EducationCurriculum
This is a tentative schedule as of July 2023.
Saturday, July 8th
Arrivals – Check in from 15:00 (Marriott Courtyard Prague Flora, Lucemburska 46, Prague 3, 13000)
Free time
Sunday, July 9th
09:50 – 10:00 Meeting point: hotel lobby and registration of participants
10:05 Departure from the hotel
10:00 – 13:00 Walking Tour: Prague sightseeing
13:15 – 14:45 Welcome lunch – (Kavarna Obecni dum – nám. Republiky 1090/5, Prague 1, 11000)
(Venue – NYU Prague Campus (Richtrův dům), Malé náměstí, Prague 1)
15:15 – 15:30 Welcome and Introductions (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
15:30 – 17:30 Life as a Foreign Correspondent (Raphael Minder, The Financial Times)
- “Welcome to a dying trade,” or how to become a foreign correspondent
- “How to find stories (a clue: they are rarely on page one of the local press)
- Dealing with editors at long distance and pitching stories
- Differences between European and American journalism
- Ethics of Journalism, journalism and the law, boundaries of plagiarism
- Being a foreign correspondent for The Financial Times.
Free time in Prague
Monday, July 10th
09:10 Meeting point: hotel lobby
09:15 Departure from the hotel and arrival at the venue
(Venue – Elpida, Na Bělidle 34, Prague 5)
10:00 – 12:30 Panel Discussion: “What Is Actually a Foreign Correspondent?” (moderated by Jeremy Druker, Transitions, with participants: Mike Eckel + Jana Ciglerova, Denik N).
- The news cycle for foreign correspondents: news agencies vs. other media outlets
- The different kinds of foreign reporters: staff positions vs. stringers vs. freelancers
- The specific challenges of being a female foreign correspondent
- Finding stories in a foreign city: how and where to look
- Interviewing people in foreign lands (some of whom may be suspicious of journalists from other countries)
- Tips for staying safe and the necessity (sometimes) of special security precautions.
- How does motherhood affect the career of a female journalist?
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break
(Venue – Elpida, Na Bělidle 34, Prague 5)
14:00 – 16:30 News-Writing Lab (Michael Kahn, Reuters)
- Introduction to writing and reporting with a special focus on writing for an international audience
- Writing and developing feature stories for news agencies and general publications
- Tips for writing for an audience that knows very little about the history and culture of the location
- When to file a story
- How to source a story.
16:30 – 18:00 Pitching session for story proposals (Jeremy Druker, Transitions, Michael Kahn, Reuters; and Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
All participants will pitch their ideas for their two stories to the panel for feedback. The assignment for the first week will be a print/web story or a photo essay for print or web (first draft due Friday); the assignment for the second week will be a video or audio story (due at the end of the second week).
Tuesday, July 11th
(Venue – Elpida, Na Bělidle 34, Prague 5)
09:30 – 12:30 Writing Lab: Getting Out Into the Field (Michael Kahn, Reuters and Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
Participants will be divided in two groups and work intensively with the faculty, focusing on the following subjects:
- Finding stories and conducting research for stories before hitting the ground
- Finding sources and interview subjects
- Interviewing techniques, especially in a foreign land, including mock interviews for practice
- Integrating quotations from non-native speakers.
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Practical-writing exercise (Michael Kahn, Reuters and Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
Participants will have two hours to write their stories with faculty then review the results.
Wednesday, July 12th
All-day reporting and interviewing in the field for feature stories.
Thursday, July 13th
All-day reporting and interviewing in the field for feature stories, preparing the first draft of print stories.
Students finalizing their stories.
16:45 Meeting point: hotel lobby – (please bring your passport)
16:50 Departure from the hotel
17:30 – 19:00 Visit to Economia publishing house (the most modern news complex in the country) and discussion: The Benefits and Challenges to Being a Woman in What Was Once a Man’s Game. (Silvie Lauder, Respekt)
- The challenges women reporters face in everyday work
- Sexism in journalism and politics – what to watch out for
- Being a woman in the mainstream media: many female reporters, only few female editors and managers – why?
- Different careers for male journalists.
Friday, July 14th
(Venue – Charles University, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, Prague 1 – room nr. 20)
9:30 – 12:30 Writing and Reporting for TV (Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
- Writing to video
- Selecting sound bites
- Stand ups
- Types of stories
- Types of video packages.
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break
(Venue – Charles University, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, Prague 1 – room nr. 20)
14:00 – 15:00 – Working Under Conflict (Ondrej Kundra, Respekt)
- Covering war as a foreign correspondent
- Staying safe as a journalist in a war zone
- The ethical and moral responsibilities associated with covering conflict
15:00 – 15:10 break
15:10 – 16:10 – Covering Africa (Tomas Linder, Respekt)
- How to deal with and counter the stereotypes of Africa
- Is reporting from Africa really different from reporting elsewhere?
16:30 – 19:00 Finish first draft of print stories, deadline 19:00
Students finalize their stories and posting it to WordPress site.
Saturday, July 15th
Free day
Sunday, July 16th
Free day
19:00 – 21:00 Individual feedback on first draft of stories (Michael Kahn, Reuters; Jeremy Druker, Transitions; Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
Each participant will have a 15-minute slot to discuss the drafts with Michael or Jeremy during a meeting in the hotel lobby.
Monday, July 17th
(Venue – Charles University, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, Prague 1 – room nr. 20)
9:30 – 12:30 Multimedia Reporting: What is a Video Story and How to Give Every Story a Classic Story Structure (Will Tizard)
- Breaking into video journalism
- How even the most basic of shots tells a story
- Classic story-writing structures and how they can be incorporated into video-sequencing (inverted pyramid, diamond, stories without the classic structure)
- Shot-by-shot case studies
- Shooting video for news stories: framing, sequencing, perspective, lighting.
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Exercises in the field
Will will accompany participants in downtown Prague as they shoot video. The group will then congregate back at the venue and review the video that they have taken. Points to be covered:
- In-the-field demonstration shooting
- Raw-video review (put camera card in the computer, play, and review – a technique some employers use in broadcast news to judge a prospective camera person’s field work in a real-life, real-time situation).
Tuesday, July 18th
Free time / Participants will spend the 1/2 day working on video/audio stories, i.e. lining up and starting to shoot interviews and other footage.
12:30 Meeting point: hotel lobby
12:35 Departure from the hotel
13:00 – 14:45 Tour of Czech Radio with Nikola Bartová and session on innovation with Anna Vosalikova.
- Czech Radio data journalism unit
- Rise of podcasts and on-demand audio: daily news podcasts, popup podcasts
- Smart speakers and interactivity in audio
- Innovation in on-demand audio: stories (co)written by artificial intelligence
- Building our own modern on-demand platform, smart tools for editors and users.
15:00 – 16:30 The Power of Solutions Journalism (Jeremy Druker, Transitions) – venue Czech Radio
- Just showing the problem is no longer enough. What is solutions journalism and how does it work?
- The four pillars of a classic solutions journalism story
- Where to find solutions stories
- What questions to ask
- How does solutions journalism increase engagement and civic participation
- Examples of Transitions’ solutions stories.
Free time
Wednesday, July 19th
Participants will spend the day working on video/audio stories, i.e. lining up and starting to shoot interviews and other footage.
Thursday, July 20th
Trip to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (please bring your passport)
09:40 Meeting point: hotel lobby
09:45 Departure from the hotel
10:00 – 10:30 Arrival and security check (Vinohradská 159A, Prague 10)
10:30 – 10:45 Tour of the building
10:45 – 11:30 Meeting with Rick Pinard, Senior Evaluation Manager, Corporate Strategy
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break in RFE/RL cantina
12:30 – 13:15 Meeting with Amos Chapple, Senior Photo Correspondent, Central News
Free time
17:00 Deadline for final version of print story and share with faculty
Friday, July 21st
All-day shooting and editing final video stories
17:00 Deadline for video story (minimum length 2 min) and posting it to Google drive
17:00 – 19:00 – Individual feedback on final version of stories (Michael Kahn, Reuters; Jeremy Druker, Transitions; Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
Individual story feedback on the final version of print story – each participant will have a 15-minute slot to discuss the final version with Michael and Jeremy during a meeting in the hotel lobby.
Saturday, July 22nd
(Venue – Elpida, Na Bělidle 34, Prague 5)
10:30 – 12:30 Reporting-project critique session for video/audio stories (Will Tizard and Mark Harmon, University of Tennessee)
Led by Will Tizard and Mark Harmon, the panel will provide detailed feedback on the video and audio stories.
13:45 Meeting point: Dvořákovo nábřeží, Na Františku, Prague 1 (pont nr 11)
14:00 – 16:00 Farewell boat cruise with lunch.
Free time
Sunday, July 23rd
Departures