Each week, MediaShift will list upcoming online trainings and courses for journalists and media people – with a focus on digital training. We’ll include our DigitalEd courses, as well as those from Mediabistro, NewsU, and others. If we’re missing anything, or you’d like to pay to promote your training in the “featured training” spot of our weekly post, please contact Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org. Any non-MediaShift courses in the “featured training” slot are paid placements. Note: Course and training descriptions are excerpts, edited for length and clarity.
Featured Trainings
Introduction to After Effects
After Effects can look like a very daunting program. It’s extremely versatile and appears complicated. But you don’t have to jump into the deep end. You can wade in and make very effective, simple motion graphics ads for social media before you ever consider tackling all the hard stuff. What you’ll learn from this training: basic interface; power of the Keyframe; preparing a PSD file for ease of use in After Effects; outputting for posting online.
Date and time: Nov. 1, 2017, 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. ET
Instructor: Kylos Brannon, American University
Producer: DigitalEd
Place: Online
Price: $39
Register here!
How to Launch a Podcast
You’ve heard podcasts are hot again. But how do you launch one? Podcasting is experiencing a resurgence, with an increase in American podcast listeners, connected cars, the launch of podcast divisions by traditional media outlets such as WNYC and the rise of networks such as Podcast One, Radiotopia and Panoply. Find out how to join the movement and maximize your audience in this training that will tell you everything you need to know to get started in podcasting. We’ll show you how to equip a studio where you can produce professional-caliber audio with minimal investment. Learn tricks for developing, capturing and editing the content of your podcast. Find out which networks your podcast should be on to attract your audience and learn the basics of social media marketing.
Date and time: Nov. 8, 2017, 10 a.m. PST / 1 p.m. ET
Instructor: Megan Calcote, podcast producer
Producer: DigitalEd
Place: Online
Price: $39
Register here!
OCTOBER 2017
Trust-Building Strategies for Journalists
Don’t just expect your community to trust you. Demonstrate why you deserve it. Journalists know that trust in their work is decreasing, but they too often don’t know what to do about it. We talked to audiences like yours, and we know how they decide what news to trust. We’ve connected those insights with specific strategies so you can take action. In this webinar, we’ll demystify trust in news and empower you to invest in earning trust.
Date and time: Oct. 26, 2017, 2 p.m. ET
Instructor: Joy Mayer, engagement strategist
Producer: Poynter News University
Place: Online at Poynter
Price: $29.95
NOVEMBER 2017 & BEYOND
Philanthropy’s Role in Combating Misinformation
Modern democracies rely on media to help inform citizens about the challenges we face, and to provide the information we need to address them. Today, civil society actors are increasingly worried about the ways in which media are also being used to misinform citizens—dividing nations politically and culturally, and threatening representative democracy. Misinformation, disinformation, fake news and propaganda present a growing challenge to informed democratic decision-making. With this comes widespread mistrust in media, a raging debate over the fundamental value of facts, and a growing cohort of paid advocates charged with casting doubt on those facts.
Date and time: Nov. 2, Dec. 14, 2017
Instructor: Kelly Born, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Producer: Media Impact Funders
Place: Online at Poynter
Price: $29.95
Editors as Curators: How to Engage Audiences with Nimble Newsletters
Traditional news outlets, nonprofits, universities and corporations increasingly are using newsletters to deliver information to their audiences. In this webinar, you’ll find out how to edit newsletters for maximum effectiveness. Newsletters allow publishers to connect with audiences directly. They offer a promise to readers: Allow us in your inbox, and we’ll provide value to you. They can vary in content, tone and interactivity. But despite those differences, the common goal of newsletters is to give audiences what they need or want to know in a well-organized, efficient manner.
Date and time: Nov. 16, 2017, 2 p.m. ET
Instructor: Sue Burzynski Bullard, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Producer: Poynter News University
Place: Online at Poynter
Price: $29.95
Podcasting: Telling Stories In Sound
We have a new infatuation with audio podcasts and rightly so. Streaming audio has become easier to access, is readily available on mobile devices, and is now more personalized than ever before. This presents a huge opportunity for publishers, marketers, journalists, and communication professionals to connect with audiences via this “new” medium. In this two-day certificate course, Podcasting: Telling Stories in Sound, you’ll learn the art of creating and producing distinctive audio podcasts. You’ll practice hands-on recording and editing to develop your own podcast with direction from radio producer and podcaster, Laura Klivans.
Date and time: Jan. 8-9, 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
Instructor: Laura Klivans and Lacy Jane Roberts, audio producers and educators
Producer: UC Berkeley Advanced Media Institute
Place: UC Berkeley
Price: $865
Visual Storytelling: Inspiring Content Creators with Video, Images, Script Writing
Visual storytelling is a critical component in a brand’s strategy. To maintain a strong digital presence content creators must have the skills to produce visual stories with video, images, and text. Join us for four intensive days to learn best-in-class techniques for producing great visuals that tell stories on the web and on social media platforms. A 4-day workshop with seminar style and hands-on training in essential skills for producing visual content to a digital-first media environment. Video cameras, tripods, lavalier microphones, and photo cameras are included.
Date and time: January 9-12, 2018, 8:45 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily
Instructor: Chris Schodt, Emmy nominated multimedia journalist, video instructor and instructor for Berkeley Advanced Media Institute
Producer: UC Berkeley Advanced Media Institute
Place: UC Berkeley
Price: $2,320
COURSES ON DEMAND
How to Verify Photos and Videos
Most fake photos and videos can be checked quite quickly, allowing journalists and researchers to stop the spread of so-called “fake news” before it gets onto your Facebook feed. This course will help you develop an eye for fake photos and video, allowing you to establish the originality and veracity of the content. These skills are especially useful in a breaking news situation, in which verifying a photo or video will not just tell you if it’s real, but also can provide additional information for further reporting.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: $19
Making Sense of Local Metrics
What metrics matter most to local publishers today? Long gone are the days of tracking pageviews to measure the success of your news site, when the loyalty and quality of your audience matters much more than its raw size. Today publishers have more ways than ever to use Google Analytics and other tools to measure traffic and engagement, and even with a small team (or just yourself!) you can take advantage of this to build a more sustainable business.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: $19
Motion Graphics for Social Media
You’ve seen moving ads on your social media feed. Creating your own well designed animations including text, shape, photos and video is easier to achieve than it appears. Find a way to spice up the campaign for your business, film, nonprofit, or event.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Use Podcasts in the Classroom
Teachers can easily get into a rut, teaching their students the same way they’ve been doing for years. But this can be boring to students who are “digital natives.” This course will show you simple ways to break out of the traditional lecture-and-paper model, no matter the discipline, and instead teach lessons by listening to podcasts and having students create their own shows using free online tools.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Solve Legal Issues on Social Media
Gain an understanding of your rights and responsibilities when it comes to copyright, fair use and defamation on social media. Everyone’s a publisher now. Whether your company has a whole social media team or one person with a smart phone, you have to stay within your own lane on the information highway. It’s crucial to understand the dos and don’ts of copyright and libel law before posting. Learn how you can say everything you want and need to say without being exposed to legal risks.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: $19
Use Google Apps to Workflow Like a Pro
Learn how to measure impact in journalism and why it’s becoming a valuable and necessary skill in today’s newsrooms. Set yourself apart by knowing not only how to do work that drives real-world change, but also how to make sure that change gets noticed. Learn how to tell the story of your reporting just as effectively as you tell others’ stories.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: $19
DigitalEd Panel: How to Get Better Video Metrics
Are you putting more resources into video? As publishers increase the time they spend producing content for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other video platforms, they need better insights into what works and what doesn’t. This online panel will include a discussion by top publishers who are at the forefront of using video metrics to drive better engagement with their audience. We’ll discuss the reliability of video metrics and how to go beyond basic view counts to metrics such as over- and underperformance, recirculation and benchmarking. We’ll also hear tricks that leading publishers use to extract the most value out of the analytics tools they use in their own organizations.
Producer: MediaShift, sponsored by Parse.ly
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: FREE
How to Measure Impact in Journalism
Learn how to measure impact in journalism and why it’s becoming a valuable and necessary skill in today’s newsrooms. Set yourself apart by knowing not only how to do work that drives real-world change, but also how to make sure that change gets noticed. Learn how to tell the story of your reporting just as effectively as you tell others’ stories.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online at BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Use Instagram as a Reporting Tool
With more than 600 million people on Instagram, this popular photo-sharing platform has become a powerful tool for journalists around the world. My Instagram followers tagged along with me as I reported stories for PRI’s The World and the BBC from mountain villages in Nepal, truck yards in Pakistan, the multi-cultural neighborhoods of South Africa, and more. In this course, you’ll learn the principles of using Instagram to report and photograph stories in the field. Whether you’re covering a local protest or trekking on a glacier with scientists, Instagram can help you generate interest in your story before your final report airs or goes to press.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
Snapchat for Journalists and Storytellers
Snapchat has become a legitimate distribution outlet for the media, including by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Vox, Mashable, BuzzFeed and many more. This training will explain why Snapchat is here to stay — and how journalists and storytellers can use it to strengthen their audience engagement.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Get the Most Out of Content Analytics
Do you want to get the most out of your analytics? Not sure where to start? A majority of digital media professionals don’t even have a common definition of audience engagement within their organization. This training will give you an overview of ways to get the most out of your analytics—starting with the best ways to define audience engagement. There’s also a chance for one-to-one feedback from the instructor.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Clean Up Your Audio in Video Production
Learn a few easy tips on how to clean up your audio using any microphones and noise reduction. Good video deserves good audio whether it is for TV or the web. This webinar will attempt to show broadcasters and reporters a few tips on gathering clean audio and a few tips on cleaning up audio that may have background “hiss” or “hum.” It’s hard to hear these with the human ear but a microphone picks up all, so don’t let a bad mic or bad mic placement ruin an otherwise great video production. This webinar is designed for anyone from the novice to the professional filmmaker and video creator.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
How to Launch a Killer Newsletter
Newsletter expert Jacqueline Boltik, who helped develop projects such as Ann Friedman’s Weekly and the LA Times’ newsletters and journalism professor Daniela Gerson, who recently created Migratory Notes, break down what you need to know to make your newsletter take off. Newsletters are the most direct way to build an audience, and are expanding. The Skimm, the Post Most, Lenny Letter, LA Times’ Essential Californian, #awesomewomen are just a few examples of the varied forms in which they are developing.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
Facebook Live for Journalists
In the changing world of social media, Facebook Live is the new big thing. Facebook’s own algorithm favors this live element, drawing more viewers and followers to your page. But, how can journalists use it effectively to get past the “gimmick” idea and make it something useful for viewers and for journalists? We’ll explore some of the best practices to maximize use and effectiveness of Facebook live for journalists and media organizations alike.
Producer: MediaShift
Place: Online with BigMarker
Price: $19
Building Trust on Facebook
How can journalists stand out in a minefield of misinformation? See what 14 newsrooms learned when they used their social platforms to experiment with trust-building strategies. We’ll show you what they tried, what worked for different kinds of newsrooms and what totally fell flat.
Producer: Poynter News University
Place: Online
Price: Free
Getting Started With 360-Degree Video
Been seeing all those great 360° news stories but don’t know where to start? Let us help. News organizations across the world have adopted 360° technology in their reporting process. From breaking news to documentaries, newsrooms are bringing their readers and viewers closer to the story. Don’t let those pricey 360° video rigs intimidate you. Getting started with immersive storytelling is easier than you think. This training will walk you through the process of choosing the right equipment, from camera to rigging gear, planning your shoot and knowing if 360° video works for your story. You will learn how 360° videos are edited and how to pick the right platform to host your story.
Place: Online with BigMarker
Producer: MediaShift
Price: $19
Savvy Digital Journalism: Best Practices for Writing for the Web
Master the basics of digital journalism. This course is for both novice journalists who want to lay the groundwork as a digital writer, as well as seasoned writers who may be shifting from print to web.
Place: Online
Producer: MediaBistro
Price: $129
Skills in 60: Instagram Marketing Starter Kit
Get Instagram savvy and build your brand! In just one hour, this course will teach you how to effectively market your Instagram presence by crafting visually creative content, analyze key metrics to grow your audience and navigate the ever-changing social media landscape.
Place: Online
Producer: MediaBistro
Price: $49
Infographics and Visual Data
When combined with a compelling narrative, infographics are one of the fastest and most effective ways to help viewers make connections and grasp complex topics. This course will teach you how to conceptualize, design, and execute infographics using free and simple tools.
Place: Online
Producer: MediaBistro
Price: $129
How to Build and Teach an Online Course
New technology and tools are transforming the learning experience and creating new opportunities — and challenges — for educators at high schools, community colleges, and four-year universities. In this online training, you’ll learn how to organize a course and plan modules in a learning management system — whether you’re transitioning an existing course or starting one from scratch. You’ll also get a chance to try out tech tools to enhance the online educational experience, understand how to develop relationships with students in an online environment and discover new techniques for creating robust discussion among students in the class.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19
Smarter Audience Analytics for Journalists
Do you get bored reading your own analytics report? Are you only reporting numbers. Analytics are a powerful tool, but only reporting pageviews and other statistics doesn’t change how a newsroom operates. In this training, we’ll look at how you can put analytics to work for you. What is your baseline? What measures do you use to determine a post’s success? What do analytics tell you about your audience? How can you turn that insight into actionable items by your staff? This session will help you utilize analytics to learn from your audience and find ways to build on successes.
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Place: Online
Price: $19
How to Make News Bots Work For You
Robot journalism is one of the year’s hot topics as more media brands are experimenting with the automated delivery of news on mobile. Some bots are completely automated services that mimic a normal text conversation, but most involve some human intervention. In this online training, John Keefe, Senior Editor for Data News & Journalism Technology at WNYC, will explain how bots work and how journalists can use them to enhance their reporting and improve efficiency.
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift and CUNYJ+
Place: Online
Price: $19
An Introduction to DocumentCloud
DocumentCloud is a catalog of primary source documents and a tool for annotating, organizing and publishing them on the web. Documents are contributed by journalists, researchers and archivists. We’re helping reporters get more out of documents and helping newsrooms make their online presence more engaging.
Place: online
Producer: Investigative Reporters & Editors
Price: free
Marketing with Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr
Market your brand using Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr. This course will give you the knowledge of each of these platforms and enable you to identify the most appropriate ways to implement them to meet your business objectives.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $149
Skills in 60: Build an Editorial Calendar for Social Media Channels
This in-depth short course will show you how to develop integrated editorial content calendars and establish a robust production and publishing strategy across all your social channels. The video lessons will guide you on how to plan, create, distribute and analyze your editorial calendar for long term success.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $49
Twitter Marketing
Become a better, smarter marketer with Twitter to generate word-of-mouth, create leads, and grow your business. From hashtag strategy to deep data dives, influencer outreach to employing an effective posting schedule, you’ll master Twitter 140 characters at a time.
Place: online
Producer: Mediabistro
Price: $129
Whose Truth? Tools for Smart Science Journalism in the Digital Age
As journalists, we ignore science not only at our own peril, but at the peril of our readers, viewers and listeners. In this course, you’ll learn to how make sense of scientific data and tell stories in ways that connect with your audience. You’ll get techniques and tips to improve your interviewing and reporting skills. You’ll also learn how to lift the veil from front groups to launch investigations based on informed fact-gathering. When you’re done, you’ll have a toolkit of ways to identify and overcome the barriers journalists face when reporting on science-related topics.
Place: online
Producer: Poynter’s NewsU
Price: free
Social Media Master Class Part I
MediaShift’s Social Media Editor Julie Keck will lead you through using some of the most powerful publishing tools any media professional can use. You can learn how to optimize your feeds, post the right amount each day, and help promote your content or projects better. You can establish yourself as an authority using the right mix of social media platforms and skills. And most of all, it’s fun. Don’t be intimidated or overwhelmed by social media – you can do it!
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19
Social Media Master Class Part II
You’ve established yourself on social media, but you want to grow your audience. How do you get people talking about your content without seeming too self-promoting? Learn to harness the power of #hashtags, run a popular live Twitter chat, find out what’s trending today and how to jump in at the right moment with the right content.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19
DigitalEd: Smartphone Filmmaking 101
Whether you’re shooting coverage for your high-concept documentary, making a low-budget music video for your band, or shooting pick-ups for your corporate online PSA, there are a multitude ways to use your phone as a legitimate route for production. This training will illustrate the use of the iPhone as a low-budget professional production camera. We’ll include short practical tips on shooting techniques, emerging technology, apps and software alongside of traditional tips and tricks that can be added to a smartphone in order to make it a more robust production camera.
Place: online
Producer: DigitalEd at MediaShift
Price: $19
When a Staff Isn’t a Staff: Managing Freelancers
In today’s freelance economy, more and more workers are seeing the benefits of working as a freelancer or contractor. But what does that mean for the businesses that employ them? With a lean staff, many publications rely on freelance contributors, so it’s to everybody’s benefit to make that relationship a good one. Good freelancer relationships don’t just fall out of the sky. In this webinar, you’ll learn what makes freelancers happy (it’s more than just money!), how to cultivate good freelance relationships, and best practices for managing a sprawling, remote staff. With successful freelancer management, you’ll enjoy loyal, capable contributors and a robust publication.
Place: online
Producer: Poynter’s NewsU
Price: $29.95
How to Design a Brand
Learn how to design your brand by setting yourself apart from other businesses in your industry, build your own unique brand identity, conceptualize your logo design and creative direction, and apply your branding to establish credibility and increase exposure.
Place: online
Producer: CreatorUp
Price: $40
How to Crowdfund 10K
Learn how to raise $10,000 by designing a one-of-a-kind crowdfunding campaign. Learn how to set goals and better prepare yourself for a campaign launch. Once your campaign launches, you’ll be an expert on methods of raising the most money, and how to design a professional page.
Place: online
Producer: CreatorUp
Price: $30
How to Livestream on YouTube
Have you ever wanted to broadcast — live — but weren’t exactly sure how to do it, or what tools to use? Learn the technical nuts and bolds of how to livestream anything on YouTube, and how to market your show so people will see it.
Place: online
Producer: CreatorUp
Price: $25
How to Tell a Story to Build a Community
Do you need to build a following, but are not sure how to tell your story to grow your community? Learn how to tell a story that will help others relate to you and your mission to take action.
Place: online
Producer: CreatorUp
Price: $40
Verification: The Basics
When a violent protest, mass-scale accident, or natural hazard unfolds, information tends to get jumbled, causing fear and confusion. With the growing use of technology, we have witnessed innumerable false and fake stories being shared on social networks, including photoshopped images, or reuploaded diced videos from unrelated events in the past. With increasing frequency, journalists are required to master the skills and expertise to handle the information that circulates on the Internet and elsewhere. Complementing our recently launched resource, the Verification Handbook, this course will provide the basic knowledge and techniques of verification in the digital age.
Place: online
Producer: Learno
Price: free
Your Photojournalism Survival Kit with Ron Haviv
Ron Haviv brings two decades of experience in building a photojournalism career on carefully laid groundwork. In this course, you’ll learn how to identify a captivating story and organize a plan for shooting it; how to create a budget and a pitch letter; and how to plan for any eventuality during the shoot, and cope with setbacks when they strike.
Place: online
Producer: Ron Haviv, Emmy-nominated photojournalist
Price: $79
More course listings are available at MediaShift’s DigitalEd, Poynter’s NewsU, Berkeley Advanced Media Institute, Columbia Journalism School’s Continuing Education listings, Mediabistro and CreatorUp.
Bianca Fortis is the associate editor at MediaShift, a founding member of the Transborder Media storytelling collective and a social media consultant. Follow her on Twitter @biancafortis.
