Training is an invaluable tool in any newsroom. And, whether you have a staff of one or dozens of reporters filling the newsroom, training is something that should be on your priority list.
Attending training seminars, Webinars or a conference, could prove to an invaluable resource for reporters and editors. From ethics to computer-assisted reporting to management styles and honing a reporter’s writing, there is a seminar to fit any need. With the help of the Internet, there’s also offerings to fit any budget.
I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite training opportunities:
National Press Foundation: I was a fellow for the Affordable Housing & Community Development program in 2001 and the intensive four-days I spent in Washington, D.C., has served me for years. The programs deal with a range of topics – retirement issues, violent weather, business and economics and biomedical engineering are among the topics for future programs – presented by experts in their field. It’s also a great opportunity to discuss common issues with journalists from newspapers, magazines, broadcast and the Internet. The programs are generally limited to 15, so start working on your application. Fellowship includes travel and accommodations. Visit www.nationalpress.org.
American Press Institute: Offering programs targeting “tracks” – advertising, newsroom, etc. – the American Press Institute has one-day and multi-day seminars. Topics this year include “Fifteen Paths of Paid Online Content – one that should be of interest to everyone – and “Beyond the Newsroom.” Most workshops are held in Reston, Va., but some workshops are offered in other locales. Tuition prices start as low as $150 for some of the one-day seminars, but they do offer fellowships to newspaper staff, as well as to journalism educators. Visit www.ameicanpressinstitute.org.
Reynolds High School Journalism Institute: The Reynolds Institute is an all expenses paid, intensive two-week journalism training program for high school teachers and staffers. Topics include reporting, photojournalism, layout and design, First Amendment issues and much more. The institutes are held in June and July at locations across the country. Work with the high school in your community to send a local teacher.
Investigative Reporters and Editors: Designed for all those reporters and editors that love to crunch numbers and know the benefit of a spreadsheet, the Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in March is for you. Topics range from statistics to Internet tips to crime and education to the census and Twitter. Hosted by Investigative Reporters and Editors and National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. Visit http://data.nicar.org/CAR2010.
Computer-Assisted Reporting Boot Camps will be offered in March and August, with intense multi-day workshops covering – you guessed it – using and analyzing spreadsheets and databases, among other tools. There also are boot camps for Web programming and mapping. Fees are on a sliding scale and some fellowships are available. Visit www.ire.org.
IRE also hosts a On The Road series of workshops around the country. The Watchdog Workshop series brings affordable training for reporters, editors and producers covering topics ranging from hard-hitting story ideas, to databases and documents to Internet tools. There will be a workshop in Austin in mid-February before heading to Oklahoma City in March. Visit www.ire.org for details and additional dates.
As well, Ethnic Media Watchdog Workshops are offered for print, broadcast and online journalists across the country. Visit www.ire.org.
Readership Institute: The Readership Institute and the American Society of Newspaper Editors have been partners for five years leading workshops around the country on growing audience and reach in the newspaper and online. The workshops focus on practical steps newspapers can take to increase readership based on the Institute’s Impact Study. I found the information from the Impact Study invaluable when I attended a workshop in 2004.
The workshops are offered at locations around the country, with the next in March in Los Angeles. Visit www.readership.org. You can see an annotated presentation of the workshop online.
ASNE will host its annual conference April 11 to 14 in Washington, D.C., with the focus on “the future of journalism.” It’s gear to journalists in every medium, as well as students and teachers.
Pointer News University: No training budget or not enough to get to the closest metropolitan area? Then, NewsU has what you’re looking for. You can take a class or set up a time for the entire newsroom to take part in a seminar over the Internet. Order pizzas and have a lunch time training session.
Topics include Math for Journalists, Anatomy of a Newspaper, leadership and management, as well as ethics and reporting skills. Course prices range from $25 to several hundred dollars. Visit www.newsu.org.
Freedom Forum Diversity Institute: Programs include an internship program, along with the American Indian Journalism Institute and the Native American Journalism Career Conference in April – both geared toward students.
Workshops also are offered, including the upcoming Multimedia Boot Camp in mid-February for journalism educators and professionals. Look for additional dates in August and November. Journalism educators, professionals, students and others can develop and hone their skills in audio, photo and video storytelling at the boot camps. Visit www.freedomforumdiversity.org.
State associations: State press associations are a valuable resource offering regional seminars and workshops. As well, the annual state association conference can be a great place to talk about topics specific to your community and network with other journalists.
Host your own workshop: If you’re part of a group of newspaper in a close geographic region, bring the trainers to you. It will be more cost-effective to cover the cost of a trainer then sending a dozen employees from multiple publications in the same group. Talk to the editors at your sister publications and look for common training needs. Then, work together to develop a plan that will appeal to all of publishers, who will each only cover a portion of the total cost.
Niche publications need to have editorial value
Niche publications are an essential revenue source for anyone in the publishing business, be it a small weekly or a large daily. From an in-paper section to an eight-page tab to a glossy, full-color magazine, niche publications give newspapers the opportunity to expand their editorial coverage and to capture additional advertising dollars in their market.
They can also be the source of snarls, rolled eyes, and mumblings of disgust from reporters and editors when the newsroom is involved in such publications.
While a metropolitan paper may have writers on staff to handle just such projects, those of us at smaller publications know that responsibility is placed on the reporters and editors also charged with getting the newspaper out every day.
Being an optimist by nature, I always try to look for the positives in these situations. Here’s my reasoning: The success of niche publications contributions to the success of the newspaper, which in turn, can benefit the newsroom through opportunities for additional training resources, software and hardware upgrades, or new staff members.
We tried a number of publications over the years to target different markets, but one that has been successfully from an advertising and editorial standpoint has been a dining publication we produce – Menu & More.
The Reno-Tahoe area is a great mix of residents and visitors that come for a few days, a few weeks or a few months to enjoy our main seasons – summer and winter. Being in a resort area, we have to target our publications even more finely to take advantage of our unique position. Dining ranks high among activities for visitors, second homeowners and locals in our area, and Menu & More serves that niche.
The publication comes out twice a year – before the December holidays for the winter ski season and in mid-June before the start of the summer recreation season in Tahoe. It’s a glossy, full-color magazine printed as a come and go – that is with dual covers. One side covers all of Lake Tahoe and features a Tahoe cover, while the other covers the Reno-Sparks area and features a Reno cover.
While we’ve had to adjust the publication in the down economy, the name recognition of the magazine, along with the strong editorial content has given us a strong foothold in a competitive publishing market.
If you’re thinking about starting a new publication or revamping an existing one, here are some of the things I consider when judging a publication for its editorial value:
Serve the reader – Focus on the editorial content of niche publications in such a way to server your readers. Look for interesting angles and unique stories. For instance, writing about choosing flowers for an upcoming wedding magazine may not be in the most fascinating topic, but talking to a couple who had a Cowboy-themed wedding complete with hay bales, pickup trucks, and cowboy boots and hats as part of the décor is.
Balance editorial with advertising needs – Yes, you’ll have to cross the threshold into the advertising manager’s office to talk about ideas and approaches for the publication. I know some editors are cringing at this thought, but suck it up and do it. I regularly get good story ideas I might use in the niche publication, or in the newspaper. Ask the ad manager for a list of suggested contacts. This will save the reporters help in trying to find sources on stories, and the paper’s advertisers will appreciate the opportunity to be included in a story.
Play on reporters’ strengths – Try to pair story assignments with the interests and strengths of each reporter; it will make the pill easier to swallow. Assign the health reporter to write several stories for a health publication, but maybe spare them on the sports preview section. This makes use of his or her talents and interests in covering the health beat, while giving them a “break” from the next section, which they might really dislike.
Make good use of stringers – Niche publications are the perfect place to use stringers, taking some of the workload off the reporters. Always be on the lookout for stringers for feature writing. It’s difficult to find stringers to cover a board meeting, but give them five feature stories for a glossy magazine on wedding planning and they’re excited to be a part of the newspaper.
Allow your staff some creative freedom – I like to use creative approaches in niche publications. Get together with the photographer and the person who will be designing the publication and talk about ideas. They’ll appreciate the opportunity to try something more creative. I’m a stickler about adhering to the newspaper’s design on a daily basis, but I enjoy the creative opportunities that niche publications allow us.
Plan, plan, plan – When possible, I like to give reporters at least a month (six weeks is better) to work on feature stories for niche publications. This gives them the opportunity to plan to work on the stories when it best fits into their busy schedules without having to rearrange interviews that may have taken several weeks for them to set up.
They can also be the source of snarls, rolled eyes, and mumblings of disgust from reporters and editors when the newsroom is involved in such publications.
While a metropolitan paper may have writers on staff to handle just such projects, those of us at smaller publications know that responsibility is placed on the reporters and editors also charged with getting the newspaper out every day.
Being an optimist by nature, I always try to look for the positives in these situations. Here’s my reasoning: The success of niche publications contributions to the success of the newspaper, which in turn, can benefit the newsroom through opportunities for additional training resources, software and hardware upgrades, or new staff members.
We tried a number of publications over the years to target different markets, but one that has been successfully from an advertising and editorial standpoint has been a dining publication we produce – Menu & More.
The Reno-Tahoe area is a great mix of residents and visitors that come for a few days, a few weeks or a few months to enjoy our main seasons – summer and winter. Being in a resort area, we have to target our publications even more finely to take advantage of our unique position. Dining ranks high among activities for visitors, second homeowners and locals in our area, and Menu & More serves that niche.
The publication comes out twice a year – before the December holidays for the winter ski season and in mid-June before the start of the summer recreation season in Tahoe. It’s a glossy, full-color magazine printed as a come and go – that is with dual covers. One side covers all of Lake Tahoe and features a Tahoe cover, while the other covers the Reno-Sparks area and features a Reno cover.
While we’ve had to adjust the publication in the down economy, the name recognition of the magazine, along with the strong editorial content has given us a strong foothold in a competitive publishing market.
If you’re thinking about starting a new publication or revamping an existing one, here are some of the things I consider when judging a publication for its editorial value:
Serve the reader – Focus on the editorial content of niche publications in such a way to server your readers. Look for interesting angles and unique stories. For instance, writing about choosing flowers for an upcoming wedding magazine may not be in the most fascinating topic, but talking to a couple who had a Cowboy-themed wedding complete with hay bales, pickup trucks, and cowboy boots and hats as part of the décor is.
Balance editorial with advertising needs – Yes, you’ll have to cross the threshold into the advertising manager’s office to talk about ideas and approaches for the publication. I know some editors are cringing at this thought, but suck it up and do it. I regularly get good story ideas I might use in the niche publication, or in the newspaper. Ask the ad manager for a list of suggested contacts. This will save the reporters help in trying to find sources on stories, and the paper’s advertisers will appreciate the opportunity to be included in a story.
Play on reporters’ strengths – Try to pair story assignments with the interests and strengths of each reporter; it will make the pill easier to swallow. Assign the health reporter to write several stories for a health publication, but maybe spare them on the sports preview section. This makes use of his or her talents and interests in covering the health beat, while giving them a “break” from the next section, which they might really dislike.
Make good use of stringers – Niche publications are the perfect place to use stringers, taking some of the workload off the reporters. Always be on the lookout for stringers for feature writing. It’s difficult to find stringers to cover a board meeting, but give them five feature stories for a glossy magazine on wedding planning and they’re excited to be a part of the newspaper.
Allow your staff some creative freedom – I like to use creative approaches in niche publications. Get together with the photographer and the person who will be designing the publication and talk about ideas. They’ll appreciate the opportunity to try something more creative. I’m a stickler about adhering to the newspaper’s design on a daily basis, but I enjoy the creative opportunities that niche publications allow us.
Plan, plan, plan – When possible, I like to give reporters at least a month (six weeks is better) to work on feature stories for niche publications. This gives them the opportunity to plan to work on the stories when it best fits into their busy schedules without having to rearrange interviews that may have taken several weeks for them to set up.
Newspaper myths
High Time We Set the Record Straight on Newspaper 'Myths'
By Donna Barrett
From Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK (April 22, 2009) -- Enough already. Partial facts and misinformation about newspapers are distorting the view for everyone, including readers and advertisers.
Let's set the record straight: Newspapers still enjoy considerable readership and deliver strong results for advertisers. More Americans read printed newspapers than watch the Super Bowl. More Americans read printed newspapers than own dogs. Newspapers and their Web sites reach a larger audience than ever before.
The crisis facing newspapers is not an audience problem. It is a revenue problem.
See article at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003965411
By Donna Barrett
From Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK (April 22, 2009) -- Enough already. Partial facts and misinformation about newspapers are distorting the view for everyone, including readers and advertisers.
Let's set the record straight: Newspapers still enjoy considerable readership and deliver strong results for advertisers. More Americans read printed newspapers than watch the Super Bowl. More Americans read printed newspapers than own dogs. Newspapers and their Web sites reach a larger audience than ever before.
The crisis facing newspapers is not an audience problem. It is a revenue problem.
See article at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003965411
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