Citizen Journalism — A Workshop for Writers
Oct. 9, 2011. 9 am – 12:30 pm at the Edmonton Journal 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 an 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 the 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…