Welcome to the January Academy 2010 web page. Please note that this series of enrichment workshops is open to CUNY J-School students, alumni, applicants, and select CUNY undergraduates only.
Registration for current students begins Nov. 30, 2009. (Please note that any student who will be taking Interactive II in the spring semester is required to take one of the sections of Flash.)
Alumni can start signing up for classes on Dec. 14, 2009.
Applicants and CUNY undergraduates must register through the CUNY J-School Office of Admissions. Please contact Admissions Director Stephen Dougherty at 646-758-7731, stephen.dougherty@journalism.cuny.edu; or Admissions/Outreach Counselor Colleen Marshall at 646-758-7852, colleen.marshall@journalism.cuny.edu.
THE COURSES
January 4, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Know the Numbers – Laura Saunders – Room 430
This workshop on “numeracy” will serve as a review of how to use and interpret numbers and data for news stories.
January 4-6, 12:30-2 p.m.
Digital Lunch: 33 Web Sites Every Journalist Should Know – Jeremy Caplan – Room 432
From Alltop.com to Qipit, catch up on the most useful new Web resources. Each lunchtime session will highlight 11 cutting-edge tools transforming the work of innovative journalists. In these hands-on workshops, students will discover and learn how to apply new techniques for reporting and multimedia storytelling. Jeremy Caplan contributes technology stories to Time magazine and wrote the “Incredibly Useful Sites” column for Yahoo! Internet Life. He now teaches interactive journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
January 4-6, 2-5 p.m.
Understanding Business – Prof. Sarah Bartlett – Room 430
This series of three workshops is designed to help students who haven’t chosen the business concentration incorporate a basic understanding of business into their journalistic work. It will be taught by Prof. Sarah Bartlett, director of the Urban Reporting Program and former head of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at the CUNY J-School.
January 4-5, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (Section 1)
January 25-26, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (Section 2)
Voice Coaching Workshop – Michael Lysak – Room 330, Room 434 (1/26 ONLY)
The workshop begins with a classroom lecture on the basics of broadcast announcing using audio samples to demonstrate concepts. Topics covered include diaphragmatic breathing, considering the audience, listener distractions, radio versus TV, reporting versus anchoring, differing styles, pacing, and sounding conversational. Practical exercises are taught and demonstrated. The second part of the workshop involves a hands-on voice coaching session in the radio studio. A professional radio newscast is played and analyzed. Students then read newscast scripts. After receiving immediate feedback and critique, students get the opportunity to try again, implementing the skills they have learned. Michael Lysak oversees operations for Bloomberg Radio’s national network and podcasts. Previously, he has been a news anchor and reporter at WCBS, WOR, WNEW and WRKS (Kiss-FM), all in New York City.
January 5, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Paper Trails: Digging into Public Records – Anne Mintz and Barbara Oliver – Room 434
“On the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog.” Was it true then? Is it true now? Everyone and everything leaves a paper trail, but it’s not the same trail for everyone nor is it equally available. This workshop will demonstrate the paper trails, documentation, and records left by people and organizations. It will show how to search for documents, build a dossier, and help bullet proof a story. It will also provide guidance on staying current with the shifting environments of public records access. In this workshop you’ll get an in-depth look at what is knowable about a person or organization. Where you can find it, why you may not be able to, and how not to be mislead. Barbara Oliver, former director of research for The New York Times and a freelance researcher for several non-fiction best sellers, currently teaches research methods for the Craft of Journalism classes at the CUNY J-School. Anne Mintz, former director of knowledge management at Forbes and a freelance researcher, also teaches research methods for the Craft of Journalism classes at the CUNY J-School.
January 5, 6, 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Section 1)
News Photography – James Estrin – Room 442
This workshop led by veteran New York Times photographer Jim Estrin will help you improve your photographic skills for use in all media. We will cover the technical and conceptual aspects of basic camera usage, composition, visual vocabulary, photo editing, lighting, and Photoshop. The workshop will concentrate on practical tools and problem solving. We will learn how to handle portraits, news conferences, politics, intimate photo essays, and international conflicts. We will also learn how to photograph while recording audio, shooting video, or reporting for print. An afternoon session will concentrate on producing audio slide shows and cross-platform storytelling. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate photographer, you will learn the tricks of the trade that professional photojournalists use. There will be assignments between Days 2 and 3. Students interested in taking the Photojournalism course in the spring are strongly encouraged to sign up for this workshop.
January 6, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Be Your Own Brand – Toddi Gutner – Room 308
Increasingly, today’s young journalists are following new, much more entrepreneurial career paths than their predecessors did. Instead of getting a job at a single media organization, these “indies” are going out into the world with their backpacks full of multimedia equipment and selling their work to multiple employers. In this workshop given by former BusinessWeek personal finance editor Toddi Gutner, now a successful independent writer and media consultant, students will learn the importance and particulars of building their own brand. The discussion will include advice on marketing yourself, pricing your services, networking, structuring your business, and managing your finances and taxes.
January 6, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
The Art of the Personal Essay – Paula Derrow – Room 434
In this three-hour hands-on workshop, students will work with Paula Derrow, SELF magazine’s articles director and editor of the Self Expression column, to shape a short personal essay into something artful, meaningful, and publishable. Participants will learn what makes a good personal essay (and what’s simply naval gazing), what to leave in and what to take out, how to pitch to editors, and how to take personal writing to the next level. Each student should come with an original 600- to 800-word personal essay (Think the “Modern Love” or “Lives” columns in The New York Times) to be critiqued in class. Paula Derrow is the editor of Behind the Bedroom Door: Getting It, Giving It, Loving It, Missing It (Delacorte), an anthology of essays from 26 women writers about sex in real life (behindthebedroomdoor.com).
January 7-8, 1-4 p.m.
Intro to ProTools – Chad Bernhard – Room 332
This two-day workshop will cover the basics of editing and mixing audio in ProTools. From file organization to outputting a final WAV file, this workshop will help students take their audio for broadcast or interactive projects to the next level. The instructor, Chad Berhnard, senior audio engineer at the CUNY J-School, will discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a seamless journalistic edit as well as the aesthetics of mixing ambient sound to create vivid and compelling mixes.
January 7-8, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Covering Personal Finance – Jeffrey Laderman – Room 430
In economic times both good and bad, reporters who can write intelligently about investing and financial planning are in great demand. This workshop will start with a discussion of financial literacy. It will then cover such topics as saving and investing, college and retirement planning, real estate, insurance, and taxes. Laderman was BusinessWeek‘s senior editor for personal business and now edits investment publications for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
January 7, 2-5 p.m.
Social Media for Journalists: Twitter and Beyond – Jeremy Caplan – Room 430
Whether you’re a Twitter newbie or a master Tweeter, here’s your chance to dive in deep. During the first half of this session, we will explore how social media tools – from Twitter and Facebook to LinkedIn and Publish2 – can spark story ideas, reveal trends, and connect you with new sources. In addition to covering social media ethics and etiquette, we will explore best practices and tips, tricks, and tools. During the second half of the workshop, discover how social media can help you build your brand in the new world of Web 3.0. We will explore how leading journalists and news organizations are capitalizing on social networks to reach out to readers, viewers, and communities. We’ll conclude with a social media scavenger hunt. Jeremy Caplan, a Time magazine contributor, teaches interactive journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
January 8, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Web Tools for Interactive Storytelling – Sandeep Junnarkar – Room 308
Interactivity enriches storytelling on the web and you don’t need to be a programmer to create compelling timelines, news quizzes, maps and polling to get your audience involved in your piece. This one-day workshop explores the use of free and easy to use web tools to bring another dimension to your work. Associate Professor Sandeep Junnarkar teaches interactive media at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former New York bureau chief of CNET News.com, and has specialized in writing about technologies used in different industries.
January 9, 16, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
From Smokestacks to Rising Seas: An Introduction to Environmental Reporting – Jennifer Smith – Room 430
A two-class overview of the central issues, challenges, and changes on the environmental beat. We’ll discuss the history of environmental journalism, review landmark federal legislation to protect air, water, and land and talk about covering more recent threats, such as climate change and pharmeceuticals in the water supply. Other topics: regulatory agencies, environmental advocacy groups, writing about human health risks, sustainability, and local environmental issues. Smith covers the environment for Newsday and also is on the adjunct faculty at the CUNY J-School.
January 11, 12, 19, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Section 2)
News Photography – John Smock – Room 330 (1/11) Room 442 (1/12) Room 434 (1/19)
This workshop led by veteran photojournalist John Smock will help you improve your photographic skills for use in all media. We will cover the technical and conceptual aspects of basic camera usage, composition, visual vocabulary, photo editing, lighting, and Photoshop. The workshop will concentrate on practical tools and problem solving. We will learn how to handle portraits, news conferences, politics, intimate photo essays, and international conflicts. We will also learn how to photograph while recording audio, shooting video, or reporting for print. An afternoon session will concentrate on producing audio slide shows and cross-platform storytelling. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate photographer, you will learn the tricks of the trade that professional photojournalists use. There will be assignments between Days 2 and 3. Students interested in taking the Photojournalism course in the spring are strongly encouraged to sign up for this workshop.
January 11, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Writing for Consumer Service Magazines – Mary Hickey – Room 434
Don’t be fooled by cover lines like “Get Six-Pack Abs in Nine Days” or “Surprising Secrets of Hot Sex.” There’s a lot of solid journalism in the pages of consumer service magazines—not to mention plenty of opportunity for young writers and editors. This workshop will cover the basics of working for men’s and women’s publications. We’ll learn how to break into the field and work your way up the masthead. We’ll talk about how to carefully “study” a magazine so you can fully appreciate its mission and readership, and we’ll discuss the best way for freelance writers to pitch pieces. (Query letters — so old school!) Finally, we’ll have some fun writing cover lines. Surprise! It’s harder than you think. Mary Hickey is deputy editor of Ladies’ Home Journal and has more than 20 years experience in magazine, newspaper, broadcast, and academic journalism.
January 12, 13, 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Documentary Story Structure – Yoruba Richen – Room 432
In this class we will examine the step-by-step process of long-form story telling. We will analyze different approaches and styles of documentary filmmaking such as cinema verite, investigative, and historical genres. We will also compare and contrast this to the process to producing short-form news pieces. Students will be required to watch 3-5 documentaries (TBD) before the class begins, and they should come into the class with an idea they want to develop into a long-form piece. On Jan. 12th, we’ll have the morning class, then meet up again at 7:30 p.m. to attend a documentary film series. There will be a modest charge for tickets. Students interested in the cinematography enrichment workshop we will be offering in the spring semester must take this mini-course. Yoruba Richen is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. She teaches a broadcast production class at the CUNY J-School and she is a filmmaker in residence at Ramapo College. Her documentary “Promised Land” will premiere on PBS in 2010.
January 12, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Non-Fiction Book Writing – Prof. Glenn Lewis – Room 430
Take this one-day crash course on the essentials of conceptualizing, researching, organizing, and writing a professional-level non-fiction book proposal. The seminar also focuses on techniques for reporting and writing non-fiction books. Students are given insights into negotiating book contracts as well. The session draws on Prof. Glenn Lewis’ experiences as a book packager, agent, writer, and book proposal doctor. A guest editor may also be invited to participate. Prof. Lewis is director of the journalism program at York College and is a consortial faculty member at the CUNY J-School.
January 12, 19, 26, 1-4 p.m.
Non-Narrated Audio Features – Kara Oehler and Ann Heppermann – Room 330
Many of the most powerful radio features are produced in a style called “non-narrated” audio storytelling. Instead of having a reporter’s voice guide the story, these radio pieces use the voices of interview subjects and ambient sounds to create an immersive, documentary listening experience. This three-session workshop will focus on non-narrated audio storytelling for radio broadcast and the web. Students will gain an understanding of the field of non-narrated audio storytelling through critical listening and discussion of award-winning stories and learn interview and recording strategies by creating their own non-narrated audio piece. Each participant will produce a 3- to 5-minute non-narrated feature story that takes place on one of the five “Main Streets” in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Roosevelt Island. These finished pieces will be featured on the Mapping Main Street web site (mappingmainstreet.org). Participants will also leave the workshop with a written pitch that can be sent to shows and stations across the country. Although there is no prerequisite for this workshop, students are strongly encouraged to sign up for the ProTools seminar on January 7th and 8th.
Kara Oehler and Ann Heppermann are Peabody-award winning public radio producers and media artists based in New York City. Their stories and long-form documentaries have aired nationally and internationally on public radio shows including: This American Life, Morning Edition, Weekend America, BBC, CBC, Radio Lab, Re:Sound, Marketplace, and numerous others. Most recently, the two were awarded an MQ2 grant from AIR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with additional funding from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University to create Mapping Main Street—a nationwide collaborative documentary media with radio stories airing on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
January 13, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
News Photography Workshop for Applicants – John Smock – Room 442
This workshop led by veteran photojournalist John Smock will help you improve your photographic skills for use in all media. We will cover the technical and conceptual aspects of basic camera usage, composition, visual vocabulary, photo editing, lighting, and Photoshop. You will learn how to handle portraits, news conferences, politics, intimate photo essays, and international conflicts. You will also learn how to photograph while recording audio, shooting video, or reporting for print. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate photographer, you will learn the tricks of the trade that professional photojournalists use. Students are encouraged to bring their own cameras, though the School has cameras available for them to use if needed.
January 13, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Travel Writing – Tim Harper – Room 308
One reason most of us got into journalism was to see the world, and tell people about it. CUNY J-School Craft Prof. Tim Harper leads this workshop that aims both to inspire and inform, whether your goal is to become a full-time travel writer or you merely want to supplement your day job with stories you do while on vacation. The sessions will cover everything from how to find and pitch travel stories to what you can write off on your taxes when you get home, with an emphasis on what travel editors are buying now. Tim has a broad range of travel writing experience – books, magazine articles, newspaper stories and online – with datelines from China, the Middle East, Central America and across Europe and the U.S. One session will include a pitch slam, so bring your own ideas for travel stories. A freelancer writer and editor, Tim Harper has extensive experience from around the globe, including Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and the Far East.
January 13, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Copy Editing Essentials – Mona Houck – Room 430
Copy editors are a publication’s last line of defense against bad writing and factual errors. And as stories are published online with increasing speed, the copy editor’s role becomes even more vital. The ongoing news cycle also makes it more important for reporters to become better self editors. This workshop will focus on the basics of copy editing including grammar, style, punctuation, word usage, spelling, headline writing and news judgment. We will also talk about how copy desks work and careers in copy editing. Houck, who teaches Craft of Journalism at the CUNY J-School, has been a reporter and editor for newspapers ranging from a small Iowa weekly to The New York Times, where she is an editor on the national desk.
January 13, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Making the Most of Your Visuals – Wonbo Woo – Room 436
There’s a reason pieces about animals and kids do well on TV; they’re fun to look at. But in the news business, we have to cover all sorts of stories, about business and polls and politics – stories that don’t come with obvious visual appeal. Whether you’re pitching a story, gathering elements, planning graphics, writing a script, or editing a spot, you should always be thinking about the visuals in your piece. In this workshop, we’ll look at examples of great, visual storytelling, talk about editing and writing techniques to get the most out of the video you have, and go over the basics of building strong graphics. Students are encouraged to bring examples of pieces they’ve worked on to share in class. Wonbo Woo is a producer for ABC News and a broadcast coach at the CUNY J-School.
January 14, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Reporting the Indepth Story – James Estrin and Andrea Elliott – Room 308
New York Times reporter Andrea Elliott and senior staff photographer James Estrin will discuss how to report a long-term, intimate news story. They will use as a case study their three-part series “An American Imam” about a Muslim cleric in Brooklyn, Sheikh Reda Shata. The story earned Elliott a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2007. Estrin, who is an editor of the Lens photography blog at The Times, teaches photojournalism at the CUNY J-School. Elliott has worked as a metro reporter and an investigative reporter for The Times, and has written extensively about Islam in the U.S. and abroad.
January 14, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Time Management – Tim Harper – Room 308
If there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to get everything done – finding ideas, preparing pitches, reporting and writing, keeping up on Facebook – here’s a breezy, fast-moving half-day workshop led by CUNY J-School Craft Prof. Tim Harper that aims to help you develop your own individual time management system. The goal is efficiency and productivity: not only getting things done, but getting everything done, and doing it all well. A freelancer writer and editor, Tim Harper has extensive experience from around the globe, including Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and the Far East.
January 14-15, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Creating Interactivity with Flash – Russell Chun – Room 438
Learn how to create media-rich and interactive stories with Flash. Students will learn how to integrate text, photos, audio, and video and incorporate buttons for non-linear navigation. We’ll address the important questions of where and when to use Flash versus other kinds of delivery methods. We’ll survey existing new media sites to evaluate techniques and discuss how other news and non-news sites use Flash to present content. You will be expected to learn and use code in this course. Russell Chun, an adjunct at the CUNY and Columbia graduate journalism schools, is a multimedia developer and the author of the Flash Visual Quick Pro Guides and the official Flash Classroom-in-a-Book guide.
January 14-15, 1-5 p.m.
Freelancing Workshop – Ellen Walterscheid and Prof. Frederick Kaufman – Room 308
We’ll cover such topics as: generating ideas, understanding the market, getting to the right editor, pitching the story, revising the pitch, understanding the contract, negotiating a good price, working with editors, and polishing the freelance piece. Taught by Prof. Frederick Kaufman, a consortial faculty member at the CUNY J-School and veteran freelancer who has published his essays and articles in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Gourmet, Saveur, GQ, New York, Interview, Allure, Spin, Spy, Vice, and The New Yorker, among many others; and Ellen Walterscheid (The Sciences, AARP The Magazine, National Geographic World, among others), the J-School’s former career services director. Guests will include a legal expert and several editors of national publications, who will vet student pitches. Focus is on the magazine market.
January 15, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Preparing a Resume Reel – Mark Joyella – Room 436
This half-day seminar will cover what a television news recruiter looks for in a professional reel, what should be included if applying for a job as a reporter or producer, and what to expect in the interview process. Students who have started reels should bring them to class. The instructor will be available for individual follow-up consultations. Mark Joyella is a five-time Emmy winning reporter and anchor who writes his own blog on the changes roiling local television news, LocalNewser. He reports weekly for WPIX/New York’s Toni On! New York, and runs his own production company, making documentary films and videos for individuals and companies. He also coaches journalists and does media consulting for news stations and corporations.
January 19-20, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
The Digital Journalist – Michael Rosenblum – Room 436
Journalism is undergoing its greatest revolution since the invention of the printing press, and once again it is being driven by a new technology. Today, small, broadcast quality digital video cameras and laptop edit programs are changing almost every aspect of journalism, from newspapers and magazines to television news. Add to that the capacity of the web to ‘broadcast’ full motion video globally for free, and open to everyone, and you have some insight into the changes that the world of journalism is about to undergo. In this workshop we are going to look at these new technologies and teach students how to use these new tools to report in an entirely digital world. A former network journalist, Michael Rosenblum was the founder and president of NYT TV, and president and founder of Video News International, a global VJ newsgathering company. He has trained reporters around the globe in video journalism.
January 19, 20, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Intro to ProTools – Chad Bernhard – Room 332
This two-day workshop will cover the basics of editing and mixing audio in ProTools. From file organization to outputting a final WAV file, this workshop will help students take their audio for broadcast or interactive projects to the next level. The instructor, Chad Berhnard, senior audio engineer at the CUNY J-School, will discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a seamless journalistic edit as well as the aesthetics of mixing ambient sound to create vivid and compelling mixes.
January 19, 21, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Game On: Sports Writing 101 – Wayne Coffey – Room 434
A hands-on writing and reporting workshop, the course will introduce students to the energizing world of sports journalism, covering everything from deadline-driven game stories to reporting-driven investigative pieces. While the course will be liberally interspersed with anecdotes from Derek Jeter’s Stadium locker to Michael Phelps’ Olympic pool and other locales on the journalistic front lines, the main emphasis will be on time-tested reporting and interviewing techniques – on turning out well-crafted pieces of writing and finding freshness in a sports world awash in cliches. Wayne Coffey is a special reporter at the New York Daily News, where he has worked for 24 years. The author of more than two dozen books, including The New York Times bestseller, The Boys of Winter, a chronicle of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Coffey has been voted one of the nation’s top sports feature writers by the Associated Press Sports Editors.
January 20, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Intro to Media Design – John Smock – Room 330
This workshop is an introduction to basic principles of good layout and design. The personality of a news publication online and in print are often defined by appearance. Smart use of design elements such as typeface, color, and a variety of other graphic elements can make a publication appear more professional while also making it easier to navigate. The course will study an assortment of publications and identify underlying graphic elements useful to students interested in better design of their own online publications or those who simply want a better understanding of design’s role in the increasingly visual world of journalism. Smock teaches photojournalism and interactive journalism at the CUNY J-School.
January 20, 21, 2-5 p.m.
Getting Started with WordPress – Drew Geraets – Room 440
WordPress is one of the most powerful and flexible publishing tools available to journalists. Drew Geraets, digital media manager at the CUNY J-School, will lead a two-day workshop covering the basics of setting up and customizing WordPress on a self-hosted domain. Students will learn how to: install WordPress on their own domain; install and manipulate themes (blog & magazine style); install and implement plugins & analytics (audio player, image lightbox, etc.) At least 48 hours prior to the session, attendees should have purchased their own domain and hosting package. Please see recommended hosts (http://wordpress.org/hosting/) and WordPress minimum requirements (http://wordpress.org/about/requirements/).
January 21, 2-5 p.m.
Funding International Reporting – Lisa Armstrong – Room 330
One of the challenges of international reporting is finding ways to finance the trip. In this three hour workshop, learn how to find grants, fellowships, and other funding for overseas reporting. Lisa Armstrong has reported from several countries, including Liberia, Kenya, and India, and has written for The Washington Post; O, The Oprah Magazine; USA Weekend, and other publications.
January 21, 22, 27, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Section 3)
News Photography – James Estrin – Room 442
This workshop led by veteran New York Times photographer Jim Estrin will help you improve your photographic skills for use in all media. We will cover the technical and conceptual aspects of basic camera usage, composition, visual vocabulary, photo editing, lighting, and Photoshop. The workshop will concentrate on practical tools and problem solving. We will learn how to handle portraits, news conferences, politics, intimate photo essays, and international conflicts. We will also learn how to photograph while recording audio, shooting video, or reporting for print. An afternoon session will concentrate on producing audio slide shows and cross-platform storytelling. Whether you are a beginner or intermediate photographer, you will learn the tricks of the trade that professional photojournalists use. There will be assignments between Days 2 and 3. Students interested in taking the Photojournalism course in the spring are strongly encouraged to sign up for this workshop.
January 22, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Food Writing – Indrani Sen – Room 438
Writing about food must be as simple as eating and cooking it, right? Wrong. Food writing requires more than a fine-tuned palate and a good recipe for holiday cookies. Locavores, the Farm Bill, food safety scares, commodity prices, environmental justice – in this post-Michael Pollan era, food writing is increasingly complex. The good news is it’s also a growing field. Gourmet magazine is gone, but the fertile landscape of localized or specialized food websites, blogs and food zines is still expanding, and general interest publications have increased their food coverage. CUNY J-School Craft professor Indrani Sen leads this day-long workshop that will introduce students to the fundamentals of food writing. Sen is a former Newsday reporter who has written for The New York Times dining section and Saveur magazine, among other publications.
January 22, 1-4 p.m.
Resume and Cover Letter Workshop – Will Chang – Room 430
Resumes and cover letters are universal tools in people’s careers. They also are the easiest ways to get yourself excluded from a job in journalism. This class will offer hands-on work in how to improve your resume and avoid common mistakes when applying for journalism jobs. You will also have an opportunity to write a cover letter for your dream job/internship. Will Chang is director of career services at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
January 22, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Interviewing Techniques – Polly Kreisman – Room 308
Learn how to control the conversation, understand who is on the other side of the reporter’s notebook, and find the real story. You will leave this course as an interviewer people will want to talk to, master the lost art of listening, learn to deal with reluctant sources, and finish every interview knowing you did a great job that will be reflected in your work. Polly Kreisman is a 15-time Emmy award winning television journalist. Once a fixture on New York local TV news, Polly is now a consumer/investigative producer for The Early Show on CBS.
January 25, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Experiments in Blogging, European Style – Valérie Jeanne Perrier – Room 434
The course will discuss how new media producers in Europe try to interact through blogs on a local and hyperlocal level. The course will first provide a brief panorama of the European media landscape followed by an in-depth focus on the roles and attributes of blogging in France. We will examine one case – Bondy Blog – in detail. A Swiss journalist started this news media source as a two-person office in a marginal suburb near Paris in response to the riots of 2006. Today the blog has become a community news agency and a school of local journalism for those living in this area. Valérie Jeanne-Perrier is associate professor at Celsa, the graduate school of journalism and communications of the Sorbonne University.
January 25-26, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Creating Interactivity with Flash – Russell Chun – Room 308
Learn how to create media-rich and interactive stories with Flash. Students will learn how to integrate text, photos, audio, and video and incorporate buttons for non-linear navigation. We’ll address the important questions of where and when to use Flash versus other kinds of delivery methods. We’ll survey existing new media sites to evaluate techniques and discuss how other news and non-news sites use Flash to present content. You will be expected to learn and use code in this course. Russell Chun, an adjunct at the CUNY and Columbia graduate journalism schools, is a multimedia developer and the author of the Flash Visual Quick Pro Guides and the official Flash Classroom-in-a-Book guide.
