EducationCurriculum
This is a tentative schedule as of November 2020. CET time.
Monday, November 9th
16:00 – 16:45 Welcome and Introductions (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
16:45 – 18:00 Panel Discussion: “What Is Actually a Foreign Correspondent?” (moderated by Jeremy Druker, Transitions, with participants: Raphael Minder, The New York Times + Tereza Engelova, Hlidaci Pes and Czech Television).
- 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.
break
18:15 – 19:45 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.
break
20:00 – 21:00 Pitching session for story proposals (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
All participants will pitch their ideas for their two stories 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 an audio story (due at the end of the second week).
Tuesday, November 10th
16:00 – 17:30 Writing Lab: Getting Out Into the (Virtual) Field (Michael Kahn, Reuters)
Participants will 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.
break
18:00 – 20:00 Practical – writing exercise (Michael Kahn, Reuters)
Participants will have two hours to write their stories with faculty reviewing the results.
Wednesday, November 11th
16:30 – 18:00 From freelance foreign correspondent to working for an experimental online platform (Irene Caselli)
- How to set up as a freelancer
- The importance of multimedia skills
- How to make contacts in newsrooms
- The challenges of being a woman working solo
- Covering Latin America as a foreigner for a foreign audience
- How to find stories – and when to let go
- Finding your passion and finding ways to develop an expertise & land your dream job.
Thursday, November 12th
Final day for reporting and interviewing for feature stories, preparing the first draft of print stories.
19:00 – 20:30 The Benefits and Challenges to Being a Woman in What Was Once a Man’s Game. (Jana Ciglerova Denik N)
- The challenges women reporters face in everyday work
- Sexism in journalism and politics – what to watch out for
- The challenges women reporters face in everyday work
- Being a woman in the mainstream media: many female reporters, only few female editors –why?
- Different careers for male journalists
- How does motherhood affect the career of a female journalist?
Friday, November 13th
16:30 – 18:00 The Do’s and Don’ts of International Feature Writing (Dinah Richter Spritzer)
- Show me don’t tell me! How to provide atmosphere, character and emotion in your story without adjectives. Get those anecdotes.
- Writing for “Aunt Agatha” back home: How to provide context, comparison, and scope for the international audience.
- If you can’t interview someone in person, how can you make readers feel they are right there in the middle of the action?
- What trends make the best international feature stories for a global audience?
- How experts and local journalists can provide the sweep for your narrative that will hook your reader (and your editor)
break
18:30 – 19:45 Reporting from Prague (Rob Cameron, BBC)
The BBC’s long-time correspondent talks about how he got his start and how the profession has changed since his arrival in the early 1990s.
- Successful stringing
- Writing for radio: how to be clear and concise, but not boring
- Use of sound, how to liven up your reports and create a sense of place
- Package techniques, how to get the most out of the story and produce great radio.
break
20:00 – 21:00 The Practicalities of Putting Together a Great Audio Piece (Rob Cameron, BBC)
- Op technical tips on putting together audio
- Interview techniques, what makes a good radio interview
- How to plan, script, record, edit, and mix your pieces, even if you don’t have the latest tech and software at hand.
21:00 – 22:00 Finish first draft of print stories, deadline 22:00
Students finalize their stories and submit via an online platform.
Saturday, November 14th
Free day
Sunday, November 15th
Free day
Monday, November 16th
During the day: Individual Feedback on First Draft of Stories (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
Each participant will have a 15-minute slot to discuss the drafts with Jeremy during an online meeting.
17:00 – 18:30 Life as a Foreign Correspondent (Raphael Minder, The New York 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 New York Times.
Tuesday, November 17th
Participants will spend the day working on audio/podcast stories. This is also the day to finish up the final version of the print stories.
Wednesday, November 18th
18:30 – 20:00 Multimedia Reporting: What is a Video Story and How to Give Every Story a Classic Story Structure (Adam Pemble, The Associated Press)
- Breaking into video journalism and work at the AP
- How even the most basic of shoots 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
- Questions and Answers.
22:30 Deadline for final version of print story and posting it to online platform.
Thursday, November 19th
16:30 – 18:00 Covering Africa and the Solutions Journalism Approach (Tomas Linder, Respekt)
- How to deal with and counter the stereotypes of Africa
- Is reporting from Africa really different from reporting elsewhere?
- Taking a solutions-oriented approach in your reporting
break
19:30 – 22:00 – Individual Feedback on Final Version of Print Stories (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
Individual story feedback on the final version of the print story – each participant will have a 15-minute slot to discuss the final version with Jeremy during an online meeting.
Final reporting and editing of audio/podcast stories.
22:30 Deadline for audio story and posting it to an online platform.
Friday, November 20th
16:20 – 16:30 RFE/RL introduction (Evgeniya Konovalova, RFE/RL)
16:30 – 17:30 Working Under Conflict (Malali Bashir, RFE/RL)
- Covering conflict as a local
- Staying safe as a journalist in a war zone
- The ethical and moral responsibilities associated with covering conflict.
- How does the journalist’s background (their nationality, ethnicity, etc.) affect the way they do their work.
- Does it interfere somehow?
- How to cope with possible threats from the local authorities or pressure to report differently?
Farewell (Jeremy Druker, Transitions)
