The journalism landscape shifts constantly. It’s vital to the future of this professional discipline I love that I keep my skillset current. For those wanting to take a dive into the world of multimedia storytelling, I cannot recommend more highly two workshops where I studied and learned during the summers of 2012 and 2013:

  • National Press Photographers Association Multimedia Immersion, a weeklong workshop at Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. This inspiring, intensive workshop emphasized use of DSLR cameras for video storytelling and Final Cut Pro X for post-production. I kind of thought of it as a guided safari in videojournalism. The instructor-to-student ratio of 1:2 really sets this workshop apart.
  • Multimedia Bootcamp, a weeklong workshop at the School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This emphasized the fundamentals of videojournalism, including interview techniques, use of broadcast-quality video cameras, and training in nonlinear video editing with Adobe Premiere. It also included the basics of coding with html.

Both provided lots of hands-on practice, individualized coaching, and grounding in the theory and best practices of multimedia reporting and storytelling, all in one-week sessions. You will not find more thorough training at a more reasonable cost. I’m happy to tell you more if you’re considering applying for one of these workshops in the future.

Here’s another training source I highly recommend:

Online News Association: I picked up a LOT of online journalism mojo from going to ONA’s workshops, in which pros lead workshops in creating interactive maps and charts using free and/or inexpensive online tools, how to get blogs and websites up and running on WordPress, techniques for shooting mobile video, data journalism basics, and a whole lot more. The highlights of the 2017 ONA meeting, to me, were David A. Fahrenthold, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Elle Reeve.