Project pitch: What is required?

The project pitch document is a printed document you will hand in during class, after everyone presents his or her pitch briefly. The document must clearly state what you intend to produce for your project.

The information should be specific in terms of:

1. The subject or topic of the story (including location, background, names of people to be interviewed)
2. The number of items you will produce (example: “Four audio interviews accompanied by portrait photos of those four people, a map showing each of the locations mentioned in the interviews, a short text introduction to the story, and a graph showing the increase of pollutants from 2001 to 2012”)

You can modify item 2  later if necessary, but ONLY IF you check any mods with me FIRST so I can let you know if you’re falling short of expectations. I’m going to hold you to the pitch we agree on. If you change things without prior approval, you can expect to see deductions in your grade.

When your project proposal (the pitch document) has been approved, you’re cleared to begin work on your project. Not before.

More about the project

The project assignment is described broadly on the Required Work page. The due date for the project is on the Course Schedule page.

Your project needs to be something you can post on your Web site, on a WordPress page or pages (NOT in a blog post). If you built a mobile app, you would make screen shots and create a page promoting that app. Most students will likely produce some kind of story, or possibly supplemental materials to accompany and enhance a radio, TV or text story.

To judge the scale or depth of a suitable project, think of the point value of the project (see the Required Work page): 20 points. Look at that page and see what else adds up to 20 points in this class. You’ll figure it out. It’s not gigantic, but it’s got to be bigger and better than one regular assignment for this class. It’s roughly equivalent to four assignments (not counting blog posts). And don’t think of the tiny assignments, like Audio 1. Think of Audio 2, Photo 2, and the audio and photo story.

Be creative. Be original. I’m open to innovative ideas as long as the project meets the requirements stated on the Required Work page.

Above all, the finished project should give you an end result that you could show and brag about in a job interview. That’s the standard for an A: Something that would actually impress a real employer.

If you have questions, please post them here, as replies to this post.

Deadline

Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. (in class).

If revisions to the pitch document are requested, they must be submitted within 24 hours, via email.