Access - The News University Training Blog

Celebrating Distance Learning Right Here

Howard — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:07:32 EST

As we celebrate National Distance Learning Week [Nov. 9-13] we have some things to cheer about at Poynter's News University. So break out the party hats and let's get to the updates.

First, NewsU hit another user milestone, registering our 125,000 learner. Actually, we are a little late with this piece of news [it happen last month and we are now up to 127,000 users this week.] We forgot to announce this news because of the next update item.

It looks like, if our technical wizards stay on track, the New NewsU site will launch in January 2010. We are in "alpha beta" testing right now and we are getting excited about the new features planned to make finding and keeping track of your courses easier. For more details about our new site check our project blog: next.newsu.org. A new site design, a new technology platform -- Drupal -- and new content is keeping us very busy.

But we haven't been too busy to keep creating new training modules. With our partners at the Suburban Newspapers of America Foundation, which received a grant from the Knight Foundation, we just launched "Innovation at Work: Making New Ideas Succeed ." Here's a tease from the course details page:

Innovation at Work: Making New Ideas Succeed explains how innovation is a craft – one you can learn about, practice and hone. You’ll study how your organization encourages (or holds back) innovation. And you’ll prepare to lead conversations in your newsroom about putting innovation to work for your publication.

Innovation at Work: Making New Ideas Succeed demystifies innovation and provides practical strategies you can put to use today.

This is our fourth training module with SNA and this one has some folks very happy. To quote one of the course's beta users, Heather Elizabeth Provencher at TriCities.com:

"This is the best online course from Poynter's NewsU that I have ever taken! Hands down, this is invaluable in today's newsrooms."

Wow. That's praise we can celebrate. In a few days we'll be launching another training module about covering climate change. We'll have lots of details on this module in our next update.

Which brings us to this plans for this blog. We we plan to expand its scope to help you learn about all the free and low-cost training we have at NewsU and Poynter. We'll still find other e-learning outside of NewsU, but we'll also use the blog to tell you more about what we are doing -- not only the new courses being launched, but courses being planned and ideas for courses.

We'll ask you for your help and ideas. And, just as we have done on our Twitter account, @newsuniversity, we'll be offering special promo codes and other deals. Just another reason to celebrate e-learning with NewsU.

Last Chance: Share Your Ideas About Community News

Howard — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:14:25 EST

Today is the deadline for public input on The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. The commission, funded in part by the Knight Foundation, is working with PBS Engage to find out how you get your news and information today, and how would you improve the quality of information available to you.

This is the first major study in the digital age assessing how information needs are being met in communities nationwide. The commission has received about 1,000 comments so far on the future of community news. Here's a chance to add your voice.

We know this is serious stuff, and it's important. Spend a few minutes. Share your ideas and thoughts: http://www.pbs.org/publicinput.

Hey, Look at Us -- We're On Twitter

Howard — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:42:19 EST

Actually, we've been on Twitter for a while. But we have gotten serious about sharing what's going on at NewsU via Twitter. Our user name on Twitter is "newsuniversity" We are also thinking about offering discount codes to our Twitter followers once we build our new NewsU site. More details on that to come very soon via a new blog called NewsU Next.

New Resource for Journalists who Code

Casey — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:33:36 EST

Innovative Interactivity recently brought to our attention a new social network on Ning called “Journalists / Coders.” Founder Justin McLachlan sees this project as “an across the board platform for those interested in coding and journalism and how the two should fit together.”

Journalists / Coders is shaping up to be a good hub for conversations about the technologies available to produce well-crafted multimedia journalism. You can read tips and techniques, troubleshoot thorny code and see what other members are working on.

The network has about 100 members, and 10 groups have been created around specific technologies, such as Ruby on Rails and HTML/CSS. (You can add your own group, if there’s a topic you’d like to see get more attention.)

You can get preview the content by visiting, but you have to sign up for the good stuff.

Ning is a tool to create niche social networks around topics of special interest. Usual social networking features -- including friends -- activity feeds and profile pages are built in. You can use Ning to create your own social network in just a few minutes.

Visit “Journalists / Coders” now.

A Good Source for Beginner and Veteran Photographers

Jennifer — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:00:19 EST

Photographers from the respected cooperative photo agency Magnum are writing about the industry. The dozen or so Magnum photographers contributing to the Magnum blog (http://blog.magnumphotos.com/ ) lend a unique insight to living a life of photographically documenting the world. With categories ranging from "Behind the Image: What Happened as the Shutter Clicked" to "From the Field: Stories from Around the World" you'll learn from photographers, editors and other industry professionals.

One article in particular brings together many of the photographers: "Wear Good Shoes: Advice to Young Photographers." More than 30 photographers share how they got interested in photography and offer tips to anyone starting out.

This blog also offers some unique, and occasionally lighthearted, competitions. In April, blog readers had the opportunity to be picture editors, looking through the Magnum archives to find the photos that best illustrated a quote from Oscar Wilde. Check out the edits of the winner and finalists.

Magnum is a cooperative photo collective, owned by the photographer-members. It was created in 1947 in France by four famous photographers: Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour. You can learn more about Magnum at http://agency.magnumphotos.com/about/about .

Celebrating Scholastic Journalism

Vicki — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:02:58 EST

It's that time of year again, when our friends at the Journalism Education Association celebrate Scholastic Journalism Week. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Tinker v. Des Moines, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that protects students' constitutional right to free speech.

We want to thank all those teachers who have shown countless students the value of the First Amendment and the essential role of journalism in preserving democracy.

If you're looking for resources for the week, head to the JEA page at www.jea.org/resources/jweek/index.html

Want to make your own commemorative Tinker armband? Instructions are here: scholasticjournalismweek.weebly.com/

You can also check out resources at the Student Press Law Center at www.splc.org/default.asp

And don't forget: NewsU has a course created in partnership with Ball State University specifically for high school journalists: First Amendment for the High School Journalist at www.newsu.org/FirstAmendment

Ethics for Bloggers - A Workshop Archive

Casey — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:03:27 EST

Here at Access, we're always excited to find an online archive of a conference or workshop. We think it's the next best thing to attending the live event, and you can view the archive on your schedule.

“Whose Rules?” a Poynter/Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, is no exception. This September 2008 workshop focuses on the ethics of blogging and how the need to publish quickly and frequently squares with traditional journalistic values.

Key topics include the protections bloggers deserve, the responsibilities they carry and the models for successful, ethical blogging. Breakout sessions dig deeper on such issues as the ethics of handling user comments, how individual bloggers fit into the blogosphere and how “truth” plays out online compared with print and broadcast channels. Jay Rosen provides the keynote, titled, “If Blogging Had No Ethics, Blogging Would Have Failed.”

The archive offers on-demand videos from all the talks – the main sessions, the keynote, breakouts and the wrap-up. You can also browse the Twitter feed and participate in the online ethics wiki. Bios for all the speakers are also posted.

Watch the full archive at http://jmc.kent.edu/ethicsworkshop08.

And while you're at it, don't miss NewsU's course on media law for bloggers, “Online Media Law: The Basics for Bloggers and Other Online Publishers.” This course shows bloggers their rights and responsibilities when it comes to defamation, privacy and copyright.

Covering the Olympics, Covering China

Casey — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:12:14 EST

Whether you're one of the 20,000 journalists traveling to China for the Olympics, covering the games from home or just interested in the challenges and opportunities facing foreign journalists in China, be sure to check out "Reporting in China: The Olympics & Beyond."

This informative conversation with an expert panel is brought to us free of charge by the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Topics include the current reporting climate in China, how to protect sources and how to report aggressively but sensibly beyond the Olympics. The conversation includes many practical tips, including how to work with embassies, equipment considerations and translation and interpretation issues.

CNN Headline News anchor Richard Lui moderates the conversation. He's joined by:

Philip P. Pan, former Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post and author of the newly published book, "Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China"
Mary Kay Magistad, Beijing-based Northeast Asia correspondent for Public Radio International
Ching-Ching Ni, Beijing correspondent for the Los Angeles Times
Steve Wade, sports reporter for The Associated Press in Beijing

The recording runs 67 minutes; Lui moderates an open-ended discussion in the first half and participants dial-in and e-mail questions in the second half. The audio runs in Flash, so make sure you've updated your player to version 8 or higher.

Looking for more resources? The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has produced a reporters' guide for journalists traveling to China for the first time. It's available for free at www.fccchina.org/reportersguide.html. The guide covers the items you don't want to leave home without, sensitive topics to be mindful of, tips on covering the games and 10 other topics.

When you're ready to dig even deeper, check out International Reporting Basics: What You Need to Know Before You Go, a free e-learning course available on NewsU. International Reporting Basics covers how to plan and pack for your trip, and how to gather information and stay safe once you arrive.

Grammar School with Style

Willi — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:02:56 EST

Newsroom 101 can help you master the basics of grammar and AP style with more than 1,900 easy-to-use exercises. The site is great for reporters, editors, students and others who want to write with accuracy and clarity. In fact, the examples are so simple that parents might even use them to help school-age children with their homework.

Stumped by the difference between who and whom? Do you know when to use hyphens? What about those darned apostrophes? Newsroom 101 has the answers.

While the site is free, there is a place to donate $2 for its continued online existence.

Thank Ron Hartung (of the Tallahassee Democrat) and Gerald Grow (a journalism professor at Florida A&M) for this easy-to-use resource.

Video Training for Business Editors and Writers

Casey — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:36:46 EST

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) have posted a series of short (2-5 minute) video clips covering a range of issues that affect business section journalists. The clips were captured at the society's 45th annual conference, April 27-29 in Baltimore.

Highlights from six sessions are covered:

Entrepreneurship: The Most Uncovered Business Story?
Health Insurance: Is it Enough?
Using Social Networking in Business Reporting
So You Lost Your Section: Is That So Awful?
Search Beyond Google
Using Campaign Finance Databases to Find Great Business Stories

Moderators include Lisa Gibbs, Gail DeGeorge and Jay Rosen.

The videos are hosted on Magnify.net, which allows for comments, tags and links to related clips.

SABEW is based out of the Missouri School of Journalism. According to its "About" page, its purpose is to "encourage comprehensive reporting of economic events without fear or favoritism and to upgrade skills and knowledge through continuous educational efforts."

Here's the link to the videos.

SABEW also offers a range of other training materials, but most are available only to members.