Thursdays in Journalism Ethics

Most Thursdays, starting on Jan. 26, you will do work in class worth a total of 25 points.

The format may vary a bit, but in general, you can expect ...

An individual, closed-book component, typically consisting of:

* A short-answer question or two from The Elements of Journalism chapter(s) for the week. (Material from the main chapters in the other two books will be on the test.)

* A question taken directly from the ones at the end of the week's case studies in the Media Ethics book.

A group, open-book component, typically involving work in small groups to make and justify ethical decisions. This part usually will be based on one of the week's case studies in Media Ethics, as well.

Also, I'll provide a spot on the class blog each week for you to provide comments either about any of the cases in the book or about any other aspect of journalistic ethics -- practical, as in something you saw in the media, or philosophical -- that interests you. All thoughts are welcome!

You can earn up to 50 points for contributing to the blog over the course of the semester. You get 5 points for commenting on an existing post and 10 points for initiating your own post, to the maximum of 50. (Remember that you have to be a member of the blog to initiate a post. It's easy to sign up with blogger.com!)