If you could design your own training …

This question is for those of you who are working journalists (in any medium): If you could have four hours of training in anything — your choice — what would it be?

A lot of people contact me about training. Sometimes they don’t know what they want. Sometimes they say, “We want everything.” Usually, this is your boss talking.

So I’m asking you. Not your boss. Half a day. What would you choose?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7, 2007, at 9:28 am and is filed under journalists, training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

19 responses to “If you could design your own training …”

Kori writes:

I would want to learn how to better organize stories, videos, photo slideshows and graphics for a project in a Flash interface. How can I make it look cool, but also easy to navigate?
August 7, 2007 at 10:36 am
Angela Grant writes:

I would want a really intensive, in-depth study of various narrative structures in video storytelling. Not necessarily focused on the technical aspects of shooting and editing … But on good storytelling.
August 7, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Kevin writes:

The gap I currently see is for something between learning to do full-blown Flash packages and a Soundslides audio slideshow. That gap would be filled by training in a streamlined workflow to make a video/photo/audio package and put it online. It would be targeted at computer-savvy folks who are not (and don’t want to be) programmers.

Since the assumption is that attendees could already do a good Soundslides package, you wouldn’t need to spend time teaching audio editing or preparing photos; the focus would be on the basics of video, mixing it with stills and audio, and putting the piece online.

Extra points for finding software that doesn’t break the bank ($1300 for Final Cut Pro and $700 for Flash looks awful steep on an independent’s budget).
August 7, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Megan Taylor writes:

Um…what does this button on my camera do? And this one? What about that…Ahhhh!
August 7, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Tom Priddy writes:

I’d like to go out with a photojournalist on a video feature assignment. No, not one of the top names we’ve all heard of, because those guys are always going to have more equipment and time than I ever will. But a good photojournalist at a midsize newspaper who has a great eye and a good techinque. And who is likely using the same level of gear that I have access to.

I would shadow him for an assignment, see how he plans, see how he shoots and see how he follows up and edits, watching over his shoulder.

That’s what I would do.
August 7, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Ryan Sholin writes:

So I’ve got this microphone, right? And I think I’m supposed to plug it in here, but wait, what about the on-camera mic? Can I mix these two? Now or later? And how do I get Audacity set up right, or should I just use Garage Band?

Yeah - I need audio help. Bad.
August 7, 2007 at 3:20 pm
maryn writes:

I left a major-metro newsroom a year ago after mumblemumble years and now freelance. In that newsroom - which is well-capitalized and has been making a high-profile push to online - reporters and line editors weren’t encouraged to learn the tasks necessary to get things online; the instruction was just “give it to the online folks.” So what I would want - and I think there are a lot of people in my position - is a fairly basic training in shooting/recording, editing and posting video/audio packages.
August 7, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Matt Waite writes:

My personal vote: From start to finish, how to completely revamp and rethink the production of the typical newspaper investigative/enterprise project, ensuring that the very best of what a newspaper does is presented the right way in print and online. I’m talking soup to nuts — reporting, video, audio, documents, databases, photos, graphics, interactives, editing, layout, design, presentation, user interface. How to plan and use the right resources, how to manage them, how to present them the right way on the right platform to serve the needs of that medium’s readers. So much of how newspapers do projects is at best ad hoc and at worst still driven by the needs of the print product. You could fill a half a day just talking about how to present a giant investigative project online, but I think the problem goes much deeper than that. Half a day is not nearly enough, but you have to start somewhere.
August 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Andy Perdue writes:

Flash. Starting with Mindy’s book.
August 7, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Ehrin writes:

Video editing and combine photos, audio and with FCP. Then export out with correct compression and insert into Flash or convert to flv. and use delivery system like brightcove ect.
August 8, 2007 at 1:48 am
Mindy writes:

These are great suggestions, folks. Thanks for posting them. The only one I question is Matt’s — I think it’s excellent, but I wonder if there are many journalists who would attend a training session like that. So few papers are putting any resources into real investigative work … but maybe we could round up those few and do an online-focused training? Maybe two days?

Megan and Ryan are right there on the basics. I do hear a lot of people asking for this kind of stuff, so clearly it’s needed.
August 8, 2007 at 10:49 am
Matt Waite writes:

Your grounds for questioning my suggestion are soul crushingly depressing. But I don’t think what I’m talking about is necessarily specific to investigative projects — any larger-than-normal enterprise story could be used. It just seems to me that an order of magnitude of complexity has been added to any story with ambition that takes longer than a few days to accomplish. And while we’ve added that complexity to the mix, we haven’t exactly updated our thinking on how to corral it all into a coherent presentation in each medium which we publish now. My personal feeling is that where you can experiment with these things is on enterprise stories where you have time to fail and still publish. What you learn there is then applied to shorter term stories, then to your weekenders, and ultimately breaking news.
August 8, 2007 at 1:07 pm
cyndy green writes:

Compression…Flash…html. Oh my aching head.
August 9, 2007 at 2:37 am
Ryan Thornburg writes:

I don’t know how many journalist would attend, but the kind of training that Matt describes is desperately needed in newsrooms. If I understand him correctly, he is talking about multi-platform project management.

Um, OK, for anyone left reading this post after those two horrible words, here’s what I mean.

There is a time-honored, typically linear work flow for single medium projects. But online is totally different. It’s much more collaborative. There are often journalists from competing backgrounds and storytelling prospectives.

Some questions that would be addressed in such training:
* What are the roles of brainstorming, storyboarding, memos and meetings?
* Who should make editing decisions, and at what points in the project?
* How do we balance resources when a small online staff is getting pulled in to projects on five different print desks?
* How do we plan a project and leave time for breaking news?
* How do we sync all the pieces together.
* On a large staff, are there effective ways to communicate the projects goals to the homepage editor, the copydesk, the videographer, the developer, the graphic designer (online), the graphic designer (print), the marketing staff (SEO), and sales.

OK…now if there’s anyone still reading after I yet again uttered an obscenity, I thank you and look forward to reading your thoughts.
August 9, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Mindy writes:

You guys (Matt, Ryan) really are correct — the planning and coordination of a larger (not only huge, or gigantic, but also merely “large”) story to take full advantage of online and other platforms is very challenging, and no one has a recipe for doing it. So what could be a better basis for a workshop? It would be very valuable. The tricky part would be bringing together a good group of people. I bet Matt and others like him could recommend others whose work they have admired … Maybe the ideal combo would be to have a designer and a reporter attend a workshop together?
August 9, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Melissa Worden writes:

I completely agree with Matt and Ryan. And Ryan’s questions for the training are right on target.

Project management is a critical part of being able to put any sort of multimedia project together — not just the large ones.

Too often, the Web is STILL an afterthought, and even a daily or weekend project would benefit from this type of newsroom training. We need a culture change.

Definitely, a designer, reporter and multimedia producer/editor would be important to the training — as both trainers and students. They’re the ones who would be pulling multimedia together.

But this knowledge and priority need to be at all levels. If we’re talking about a project management training session, I think editors and management should be a part of and targeted for this, too. Without their buy-in and consistent support, it’s not going to work.
August 10, 2007 at 8:13 am
Matt Waite writes:

I have to amplify what Melissa said: The people who need to go to this are middle managers. You’ve got buy in from the troops on the ground. You’ve probably got more buy in from the top management than you’ve ever gotten before. The people left out? Assistant and deputy editors — or if you’re lucky project and investigative editors — who traditionally shepherd these projects into the paper. In a lot of shops, the money spent on training goes to the people who are doing the ground work — reporters, graphic artists, copy editors. There isn’t a Middle Management Day at IRE or SND or most any other conference I’ve been to, last I checked. Huge, glaring obvious mistake, in my opinion.

Middle managers are the ones who have to know what’s possible, and what’s possible in the amount of time given, what the available resources are and how to play traffic cop for it all, making sure the right people have what they need to do it.

I’ll think of some names and shoot you an email Mindy. You know I’ll help in whatever way I can.
August 10, 2007 at 11:47 am
Ehrin writes:

Hello Ryan, Matt and Melissa,

Well project management is what I do know. Having gone to school for a specialized engineering which is all about optimization of resources. I did project management for a number of companies before changing my profession so I can send you down the road to discovery.

So we have multiple resources, eg. a designer, reporter/s and multimedia producer/editor all working at one in a digital world. Of course you need everyone on the same page and for long term projects I recommend a solid investment in some time allocation networked software. If your on a MAC and your team is too then I recommend xtime project and xTime planning. They are easy to learn and use with a great GUI. If your windows (boo) then Microsoft Project. You can network all the above in a closed network and team members will submit progress into their account and everyone will know instantly. If their is a delay then you will know. If your middle management or a reporter or an editor you will instantly know the status of the each team member on the project.

These programs create a great visual and time line based project collaboration and is designed for what you want to do, but made for anal time crunching engineers. We call the visual charts, Gantt or Pratt charts. You can use time allocation units, resources, costs and delivery dates too to help organize deadlines.

There are many ways to organize your team to do this and visual is the fast and easiest way to reference progress of your team or to work as a team better.

Here is the link for the Xtime stuff http://www.app4mac.com/action_products.lasso?-session=W_app4mac:DCE75BF913c6f18DD7QlgxAA0AFA

When I worked at these companies, we collaborated with so many different departments(electrical eng, mechanical eng, Thermo Dynamics, ect) and levels of management that it was crazy. I was a project manager(at times), middle management, and with this tool properly used I could make quick and accurate decisions for my team on our project. It also helped us all communicate and stay focused on the tasks at hand which made meetings faster and more efficient and our projects, 95% of the time, were on time.

If I may add if you have a 5 person team with each person contributing their own parts then have a secure file checkout system, like FCP server does. One folder for the editor, one for the photographer ect. Then use File Maker Pro to make a checkout system. This would be your resources station. It will let the manager see the progress of the project and also let the other team members see whats they have and what is next and who did what last. The last part is important.

So that is my two cents I hope it helps. I hope it helps.
August 10, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Nicholas Von Staden writes:

Get your audio down pat..you can “look at a bad video but try listening to bad sound”…It will make or break a project…Speaking of projects… all the web/newspapers are looking for is 2 minutes max…. and these stories are a close to you as the closest crossing guard….everyone has a story….jJUST DO IT.. this stuff is only learned by doing…Get very friendly with your equipment BEFORE you use it on the job…know where all the button are in the dark…(I just retire after 34 years trying to do it all)…you NEVER quit learning…
August 12, 2007 at 2:57 am