Reporting Courses
INTERVIEW SKILLS
Duration: Two days
Maximum number of students: seven
The course covers the neglected art of dealing with people and extracting information from them while developing relationships of respect and trust. Course participants will be trained to spot and tackle the tricks and avoidance tactics practiced by the media trained.
Course participants will learn the theory of interviewing before conducting their own interviews with professional actors playing typical interview subjects. These interviews are videoed and the results analysed. All types of interviews will be covered, including face-to-face, telephone, adversarial, cooperative, profile interviews and information seeking interviews.
HOW TO READ AND UNDERSTAND PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
Half day Course
Maximum Number of Students 15
Journalists are often confronted by material that is based on public opinion poll data. Lack of knowledge about what these data mean leaves the journalist vulnerable, reliant on what others say they mean, and ill-equipped to ask the right questions. Commonly, the interpretation the journalist is given comes from the person on whose behalf the poll was taken, so it may be unreliable.
This half-day course equips journalists to read and interpret data, know the right questions to ask and make independent judgements about the news value of the data and what their audience needs to know. The course will include exercises based on real-world material, covering how to convert figures to news copy, how to see through other people’s interpretation and how to avoid the common pitfalls. Participants will be introduced to the Press Council guidelines on the publishing of opinion polls, with an explanation of their rationale.
COUNTERING SPIN
Two day course.
Maximum Number of Students: 10
This course will address the all pervasive phenomenon of media training. What are interviewees being taught, what should journalists expect, how should journalists react and what are the ways to deal with and interview media trained people? The course will also cover the public relations industry. Who are public relations operatives, what do they want, how do they work and what are the tricks of the trade. The course will cover the main ways public relations operatives attempt to manipulate and use journalists and the ways to counter this. The course will include lessons in how to read a media release to find hidden information and the things that are not said. A session will cover how statistics are used in media releases to obscure the truth. The course will also cover doorstops and press conferences. Why they are the favoured methods of many media practitioners? What tactics are deployed by interviewees to increase their control? How can journalists get more out of these situations?
Other topics will include: Junkets and freebies - The perils of the perks, and how to operate when you're being schmoozed; how to hold your own when you're under attack, and how to deal with complexity to deadline, including how to quickly verify or question information outside the parameters of the contacts provided by public relations operatives. The course will be example based, including case studies, video and visual material and practical exercises and role plays, including professional actors.
INVESTIGATIVE COURSE (standard version)
Five day course
Maximum number of students: 8
This is an intensive "master class" for reporters with some experience in basic reporting. The course covers advanced reporting and research skills. Participants are expected to come to the course with an idea for a project that they will pursue as part of the course, with assistance as needed from the tutor. Experience shows that in most cases at least some of the class will have good stories ready or nearly ready for publication or broadcast by the end of the course. A number of stories developed during this course have been shortlisted for the Walkleys, ASNA awards and other awards.
As far as possible investigative skills are taught in relation to the course participants' projects, but all course participants will learn how to conduct and make use of company, title and court file searches, and details of their rights to access registers of pecuniary interest. All course participants will also receive training in developing and making use of contacts, and in writing a story to minimise problems with defamation. Ideally, course participants should either have already completed the Media Law course, or have received other tuition in media law.
The five days of the course can be split into segments of two and three days respectively, or conducted over one week, depending on rostering requirements. Other arrangements can be negotiated.
INVESTIGATIVE COURSE (short version)
Two day course
Maximum Number of students: dependent on computer facilities available.
The same skills regarding public records are taught as in the long version of the course, but course members are not given as much time to work on their own projects, and are therefore less likely to come up with good stories immediately after the course. Nevertheless course members should be invited to come along with ideas for company, title and court file searches relevant to their work.
REPORTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT COURSE
Three day course (including, if desired, an evening session for those who have not covered council meetings before)
Maximum number of students: 14
The course covers the place of local government in a democracy, planning legislation, the politics of local government, how local government is financed and kept accountable, how to read and get stories from council budgets and annual reports, the basics of the Local Government Act, preparing for and covering a local council meeting, defamation and freedom of information legislation as they apply to local government, and developing contacts relevant to local government. The course is flexible, and can be varied to suit either reporters experienced in basic council reporting, or those who have not yet been to a council meeting.
BASIC REPORTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT COURSE
Duration: One day plus evening session to attend council meeting, plus follow-up session by e-mail.
Maximum Number of Students: 14
Intended for course participants who have little or no experience in covering local government. This course is not suitable for experienced council reporters. The course covers the place of local government in a democracy, planning legislation, the politics of local government, the basics of the Local Government Act, and preparing for and covering a local council meeting. Students attend a council meeting on the evening of the course, and a “de-brief” and feedback session is conducted by e-mail correspondence the next day.