Writing for different media…

In this brave new world of multi-skilling and media convergence, the traditional demarcation lines between different fields of our profession have vanished.

Journalists are increasingly being asked to write copy for three different types of media – a newspaper or magazine, a website and a script for an online video or audio reports.

While the basic newsgathering and writing skills are the same, you need to tell your story in a slightly different way for each type of media.

This is how students on NCTJ pre-entry courses are now being taught to prepare them for their first jobs as journalists. The changes in the basic training have been led by demand from editors, who want trainees with a wide range of skills, some of which were, only recently, found only in specialists.

The Chartered Institute of Journalists is offering members a chance to get up-to-date with these changes at a one-day course run by NCTJ journalism lecturer Charlie Harris

The course will cover:

A refresher on essential newswriting skills

How those skills need to be adapted for

1) Covering breaking stories online

2) Pulling together news from numerous sources for the online round-up and the print edition

3) Paring the story to the basics for video or audio coverage

This will be done through a live exercise based on a major breaking story covered by the local newspaper which the course tutor used to edit.

COST: £60

Dates: 4th and 11th November 2009 – please indicate your preference when booking.

Venue: CIoJ Head Office, 2 Dock Offices, Surrey Quays Road, LONDON SE16 2XU

DOWNLOAD A BOOKING FORM HERE>>>

Your trainer…

Charlie Harris

The course will be led by Charlie Harris, a member of the Institute for more than 35 years. A past president of the Institute and former chairman of the NCTJ, Charlie worked for local newspapers across north London, SW Hertfordshire and South Bucks for 33 years, becoming editor of the Harrow Times Series, covering three London boroughs. Involved in editorial training since the mid-80s, he represented the Institute on the NCTJ for many years, and now teaches newswriting and public affairs on NCTJ-accredited courses at Brunel University in Uxbridge and at noSWeat Journalism Training in Clerkenwell. He is also an NCTJ-accredited examination and logbook marker, and helps run exam centres and serves on course accreditation panels for the council.

New Skills for Old Hacks

The Freelance Division is delighted to announce a new subbing course with Charlie Harris* on Sunday 31st May.

The course – afternoon only – will be held at the New Cavendish Club, London.

This follow up course is in line with our aim to arm freelance journalists with skills that provide them with more choices in the workplace.

As well as the subbing course, we plan to run a marketing course in autumn and may also be able to offer a basic website course later in the year.

As those of you who attended our last subbing course found, there are many different ways of editing a story.

Feedback from the last course included the suggestion that we offer a course on ‘writing headlines for dummies’.

Taking that on board, Charlie has come up with the following proposals:

Headlines

• Crossheads, subheads and straplines
• The language and grammar of headlines
• Shapes, phrasing and visualisation
• Upper or lower case?
• Making heads fit: character counting, bastardising type
• Examples of good and bad headlines

Basic Layout

Principles of page make-up

Styles of design

Setting text

• Width
• Justified/ragged right
• Problems: blind turns, widows and orphans

Page furniture

• Text breakers
• Boxes and panels
• Rules

Typography

Glossary

Arithmetic of type

• Points, picas, ems, ens, m muttons and nuts
• X-height and appearing heigh
• Leading

Ocular laws

Founts

• Principles
• Legibility and readability
• Styles and their uses
• Text and display

Depending on time, we may also look at pictures and captions.

*Charlie Harris has been a journalist for 34 years, working on and editing local newspapers and magazines in north London, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire, and a member of the Institute for 33 of those years. He has been involved in newspaper production for most of his career, from the days of hot metal to Quark Express and the internet. He has taught subs in-house and runs subbing and journalism courses for the NCTJ. He served on the training council for many years and chaired it from 1989-90.

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BOOKING OPTIONS
Cost from £55 per head (£75 non-CIoJ members). The price includes refreshments.
You can email us at memberservices@cioj.co.uk or telephone 020 7252 1187 to book the course. We will ring you for payment details (credit or debit card).