Improve your skills at the 2008 Convention & National Journalism Conference
Become a Webmaster, learn how to expand your freelance work and improve your networking skills at the 2008 SPJ Conference & National Journalism Convention, Sept. 4-7 in Atlanta, Ga. Listed below is a mere sampling of the development sessions designed to fit your needs!
The Freelance Magazine Article
Description: From idea to published clip, this session takes you through the freelance magazine article process. Hear from editors and professional freelancers about how to shape an idea, pitch it, report it, write the article and then get paid.
Speakers: Kathy Ehrich Dowd, People, USA Today, Brides.com; Hope Winsborough, ESPN the Magazine, Redbook, Self; Laura Helmuth, senior science editor, Smithsonian magazine
Dealing with Pesky Sources
Description: Developing them, maintaining them, schmoozing, them and getting them to talk over and over and over again. Mark Felt is not the only person who wants to meet you in a garage. Dave Garlock will tell you how he got a PR source to deliver secret documents to him in a Brooklyn diner at 5 a.m. This will be a hands-on “working source” seminar and the words Internet, Web or CAR will not be brought up!
Speaker: Dave Garlock, senior lecturer, University of Texas
Pursuing the Lead: A Study of Persistence and Payoff on the Bigger Story
Description: This is a case study of how larger, more significant news stories can be found in an area previously considered not interesting enough to have a beat reporter devoted to it. There are investigative stories on all beats and subjects, and ways to get to them when others don't want you to have the information. Getting around the obstacles, why it's important to stick with it and a reminder why every government institution that receives taxpayer money needs a watchdog will all be discussed.
Speaker: Brett Blackledge, reporter, Associated Press and former general assignment and special projects reporter, Birmingham (Ala.) News, 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism
They’re Everywhere: Finding Great Stories Off the Beaten Path: 20 Tips Your Editor Won't Tell You
Description: Whether you cover a beat, write features or general assignment, the first step for any reporter is coming up with story ideas. In this session, you'll learn ways to unearth compelling tales from your community and your life. And you'll hear tips about how to recast recurring stories. Guaranteed: You'll walk away with something to write about.
Speaker: Lane DeGregory, features writer, St. Petersburg Times
Figuring out Blogs and Whatever's Next
Description: Want to know more about the best blogs FOR and BY journalists, how you can join the blogging revolution as a consumer and/or creator of blogs and how to make sense of all the other new technologies changing our business? Topics covered include blog basics, blogs that are changing America and the world, blogs that are over hyped and a waste of time, how to read blogs without drowning in too much info, how to create a blog and raise your Google rankings and why journalists should or should NOT be blogging. What's next? Photoblogging, videoblogging, podcasting, wikis, RSS, XML. All levels of experience are welcome — blog skeptics to blog fanatics. You will go home with plenty of useful ideas and a printed handout that you will use often.
Speaker: Sree Sreenivasan, professor and dean of students, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, co-founder, South Asian Journalists Association and technology reporter, WNBC-TV
For a full list of programs offered at this year’s Convention & National Journalism Conference, visit http://www.spj.org/c-programs.asp.