UK/mobile multimedia journalism

Dates announced for Thomson Foundation's summer course

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

August 7 to September 8, 2017

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?:

Participants will explore the ingredients that distinguish good and great journalism from the ordinary including the art of story treatment and storytelling. They will analyse examples made on different types of media platforms and will explore how they can make their chosen story better.

Traditional and online news gathering: Participants will explore and practice latest news gathering techniques and begin researching their stories.

Example visits: The Guardian and Channel 4

Week two: Mobile journalism – The Swiss Army Knife of journalism

The power of the image: Participants will explore the still image medium, including the use of framing, lighting, and image sequences to tell visual stories. The programme also includes a photo-walk to explore the streets of London through the lens of a mobile phone.

The power of sound: Participants will explore the sound medium and learn how to capture human speech and sound effects clearly and will investigate how their story could be treated in the medium.

The power of video: Participants will explore the language of video. They will develop their video filming and editing skills using mobile phones and tablets and learn how to use apps to create graphics and special effects.

Example visits: BBC, Trinity Mirror

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

Leonor Suarez, summer course 2016

Week three: Reaching your audience

Speaking their language: Participants will explore media- and platform-specific best practices in storytelling, from video to text and multimedia and from Facebook to Twitter and Instagram. How should video storytelling differ on mobile and social media from TV? How should a story be written differently for online or for print? Participants will analyse their media organisations' target audiences and will plan their story coverage accordingly.

Expanding the digital vocabulary: Participants will explore digital interactive tools and new media for storytelling such as live coverage, animations, infographics and 360° video and will consider how to use these tools to cover their stories inventively.

Example visits: Instagram @London, Facebook, YouTube

Week four: Hands on great journalism

Bringing it all together: Working with mentors, participants will focus on producing their finished story in formats suitable for their media organisations' output channels.

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.
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. The reduced fees for each place, respectively, are £2,250 and £1,000.

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

I experienced London’s finest newsrooms on my placement, which led to my appointment at CNN.

Yusuf Omar, summer course 2016