XSPP-111 - Journalism & News Reporting Institute

Course Description

The Journalism & News Reporting Institute is offered on the following dates:

June 24 - June 30, 2018

If you want to be the kind of journalist who focuses on issues that affect the nation and reports on the breaking news stories that can only take place in Washington, DC, Georgetown offers a one-week institute that will show you what it takes to be a successful journalist in the nation’s capital. From sports and science to politics and the arts, this exciting institute will not only expose you to a wide variety of journalism topics, but will also let you hear and learn from seasoned and emerging journalists. Breakout sessions allow you to develop your interviewing, researching, presentation and writing skills. Classroom debates center on ethical issues such as the blurred line between reporting and commentary.

Put your skills into action as you create your own video reporting project based on a specific topic of interest. Visit the National Press Club and the Newseum – the nation’s foremost museum of journalism, and experience interactive exhibits exploring the earliest days of newspapers to the latest multimedia reporting.

Core Topics Covered*

• Political reporting

• Multimedia tools

• Reporting

• Social media

• Congress

• Media ethical dilemmas

• Reporting under fire

• Public affairs

• Press conferences

• Capitol Hill and White House reporting

• Blogging

Hands-on Experience*

• Develop an online portfolio of your work

• Meet with leaders of the journalism industry

• Uncover interesting and compelling stories

• Document news stories and understand new media techniques

• Create a short video about your summer experience at Georgetown that will be judged in a program competition

• Practice using broadcast camera packs

• Learn state-of-the-art editing techniques

• Hear from legendary and emerging journalists

Sample Day*

7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Newseum Class - Is it OK to clean up a quote or share unconfirmed information?

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Covering Washington: Lecture with Q and A

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. How to Research a News Story

3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Lecture: Foundations of different reporting styles. Why do networks report the same story differently?

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Discussion Section

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Dinner

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Capstone Project

9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Student Activity Programing

Students are typically engaged in academic programming from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. with free time and optional student activity programing until curfew. Students arrive and check-in on Sunday and depart on Saturday.  

*Core topics, hands-on experience and sample day are subject to change.