UK/summer course

Thomson Foundation summer course 2018: dates and details

Thomson Foundation has announced the dates for its mobile multimedia journalism programme. This intensive five-week course in London brings together digital news gathering and publishing skills for storytelling across multiple platforms and devices.

August 6 to September 7, 2018

In the five-week programme, participants will cover a story for their media organisation from different angles using different technologies and techniques.

Week one: Recipes for great journalism

What makes great journalism?:

The art of story treatment and storytelling, adapting and creating material for different types of media platforms, exploring innovations in journalism and engaging audiences.

Research and verification: Learning competency in digital research and verification including essential social media verification practices, handling user-generated content (UGC), open source tools and geolocation.

Masterclass – investigative journalism: Asking the right questions and interrogating data to establish the truth and piece together the whole. With a leading international investigative journalist.

Example visits: The Guardian and Channel 4

Week two: Data journalism, visual, audio and social

Data journalism: Learning how to research and analyse data, data mining and the ethics of access to data.

Masterclass – data visualisation: Using infographics to make instant sense of complex trends and information, identifying visual stories in data.

Social media: Identifying the right platform for specific content and audiences and the best apps and open source digital tools to help gather and create that content.

Example visits: BBC and YouTube

A must and a really valuable experience. I recommend it to everyone.

Leonor Suarez, summer course 2016

Week three:

The power of audio: The tools for podcast and audio production and how to use this personal and intimate form of media to tell human stories.

Mobile journalism – the swiss army knife of journalism

The power of the image: The use of framing, lighting and image sequences to tell visual stories. Includes a photo-walk to explore the streets of London through the lens of a mobile phone.

The power of video: Developing video filming and editing skills using mobile phones and tablets and using apps to create graphics and effects.

Masterclass – the power of live: Exploring opportunities for live broadcast anywhere, anytime, any place using a mobile phone, and the social media platforms to choose.

Week four: Hands-on great journalism

Bringing it all together: Working with mentors to produce a finished story in formats suitable for relevant media organisations' output channels.

Masterclass – innovations in media: Exploring cutting-edge innovations poised to merge the impossible worlds of imagination with real life, including 360-video, virtual reality and augmented reality.

Week five: UK media placement

Work placement: A chance to spend five days within British media organisations.

To take part in the summer course you will need:

To have worked as a journalist.
Funding for course fees (£4,800, excluding travel and accommodation; £11,000, including travel and accommodation).
The support of your employer.
A good working knowledge of English.

For further information on the course, contact Hosam El Nagar.

Apply for part-scholarship

Thomson Foundation is inviting journalists to apply for part scholarships for the five-week summer convergence course. The two scholarships are reserved for exceptional and ambitious journalists with at least two years' experience. They represent a 50 per cent and an 80 per cent deduction on the course fees but do not include travel and accommodation costs.

To apply, send your CV and cover letter to enquiries@thomsonfoundation.org putting 'Summer Course' in the subject line. Application deadline: 15 June, 2018.

A lot that was foggy cleared out with the foundation's summer course.

Caroline Ariba, summer course 2017