Citizen Matters, Bangalore’s own interactive newsmagazine is happy to announce the first of a series of Citizen Journalism classes, on Saturday, 9th of May.
Classes are open for all Bangaloreans. Please note the details in this post and confirm your attendance by Wednesday May 6th evening 4pm. SMS confirmations are welcome.
Date: 9th May, 2009
Location: Adarsh Business School, South End Road, Next to Police (Additional Commissioner’s) Office, South End Circle, Jayanagar. (Map)
Parking: In the basement
Time: 2.30pm – 5.30pm.
Contact for the class: Raghavendra, Citizen Matters, 9611106477.
Seats will fill out quickly so please do not wait till the last minute and confirm your participation early!
Presenters:
Kanchan Kaur, Vice-Dean, Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media
Ralph Frammolino, IIJNM visiting professor/print.
Presenters
Kanchan Kaur is Vice Dean at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore. Kanchan is a life-long Bangalorean who brings with her an intimate knowledge of the city’s history and issues. Before turning to journalism education in the early 1990s, she spent 18 years as an editor and reporter at the Deccan Herald and the Gulf News in Dubai. She has also taught analytical writing skills at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and English writing at various corporate workshops.
Ralph Frammolino is a veteran American journalist who worked 24 years at the Los Angeles Times. During that time, he was part of a staff effort that won a Pulitzer Prize for Spot Reporting and, most recently, was a co-finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. He joined the IIJNM faculty at Bangalore in July 2008 for a one-year appointment, during which time he has been teaching reporting, writing and investigative reporting. Mr Frammolino is currently writing a book about the J Paul Getty Museum.
Basic class (3 hours)
This three-hour introductory session is intended to help citizen journalists understand what it takes to do credible reporting. It is for the part-time blogger who wants to sharpen his skills or for any civic-minded person with a hankering to contribute to a website or media outlet. By the end of the session, the participant will have a better sense of what it takes to produce good journalism. We will discuss strategies for deciding what comes first in a story — how do you know what’s most important? We will also take a story from Idea to First Draft.
Charge: Rs.300
Please note: At this stage, we are announcing the Basic class only. We are planning the Intermediate and Advanced classes as well and will announce as soon as possible.
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Seems like a rip off, doesn’t it? 300 bucks for a course on credible reporting, which you can’t learn on your own? Just my 2 cents.
Sure, Vineeth. Note that people learn in different ways. Some learn on their own, and others in class, and most people learn both ways. The classes are meant to get citizens off the ground with the fundamentals right, and taught by people who are experts in the field.
Journalism is not rocket science. But in our complex cities with many burning issues, agendas, events and activities, and equally, with much enthusiasm in citizens to express themselves and report new information, we consider it both an obligation and a necessity to make it easier for people to tell their own stories.
Considering an auto ride from one part of town to the venue could cost 150 bucks, this eye-opening session could be worth your money.
If I was new on the learning curve, I’d give up one evening at the pub and invest that money wisely.
Congratulations for commencing courses on Journalism. Good and honest journalists are very much required in India to expose bad corrupt governance and politicians. I wish you all the success and let more senior citizens who are good in health and are able to leave their houses in the afternoon can use this opportunity for learning. This course if properly used will help in reforming politicians towards ” SERVICE, SACRIFICE and PATRIOTISM ” instead of greed for enjoying power at any cost and means. Besides it also helps people use their spare time for public interest work,
B S Ganesh, ganshar@dataone.in 70/9 Basappa Layout, Hanumanthnagar, BANGALORE 560 019
Well, yeah one can open up wikipedia and learn about credible reporting and everything in between. heck! you can save money by doing MBA online instead of doing it at IIM-B. But it is entirely different experience doing MBA at IIM-B or in this case listening to Ralph Frammolino with his humorous quips in between on credible reporting and journalism.
Why on earth was this “announcment” open for comments?