Note: Online registration for this event is no longer available. There are a limited number of spaces available, and you may register at the door if there are still spaces available when you arrive. Payment at the door will only be accepted in cash. 

The Get Publishing Communications Society 

and the Edmonton Journal

Present

Citizen Journalism - A Workshop for Writers

More than ever before, news organizations are eager to invite members of the public, sometimes known as “citizen journalists,” to participate in coverage of local events and issues. This presents a new opportunity to be published. Journalism, however, involves a particular kind of information-gathering and storytelling. It’s not so much about “writing what you know” as it is “writing what you didn’t know until just now, after asking some questions.”

This practical workshop will explore the skills, style and ethics that a reporter would apply to a story, and it will demonstrate how citizen journalists can use those skills to write stories of interest to a wider audience. We will discuss story idea generation, interviewing techniques and story structure, and students will have an opportunity to practice those skills in class. We will look at what local media outlets are looking for from citizen journalists, including how to pitch, what to pitch and to whom. We will discuss what’s in it for the writer who participates in such community news-gathering efforts.

The workshop includes a guided tour of the Edmonton Journal’s community media lab and news room, followed by an introduction to the virtual community news room by Barb Wilkinson, Deputy Editor, Innovation & Engagement.

Workshop Leader

Karen Unland is a journalism educator and consultant based in Edmonton. She spent 15 years working for major daily newspapers before heading out on her own. At the Edmonton Journal, she was a reporter, an assistant city editor, an assignment editor and, finally, the editor of edmontonjournal.com. She now teaches reporting and news production at Grant MacEwan University. Through Unland Media Consulting, she helps newsrooms improve their skills and adjust their thinking to adapt to the changes going on in journalism in the 21st century.

Additional Information

1) There are metered parking spots and pay parking lots within one block of the venue. You are responsible for your own parking fees.

2) Mid-morning refreshments will be provided.

Cancellation Policy

The registration fee, less 20% for administration costs, will be refunded if notice of cancellation is received on or before October 15, 2011 (two weeks prior to the workshop). No refunds will be given if notice of cancellatoin is received after October 15, 2011, and no refunds will be given for "no shows."

Questions? Need more information? 

Contact Catherine Kuehne Harder, Program Lead, Get Publishing Communications Society at cmkuehne@shaw.ca.