NewsTrain / Washington, D.C.

DAY 1 / Thursday, March 17, 2011

TRACK 1 / Watchdog Journalism
in the Digital Age / TRACK 2 / Creating Content
Across Platforms
8-8:30 Sign-ins. Room 703, the “pre-function” area.
8:30-9. Intro and Welcome, including 10-15 minute remarks
Room: 705-706
9-10:15Do Not Sit, Stay or Roll Over: Unleash the Watchdog (Michael Berens)
Why: Watchdog journalism is the heart of our public service role.
Find innovative stories with a blend of gumshoe techniques and digital tools. Learn simple strategies that yield top-tier daily enterprise or long-term projects. Discover how to uncover watchdog themes,analyze data and craft a bulletproof story.
Room: 704 / 9-9:30 Visit a Newseum exhibit in advance of Coaching/Planning seminar
Break 10:15-10:20 / 9:30- 12:30 Coaching and Planning Content for Multiple Platforms (Michael Roberts)
-With internal break-
Why: More talk and better planning leads to a more complete and richernews report for print, broadcast, and digital audiences, not tomention less chaos on deadline.
Learn how to develop and plan content for multiple media andmultiple platforms, content based on standards you develop to quantifyand maintain quality. This session provides a framework for reporters,visual journalists, producers and editors to work effectively togetherthrough the entire story process for print and online -- framing andfocusing ideas, reporting, organizing, and editing. Participants willpractice several steps in the process.
Room: 705-706
10:30-11The Newseum’s “4-D History of Journalism”
11-12:30 Digital Gold: Mining Public Data for Watchdog Stories (Michael Berens)
Why: You need to know where and how to get data, and what to do with it once it’s in hand.
Learn aggressive strategies to obtain public data and sidestep pitfalls that await the unwary. Discover how to scrub data for accuracy.Spot and tracktinydata clues that can uncover stories ofwidespread government deception or fraud.
Room: 704
12:30-1:15 Lunch
1:15-2:15 NEWSEUM HIGHLIGHT TOUR

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, continued

2:30-4:15Crunch Time A:
Hands-on Excel Basics
(Michael Berens)
Participants may choose either A or B
Why: Excel is the place to start for stories that emerge from data.
Master a handful of simple techniques to transform spreadsheets into powerful stories. No math, programming or experience required.
Room: 704 / 2:30-4:15 Crunch Time B:
Hands-on Data Manipulation
(Ron Nixon)
Participants may choose either A or B
Why: If you know the basics, it’s time to raise your game.
Access is the tool to use when you want to overlay different databases and analyze the results. This workshop is for people who already have familiarity with Excel.
Room: 709 / 2:30-3:45 Better Visual Journalism (Maxine Park and Michael Roberts)
Why: Important principles help “word people” quickly improve their visual journalism.
Learn the terminology, the basics of what makes slide shows and brief videos good: quality audio, lighting, narration and continuity, and a goodstory line.
Room: 705-706
3:45-4:15 Newseum Feature:Visit Pulitzer Photo gallery to see Better Visual Journalism principles at work.
4:15-4:30 Break / 4:15-4:30 Break
4:30-5:45 Great Ways to Tell Stories with Data
(Kat Downs)
Why: Creative visual story forms in digital media give readers the opportunity to interact with data and understand news and information in new ways.
This seminar offers strategies for using data to tell stories in creative and visual ways. Discover what’s being done at the cutting edge of visual storytelling and pick up tips on how to keep multimedia in mind as you go through the reporting process. Learn about free or inexpensive do-it-yourself visual tools that allow you to find and explore new stories in your data sets.
Room: 704 / 4:30-5:45 3-4:15 Smart Phones for Smart Journalists(Mandy Jenkins)
Why: Phones are great newsgathering and news-delivery tools.
Learn a few easy and important ways to gather and publish content. Bring your phones and we'll practice some techniques.
Room: 705-706
5:45-6 Day 1 wrap-up for Track 1.
Room: 704 / 5:45-6 Day 1 wrap-up for Track 2.
Room: 705-706

NewsTrain / Washington, D.C.

DAY 2 / FRIday, March 18, 2011

TRACK 1 / Watchdog Journalism
in the Digital Age / TRACK 2 / Creating Content
Across Platforms
8-8:30 Sign-ins and welcome back
8:30-9 The Newseum’s “4-D History of Journalism” / 8:30-9 Visit a Newseum Feature
9-10:15 Do Not Sit, Stay or Roll Over: Unleash the Watchdog (Michael Berens)
Why: Watchdog journalism is the heart of our public service role.
Find innovative stories with a blend of gumshoe techniques and digital tools. Learn simple strategies that yield top-tier daily enterprise or long-term projects. Discover how to uncover watchdog themes,analyze data and craft a bulletproof story.
Room: 704 / 9-12 Coaching and Planning Content for Multiple Platforms (Michael Roberts)
With internal break
Why: More talk and better planning leads to a more complete and richernews report for print, broadcast, and digital audiences, not tomention less chaos on deadline.
Learn how to develop and plan content for multiple media andmultiple platforms, content based on standards you develop to quantifyand maintain quality. This session provides a framework for reporters,visual journalists, producers and editors to work effectively togetherthrough the entire story process for print and online -- framing andfocusing ideas, reporting, organizing, and editing. Participants willpractice several steps in the process.
Room: 705-706
10:15-10:30 Break
10:30-12 Digital Gold: Mining Public Data for Watchdog Stories (Michael Berens)
Why: You need to know where and how to get data, and what to do with it once it’s in hand.
Learn aggressive strategies to obtain public data and sidestep pitfalls that await the unwary. Discover how to scrub data for accuracy.Spot and tracktinydata clues that can uncover stories ofwidespread government deception or fraud.
Room: 704
12-1 Lunch

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, continued

1-2:45Crunch Time A:
Hands-on Excel Basics
(Michael Berens)
Participants may choose either A or B
Why: Excel is the place to start for stories that emerge from data.
Master a handful of simple techniques to transform spreadsheets into powerful stories. No math, programming or experience required.
Room: 704 / 1-2:45Crunch Time B:
Hands-on Data Manipulation
(Ron Nixon)
Participants may choose either A or B
Why: If you know the basics, it’s time to raise your game.
Access is the tool to use when you want to overlay different databases and analyze the results. This workshop is for people who already have familiarity with Excel.
Room: 709 / 1-2:15 Better Visual Journalism (Maxine Park and Michael Roberts)
Why: Important principles help “word people” quickly improve their visual journalism.
Learn the terminology, the basics of what makes slide shows and brief videos good: quality audio, lighting, narration and continuity, and a goodstory line.
Room: 705-706
2:15-2:45 Newseum Feature: Visit Pulitzer Photo gallery to see Better Visual Journalism principles at work.
2:45-3 Break / 2:45-3 Break
3-4:15 Great Ways to Tell Stories with Data
(Kat Downs)
Why: Creative visual story forms in digital media give readers the opportunity to interact with data and understand news and information in new ways.
This seminar offers strategies for using data to tell stories in creative and visual ways. Discover what’s being done at the cutting edge of visual storytelling and pick up tips on how to keep multimedia in mind as you go through the reporting process. Learn about free or inexpensive do-it-yourself visual tools that allow you to find and explore new stories in your data sets.
Room: 704 / 3-4:15 Smart Phones for Smart Journalists
(Mandy Jenkins)
Why: Phones are great newsgathering and news-delivery tools.
Learn a few easy and important ways to gather and publish content. Bring your phones and we'll practice some techniques.
Room: 705-706
4:15-4:30 Day 2 wrap-up for Track 1.
Room: 704 / 4:15-4:30 Day 2 wrap-up for Track 2.
Room: 705-706