CANE'S FIRST REPORTING AND EDITING SEMINAR - NOV. 15, 16, 2002, LETHBRIDGE,
ALBERTA
The Canadian Association of Newspaper Editors put on its first reporting and editing seminar in November in Lethbridge and there are plans to roll out a series of them across the country.
Under consideration are seminars in Atlantic Canada, similar to the Lethbridge session, and others in Ontario on leadership and the copy desk.
Popular U.S. writing coach Steve Buttry, who is the writing coach and national reporter at the Omaha World-Herald, led a day-long session on reporting on Nov. 15 as well as a morning on editing and coaching on Saturday, Nov. 16. Vivian Smith, a former Globe and Mail editor who now teaches writing at the University of Victoria and worked the past summer as the writing and editing coach at the Victoria Times-Colonist, put on an afternoon on the practical side of copy editing.
More than 70 people plus journalism students signed up for the two days of seminars.
The seminar lineup
WRITING AS YOU REPORT: This workshop teaches how to integrate reporting and writing into a single process that strengthens both your writing and your reporting.
MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT: How to tighten and energize your stories. We discuss techniques using published examples form your newsappers.
MAKE ROUTINE STORIES SPECIAL: This workshop addresses one of the reporter’s toughest challenges: producing a special story from routine events, such as a parade or festival.
JUGGLING DAILY NEWS WITH ENTERPRISE: This workshop teaches time-management skills that help reporters make progress on enterprise stories while facing the daily demands of a beat.
GETTING PERSONAL: This workshop covers techniques to help reporters learn and tell stories about intimate topics such as abuse, death, addiction, sexuality and faith. Topic covers some important interviewing techniques to use in delicate situations.
THE ONE-MINUTE (OK, maybe five-minute) EDITOR: This workshop covers techniques for coaching effectively in the brief encounters most editors have with their reporters during each day, no matter how busy it gets.
KINDLING THE FLAME: This workshop teaches editors techniques to motivate and energize their staff and focus their work on peak performance.
TRAINING ON A SHOESTRING: This workshop covers low-cost ideas for training in your newsroom.
THE CRAFT OF COPY EDITING – PART ONE: CAN WE TALK?: This workshop discusses how improved communication between reporters and editors speeds rewriting and editing; how to talk to each other about the process; and how to edit from the big-picture (meaning, accuracy, readability, style) and detailed (common writing gaffes) perspectives. Useful for reporters and editors.
THE CRAFT OF COPY EDITING—PART TWO: THE TALKING CURE: Using tips from Part One, this workshop looks at real-life problem stories and how editors can work - yes, sometimes even with reporters - to speedily identify specific troubles and make the stories stronger. Better stories deserve better headlines and cutlines: we'll cover techniques for improving them, too.
For more information, contact Bryan Cantley at bcantley@cna-acj.ca