Now printable! Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency
Many, many people asked me to create a single PDF version of all 15 posts in my RGMP series on this blog. It’s done.
Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency (PDF; 536 KB)
This 42-page document is fully linked and usable online in most Web browsers, or in Adobe Reader, or in Preview on the Mac OS. In other words, you don’t need to print it. But if that’s what you want, go right ahead.
If you’re viewing the RGMP in Adobe Reader (free for Windows and Mac), you can click around in the expanded table of contents if you open the Bookmarks navigation pane (below, seen at left): View menu > Navigation Panels > Bookmarks

On the Mac, if you’re viewing the RGMP in Preview, you can click around in the expanded table of contents if you open the Sidebar panel (below, seen at right): View menu > Sidebar

The entire document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. That means you are free to share, distribute, reuse and even remix it, but only if you fulfill the stated conditions in the license.
Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Here is the manner specified: Keep my name, Mindy McAdams, on any version or part of the work you copy, share, use, etc., and ALSO include the URL of my home page: http://mindymcadams.com/
Noncommercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. You cannot sell it or include it in something you are selling. If you are presenting a face-to-face workshop and getting paid to do so, you may use this document IF you attribute (as explained above) AND share alike (see below).
Share Alike: If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. THIS INCLUDES translations into other languages. If you translate this document or any part of it, you must attach the same license to your translation and make it available online without charge.
Please leave a comment here if you’re going to distribute it in your newsroom or use it with your students. I’d love to know!
Translations
En español (PDF; 600 KB) — translation by María Elena Brizuela, a journalist and journalism educator based in Córdoba, Argentina. (Posted Sept. 8, 2009.)
Auf Deutsch (one blog post will be translated each Tuesday) — translation by Ulrike Langer, a journalist based in Cologne. (Part 1 posted Oct. 6, 2009.)
In Russian — a translation sponsored by Deutsche Welle is appearing (one post at a time) on a training blog, кладезь знаний для журналистов.
If you create a translation, please let me know!


Thank you, Mindy, for once again sharing your expertise so generously and so widely. I will share this with students and journalist friends alike. All the best.
September 6, 2009 at 4:57 pm[...] she’s compiled all 15 posts into the “Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency,” which you can download – free! – as a PDF. It’s a goldmine. Professor McAdams [...]
September 6, 2009 at 5:24 pmThank you again, Mindy, for graciously sharing your knowledge. This will be a fabulous all-in-one resource.
September 6, 2009 at 5:42 pmMindy,
September 6, 2009 at 6:46 pmThanks for posting this. I’ve been holding the individual posts on my Google Reader and I think I had lost some. I’ve shared the link with the senior thesis class at the University of Missouri.
[...] INDISPENSÁVEL: Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency. [...]
September 6, 2009 at 6:50 pmMindy,
Thanks so much for creating this amazing compilation of your posts into this guide! I will definitely be sharing it with my j-students this fall. Thanks!
Cheers,
September 6, 2009 at 8:54 pmAmy Schmitz Weiss
I’m looking forward to reading this on the plane Tuesday… thanks for making it work offline!
September 6, 2009 at 9:31 pmThank you Mindy for your work in making this knowledge available. It’s exciting to come across this kind of quality advice!
September 6, 2009 at 9:42 pmMindy:
Yes, I will be sure to share this valuable resource with my students. Thanks for taking the time to pull all this together, for sharing it so widely, and for making it so clear and useful.
September 6, 2009 at 10:45 pm[...] tudo neste link (em [...]
September 6, 2009 at 10:47 pmThanks, Mindy. I’ve been pointing students and faculty colleagues to your original posts… and now, the convenience of one-stop shopping! You’re terrific.
September 7, 2009 at 1:46 am[...] Start the week with a great guide to multimedia journalism Dan Thornton | September 7, 2009 There are increasing numbers of journalists and bloggers utilising every channel in multimedia to convey their stories and information, but whether you’re contemplating starting to embrace digital multimedia, or you’ve engaged in mixing text, audio, video etc for a while, you’re bound to pick up at least a couple of new tools and ideas from Mindy McAdam’s Reporters Guide to Multimedia Profiency. [...]
September 7, 2009 at 2:59 amThanks for graciously sharing your knowledge !
September 7, 2009 at 5:04 am[...] a no-brainer: when Mindy MacAdams says she got 15 of her posts together in a pdf so we can improve our journo-fu, we download it. [...]
September 7, 2009 at 6:02 am[...] a no-brainer: when Mindy MacAdams says she got 15 of her posts together in a pdf so we can improve our journo-fu, we download it. [...]
September 7, 2009 at 6:07 amEllen, Jill, Lauren, Mary, Bob — thanks for your support! Let me know if you find any errors.
September 7, 2009 at 7:36 amThanks to everyone who posted a link to the guide! So far there have been more than 700 views/downloads of the PDF.
September 7, 2009 at 7:45 am[...] but I read all of the pieces as Mindy McAdams, Flash Goddess, posted them over the last year or so. She’s now compiled a 42 page PDF of her advice on stepping up your online journalism game. Given the thoroughness and inventiveness of her past work, this is a Must [...]
September 7, 2009 at 8:43 amIt’s all here. it’s succinct and comprehensive.
September 7, 2009 at 9:46 amThe guide provides a solid foundation for anybody interested in multi-media storytelling. It’s great for beginners, and has useful tips for advanced practitioners.
Thanks, Mindy! Thanks for packaging these posts. I teach journalism and advise student media at CSU Northridge… just posted this for my students.
September 7, 2009 at 12:58 pm[...] Teaching Online Journalism » Now printable! Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency (tags: multimedia tutorial education) Share [...]
September 7, 2009 at 4:02 pm[...] Guide to Multimedia Proficiency Mindy Macadams, autora do blog Teaching Online Journalism, compilou 15 dos seus posts em PDF, disponível para qualquer pessoa poder fazer o seu download. [...]
September 7, 2009 at 5:52 pmThank you for making this resource available. I will be posting the information on globalstudentjournalists.net
September 7, 2009 at 10:05 pm[...] the skills required of reporters and instructional designers. To this end, McAdams has developed a Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency, but it’s full of tutorials you can use even if you’re not a [...]
September 7, 2009 at 10:21 pm[...] Mindy has taken 15 posts she did under the heading Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency and compiled them as a printable PDF. This is invaluable (and very assignable, for those of us who believe that all j-students need to [...]
September 7, 2009 at 10:35 pmThank you Mindy for this great resource! I started teaching part time at Taylor’s College here in March and am into my 2nd batch of students. Though the course is CAIR (I = investigative), I feel that the online and multimedia components are far more useful at our evolving newsrooms. However I struggle to cover the components as the course requires they complete three written assignments that involve the use of databases & spreadsheets. But I do my best to integrate as many online & multimedia elements as possible in the investigative reporting process. Sounds like patchwork ☹ I have a long way to go. I hope m class will continue the learning via RGMP after our 14 classes.
September 8, 2009 at 7:29 amThanks Mindy!! I teach journalism at Córdoba Argentina. I will share this with my students!
September 8, 2009 at 9:44 amHi Mandy,
Really useful compilation. Have suggested it for wider distribution within Reuters editorial. Will let you know if/when it’s done.
Bests,
September 8, 2009 at 11:29 amMindy, this is a godsend. Thank you. I’m the editor with a Website. The publisher and I have disagreed on the quality of writing for the Website, he expects me to teach those who contribute to the site about writing and about being journalists. Also, along with a few other volunteers, I’m attending a meeting this evening to plan classes for the school year for high school seniors in NYC who want to be journalists. Thank you.
September 8, 2009 at 11:42 am@Madhu Soman – If Reuters wants to distribute it, I suggest they put the download on one of their own servers. Just a suggestion.
@Antoine – The RGMP assumes you already know the ethics and practices of journalism. Also, it does not teach you how to write. If you have untrained people contributing to your site, you really should do something to teach them how to be honest, accurate, and ethical. IMHO.
You can check the resources here for some helpful links for that (under “Resources for Bloggers”):
http://www.jtoolkit.com/blogging/
.
September 8, 2009 at 11:59 am[...] guide to multimedia proficiency) – from Mindy McAdams at the University of [...]
September 8, 2009 at 12:23 pm[...] Mindy McAdams’ comprehensive guide to multimedia proficiency is now available to download in PDF from her website. [...]
September 8, 2009 at 12:29 pmThanks for putting this together! Sharing this with the staff in a minute.
September 8, 2009 at 12:50 pm[...] McAdams compiled 15 blog posts into a single pdf file to create a great primer about blogging, videos, pictures, podcasting [...]
September 8, 2009 at 1:31 pmHi Mindy,
congratulations for this guide. An excellent work. Post to my website right now!!!
Best wishes,
Carlos Gámez
September 8, 2009 at 2:52 pmdmultimedia.es
This is a great resource. I plan forward it to those in my newsroom that want to do more with multimedia.
September 8, 2009 at 3:24 pm[...] a faboulous Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency by Mindy McAdams. « Developing [...]
September 8, 2009 at 3:51 pm[...] GO TO THE DOWNLOAD PAGE HERE —> [...]
September 8, 2009 at 9:32 pm[...] My favorite multimedia educator, Mindy McAdams, has her 15-part guide to multimedia proficiency available in PDF form online. It’s an incredible reference — [...]
September 8, 2009 at 10:04 pm[...] Teaching Online Journalism » Now printable! Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency (tags: onlinejournalism tools education visuals) [...]
September 8, 2009 at 11:25 pm…but if you need to click on the link to download Acrobat Reader and need to be reassured that it’s free then you should probably realise that you may have a way to go in developing your multimedia proficiency.
Great guide though.
September 10, 2009 at 4:13 am@Kieran Daly – I agree with you, but the guide does address those folks who do not know what FTP is, or how to view file extensions in Windows.
September 10, 2009 at 7:33 am[...] sobre la Guía para periodistas multimedia (sep. 2009) de Mindy Mc Adams. La profesora detrás de Teaching Online Journalism que nos ofrece pistas constantes para mejorar y estar atentos sobre este oficio en la era [...]
September 10, 2009 at 8:07 pm[...] Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency by Mindy McAdams. [...]
September 11, 2009 at 7:48 am[...] (Sept. 13, 2009): That series is complete — Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency. This entry was posted on Monday, February 2, 2009, at 8:18 am and is filed under Flash, [...]
September 13, 2009 at 2:25 pm[...] Una entretenida y útil forma de entender las habilidades que requieren los periodistas para el trabajo en mdios digitales es la Guía de habilidades multimedia para periodistas creado por Mindy McAdams. [...]
September 22, 2009 at 11:09 am[...] discovered this guide book for journalists–compiled from a series of blog posts by Mindy McAdams, Professor of Journalism at the University of Florida–that teaches reporters how to become more [...]
September 24, 2009 at 10:42 amThanks so much for this. The transition to multimedia isn’t always easy, but your step-by-step guide is a godsend. I’m definitely sharing this with others.
Cheers,
Beth
September 27, 2009 at 9:23 pm[...] thing that I found through his site is this from Minday McAdams – The Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Literacy. The guide includes fifteen steps to take to become prificient at generating multimedia content for [...]
September 29, 2009 at 2:20 am[...] new PDF “Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency” offers guidance for journalists who are ready to learn how to transform themselves into [...]
September 30, 2009 at 5:42 amThe link to the PDF seems to be broken. I’d love to look at this though!
October 5, 2009 at 1:14 am[...] A number of you e-mailed me (thank you!) about difficulties in accessing the PDF of the complete Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Profiency. [...]
October 5, 2009 at 10:27 am@Veasey – Thanks! The Web server was down and the server admin didn’t realize it because it was a weekend. It’s fixed now.
October 5, 2009 at 3:50 pm[...] Blogserie “Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency”. Eine 15-teilige Serie (hier auf englisch komplett als pdf) über alle Basics, die man als journalistischer Multimedia-Neuling wissen muss und ein [...]
October 6, 2009 at 8:12 am[...] 15-teilige Blogserie von Mindy McAdams “Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency” (auch als pdf). Die Medienjournalistin Ulrike Langer wird den RGMP in ihrem Blog Medial Digital in den nächsten [...]
October 7, 2009 at 4:30 pm[...] de habilidades multimedia para periodistas . En palabras de la propia autora Mindy McAdams su intención era ofrecer alguna orientación a los periodistas que están dispuestos a aprender a [...]
October 20, 2009 at 4:10 amI’m training undergrads on online journalism, at Concordia U. in Montreal, and provided them with the guide. Many thanks for this!
Cheers,
JFP
October 20, 2009 at 7:50 am[...] 1) Mindy McAdams: Reporter‘s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2009/now-printable-reporters-guide-to-multimedia-proficiency/ [...]
November 2, 2009 at 5:11 amGreat stuff, Mindy. Thanks for sharing this. I’ll post something on Fauna Corporation and link back to you / the PDF.
November 5, 2009 at 5:32 pm[...] в Университете штата Флорида, начала серию блогов “Справочник репортера по мультимедийному мастерству”. Эта серия из 15 частей (здесь она полностью на [...]
November 20, 2009 at 1:52 am[...] на русский язык обучающей программы из серии “Справочник репортера по мультимедийному мастерству”, автором которой является американская журналистка, [...]
November 20, 2009 at 3:44 amTerrific resource that I will be sharing with my journalism students at Mercer University this Spring Semester. Thanks.
December 22, 2009 at 10:19 pmHey Mindy,
I enjoyed your company at Poyter’s first Multimedia Workshop for Journalists in 2008. Will be providing this guide to my broadcast news class this coming semester. Happy New Year.
December 31, 2009 at 10:44 am[...] ist die vierzehnte von mir übersetzte Folge von Mindy McAdams’ “Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency”. Diese Folge heißt im Original Publish your video on your blog. In der dreizehnten Folge ging es [...]
January 6, 2010 at 1:11 pm[...] January 19, 2010 kathleenculver Leave a comment Go to comments Check out this excellent roundup of blog posts by Mindy McAdams, one of the country’s leading multimedia journalism profs. It’s worth reading and [...]
January 19, 2010 at 10:44 am[...] Mindy McAdams. Reporters Guide to Multimedia Proficiency. [...]
January 31, 2010 at 9:17 am