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.