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.
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.
Every summer, international journalists attend Thomson Foundation's summer convergence course.
A masterclass in video storytelling
Producing journalists strong on storytelling and editorial values who are able to use the latest digital tools
Why traditional media can no longer ignore the mojos
Thomson Foundation was on hand to help a team of promising mobile journalists maximise the power of video
