Writing for Multimedia
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Ohio University Pickerington Center
Pickerington, Ohio
Who Should Attend
- Editors
- Web Editors
- Reporters
- Any staffer with writing or reporting responsibilities
The Program
8 - 9 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast.
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
How to Stay One Step Ahead of Your Editor
How reporters and assigning editors can create sharp, tight copy. A look at editors’ favorite complaints and how reporters can steer clear of them. How to zero in on what information is most compelling for a story’s lead. When to use and when to avoid anecdotal leads. How to decide on your lead and where to go from there. How to organize a story. How to avoid “samurai endings.”
10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Writing for Print and Online Audiences
The best approach for telling a story to newspaper readers and to Web audiences. This workshop will look at the different needs of Web and online stories. How to choose a Web lead and a print lead. How to update stories as you acquire more information. When to use alternative story forms. How to write a Web headline and a print headline.
12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Lunch provided by ONA.
1:15 to 4 p.m.
Skeptical Reporting & Editing
How to avoid errors and misinformation by bringing skeptical news judgment to all information before it goes into the newspaper and onto your Web site.
The Five-Minute Mathematician
How to spot numbers that should raise alarm bells, how to tell when graphs and polls exaggerate and how to determine which numbers make sense.
The Instructor
Rosalie Stemer’s newspaper experience includes reporting and editing at the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Daily News and Kansas City Times. She has been a feature writer for Time Magazine’s college guide issue and for Newsweek Japan.
Stemer has coached in the newsrooms of the Boston Globe, the Denver Post, the Orlando Sentinel, the Columbus Dispatch, and The Advocate in Stamford, Conn., as well as at bureaus of the Associated Press. She has presented workshops in editing and news writing for the American Press Institute, the New England Newspaper Association, the Kansas Press Association and APME’s NewsTrain. At the San Francisco Chronicle, Stemer worked as a metro assigning editor, assistant news editor, editor of the Chronicle Foreign Service, copy editor, copy desk slot, and section editor. During her time at the Chronicle, she taught editing in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and in the Graduate Department of Communication at Stanford University. In addition, she spent a year at Stanford University in a professional journalism fellowship.
The Facility
Located in a suburb just east of Columbus, the Pickerington Center is a 15,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility. It features six ergonomically-designed classrooms equipped with technologically advanced instructional equipment. The site backs up to a wooded area and creek, a view that can be enjoyed from one of three lower-level patios. The center is a 12-15 minute commute from downtown Columbus or the airport. It has ample parking and many nearby hotels and restaurants.
Directions
The Ohio University Pickerington Center is located about 10 miles east of downtown Columbus.
Take I-70 East to Pickerington exit #112A (State Route 256)
Proceed on State Route 256 for one mile (you can only go one way off this exit, south)
Turn left (at third light) onto Stonecreek Drive (US Bank on the corner)
Proceed a quarter-mile to Pickerington Center (on right)
Ohio University Pickerington Center
12933 Stonecreek Drive, Room 10
Pickerington, Ohio 43147
There will be two buildings that look alike — 12933 is the building on the left.
Nearby hotel:
Hampton Inn, Pickerington
1890 Winderly Lane, Pickerington, Ohio 43147
(614) 864-8383
Training session questions?
Susan Bazzoli, Manager of Administrative Services:
sbazzoli@ohionews.org