Calendar of Multimedia Training & Events

By Benét J. Wilson, DJTF co-chair, Online Managing Editor-Business Aviation, Aviation Week Group

• Journalism That Matters is holding a conference, Re-imagining News & Community in the Pacific Northwest, Jan. 7-10 in Seattle.
• The Online News Association is holding it’s “Beyond Bootcamp Multimedia Workshop” Jan. 9-16 at the University of Miami.  Courses include programming for multimedia journalism, video storytelling, producing slide shows and social media tools for journalists.
• Digital Journalism Task Force member and editorial producer for InStyle.com Tiffany Black is holding a 4-week Introduction to Social Media course Jan. 20-Feb. 17.  Participants will learn how to Expand your network through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube.
• BusinessJournalism.org is offering a free Webinar, “Writing Business News for the Web – Breaking News and Beyond” Feb. 8-9.  Taught by Pulitzer winner Jacqui Banaszynski, learn from her how to write complex, breaking business news stories for the Web.
• South by Southwest (SXSW) is holding its 2010 Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, March 12-16.  Topics include Black Blogging Rock Stars, Evolution of Online Video and The Future of Journalism is Visual.
• BusinessJournalism.org is holding a free Webinar, “Using Social Media to Cover Business Better” April 19-20.  The first hour-long Webinar will target those new to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The second hour will help you take your use of social media to the next level.
• The Knight Center for Specialized Journalism offers the seminar Digital Life: Policy & Privacy Online at the University of Maryland College Park’s at the Philip Merrill of College of Journalism May 26-29.  Topics include Social Media and Crowdsourced Journalism, Knight News Challenge and Back-to-the-Newsroom.

If you have any items that I’ve missed, please drop me an email via the DJTF Yahoo! Listserv or at regaviationqueen AT yahoo DOT com.  Thanks!

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Talia Whyte Interviews Writer/Editor Kai Wright

By Talia Whyte, founder and director of Global Wire Associates, freelance journalist and 2009 Environmental Justice Fellow at the Institute for Justice and Journalism, University of Southern California

I originally caught up with Kai Wright, senior writer at TheRoot.com, for another video interview I did with him about his appearance at a World AIDS Day event in Boston.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk to him about his online endeavors as well.  

Many of the things he mentioned in our interview are right on point.  For the last 10 years, I have worked as a freelance print journalist, and now I have found that I have to reinvent myself in the digital world.

I was an early adapter to online journalism; I have been blogging for over six years, and Twitter has recently become my new best friend. This summer I started writing for the new African American-centered online news site TheGrio.com.  But I never thought in a million years I would have to shoot and edit video for work, but for the last year I have been doing it with little chagrin.

I am still in the “trial and error” process, but I am having fun with my self training, mostly from watching other online videos and playing with my video editing system. My digital efforts have paid off so far.  In addition to vlogging (a form of blogging using primarily video) for WGBH, the PBS affiliate in Boston, I was also hired recently to do short video interviews with authors at my local black bookstore, Jamaicaway Books & Gifts.  So, yes, I guess you can say I am an entrepreneurial journalist taking advantage of the new online frontier.