Journalism training gets underway for #GAJJD13 students

#GAJJD13 course attendees discuss journalism skills

The annual Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training course is underway.

Attendees have been practising writing and interviewing skills - and a few have already been tweeting about it.

In the remaining sessions we'll do more writing and also look at online content.

If you want to find out what they've been saying, take a look at tweets from Hannah Lloyd, Nick Drew and Miranda Janatka. Or keep an eye on events via the hashtag #GAJJD13.

Looking forward to #GAJJD13 at John Deere UK

I've just returned from doing some work with the PR and internal communications at John Deere in Mannheim, Germany. They gave me this model of one of their products as a gift.

So what's next? A trip to John Deere's UK base in Langar, Nottingham for the annual John Deere Guild of Agricultural Journalists journalism training course.

Agricultural and horticultural students and others from the sector who want to get into journalism or PR will be attending the course from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th July to learn about basic journalism and PR skills in print and online.

I plan to tweet about it while I'm there in between training delivery sessions. And I'm hoping some of the participants will be posting tweets and update too. Follow us using the hashtag #GAJJD13.

A few online resources for journalism students

Interesting to see the US-based Online Education Database has compiled its list of the 40 best blogs for journalism students, which included Online Journalism Blog and a host of others, all of which are well worth a look.

In addition to these sources, for anyone starting out or trying to break in to journalism, I also recommend:

• Adam Westbrook's blog on online video and entrepreneurial journalism
• Write, edit blog, which accompanies Andy Bull's online course and book on multimedia journalism
• Dave Higgerson on journalism, social media and Freedom of Information
• A look at current stories and journalism issues on Jon Slattery's blog
• Tips and info for newcomers from Wannabehacks
• Martin Stabe's UK-centric look at online journalism
• Plus some useful analysis and aggregated news from The Media Briefing

Take a look - and why not suggest some others to add?

GAJ/John Deere course attendees get down to work

Course attendees on the Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere
journalism training course hard at work during the morning sessions.  

Tweet the course attendees at the Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training award course #GAJJD12

The Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training course kicks off on Sunday evening at John Deere UK HQ, Langar, Nottinghamshire.

  

The good news is that some of the course attendees have already begun to connect via social media.

   

Keen tweeters who will be taking part in the journalism sessions include David Acock ‏and Becca Veale. 

   

And the latest to connect are Twitter newcomer Louise Hartley and Harper Adams agri-food marketing student Sophie Cawley.

Why not follow and keep in touch with course events? I'll be using the hastag #GAJJD12.                                                                                                              

Video: Watch sports journalists in action

Hat-tip to Martin Green for tweeting this link to a video of a group of football reporters raiding a fridge full of free beer at the Euro 2012 championships.

Reportedly, it took just three minutes to empty the fridge, demonstrating that years of hard journalistic training have certainly paid-off.

Semi-colons in the spotlight

The semi-colon has been getting more than its fair share of publicity over the last few weeks. 

Writer and poet Michael Rosen recently took a pot shot at what he calls semi-colon terrorism. He was responding to proposals to introduce grammar tests to English primary schools. His question was how can teachers get the idea of correct semi-colon use over to a class of 11-year-olds? 


The debate continued on the other side of the Atlantic. According to Ben Dolnick in the New York Times author Kurt Vonnegut's maxim was:

Do not use semi-colons...All they do is show you've been to college.

Dolnick followed Vonnegut's advice until recently but now begs to differ. (Hat-tip to Patrick Neylan for the link).

Personally, I use semi-colons as little as possible. I tend to find myself siding with Vonnegut's point of view when we cover the subject on the regular business writing and editorial courses I run.

Of course, semi-colons have a use. But in most writing where the aim is simple, direct communication - such as in journalism or business documents - I feel you're nearly always better off with a full stop and a new sentence. Besides, not all readers understand them anyway.

Not sure how to use a semi-colon? Take a look at these tips from The Oatmeal plus a few thoughts from Grammar Girl.

All set for Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere journalism training course 2012

GAJ/John Deere journalism training course attendees, 2011

I've spent some time over the last couple of days putting the final touches to the annual Guild of Agricultural Journalists' training course, which is sponsored by John Deere.

I'm no agricultural expert myself, but each year I teach journalism sessions at John Deere UK HQ for students and graduates with agriculture and horticulture backgrounds. 


Over a couple of days attendees are introduced to core journalism skills including writing, interviewing and copy-editing for print and online. Course host and John Deere PR consultant, Steve Mitchell, teaches the PR segment of the programme.

The course is followed by a few days' work experience on a variety of industry titles, which Steve organises for attendees. Attendees also complete a post-course assignment to write a news story. The best entry wins the John Deere award trophy plus £250 in prize money

Course graduates who've opted to pursue a media career following the sessions have gone on to work for magazines, newspapers, websites and PR companies across the agriculture and horticulture sectors.

As always, I'm really looking forward to working with this year's attendees. We begin on Sunday evening with an introductory talk - followed, of course, by a few drinks.

Where have you been?

The calm before the course: training room in New Jersey

Oops. Long time, no JLB post. You see, I've been a bit busy.  Doesn't sound like a great excuse but, honestly, June was a hectic month.

First of all there were editorial training courses to run in London and in Shrewsbury, followed by a heavy load of marking journalism assignments and media law exams for students at Southampton Solent University.

Then I jetted out to New Jersey to run some editorial workshops and social media sessions with the legal editors at xperthr.com.  The great news is they've just won their first award.

And I spent most of last week running a series of one-day media law refresher sessions for editorial staff and teams.

Today, I've been completing the prep for my annual session on the Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training course while keeping half an eye on the latest developments in the progress of the Defamation Bill.

I should have made time to blog at some point, but sometimes it all gets too much.

Courts and councils: please make it easier to get information

I've been putting together some sessions on news reporting and the role of PR people and press offices for journalism students I've been working with. This has included going to watch and report on Southampton City Council meetings and the students have also taken part in a mock press conference with Council press officers.

My visit to the council came not long after attending the Justice Wide Open media law event at City University and it struck me that some of the same information issues raised at the law event could also apply to councils.

How easy is to get court information?
Speakers at Justice Wide Open, including information campaigner Heather Brooke and press association legal correspondent Mike Dodd, criticised the difficulties journalists and members of the public face when trying to find out about and attend court cases. Lists of cases are not always available and some courts appear to revel in the mystique and idiosyncracies of our legal system. Two proposals stood out:

Useful tips on how to question numbers

I've been working with some journalism students looking at the challenges of writing stories based on surveys and other stats. So it was good to see some useful tips on how to question numbers from South African journalist Linda Nordling writing on SCiDevnet.

Many journalists started their careers because they are good with words but some are really uncomfortable with figures.

Useful tips from Nordling include:

• Single numbers aren't always useful: they need other figures to provide context.
• What's missing: eg check that percentage breakdowns add up to 100. If they don't, what's missing?
• Use figures that readers/users can relate to.
• Watch out for stats and financial targets that sound unrealistic.
• And of course: check, check, check.

Citizen journalists - or just people?

I must admit I've never been that happy with the term 'citizen journalist', so I was interested to read what Steve Yelvington had to say on the topic:

What many meant when they said or heard "citizen journalism" was a lay practice resembling professional journalism ... where "citizens" "covered" "news."

But what I meant when I said "people's journalism" is not that at all. I meant something more organic, more natural, more spontaneous, more personal, less organized, less structured, less "newsworthy" and less ... well, less reliable.

I prefer Yelvington's thought that inevitably 'people's journalism', as he calls it, is more 'natural'. People talk about, write about, report on, and produce other types of content on, topics they find interesting. Journalists might define some of it as 'news' but some if will be just 'interesting stuff', but still important.

Students at Solent will soon be debating what 'citizen journalists' do that helps, improves on, or is better than, the work of professional journalists.

Their start point is a series of links, new and old, plus a couple of books- all listed below. Feel free to contribute to the debate.

How “citizen journalism” aided two major Guardian scoops, Online Journalism Blog                     

2011: The year of citizen journalism, Blotrr.com

Citizen journalism and investigative reporting, Online Journalism Blog

Citizen journalism and the 2009 Mumbai terrorist attacks - Video

Richard Sambrook on four types of citizen journalism - Video

Books

Online Journalism: principles & practices of news for the web 2^nd edition, James C Foust.  Pages 180-185.

Online news: journalism and the internet, Stuart Allen.  Introduction and Ch 4, 5, 8.

Participatory Journalism: guarding open gates at online newspapers, Jane B Singer. Ch 5.

Shit journalists say - on video

Hat-tip to 10,000 words for this bit of video fun from Stuff Journalists Like.

Discussing the future of print media

I'll be discussing the future of print media soon with some first year journalism students at Solent University. I came across these videos from US editors/publishers, which are worth a look if you haven't seen them before.

The Future of Magazines

The Future of Print Media

The changing role of the journalist

Plenty of people have been discussing how to define a journalist and thinking about whether it's really the case that everyone is a journalist these days.

Martin Cloake takes former Independent editor Simon Kelner to task for saying “Anyone with a phone is now a journalist” in a speech at a Hacks and Hackers event. Kelner corrected this when questioned, as Cloake points out:

Kelner immediately qualified his comment, saying that what he really meant was that anyone with phone “could be” a journalist. He should be more careful when defining the debate, but he’s not the only person to sloppily put forward a view that is, in my opinion, extremely damaging.

But, says Cloake, there's more to journalism than simply publishing:

The great change that we are all dealing with is that anyone with access to technology can publish. But knowing why it is important to protect sources, to balance debate where necessary, to check facts and establish authority… these are just some of the things which distinguish journalism from communication.

This is a fair point. Journalists are professional filterers of information, fact checkers and askers of awkward questions. Some 'amateurs' do the same - perhaps occasionally better than the professionals - while some just record events.


The precise role of a journalist has always been a varied one. Paul Bradshaw raises the problem of defining a journalist in a collaborative age in response to a Press Gazette post. What happens, he asks, when more journalism is being done collaboratively:

If, for example, one person researches the regulations relating to an issue, another FOIs key documents; a third speaks to a victim; a fourth speaks to an expert; a fifth to the person responsible; and a sixth writes it all up into a coherent narrative – which one is the journalist?

Equally, any non-media folk watching or reading about the Leveson Inquiry might find it interesting to note that a journalist can be both someone who decides whether to run pictures and stories about celebrities and their weight and someone who takes politicians to task for their actions.

Journalism has always included a wide range of roles and activities. Admittedly there is a bit of churnalism but there's also space for some thoughtful analysis.

We know that the people we used to call the audience have a vital role to play in the process and if we fail to involve them and interact with them, we'll lose them. All we know for certain is that the range of roles and activities in journalism is just getting broader.

Headline writing: when is a 'slump' just a fall?

The headline on this Guardian news story caught my eye:

Number of UK-born university applicants slumps by 8% 

But is an 8% drop really a slump? 'Slump' suggests a major fall in applications to me. The Guardian standfirst says:

In the year fees of up to £9,000 kick in, 283,680 people apply for university from within UK, compared with 306,908 last year

If my sums are correct that's a fall of 23,228 applicants.  Sounds like a lot. But how many places are there to apply for? Also, as one of the commenters on the story notes, last year was a boom year for applications as prospective students rushed to beat the fee increase.  Maybe we need more context.                                                                                                                                                                        
 So is the story about a slump or just a fall?

The Power of Citizen Journalism

I was trawling around scoop.it and I've just stumbled across this BBC documentary from 2010. It focuses on how aspects of citizen journalism - video in particular - are affecting the ability of those in power to control their messages. It also looks its impact on the media.

If, like me, you missed it at the time it's a useful bit of background for anyone taking look at the impact of what's been dubbed citizen journalism.

On a day when my son is looking at video clips as part of his exam revision, it's also a powerful reminder of the role Youtube plays in education, information and entertainment.

Journalism ethics on Scoopit.

I've been playing with Scoopit.com recently and I've come up with this curated page on Journalism Ethics, which I hope to keep curating. I'd be interested in hearing others' views on using this tool.

 

Twitter lists for media law and UK national newspapers

Inforrm Blog published its list of 90 legal tweeters the other day.  The list is made up principally of UK-based folk who tweet about media related law topics, but there are a few from the US too.

I'm flattered to be on it, alongside really good legal tweeters such as David Allen Green of New Statesman and Jack of Kent blog flame. And I've gained a few new Twitter followers as result of my inclusion.

It's also a great demonstration of how much we like lists. We look to see if we've been included and we usually have a suggestion or two for names that might have been left out.

Journalism.co.uk has also updated its Twitter list of national newspaper tweeters, which might be worth a look.

NCTJ holds seminar on the need to 'teach journalists to Tweet'

There's an interesting story on Hold the Front Page about teaching journalists to Tweet.

The importance of teaching social media skills was discussed at the National Council for the Training of Journalists' digital training seminar, says HTFP.

I wasn't at the seminar and I'm sure plenty of useful points were made. But I have to say I'm surprised this subject even needs to be discussed. I think journalism qualification courses should already have it as a central component of their programmes.

There's no doubt that new journalists need to use and understand social media and the chances are a few of the newcomers could teach some of us a thing or two.

But what about those already in journalism who haven't yet taken the plunge? I'm sure we all still encounter working journalists who are resistant to using Twitter and other tools, just as Steve Buttry has. I've also met the real cynics who still think social media is just a bunch of self-important people telling no-one in particular about what they had for lunch.

Journalists need:
a) to be encouraged and given the space to try things out - and sometimes get it wrong
b) an understanding of how social media tools can help them with their job
c) to appreciate the fact that it's not about 'telling' or 'broadcasting' - it's about connecting them with their communities.

Oh, and they also need IT departments that don't frown at the idea of downloading social media clients such as Tweetdeck.

So, teaching journalists to use social media effectively is important. I'm assuming newcomers - such as those on  NCTJ pre-entry courses and journalism degrees - will find it easier to adopt the tools because they're already using some. They're also lucky enough not to be burdened by the mental baggage of the 'traditional' way of doing things.

But I think it's some of the old guard, the ones who won't be actively seeking out tips on Mashable, who probably need the most help - and the most convincing.