Click to download the registration form. DI Multimedia Training Registration Form

Journalism educators, professionals and students can develop and hone their skills in audio, photo and video storytelling at a Multimedia Boot Camp taught by the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, Aug. 9-14, in Nashville, Tenn.

Tuition is $850, payable in advance. Low-cost housing at Extended Stay/Vanderbilt is available for an additional $71.40 per night. Registrations will be accepted until July 19, but will be cut off as soon as classroom capacity is reached. Applications and additional information are available at www.freedomforumdiversity.org. Questions may be directed to lead instructor Val Hoeppner at vhoeppner@freedomforum.org or 615/426-7160.

The hands-on training program is modeled after the Freedom Forum’s acclaimed multimedia curriculum and is equivalent to a 2-credit-hour college course. It is designed for those with limited or no multimedia experience. The schedule is intense. The boot camp opens at 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 9, and adjourns at 2 p.m., Friday, Aug. 14. Most days, instruction will begin at 8:30 a.m., continue throughout the morning, afternoon and evening.

The training will occur at the Diversity Institute’s state-of-the-art school facilities in the Freedom Forum’s John Seigenthaler Center, 1207 18th Ave. South, Nashville, Tenn. Tuition covers all supplies, use of multimedia equipment and software during training, and a take-away binder filled with step-by-step guides to producing audio, video, Soundslides and other multimedia projects.

Participants will learn how to:

* Produce multimedia on a budget, buy the right gear and find cheap ways to record and edit audio.
* Use basic tools in Adobe Photoshop: toning, cropping and text.
* Produce a Soundslides project.
* Produce two video projects, using Final Cut for storytelling and editing.
* Apply and sharpen newly-acquired multimedia skills and instruct and coach others.

The Diversity Institute, a non-profit Tennessee corporation, was established and funded by the Freedom Forum to be a school dedicated to recruiting, training, mentoring and retaining a diverse workforce in the newsrooms of the United States. It has offices and conducts programs at the John Seigenthaler Center in Nashville, at the Al Neuharth Media Center on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion, S.D., and at the Freedom Forum headquarters and NEWSEUM in Washington, D.C.

High schoolers get training in changing media field

Editorial Board
Argus Leader

News operations that accurately reflect the diverse communities they cover are the most effective.

In places such as South Dakota, that demographic mix includes Native Americans as well as other minority groups.

That’s why it’s important for news organizations to employ diverse reporting staffs. And that’s why an annual training conference this week in the Black Hills is so valuable.

The Native American Journalism Career Conference invites high school students from across the country to Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer. They spend a few days working with experienced journalists and educators to learn about reporting, writing, editing, photography and design.

Dozens of students attend each year, and this session is no exception.

That’s a rather remarkable statement given the trying economic times media organizations face. The combination of a severe recession and changing consumer habits is challenging news outlets and directing a changing news delivery system in this country. That’s all the more reason to applaud the companies and individuals who are so dedicated to conferences such as the one at Crazy Horse.

Investing in a diverse work force is important any time - but it requires a special effort in hard economic periods.

The Freedom Forum funds the conference, and co-sponsors include the South Dakota Newspaper Association, the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation and the South Dakota State University and University of South Dakota journalism programs.

The career conference is helping young Native Americans find their way in this shifting media landscape. The efforts of those who volunteer to train the young participants will pay off over time as these intelligent, skilled and enthused young people enter the work force.

You can read this editorial and others at Argusleader.com.

The report covers two years of Freedom Forum activities tied to its three priorities: Newsroom diversity, the First Amendment and the Newseum:

• The Freedom Forum Diversity Institute and its journalism classes and programs conducted at the John Seigenthaler Center in Nashville, Tenn., at the Al Neuharth Media Center in Vermillion, S.D., at Freedom Forum headquarters in Washington, D.C.

• The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center and its activities and programs at the John Seigenthaler Center and Freedom Forum headquarters.

• The Newseum, the world’s most interactive museum, which opened in April 2008 on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, mid-way between the Capitol and the White House.

For information and application, go to
www.MinorityWritersSeminar.org

NASHVILLE TN — Mary A. Mitchell, editorial board member and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, will be the keynote speaker for the 14th annual Minority Writers Seminar to be held April 30-May 3 at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute.

The co-host of a weekly two-hour public affairs radio program and a frequent guest on national news program, the award-winning columnist will address the group of experienced minority journalists at the dinner meeting on May 2.

March 9 is the deadline to apply to attend the seminar sponsored by the National Conference of Editorial Writers Foundation in partnership with the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University, said seminar director Doug Lyons, senior editorial writer for South Florida Sun-Sentinel and a 1999 graduate of the seminar.

The program’s purpose is to give experienced minority journalists an opportunity to explore the nuts-and-bolts of opinion writing and encourage them to consider making a career move.

Enrollment is limited to 15 and includes those who have been writing opinion less than two years. Lodging and food at the seminar are covered and participants will be reimbursed up to $200 for their transportation to and from Nashville.

“We are fortunate to have experienced opinion writers donate their time and expertise to work closely with participants in small groups as they attend simulated editorial board meetings and write editorials that are critiqued,” said John Taylor, Foundation president and retired editorial page editor of The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware.

An interactive presentation by Rick Horowitz, a writing coach and syndicated columnist based in Milwaukee, and a panel discussion on “Moving Opinion Online and into New Media” are also scheduled.

Major supporters of the 2009 seminar include John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, McCormick/Tribune Foundation, Scripps Howard Foundation, Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, and New York Times Company Foundation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Doug Lyons Joan Armour
Seminar Director Seminar Coordinator
954/356-4638 615/330-8739
dlyons@ sun-sentinel.com joan@armour-armour.com

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

The Rocky published its final edition Feb. 27, 2009, after 149 years and 311 days. The newspaper, owned by E.W. Scripps Company, was put up for sale Dec. 4, 2008, due to challenging economic times and the failure of the traditional newspaper business model.

There is much to admire about the way Matthew Roberts and the Rocky photo staff shot and produced this piece. It is a tribute to the dedication of the journalists who worked there and the community that  supported the newspaper for 149 years.

“Final Edition” is a compelling and sad story, similar to what we as journalists have told about other people for years and now tell about ourselves.

According to his message board, Joe Mahoney, former assistant director of multimedia/Rocky Mountain News, said the project began Dec. 4th, when E.W. Scripps announced that the paper was for sale. It was shot and edited during the intervening months, but a great deal of final editing was done in the past week and well into last night by Matthew Roberts.

“I said it’s election time and we need to do something with voters, and Bob Scheer said the same thing,” said Detrich. The Star photo staff is committed to equal representation from Obama supporters, McCain supporters and uncommitted voters. “It is supposed to be a slice of Hoosier voters, a sampling of the community,” said Kenon.

The project includes videos of a college student, a felon (Indiana is one of only 13 states that allows convicted felons to vote), a small-business owner, an unemployed cancer survivor, a firefighter, a retired school teacher and others. “It’s a great concept,” said Detrich.
It has been difficult to find people to talk about politics but “the project is something great for the community,” said Kenon. “It is giving the community a voice.”

By Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan

VERMILLION, SD- The Taffetas’ rendition of “Mister Sandman” will put you on Cloud 9.

But if “Mister Sandman” and other songs in The Taffetas’ “Musical Journey Through the Fabulous Fifties” put you to sleep, you could be cruisin’ for a bruisin’.

“The Taffetas” are a fictitious musical quartet modeled after the McGuire Sisters, the Fontane Sisters and the Chordettes, famous pop singers of the 1950’s.

“The musical will focus on a nostalgic theme that takes us down memory lane,” said Eric Hagen, chair of the University of South Dakota Department of Theatre. The play opens June 13 at USD.

“ ‘The Taffetas’ is a celebration of an all-girl group in the 1950’s,” Hagen said. “It is a fun, fresh musical review that features music (that) people are familiar with.”

Jessie Atkinson, Anna Auchampach, Elizabeth Wright and Darla Earnest play The Taffetas. Atkinson, Auchampach and Wright are Theatre students at USD. Earnest is a professional singer/actress and an adjunct professor of theatre.

The USD Playhouse puts on a play or musical each summer in Vermillion, Sioux Falls, S.D. and Sioux City, Iowa. Auchampach said she loves that the play takes place on her summer break. She said there is no stress of worrying about classes and she can focus only on the musical.

“I think it is a good experience,” said Auchampach.

Earnest said she cannot wait for the play to start. She said the cast is anxious for opening night.

“I hope the performance will bring a good nostalgic feeling to the audience and people will leave light hearted,” said Earnest. “We keep imagining people watching us (during practice), so it will be nice opening night to have actual people in the audience.”

The Vermillion performance of “The Taffetas” will take place at the Wayne S. Knutson Theatre in the Warren M. Lee Center. June 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. and June 15 at 2 p.m. Parking is free. Tickets are $14 for adults, $9 for students and group rates are available for 10 or more. You can buy your tickets at the box office or by calling 605-677-5400.

“The Taffetas” will also appear in Sioux Falls at the Orpheum Theatre, June 20-22 and Sioux City at the Lamb Theatre, June 27-29.

One man stood out to me as an interview prospect. His table was less than 10 feet from mine. I walked up to him, requested an interview, and he agreed, though hesitantly. His birth name is James Starkey, but he goes by Wanbli WiWohkpe, a Lakota name.

WiWohkpe believes that America has many pressing issues.

“This anomaly of a country is a toddler running amok in the nations,” he said. “It’s time for us to start asking questions and representing.”

WiWohkpe believes that sovereignty and freedom have been ignored and that illegal immigration is indigenous people migrating. He believes that Russell Means should be the president of the United States.

“I will reject all American candidates and put in my own,” WiWohkpe said. “It has nothing to do with shutting down the white man.”

WiWohkpe thinks John McCain and Barack Obama represent the old guard. He said Americans are willing to vote for a person of color as long as he talks like them.

“We’re fighting against assimilation,” WiWohkpe said. “They’re all cooked from the same cloth.”

I was starting to believe this man did not like the presidential candidates, and then he closed with this:

“The Republicans say they’re going to rape us, while the Democrats just say they will use their thumbs.”

I guess not everyone has to agree with the candidates. This is America, after all.

—M.J. Casiano, American Indian Journalism Institute