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Reporter’s Toolkit (2024)

$499.00

Application is closed

Reporter’s Toolkit (2024)

This six-week seminar equips reporters with the tools and one-on-one coaching they need to hit the ground running and build a successful career.

May 7, 2024– June 11, 2024

Overview

  • Learn to use your origin stories for motivation and inspiration.
  • Get tips on brainstorming and pitching story ideas that work for your editor and your community.
  • Take a deep dive on everything that makes a good interview experience.
  • Learn how to focus on and structure a story.
  • Create and present a personal development plan for your own reporting.
  • Get tips for navigating a modern newsroom.
  • The deadline to apply is April 28, 2024.

$499.00

Application is closed
SKU: POGS08-24 Tag:

Learning Outcomes

In this course, you will:

  • Strengthen your pitches.
  • Gain a deeper understanding of storytelling structure.
  • Focus on effective interviewing, including working with vulnerable sources.
  • Center your reporting work on your journalistic mission and values.
  • Learn how to navigate your relationships with your editor and newsroom.
  • Understand how better to use data and documents in reporting.
  • Gain skills for ethical decision-making on deadline.

$499.00

Application is closed

Overview

  • Learn to use your origin stories for motivation and inspiration.
  • Get tips on brainstorming and pitching story ideas that work for your editor and your community.
  • Take a deep dive on everything that makes a good interview experience.
  • Learn how to focus on and structure a story.
  • Create and present a personal development plan for your own reporting.
  • Get tips for navigating a modern newsroom.
  • The deadline to apply is April 28, 2024.

Training five or more people?
Check out our custom training.

Are you a reporter who’s hungry for more coaching and training as you pursue your journalistic calling?

Or are you part of a newsroom that’s struggling to develop – and hold onto – talented reporters?

Poynter is here for you.

We’re offering a low-cost, virtual, multi-week seminar to help journalists build and strengthen the skills they need for great reporting and a successful career.

In this training, you will get:

  • Ninety minutes of weekly online training over six weeks.
  • One-on-one coaching with a veteran journalist.
  • Guidance on building a personal development plan, to be presented at the end of the seminar.
  • A community of reporters who will stay connected via Slack and Facebook.
  • A stronger sense of purpose for why we do this hard work.

Questions?

If you need assistance, email us at [email protected].

This seminar will meet on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. Eastern from May 7 to June 11. The following tentative schedule is subject to change.

Week 1 | Origin stories

Using our origin stories as an approach to writing, but also as fuel to motivate us during hard times. What is our personal mission, and how does it coincide with our journalism mission? What is our sense of purpose as we take on our journalism journey? What do we value, and how do our values spark our reporting?

Week 2 | Brainstorming and pitching strong story ideas

How do you work with your editor and others to brainstorm fresh ideas? How do you find ideas on your beat and across diverse communities? Once you have an idea, how do you pitch the story?

Week 3 | Effective interviewing

What questions can help you get your sources to not just share facts, but tell stories? What would an ideal interview look like? What are best practices when it comes to talking to vulnerable sources?

Week 4 | Focusing and structuring the story

The hardest part of storytelling is not just identifying the news nugget, but going deep and understanding what your story is truly about. What are the focusing questions that will help you find the heart of your story? What are some strategies to help organize your stories?

Week 5 | Navigating the newsroom

Learn about knowing what your editor needs from you, how to connect with others across the newsroom, how to advocate for yourself, and how to find mentors. 

Week 6 | Putting it all together

Presentation of personal development plans

 

In addition to live seminars, a series of asynchronous sessions may include:

  • Introduction to using documents and data
  • Ethical decision-making
  • Fact-checking and self-editing

Who should apply

Reporters with up to six years of experience.

We will especially look at reporters who come from diverse backgrounds, are driven to succeed and are hungry for mentorship and guidance, as well as a journalism community to share stories, ideas and experiences.

The reporters’ newsrooms can range from small to large, public to private, local to national. We expect that many of these reporters are working in multiplatform newsrooms that are hybrid, with a mix of in-office and remote days. 

 Cost

$499

Application process

The process to apply is straightforward and simple. No letter of recommendation or reference is required. Please be prepared to answer questions about your professional experience, areas of interest and basic demographic information.

The deadline to apply is April 28, 2024.

Instructors

Faculty

  • Tom Huang
    Assistant Managing Editor for Journalism Initiatives, The Dallas Morning News
    Tom Huang is Assistant Managing Editor for Journalism Initiatives at The Dallas Morning News, where he oversees Sunday Page One, edits in-depth enterprise stories, handles...
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  • Fernanda Camarena
    Faculty
    Fernanda Camarena is an award-winning TV and radio reporter and editor who was most recently a manager on NBC News' Standards and Practices team, where...
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  • Kathleen McGrory
    Editor, New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship
    Kathleen McGrory is an editor for the New York Times’ Local Investigations Fellowship program. She was previously a reporter on ProPublica’s national staff. Before that,...
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Coaches

  • Ren LaForme
    Managing Editor
    Ren LaForme is the managing editor of Poynter. He was previously Poynter's digital tools reporter, chronicling tools and technology for journalists, and a producer for...
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  • Jennifer Orsi
    Vice President for Publishing & Local News Initiatives
    Jennifer Orsi is Poynter’s vice president for publishing and local news initiatives and oversees Poynter’s digital publishing, marketing and public event team, audience engagement and...
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  • Vicky Ho
    Managing Editor, Anchorage Daily News
    Vicky Ho is the Anchorage Daily News' managing editor. An avid hiker and skier, she also writes Cautionary Tales, a column about lessons learned the...
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  • Rosanna Xia
    Environmental reporter, Los Angeles Times
    Rosanna Xia is an environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she specializes in stories about the coast and ocean. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in...
    Read More

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