EducationCurriculum
Curriculum
This is a tentative schedule as of Sep 3, 2026.
Saturday, June 5th, 2027
Arrivals – Check in the min *** hotel or dorm from 15:00
Free time in Prague
Sunday, June 6th
09:50 – 10:00 Meeting point: hotel/dorm lobby and registration of participants
10:00 Departure from the accommodation
10:00 – 13:00 Walking Tour: Prague sightseeing with Lucie Lacková
13:15 – 14:30 Welcome Lunch and Introductions (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
14:30 – 15:00 Break
15:00 – 17:00 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, June 7th
10:00 – 12:30 Panel Discussion: “What Is Actually a Foreign Correspondent?” (moderated by Jeremy Druker, Transitions, with participants: Ondřej Kundra, Respekt + Jana Ciglerová, Czech Radio).
- 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
- How does motherhood affect the career of a female journalist?
- 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.
- Covering war as a foreign correspondent
- The ethical and moral responsibilities associated with covering conflict
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 17:00 Spot news (Michael Winfrey)
- Introduction to writing and reporting with a special focus on writing for an international audience
- Tips for writing for an audience that knows very little about the history and culture of the location Writing and developing spot news stories for news agencies and general publications
- How to get a job, or why do people pay for news?
- Spot news drill
Free time in Prague
Tuesday, June 8th
09:30-11:00 The Art of the Interview (Mike Winfrey)
- How to conduct interviews and get the story you need
- Vox pop versus primary sources
- The difference between a bad quote and a good quote
short break
11:30 – 14:00 Writing Lab: Getting Out Into the Field (Michael Winfrey and Michael T. Martinez, University of Tennessee)
Participants will be divided in 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.
14:00 – 15:00 Lunch break
15:00 – 17:00 Practical-writing exercise (Michael Winfrey and Michael T. Martinez, University of Tennessee)
Participants will have two hours to write their stories with faculty then review the results.
Wednesday, June 9th
09:30 – 12:00 Feature Writing (Mike Winfrey)
- Introduction to feature writing
- What are the building blocks of a feature?
- How to use quotes, data, and anecdotes to tell a story
- Writing drill
12:00 – 17:00 – Students pitch and begin reporting on their feature stories
Thursday, June 10th
9:30 – 11:30 Visual Communication: Videography and Photojournalism (Michael T. Martinez, University of Tennessee)
- Telling stories with photos, video and audio
- What makes good photography
- How to shoot good video
- How to record a good sound.
Rest of Day – Continue reporting on feature stories
Friday, June 11th
All-day reporting and interviewing in the field for feature stories. In the afternoon, students prepare the first draft of their print stories and post it to the WordPress site by 19:00. Students finalize their stories and submit them by the deadline.
Saturday, June 12th
Free day
Sunday, June 13th
Free day
19:00 – 21:00 Individual feedback on first draft of stories (Michael Winfrey; Jeremy Druker, Transitions; Michael T. Martinez, 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 / dorm lobby.
Monday, June 14th
9:30 – 10:30 The Life of a TV Foreign Correspondent (Dana Zlatohlavková, Czech Television)
- The challenges of unplanned deployments to cover foreign stories versus prepared trips
- Tips on quickly getting up to speed after assignment to a foreign post
- The differences in reporting for television from abroad compared with just print
- Moderating and editing reports from the field
- Telling stories through independent documentaries
short break
11:00 – 12:30 The Power of Solutions Journalism in International Reporting (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
- 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 as a foreign correspondent
- What questions to ask
- How does solutions journalism increase engagement and civic participation
- Examples of Transitions’ solutions stories.
Tuesday, June 15th
10:30 – 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 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 17:00 Exercises in the field
Participants will individually shoot videos in downtown Prague. The group will then reconvene at the venue at 15:30 to review the one-minute videos they have created. 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).
Wednesday, June 16th
Participants will spend the day working on video/audio stories, i.e. lining up and starting to shoot interviews and other footage.
Thursday, June 17th
Trip to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (please bring your passport)
10:40 Meeting point: hotel / dorm lobby
10:45 Departure from the lobby
11:00 – 11:30 Arrival and security check Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – (Izraelská 3, Prague 10)
11:30 – 12:30 Introduction to RFE/RL during the tour of the building with Jakub Tesar
12:30 – 12:45 Recording of daily video with Parisa Sohbati
12:45 – 13:30 Discussion about Iran
13:30 – 14:15 Lunch in RFE/RL cantina (on your own)
Participants will spend the rest of the day working on video/audio stories.
Friday, June 18th
Seznam.cz (Venue: Seznam.cz, a.s., Radlická 3294/10, 150 00 Prague 5)
9:30 – 11:30 Tour of Seznam.cz with Peter Jancarik and session on innovation with Pavel Kasík.
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break
Students finalize their final print stories and submit them by the deadline.
17:00 Deadline for final version of print story and posting it to WordPress site
Free time
Saturday, June 19th
Free day
Sunday, June 20th
Free day
Monday, June 21st
Continue shooting and editing final video stories throughout the day, with a target length of 2 minutes.
17:00 Deadline for video story and posting it to WordPress site
17:00 – 21:00 – Individual feedback on final print version of stories (Michael Winfrey; Jeremy Druker, Transitions; Michael T. Martinez, 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 / dorm lobby.
Tuesday, June 22nd
11:00 – 13:00 Reporting-project critique session for video/audio stories (Will Tizard and Michael T. Martinez, University of Tennessee)
Led by Will Tizard and Michael T. Martinez, the panel will provide detailed feedback on the video and audio stories.
13:00 – 13:20 Evaluation
13:50 Meeting point: Dvořákovo nábřeží, Na Františku, Prague 1 (pont nr 11)
14:00 – 16:00 Farewell boat cruise with lunch.
Free time
Wednesday, June 23rd
Departures