Online Journalist Training

BONUS: Notes from the course (PDF file, 99 KB)

Monday: Today's Online Journalism

8:30 - 10 a.m. > Current practices in online journalism in the Western countries.

10:15 - 11:30 a.m. > Journalist blogs -- examples of how newspaper reporters have started new blogs and built up loyal and enthusiastic audiences for them. You'll learn how to adjust your writing style to appeal to online readers, how to use links effectively, how to manage comments and "trolls"; how to think about the length and frequency of posts.

1:30 - 3 p.m., 3:15 - 5 p.m. > Start your own blog (hands-on).

Go to WordPress.com (or use the version Tiếng Việt) and register for a free blog. Click the green button: Sign Up Now!

Resources and examples:

Blogs have changed how I do my job, for the better: A column by an Albuquerque Tribune reporter about why she reads other people's blogs.
Use of Google Analytics or Site Meter enhances your understanding of your blog's audience.
How to be an Authority Maven: 21 Tips for Keeping Up to Date in Your Niche: If you learn how to manage and control the information overload, you'll know more about your beat than anyone else does.
Get Schooled: A blog by the education reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It's All About ... : A blog about lifestyle, entertainment, and pop culture, by a reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader. (The reporter now has a new job at a different newspaper, and a new blog too.)
Etan on Tech: A blog by the technology reporter at the Orlando Sentinel.
The New York Times blog index lists more than 50 blogs.

Prepare for Tuesday's session:

Bring a digital audio recorder AND headphones with you.
If your recorder has an external microphone, bring it.
If you need a cable or a card reader to transfer a file from the recorder to the computer, bring that with you as well.

Tuesday: Audio Gathering and Editing

8:30 - 10 a.m. > Examples of audio stories.

Emotion: Free and Uneasy: The First Year Out (New York Times)
Natural sound: Cockfighting in Puerto Rico (photojournalist Al Bello)
Multiple voices: Guitar Lessons (The Seattle Times)
Podcast: Download the weekly podcast (free) from This American Life for great examples of audio storytelling (one-hour program, 3 stories). Old episodes may be streamed free online. Episode 170, for example, is about immigration to the U.S. (at 39:14, a story about a Vietnamese immigrant begins).

10:15 - 11:30 a.m. > How to conduct an interview for online audio.

1:30 - 3 p.m., 3:15 - 5 p.m. > Editing audio with Audacity (hands-on). We use Switch to convert WMA audio files to the WAV format (uncompressed).

Digital audio recorders -- comparison
Olympus voice recorders -- less expensive, good quality
Audio ethics guide: Editing and more
Super-Fast Guide to Audio Editing (PDF, 236 KB)
Includes instructions for how to download and install Audacity, a free audio-editing program that works on Windows and Mac. You can print this. You may share it with others in your newsroom too.
Editing Audio with Audacity, Part 2 (PDF, 193 KB)
Skills for your later audio projects -- including multitrack editing; fade-in and fade-out; noise reduction. This is more advanced than what we covered in the workshop session, but you can easily add these skills to your repertoire later.

Prepare for Wednesday's session:

Bring about 12 to 20 digital photo files with you on a USB drive or a CD.
Bring one MP3 file (either music or narration) to accompany the photos. The MP3 file should be between 1 and 2 minutes long.
If you do not have photos or an MP3 file, they will be supplied for you. (It will be more fun if you bring your own.)

Wednesday: Audio Slideshows

8:30 - 10 a.m. > Audio slideshows -- rationale and examples.

After the Riots (The Guardian)
The Ancient Way: Wild Horses and Celebrations (University of North Carolina)
Stoves for Guatemala (Houston Chronicle)

10:15 - 11:30 a.m. > How to create an online slideshow with Soundslides. The demo version is free. Soundslides uses the Flash player, which is a Web browser plug-in that most Internet users already have.

Photoshop How-To for Soundslides -- This illustrated tutorial shows you how to use Photoshop to resize, caption and save your photos before you import them into Soundslides.
Read Tom Priddy's tutorial (PDF, 1.2 MB) for a great overview of how a professional photojournalist works with Soundslides in his everyday job (used with Tom's permission).
View a well-illustrated online tutorial that explains how to get started with Soundslides (from PopPhoto.com; they also have a good interview with Joe Weiss).

1:30 - 3 p.m., 3:15 - 5 p.m. > Create an audio slideshow (hands-on).

Thursday: Useful Tools, and Saigon Times Site Critique

8:30 - 10 a.m. > RSS feeds and readers -- why and how to use them

Google Reader (Web site -- nothing to download)
Here is a good how-to you can use to get started with RSS
Saigon Times list of RSS feeds (Tiếng Việt)
Thanh Nien News list of RSS feeds (English)
New York Times list of RSS feeds
BBC list of RSS feeds
South China Morning Post list of RSS feeds (English)
Washington Post list of RSS feeds

10:15 - 11:30 a.m. > Social bookmarking and other social networks

del.icio.us (social bookmarks)
- See Mindy's del.icio.us bookmarks
- 10 tips for integrating your del.icio.us links into your blog
LinkedIn (professional connections)
Google Apps (online organization tools)

1:30 - 3 p.m., 3:15 - 5 p.m. > Saigon Times site critique and discussion -- publishing strategies -- how an online newsroom operates

Saigon Times Group (new site)
Saigon Times Weekly (in English)
Innovation in action -- Las Vegas Sun newspaper site (U.S.)
Clean design -- El País newspaper site (Madrid)
Clean design -- BBC News online (Britain)
A model for changing how newsrooms work

Friday: Online Video

8:30 - 10 a.m. > Newspaper video -- rationale and examples.

Do you understand it? Are EPA coal emission standards strict enough? (Las Vegas Sun)
Action: Fuel truck explosion in northeast Spokane (Spokesman-Review)
Cheap, small cameras for video: Mexican Wrestling

10:15 - 11:30 a.m. > How to shoot video that is easy to edit.

Basic example of a sequence
Sequencing: The foundation of video storytelling
Trick bicycle rider: Proof that it's how you shoot (not the camera you use) that makes the video good
How to shoot video interviews

1:30 - 3 p.m., 3:15 - 5 p.m. > Edit video with Windows Movie Maker (hands-on).

Make Internet TV: Intro to editing with WMM
Capturing video
Trim your clips
Import an audio track
Add narration
More WMM tutorials

Saigon Times | Online Journalism