NINA Swap Meet

NINA's Oct. 26 Fall Conference is a swap meet. We'll offer six different roundtable discussion sessions where journalists can learn from their colleagues:

• General assignment reporting
• Courts and cops reporting
• Challenges for new editors
• Feature writing
• Political reporting
• Copy desk and design desk challenges

Here's our fall newsletter with all the details. And here's the registration form.

The conversation can begin here. If you'd like to toss out a question or topic in any of those areas, just post a comment below.

Depressing. But then ...

Here's depressing news from the Knight Foundation about students and the First Amendment:

Three years after a new federal law took effect requiring schools to educate all students about the Constitution and the First Amendment, a new survey shows that a majority of America’s students aren’t even aware that Constitution Day exists. See full story.

But, if you want to feel a little better, read this column from Monday's Northern Star. Can't say I agree with every word, but at least this is one student who "gets it" about the First Amendment.

And if you just want to feel creeped out, go to the "other" Knight Foundation page and take in "The Official David Hasselhoff Site of Worship."

Workshop aftermath

To those who attended today's NINA workshop on alternative story forms: What was the biggest idea you went home with? What's the biggest question you're left with? Any other thoughts worth discussing?

For me, it was the overall idea of segmenting: looking at how every story can be broken apart into its various elements, and then choosing the best form to present each element in print, online or both. And, it's the idea that the critical moment for all of that to happen is that initial reporter-editor conversation before any writing has taken place.

Thanks to Cory Powell of the Minneapolis Star Tribune for doing a wonderful job leading the discussion. And thanks to everyone who attended. We had a full house.

EyeTrack and story forms

In advance of this Thursday's NINA workshop: Here's an interesting piece from Poynter today about EyeTrack studies with alternative story forms. The upshot is: Story form matters. A lot.

What makes a good workshop?

At a NINA committee meeting this morning, we talked about ideas for workshops in the next year. This year's workshops have seen great interest and attendance. It's clear there's a hunger out there for relevant training, especially in new media.

A few ideas that came up today:

• Managing time between print and online journalism: What is the right balance and how can we do it all with little or no increase in resources?
• Newsroom reorganization: Are we ready to think online first, even when our advertisers are not? And what exactly does that look like in terms of workflow?
• Mobile journalism (mojo): How can we equip journalists to produce multimedia? What does their new workday look like? Do they even need to come into the newsroom every day?

We would love to hear your ideas. What training topics would be most relevant to you and/or your newsroom? What would the workshops look like? Please take a minute or two and post a comment below.

Good news for the First Amendment

Good news from the Illinois governor's office on Friday: He signed into law SB 729, the College Campus Press Act. It takes effect Jan. 1. Here is the act in its final version. Basically, it protects student newspapers at Illinois public colleges and universitities from being censored by administrators. And, it protects advisers from being disciplined or fired for protecting their students' free speech/press rights.

Huge thanks to state lawmakers who sponsored and overwhelmingly this legislation, in response to the confusing 2005 Hosty v. Carter decision. In particular, thanks to Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, who introduced the bill.

Workshop Sept. 13!

Here's the info on a terrific workshop coming up:

Alternative Story Forms
A Practical Approach for Print and Online

Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
9 a.m. to noon
Room 405, Holmes Student Center, Northern Illinois University

Discussion Leader: Cory Powell, Deputy Managing Editor for Visuals, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Cost: $20 for NINA members; $40 for nonmembers

Download a flier to post in your newsroom!

What’s an alternative story form?
It’s simply finding the best way to tell a good story quickly. Rather than quickly settling for a traditional news story and photo, it’s finding the right combination of words, pictures, graphics, photos and/or design.

During this hands-on workshop, we’ll view successful examples of various, nontraditional storytelling forms. Then, attendees will break into small groups and develop real story ideas and forms.

Who should attend?
Reporters, photographers, graphic artists, designers, editors … anyone who wants sharper skills at turning out stories that readers actually read. We’ll pay special attention to the needs and staffing limitations of small dailies and weeklies.

To register: Contact Jim Killam, jkillam@niu.edu or 815-753-4239. Attendees may pay at the door, but please register by Wednesday, Sept. 5.

About our speaker:
Cory Powell is deputy managing editor for visuals at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. He led the Star Tribune’s award-winning 2005 redesign, which relied on extensive readership research to guide its use of alternative story forms and extensive layering to reach out to casual readers. He also has led redesigns at the Charlotte Observer and the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer. In nearly two decades in newspapers, he has been a designer, copy editor, copy desk chief and news editor. He passed up a career as a ski bum, a choice he second-guesses every winter. He lives in Eagan, Minn.