consequence of an event on the audience, or readers

5. Conflict - - the meeting of two or more opposing forces. These forces can be physical, emotional, or philosophical

6. Human Interest - - the drama that surrounds people involved in an emotional struggle

7. Novelty - - the attraction people have to unusual things and events

8. Currency - - topics that are trending in the news or on social media

Now here is your assignment:

Find eight stories that you believe are driven primarily by one of the news values listed above. You will need to copy and paste links to the stories in your Google Site. Follow the five steps listed below.

Title this Google Site subpage: News Values

1. Pick out a story you think meets one of the news values.
2. On your new subpage - type the name of that news value
3. Write a complete sentence or two explaining why you think the article is driven by that news value.
4. Type the headline of the article
5. Include a clickable link to the article's URL. To insert a clickable link on your Google Site, in the Insert pane, you will find the EMBED function, click that and paste the link. It will automatically create a text box with the link for me to see.

I will be going over these with you later in the period to make sure we are all on the same page. 

Here are some places you can start looking for stories. You are welcome to use other sources as well if you wish.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/

https://www.reuters.com/

Wall Street Journal

https://news.google.com/topstories?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en

The above link will have "Local" stories. You can also use Google News, or search for your favorite local news organization to find stories.

I recommend:

The Austin Monitor

The Austin Chronicle

The Austin-American Statesman

Any reputable news source is fine. Soon we will be looking at Media Literacy to get a better idea of how to evaluate news sources for their validity.

Current Events Quiz Practice #1.1. Assigned 9/10 due 9/15 - CE

Current Events Quiz

Okay, let's do our first current events quiz. This one is a free one so you will all get a 100 on this one. You will have 45 minutes to work on this one today before I post new work, but usually I want you to get it done in about 30 minutes. In general, you do not have to read every word in a story. Look for the key words, and try to find the short answer questions quickly. It shouldn't take you long, maybe 1-2 minute each to find the answer. I will rarely ask you for information at the end of any given story. 

Try to leave at least 10 minutes to read and respond to the long response question. Again, you can skim read most articles to get the idea and then give me your opinions on what you read. Most of the long response topics are BIG, meaning they are things that are currently happening in the world. Things like the war in the Ukraine, the election cycle, the Iranian conflict, or other major issues in the news today.

You should have some ideas about these topics before you even read the article I share with you.

So here we go: I will use Google News to create this quiz. Google News is a repository of links to various news sources around the country. I will link the story I want you to read for each question I ask. For the first five questions you will need to click to that link and skim/read the story for the answer. This should be fast and painless. 

On your Google Site, please make a new subpage and title it: Current Events Practice. Answer the question below on that page. You are welcome to make multiple text boxes if that is easier, or if you want to work on just one text box, that is great. Whatever is best for you. Please be aware that if you copy and past the questions to your Google Site, it can create some formatting problems. I DO NOT NEED you to include the questions - just the answers.

Here is today's!!

1. Why were republicans in Missouri SPECIFICALLY trying to alter the congressional maps in the upcoming November elections? 

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/us-supreme-court-rejects-trump-backed-congressional-maps-in-midterms.html

2. What will a newly formed committed examine in their efforts to acquire some counties in New Mexico and adding them to the state of Texas?

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-house-panel-to-study-possibility-of-adding-new-mexico-counties/

3. How much is the cost of diesel fuel supposed to be in the coming days, according to the article?

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/iran-us-oil-hormuz-supply-trump-military-brent-wti.html

4. Why is Jimmy Kimmel not going to air an interview with Senatorial candidate James Talarico (from Texas) on is regular show and instead share the interview on YouTube?

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/abc-kimmel-talarico-fcc.html

5.  Who is going to win the big game between Texas and Ohio State and what will the final score be?

https://www.burntorangenation.com/texas-longhorns-football/104401/texas-longhorns-ohio-state-buckeyes-preview

Long Response:

Please read the following story and respond to the questions below. Please answer the question fully and always try to answer WHY. This section is the subjective section and I will penalize you if you write one word or short phrases for answers with an open-ended question. 

https://www.npr.org/2026/09/10/nx-s1-5964676/scientists-august-hottest

A. Briefly summarize the story in a sentence or two

B. How much hotter was the globe in August 2026 than pre-industrial levels, according to the article?

C. What impact does El Niño have on this situation?

D. What did the people quoted in the article think about the situation? Paraphrase and don't feel like you have to directly quote them or write 2-3-4 paragraphs, just summarize what they said in the story overall.

E. Explain your feelings about Climate Change? Do you believe in Climate change or not? 

F. What solutions do you think need to be instituted to address the rising heat across the globe? 

G. What are your feelings about how adults seem to be addressing this change, as a whole?

REMINDER - A single sentence isn't enough. I expect you to expand upon your writing. If you think you have written enough, you haven't, write more. Be sure to answer WHY you think something.

Media Literacy. Assigned 9/8, due 9/10 - Minor

   Now on to Media Literacy

 It's time we looked at one of these charts:

Here is a direct link to the chart above. There is an interactive version. I am not vouching for the validity of this chart, but it is a starting point for a discussion on Media Literacy and Media Bias.

https://www.adfontesmedia.com

On your blog please complete the following tasks, using the chart above:

1. List 3 sources that are comprised of mostly original fact reporting and are as neutral as possible.
2. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant liberal
3. List 3 sources that are mostly analysis and slant conservative
4. List 2 liberal and 2 conservative sources that show extreme partisan bias

So part of this discussion and its relationship to our class is how we look at our sources for The Dispatch. You can kind of look at these ideas in three distinct ways:

Opinions
Facts
Informed Opinions

Take a look at this comparison between facts and opinions:

https://pressbooks.pub/irwlevel1/chapter/distinguishing-between-facts-and-opinions/

Now look at this interpretation of an informed opinion:

https://alinacfisher.ca/2018/02/06/informed-opinion/

In your own words please come up with your own definition:

5. Facts
6. Opinions
7. Informed Opinions

Okay, so hopefully you have an idea of these three concepts. Now let's apply them to picking sources.

8. Where might you find facts when writing for The Dispatch?
9. Who might provide Informed Opinions on any specific story you might write?
10. How might opinions creep into your writing?
11. What specific words could cue you in that you are writing an opinion when you self edit?

To get back to media literacy, it is also important to define what the role of the media is supposed to be in the United States. That role has been the subject of much discussion the past two years, but it is clear the founding fathers took the role of the press seriously. We only have to look at one document to determine this; the Constitution. Here is a link to the Bill of Rights:

https://www.ushistory.org/us/18a.asp

12. Which amendment specifics the rights of the press?
13. What does that amendment say directly?

Now lets look at some more modern interpretations about that role today:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11tJjkP0Xjecc4tNJLglR_twb7ysUK83CsloRkyOqKJk/edit?usp=sharing

14. In your own words - what do you think the purpose of the media/journalism is in today's world?

Of course this is a touchy subject right now, and there will be more in the future about why journalism is important to our way of life, to democracy in general. As a former journalists and someone who teaches journalism, I cannot help but being slightly biased here to say that journalists are a valuable part of our society and you have joined a program where you will be a working reporter very soon. You are part of the team now.

Finally, let's take our last look at how the media handled a specific event, the verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort from a couple of years ago. He was the former campaign manager for former President Donald Trump.

Take a peek at these four links.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-russia-manafort/former-trump-campaign-chairman-manafort-convicted-on-eight-of-18-charges-idUSKCN1L60WU

For the record the link below was the original story publish around 24 hours after the verdict was reached. It has since been pulled down by Fox News. Notice that it is the only story about the event that no longer works. Can you think of reasons why a news agency would decide to remove a story? I bet you can think of a few.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/21/jury-announces-partial-verdict-in-manafort-trial-cannot-decide-on-several-counts.html

I did some searching using the information in the URL above (Fox News August 21 Manafort verdict was the direct search I did) and found this story. It does have the correct date and it also has an updated date of August 22). I do not know what happened to the original story. Here is what I found:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paul-manafort-trial-tested-mueller-trump-what-to-know-about-the-case

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/paul-manafort-convicted-by-jury-on-bank-and-tax-fraud-charges-mistrial-declared-on-10-counts

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/23/641359637/u-s-media-is-divided-on-its-coverage-of-the-cohen-plea-and-manafort-verdict

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/21/640537446/paul-manafort-jury-asks-for-instructions-about-consensus-on-1-charge


15. What did you notice about the headlines of the three articles?
16. Do you think the bias of certain media outlets is evident based on what you saw?
17. Why do you think Fox news and Brietbart chose to cover other things on the front of their websites?
18. Do you think all media should treat coverage the same?
19. Is it okay from some media outlets to be slanted towards one side or the other, as long as people know it before they click on that site?
20. Is there any reason to click on a media sources that doesn't report the news the way you want?


Now that you have completed those tasks, here is how many interpreted the conservative media's coverage of the Manafort decision:

https://mashable.com/2018/08/21/fox-news-manafort-cohen-meme/#3n25G.4GOaq3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/22/how-right-wing-media-dealt-with-a-devastating-day-for-trump/

Let's leave off this discussion with one final point:

21. How do you think the media can accurately report on what is happening in our world?

More to come in the future on this topic.

Important People in Journalism. Assigned 9/3, due 9/8 - Minor

 Overview: In any industry it is important to learn about the history so that you understand the present and future of the industry. To introduce you to some of this history, we will explore some of the important figures in journalism.

Directions: Select two of the journalists listed below (one woman and one man) to research and make a brief Google Slides presentation. You should find at least two sources to verify your facts (wikipedia is a good starting point, but not a great place to pull FACTS). 

Answer each of the following questions below in your presentation:

• Slide 1: (Who) Name of subject with a photo of media figure’s face:

• Slide 2: (When) Date when he/she lived and a picture of significant happening in that person's life. 

• Slide 3 :(Where) Place(s) where he/she worked (What country, state did they live in?):

• Slide 4: (For whom) Where did they work? What publication, TV or Radio Station did they work for:

• Slide 5: (What) Things they did during career (at least 3):

• Slide 6: (Why) Importance of work in journalism?

• Slide 7: (How) How was career/work different or the same from others at the time?

• Repeat slides 1-7 for the other journalist you have selected (so a total of 14 slides)

Make sure you are logged into your AISD account to create this Slide Presentation.

DO NOT SHARE THIS WITH ME AT MY EMAIL ADDRESS. Now that you have a working Google Site, you will be able to use that to turn in almost all of your work. There might be a few things I ask you to email me in the future, but almost every time you will just put links OR the actual product onto your Google Site. 

Here is how to do it for this assignment:

Make sure you change the preferences on this Presentation. To do that, you click the SHARE button in the top right corner. When the pop-up box comes up it will look like this:

Please click the drop down where it says RESTRICTED and change that to BOWIE HIGH SCHOOL:

For this assignment, just being a VIEWER is fine, but there will be assignments in the future that I will need to be made an EDITOR on. I will remind you later.

Once you change the restrictions, click the COPY LINK button on the bottom left.

Then go to your Google Site, make a new subpage and call it Important People in Journalism.

Click the Insert button in the control panel on the right. Use the EMBED function to create a clickable link on your Google Site subpage.

When you have the linked properly. Make sure you go to the top right corner and hit the BIG BLUE PUBLISH button.

You will need to push PUBLISH twice!!

Here is the list:

Women

Elizabeth Jane Cochran, her alias is "Nellie Bly"
Katie Couric
Erma Bombeck
Oriana Fallaci
Katharine Graham
Jane Pauly
Diane Sawyer
Ida Tarbell
Barbara Walters
Christiane Amanpour
Margaret Bourke-White
Joan Didion
Linda Greenhouse

Men

James Gordon Bennett
John Campbell
Walter Cronkite Jr.
Benjamin Day
Horace Greeley
William Randolph Hearst
Peter Jennings
Adolph S. Ochs
Richard F. Outcault
Joseph Pulitzer
Dan Rather
Henry J. Raymond
Noah Wenster
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
John Peter Zenger
Ed Bradley

David Brinkley

About Me Slide! Assigned 9/1, due 9/3 - Minor

 Google Sites

If you do not have access to Google Sites go try again right now!!, 

If you do not get access, go do your About Me Slide as instructed below.

If you get access - spend 45 minutes working on your site, follow the directions on the assignment below called Making a Google Site.

If you already had access to Google Sites last class, finish your site and email me the URL, and then work on the About Me Slide below.

The About Me Slide will be due next class regardless if you have access to your Google Site or not!!

ABOUT ME!!

Create a Google slide to introduce yourself to me. I will combine slides and share on my website (and BLEND) so I can find out more about you.

Open Google Drive via the AISD portal, then create a new blank presentation.




Change the layout as necessary. (Slide>Apply Layout)
Include the first name you go by and last name initial in big letters as the slide title;
Fill the entire slide either including words and pictures to tell us about you on the slide.
Include 5- 10 facts or short phrases describing you and things that you enjoy.
Add a school appropriate photo of you (a selfie is fine) unless you make a video. (Go to Insert>Image. Take one with your phone or Chromebook, if you don't have one)
Include least 3 other images showing your likes, aspects of you you wish to share with with the class. Examples: extracurriculars, hobbies, friends, family, future plans, favorites. 

Spread your information out to fill the slide;

Format the slide so it feels like you.
Words should be easy to read and all pictures easy to see clearly.

Next, take a screenshot and save it in your desktop folder. Here is how you take a screenshot, learn it, because you will be doing it a lot this year!!

To do a screenshot - Hold down the SHIFT, COMMAND and NUMBER 4 key at the same time. This will turn your cursor into a little bullseye. You can then let go of the three keys and use your mouse to click and drag a box over what you want to take a picture of. When you finish drawing that box it will take that photo and put it either on your desktop OR in your download folder. Make sure you move it from either of those places into YOUR FOLDER on the desktop. You can then move the item to your DRIVE and from there you can put it on your Google Site.

Move it to your Google Drive.

Make a new subpage on your Google Site called About Me!

Insert the image on the subpage.

Next, go back to your Google Slide and click the SHARE button. There will be a pop-up box. In that pop-up box, look at the bottom and find the Get Link area. Find the blue words that say CHANGE. Click that word. There will be another box that opens. In the box, find the words Austin Independent School District. There is a drop down box there as indicated by the little downward facing triangle. Click that triangle and select ANYONE WITH THE LINK. It will process for a moment.

Make a copy of the link.

Go back to your Google Site, use the EMBED function in the Insert area.

Make your link a CLICKABLE link on your Google Site, under the photo.

Hit PUBLISH X2!!!

You are done for the day!!

Making a Google Site. Posted 8.25, due 8.28 - MAJOR

 JOURNALISM 1

Hello and welcome to Journalism 1!!

This year we will be using Google Sites to publish and post your work, notes and assignments about the topics we will be covering this year. This will serve as a portfolio and a point of reference for future uses. You already have access to Google Sites via your school Google Account.

The following video explains in a very simple fashion how to create and edit a Google Site. Feel free to revise this video on your own if you need help when working on the site. 

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AS YOU WATCH THE VIDEO. YOU NEED TO NAME THINGS SPECIFIC WAYS FOR ME, NOT WHAT SHE NAMES HER SITE (etc.)

You will have the rest of the period to get your Google Site created. There are a couple of things you will need to do, including making the site shareable outside of AISD. I will write complete, step-by-step instructions below.

1. Create your home page - use the BLANK when you push the colored + sign. You can set your background image for the head to any image you would like, including images you might have taken. If you use the Google search function, please make sure you get an image that has no copyrights. If you use one of their images, you are fine.

2. Title you page in simple fashion. Your first name, the class name and period number. For example: Michael's Digital Design Site period 1. Do not use your last name. We will make these public, but we want to keep your personal information as protected as possible. Be aware of your digital footprint.

3. Once you have a title, it's time to add some content. Follow the directions on the video to create a text box. In that first text box, please write a one to two paragraph biography (100-200 words). Again, do not use your full name, and only share what you feel comfortable with. You are under no obligation to do anything you do not feel like sharing.

4. Please use the image function to add a selfie. Make it school appropriate. You will need to figure out how to upload an image, or take one using your webcam on your computer.

5. Add a new text box. Write a paragraph (50-100 words) describing why you signed up for this class and what you hope to learn this year.

6. Add a new text box. Write a paragraph (50-100 words) describing your previous experience with digital media, even if it is just taking fun photos with your phone camera. If you were on a publication in middle school, please tell me about that.

7. Create a new page. Title this page Welcome to my site. Add a new header image. Make it a subpage of your home page. We will do this for EVERY assignment, so please figure out how to do this, the video explains it fully.

8. On this page, please upload a new image. I don't care what the image is, as long as it meets two criteria. It is school appropriate and you took it. For this image, you need to take the photo NOW. Go take a photo and share it with me. It can be anything, but you must take it right now. Do not use an old image or one that you took in the past. Show me something fun, or something unique. You may use filters if you want.

Now it is time to share your page with me. Here are the exact steps to Publishing your Google Site and sharing it with me properly.

1. Once you have your work done, remember that Google has an autosave function, so your work is saved, but we want to publish it, so I can easily see it. Look at the top of your page, there should be a set of tool bars. Find the one that looks like a person with a + sign next to their head. Click that person.

2. In the pop-up box at the bottom of the page, find the words Links vary and click the word CHANGE.

3. Find the words Austin Independent School District and use the drag down next to us to change the sharing to PUBLIC. Click DONE.

4. At the top of the page in the tool bar, find the word PUBLISH. Click that button.

5. Change the web address to: First name, DigitalDesign, period #. Example: Michael DigitalDesign 1st. It should separate the words for you.

6. Check the box that says "Request public search engines to not display my site"

7. Click PUBLISH

8. After you have PUBLISHED your site, you need to share your site with me. It's easy - find the share button and add me. Here is what the share box should look like before you hit DONE:

9. Click DONE and you should be finished. I will update you next class that I have gotten your site and I will show you where and how I will use it.