Description
JRN 4425News Stories about Media and the First Amendment The Assignment
Four (4) times during this semester, you will submit a 150-200-word summary [not a copy] of a news story from any reputable state or national news source in print, on radio, on TV, or online. Use Times New Roman, 12-pt. type, double-spaced. The story will be about the intersection of media and the First Amendment in the United States—no stories from foreign countries. Not part of the 150-200 words will be a description of where you found this news item (N.Y. Times, CNN on TV, etc.), the title of the story, the date, and URL, if applicable, although I need to have this info. Just don’t count these words toward you 150-200 range. The story must appear in the news media during the week you will be submitting it. In addition to the summary of the story, I’m looking for any insights you might have on why this is an important case or issue and any implications for journalists, organizations, the media in general, corporations, etc. Be sure to include your contact info at upper left: name, date, which week’s summary, email address. Remember: If your story has nothing to do with the First Amendment or nothing to do with the media, it will count as a zero. The story must include BOTH. You will have no more chance to submit a summary that week.
There will be NO ability to submit to a particular week once that week’s deadline has expired. Difficulties with Turn-It-In are no excuse. If you do not receive a receipt from Turn-It-In, assume that your summary was NOT successfully submitted. I will not accept e-mailed summaries unless I have made an error in setting up the submission link or Canvas is down/broken. In that case, I will alert you to it. As we get closer to the end of the semester, and your grade is close to an A, but you did not submit any or enough summaries, please do not complain. There will be no exceptions made for anyone. PERIOD! Only one submission during a specific week.
You will submit these through Turn-It-In links I will provide on our Canvas page under “assignments.” I will read all of them, but will comment on only those that show a lack of understanding of the assignment, those that show exceptional critical thinking, or those that are plagiarized. If you write one, but are too late getting it into Turn-It-In, it will not count for that week. (No excuses.) That means that you cannot submit it for another week. The story MUST come from a news item from that particular week. (No excuses.) You will earn 20 pts. per summary that does not receive a zero (0) up to 3 summaries. If you complete a 4th summary, that one will earn 40 pts. for a total of 100 pts. for the 4 submissions. There is no need to submit summaries after the 4th one, unless one earned a zero. If you submit a summary that is plagiarized, doesn’t pertain to the MEDIA AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT, or is inferior in some other way, you will receive NO pts. for it.
If there is anything you do not understand about this assignment, please ask questions about it in class so everyone can become informed! The due date will be on Fridays at 11 p.m. beginning on Friday of the first full week of classes. The link for the following week opens at 8 a.m. on Saturdays. If you write about an actual case in court, INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE CASE!!
Read these instructions each time BEFORE you upload a summary to make sure you have completed it correctly, content included.
1
SEE SAMPLES ON NEXT PAGES.
Example of an Unacceptable Summary: The following could have been improved by mentioning that this is an invasion of privacy as well and by indicating other repercussions besides suicide, such as job losses, divorces, etc. Also, nowhere is the First Amendment or any part of it mentioned.
Ashley Madison is a Canadian-based website catering to people who are married and looking to have affairs. The site was recently hacked, leading to the exposure of detailed information belonging to all of Ashley Madison’s clients. Clients’ information was released worldwide by the hackers, deeming the situation one of the most successful attempts of data breaches worldwide. The company responsible for Ashley Madison was broken into last month and this hack follows. Those caught up in the scandal include United States government employees who have jobs in law enforcement and national security. Those employees are said to have used their work networks to access the website. Ashley Madison’s parent company will pay 500,000 Canadian dollars for any information that could lead to the arrest of the hackers. The FBI has been asked to assist with the investigation of the hack. Two suicides have been linked to the case since the incident surfaced, but they have not been verified as a result of the breach.
http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/ap/business/police-ashley-madison-hack-might-have-led-to- suicides/article_f4d37727-0400-53b1-888d-401d51db973d.html
Example of a Poor Summary: This could have been improved by mentioning how this pertains to the First Amendment. For example, does the First Amendment protect the press from criticism by Trump? What does the First Amendment say about the press? Twenty-five percent of this was plagiarized from the original source. The typeface is not Times New Roman, 12 pt., and it is single-spaced. It is 201 words in length. The maximum is 200 words. Also, the grammar and punctuation are poor, and the plural of “journalist” is “journalists.” DO NOT FORGET THIS. Legal cases are always italicized.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an article for the Washington Post comparing Presidential Candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The portion of the article that discussed Donald
2
Trump interested me the most. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reported this week that Donald Trump, US Presidential candidate, consistently attacks the First Amendment’s protection of a freedom of press. Donald Trump menaces journalist who attend his campaign in hopes to stifle other journalist who might want to ask tough but reasonable questions towards the candidate.
In the most recent event, Fox correspondent, Megyn Kelly, went on planned vacation after Trump threatening her, “I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that.” He also stated that she had an attitude during the GOP debate on Fox. This was not the first time Trump had conflict with the press. Trump refused to give Des Moines Register’s reporters credentials to attend his campaign even in Iowa in July after the paper suggested Trump should withdraw from the campaign. Donald Trump has also referred to journalist as “losers” or “unintelligent” because he felt they treated him harshly since their views did not agree with his.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/02/kareem-abdul-jabbar-this- is-the-difference-between-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders/
This assignment is on the News Stories about Media and the First Amendment!
