NewsTrain Course List |
NewsTrain course
descriptions Editing The
Big Picture Why: You
want to
understand the latest developments in the digital transformation of
journalism,
and particularly, how the news media’s relationship with
readers is changing. Readers no
longer
are willing to reside at the receiving end of a monologue. This
course reviews
news consumption trends, and explores the lessons of social
communities,
innovative news sites and leading-edge technology. With
lessons you can take
home. News
Ethics and Values in
the Digital
Age Why: News values and
ethical
decision-making remain critical, no matter the
platform. As new formats and
concepts
emerge, new issues involving ethics and standards develop too. For
example:
What are your policies on removing offensive anonymous postings?
How do you
police images that may have been altered? Do you use user
content in an
effective and important way? How do you correct errors?
Should a journalist
tell someone that he is taking their picture with a
camera phone with the intention
of posting it on the Web? Learn to apply
your journalism values and ethical
know-how to these intriguing new issues,
as well as to old issues such as
privacy, anonymous sources and tone as
redefined by digital media. Slideshows
that Tell
Stories – Learn
skills to help you coach your staff to
make slideshows that are more
than
some pictures strung together; tell a real story
by adeptly marrying
photography with words (audio or written). This
course introduces frontline editors to common
slide-show forms, and offers
practical advice on which to choose in what
situation, and how to make each
story as effective as possible.
Better
Short-Form
Video - Learn the
terminology, the basics of what makes brief videos good:
quality audio,
lighting, narration and continuity, and a good story
line.
This course introduces frontline
editors to
common video story forms, and offers practical advice on which to
choose in
what situation, and how to make each story as effective as
possible.
Covering
Communities in New
Ways
Why:
With
tight staffing and new demands, it’s important to use technological tools
as
fully as possible. How
to use social
networking, RSS feeds and other sites to improve your coverage.
Also, how
to mash up different gadgets and widgets to tell stories
online. Coaching
Writers for
Multiple
Media Why: More talk leads to an easier edit and
faster turnaround for
online. You’ll learn how to coach rather than just fix
stories on deadline. We
explore an approach
to coaching writers that involves reporters and editors
working together
throughout the entire story process for print and online,
discussing ideas,
focus, reporting, organization, structure and
prose. Mobile
Delivery Why:
80 percent of the world's population has
available mobile phone coverage,
and smartphone use is growing faster than any
other kind of
phone. Do
you have a long-term mobile strategy? Is your
staff MoJo savvy? What are
mobile users looking for? This session examines
the rapidly
evolving mobile media landscape and generates a discussion of steps
your
newsroom can take to begin or enhance mobile gathering and distribution of
content. Your
Data Strategy /
What information to Collect, and What You Can Do With it
Why:
In
an increasingly data-driven environment,
journalists must have a strategy
for manging this kind of content. This
workshop teaches
the fundamentals of news reporting, writing and editing, as
journalists
tag, organize, unpack and recombine the journalism that we produce.
It
provides ideas for how to apply technology in new and different ways,
including
mash-ups, mapping, graphing and more and it examines how other Web
sites
are using data-driven tools that you see, and those that you don’t
see. It also suggests
ways to help
your newsroom create a good data strategy.
Alternative
Distribution /
Putting Feeds, Aggregation and Social Networking to Work -
This
seminar explains how
journalists can use burgeoning alternative ways to
share content with users and
readers. Participants learn how newsrooms can
use tools like social widgets,
Twitter, You Tube, RSS feeds and newsletters
to distribute news and
information.
Coaching
Blogging Why: Many blog; few do
it
well. Different journalists
and
news organizations have different ideas about what a blog should be. Is
it a
column? A news and notes compilation? Does it always involve
updates? Reader interaction? This seminar teaches
effective blog writing
styles and also helps editors learn what subjects make
good blogs and how
best to involve readers. Content
Planning for Multiple
Media Why: It can no
longer suffice to plan a story
first and later say, "What have we got for
the Web?” Story planning
currently involves developing
stories simultaneously for print and digital.
In this seminar you will learn
how non-linear thinking helps you plan
coverage on all platforms. You will
practice techniques planning coverage
of breaking news and enterprise stories,
learning to develop from the very
beginning the components for publication in
multiple
media. Interviewing
for
Audio and Video
– This seminar helps editors learn
interviewing
techniques that staff members must employ to collect high
quality audio that
can effectively be used in videos, newscasts and audio
slideshows. Hands-on
Video –
Hands-on video training to
help editors learn the basic elements of
videography. Participants must bring
any camera that records video, and if
possible, a tripod. Hands-on
Video Editing
–
Hands-on
introduction to editing video. Participants must bring a laptop
installed
with a working editing program.
Hands-on
Sound Slides
– Hands-on
introduction to photographing and recording audio for
a slide show, and
compiling it into a
story. Story
Forms
for Print Why: Well organized stories are better reads
and communicate
information more
effectively. Underlying every successful story
is well-defined structure
or form. This workshop teaches the essentials of
story organization for daily
stories and projects.
Alternative
Story Forms for
Print Why: Newspaper readers
like
the non-linear presentations long-ago adopted by magazines and Web
sites. A mainstay of print
news
coverage is the routine story on civic issues or evergreen topics that
are not,
shall we say, terribly engaging. Fortunately, newsrooms can make
routine
coverage more interesting and digestible with alternative story
forms. This
seminar teaches editors to spot opportunities for these
non-linear stories, and
helps them make the most of both the
available
newshole and staff
time. Helping
Reporters Develop a
Beat Why: Beat-work is the
heart
of sound
journalism. Learn how to help
reporters set
goals, manage their time and define various
kinds of stories so it is easier
for them to spot opportunities off their
beats. Learn to coach reporters on
developing their sources and finding new
ones. Learn to ask questions that help
them develop more enterprise off a
beat. Includes tips on how to find
"listening posts” in a community to
uncover what really is on the minds of your
readers. The Skeptical
Editor Why:
You want to produce credible
journalism. As
stories move through a newsroom, they develop a
life of their own. What
they need are clear-eyed skeptics who zero in on
weaknesses. This session
will cover how to edit skeptically, how to challenge
the numbers as well as
the words and how to activate your baloney detector. Management/leadership Tough Times, Tough Decisions Why: Frontline editors are on the spot for
figuring out how to cover
their communities well, even though they have
smaller staffs and many more
responsibilities and
tasks. This seminar helps editors learn to set
priorities for news coverage
and use of their time. It helps them approach
the problems of too much work,
shrinking staffs and a frenzied
pace. Leading in a
Time of
Change Why: The ground is shifting, and from changes
in corporate ownership to
increasing job responsibilities to the digital
transformation of media. Rapid change is difficult for many people.
Learn how to cope with the
changing media landscape, and to stay true to
your values in a swiftly shifting
environment. Learn strategies to help you
lead your staff through changing
times, and motivate journalists to see the
potential for doing great journalism
in new ways.
Providing
Effective
Feedback Why: Editors are also coaches and
teachers. You want to challenge your staff,
and encourage them to do
more and better work. You want them to grow and
blossom, to try new things,
pull them off successfully and make you look
good. And there are things you
would like them to stop doing, too. This
seminar teaches the components of
effective feedback and explores the power
and pitfalls of
praise and criticism.
Handling
Difficult
Conversations Why: Is there a problem you are not dealing
with? We can help. Learn
how to plan and carry out a difficult conversation. Learn how to
conduct
yourself; words and phrases that will get through to the listener; what
to
do if things break down. Learn how to listen effectively, respond to
feedback,
and see clues that the other person is hearing the
message. Working
in Teams Why: Journalism is a
team
sport, but few editors are taught how to manage
groups. Effective team
management
begins with setting goals, agreeing on team policies and
procedures and
continuously learning about how to work more effectively as
a group. Learn how
to lead a team, and to contribute most effectively as a
team member. Creating a
Constructive
Culture Why:
Because it sets the tone.
|
9/7/2018 » 9/8/2018
Greenville NewsTrain 2018
9/11/2018 » 9/12/2018
2018 ASNE-APME News Leadership Conference in Austin, Texas