Good investigative journalism has the power to uncover and challenge corruption, injustice and criminal activities. It can turn the tide of opinion, overthrow regimes, it can literally change the world.
The practical, insightful course will cover:
o Pitch your stories to your editor;
o Identify and mapping key sources;
o Gauge the value of your sources;
o Forensic interviewing skills;
o Manage vulnerable sources and journalistic ethics;
o Mine new media for information;
o Reconstruct and create a paper trail;
o Understand the numbers and making them easy for your audience;
o Cut through the spin; and,
o Write up the investigation to captivate audience.
The approach for this course will be facilitated adult learning, guided by an experienced IAJ facilitator who is a veteran investigative journalist. This outcomes-based education methodology is interactive, hands-on, based on real case studies and is designed to produce practical skills.
About the expert trainer:
Birgit Schwarz started her career in radio journalism. She has held positions as editor, host and reporter with Germany's biggest public broadcaster WDR, opened and managed the first DPA (Germany's major wire service) office in South Korea during troubled times; worked as an investigative reporter for Die Zeit and as Asia editor and foreign correspondent for Der Spiegel, Europe's major investigative news magazine. Birgit has trained extensively in Investigative Journalism for mainstream and community media, and overseeing the country's biggest journalism award for investigative journalism in South Africa. Before joining Human Rights Watch, she was Project Director at frayintermedia. Birgit studied in Germany, Great Britain and Canada. She holds an MA from the University of Aachen.
Who should attend: The workshop will improve the online writing skills of journalists from newspapers, magazines and internet publications. It is preferable that delegates have a background in journalism to benefit from the content.
Date: 20 August 2012
to 24 August 2012
Time: 09:00 - 16:00
Venue: Johannesburg
More info: Block A Richmond Forum, Richmond Auckland park
