Newspaper Journalism Department of English

Highlights of the week How to use the web and social media to find information and background people. How to conduct better interviews that get people talking to you. How to tell better stories. Learn how to cover issues, news and current events in an inclusive way.  Perfect your writing style 

Day 1 Morning: Registration Following registration, there will be a workshop on Newspaper reporting by a leading journalist from UAE. In this workshop, students will learn about: Editorial leadership Design concepts from different broadsheets Op-eds Stories, Features Writing style

DAY 2: Editorial Leadership Acquire the skills of serving in a key leadership position; Train to maximize your skills as editor, managing editor, or page editor; Learn to work in a variety of settings (individual, small group, large group) to share and exchange ideas, to problem solve, to draft and compose; Understand how to use issue-driven coverage for increased readership; Have a grasp of contemporary writing trends for today’s newspapers; Gain knowledge of the different ways to improve reader dialogue and exchange of ideas.

What you will do We’ll look at all phases an editor’s job entails - from an adviser to story development to page design. We’ll discuss production planning and scheduling. Students will view and discuss salient aspects of newspapers from the UAE and from across the world to use as a springboard for planning and designing their own publication at the end of the week. A specific plan of action will then be drafted, with a detailed “to-do” list” of things to work on to make your newspaper the best it can be. We’ll discuss how current events and social issues can be localized for coverage in your newspaper and we’ll look at more engaging ways of covering routine campus activities.

What you will do To improve readership, we’ll discuss what makes a story compelling and engaging to the reader and learn ways to write stories which draw readers in. We’ll discuss legal and ethical issues, look at ways to expand the ed-op content to engage more of the school community. Through a power point presentation, we’ll learn how to utilize a variety of visual techniques to improve your newspaper’s appearance.

What you will need This will be an ambitious, busy week so we need to see “where you come from.” In other words, bring 2 sets of your newspaper from the most current year. Be prepared to discuss with the class your newspaper’s strengths, weaknesses, and your main goals for improvement.

DAY 3: Design and newspaper reporting Students will review their learning on design from Day 1. View broadsheets both from the UAE and internationally and engage in a discussion on basic design concepts including design inspiration, appeal to emotion, marriage of elements, photography, type, dominance, design hierarchy, scale and relationship, negative space, photo packaging, mods and infographics. Students will get some time to learn and practice individual concepts prior to moving into publication design for their own publication. The expectation is that students will design actual pages for use in their publication. 

DAY 3: Design and newspaper reporting This day is also designed to cover the basics of newspaper reporting and writing. Students will choose their options from news, features, opinion piece and op-ed. Students, through developing knowledge and skills in interviewing, drafting, revision and copyediting, will acquire a good foundation in the basics of newspaper reporting and writing in order to apply them as members of their student publication.

Group assignments Brainstorm story ideas from their coverage of all Week Without Walls activity happening at DIA school campus Design the layout of their student publication Discuss and plan the assignments Complete writing and editing assignments by applying knowledge of the writing process: interviewing and gathering facts, revising, editing, and proofreading for newspaper style Apply their learning from the last 2 days in deciding the concept of packaging stories, including text, graphics, photographs, artwork, typography, sidebars and how they work together to capture readers' attention.

Publish Your school newspaper We shall end the WWW by publishing a student newspaper covering the WWW activities organised by the other departments. A laptop will be essential. Plus, bring something to do audio recording with -- a smartphone will do. Perhaps most importantly, bring your questions, concerns, interests, insights, confusions and passions. One of the goals of the course it to make it as useful to you as possible. The more you actively engage and participate, the more you will get from it.