COURSE DETAILS
| Title: |
Telling Untold Stories: Reporting Across Cultures (Fall 2008)
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| Instructor: |
Tom Huang
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| Price: |
$249.00
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Dates: Oct. 27 - Nov. 21, 2008
Application deadline: The application deadline for this course has passed. We plan to offer this course again in 2009.
What will I learn?
“Telling Untold Stories: Reporting Across Cultures” will help you deepen your coverage of different cultures, communities and individuals. In this four-week course, you’ll explore techniques to tell stories more accurately and thoroughly. You’ll learn:
- Why and how diversity plays an important role across all beats
- How to find and report on stories in under-covered communities
- How to conduct difficult interviews across cultures
- About best practices for diversity in multimedia storytelling
- About best practices for engaging community voices online
- How to navigate minefields in reporting on immigration and race relations
- How to watch for and avoid stereotypes and assumptions
- How to pitch your stories to your editor (and if you’re an editor, how to get your reporters on board with reporting on under-covered communities)
Plus, if you're accepted into the course, you'll receive a free copy of "Best Newspaper Writing 2008-2009," edited by Tom Huang and Steve Myers. This 30th anniversary edition of the book features the following ASNE winners: Kevin Cullen, The Boston Globe; Lane DeGregory, St. Petersburg Times; Marie Dillon, Chicago Tribune; Todd C. Frankel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; David Gonzalez, The New York Times; Anne Hull and Dana Priest, The Washington Post; Leonard Pitts Jr., The Miami Herald; Mona Reeder, The Dallas Morning News; and a team from The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.
How will I learn it?
This online group seminar uses a variety of tools to help you sharpen your skills. Across the four weeks, you’ll find:
- Readings - We’ve gathered the most helpful material on interviewing, immigration, race relations, pitching your story and other key diversity topics.
- Discussion areas - You’ll exchange ideas daily with fellow participants, lead faculty Tom Huang and other industry leaders in a series of discussion areas. E-mail alerts will help you stay up-to-date on course activity.
- One-on-one coaching - You’ll take part in two half hour coaching sessions with seminar leader Tom Huang. And you’ll have a chance to submit work ahead of time for specific feedback on your stories.
- Live group sessions - We’ll host three live learning sessions. These “virtual classrooms” will feature real-time audio and video and large and small group work.
- Interactive activities - You’ll encounter rich, selft-directed activities throughout the course.
- Writing & reporting assignments - You’ll apply what you’re learning with a range of activities to hone your writing and reporting skills. You’ll work at your computer and in your local community through a set of stimulating exercises.
- Podcasts and vodcasts - A range of multimedia materials, including podcast interviews and vodcast teaching sessions, will complement the course readings.
How long will it take?
“Telling Untold Stories” unfolds over four weeks. There are three scheduled meeting times, but you can complete most of the course on a schedule that works for you. Each week, about an hour of reading will be assigned. Participants will also be encouraged to participate in activities, assignments and coaching opportunities offered throughout the course. The minimum time commitment each week is three or four hours.
Who’s the instructor?
Tom Huang is Ethics and Diversity Fellow at The Poynter Institute and assistant managing editor for Sunday and enterprise at The Dallas Morning News. On a year-long fellowship at Poynter, he is teaching ethics, diversity and leadership issues, and coaching journalists on writing. He has worked at The Dallas Morning News since 1993, first as a feature writer, then as features editor, and now as the Sunday Page One editor. His reporting has taken him from Bosnia and Vietnam and the Athens Olympics to the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks in New York. Before moving to Dallas, he worked at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. He is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors and serves on the national advisory board of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.
What’s the cost?
This course costs $249 (there’s no application fee).
What’s required?
Like all NewsU courses, “Telling Untold Stories” is accessible through your browser. You’ll need a fast Internet connection and the latest Flash Player, but there aren’t any special software requirements. For the optimal experience during the live sessions, we recommend a microphone and Web cam.
About online seminars
Much like a traditional class, an online group seminar has readings, assignments, due dates and discussion forums. A faculty member guides the group through new material, moderates discussions and provides individual feedback. To create an optimal interactive learning experience for each participant, the total enrollment in an online seminar is limited.
How do I sign up?
If you’re interested in joining this seminar, you must complete the online application and be accepted into the course.You will be notified prior to the start of the course whether you’ve been accepted and given instructions on how to pay for the course. The online application will be available about two months before each session.
Contact Howard Finberg for more information.
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