Writing for New Media

The following scale was used for final projects in the Minimester 2007 section of MCOM 407:

Slideshow (20 points)

• No title page -2 points
• Not at least two minutes long -5 points
• Not at least six original photos -5 points
• Does not tell a story -8 points
• Additional points deducted for typos, no headline, no captions, etc.

Text (40 points)

• Trunk: 10 points for a well-written trunk that incorporates compelling links to all branches
• Branches: 20 points for well-written branches, with the required minimum of 10 sources
• Photos: 6 points for original photos, including thumbnails, large photos and captions on both. Photos must be different from those used in slideshow.
  
• Links: 4 points for useful links incorporated into branches
• Total text package of 2,501-2,999 words -5 points
• Total text package of 2,001-2,500 words -10 points
• Total text package of 1,501-1,999 words -15 points

Here are the files you should have posted (at a minimum):

In your WWW folder:
Welcome.html – add a link to your trunk
trunk.html
branch1.html
branch2.html
branch3.html
photo1small.jpg (150 pixels wide)
photo2small.jpg (150 pixels wide)
photo3small.jpg (150 pixels wide)

photo1.html
photo2.html
photo3.html
photo1large.jpg (150 pixels wide)
photo2 large.jpg (150 pixels wide)
photo3 large.jpg (150 pixels wide)

In a new subfolder named slideshow:
400_300 (a folder of jpgs)
600_450 (a folder of jpgs)
audio_hi.mp3
audio_lo.mp3
index.html

I can't overemphasize the importance of attributing any information that you did not uncover on your own. Every year, many professional journalists find their careers over because they were sloppy with attribution. Already in the first week of 2007,
Jacqueline Gonzalez of the San Antonio Express-News newsroom employee resigned after admitting she used, without attribution, information from Wikipedia in her Christmas Day column. Two other instances of plagiarism were uncovered in other column.

In an article in the Express-News, Editor Robert Rivard was quoted as saying "Nothing is more important to us than the trust of our readers. They have to know with some certainty that we act swiftly and unequivocally in the face of such a transgression."

The best advice: When in doubt, attribute. If you are writing for the Web and found the information on the Web, provide a link to the original source.