State Broadcast Associations (SBAs) are invited to sign up for this exclusive, invitation-only, two-week essential training experience led by Al Tompkins of The Poynter Institute, brought to you in partnership with the Massachusetts State Broadcast Association. Offer all of your members participation in training to improve their coverage of the 2020 elections.
What Will I Learn in Week One?
Journalists and news departments in broadcast, digital, radio and print will learn how to cover issues that matter rather than focusing on horse race coverage. Learn how to tell stories that viewers will actually watch, read and listen to! By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Identify the key motivators that make any story more interesting
- Focus on issues not horse-race “who’s ahead” political stories
- Assess what information people are hungry for and why
- Summarize what makes a great sound byte and why
- Employ effective storytelling strategies in less-than-perfect situations, like what to do when the video is boring
- Draw from examples of interesting and insightful stories on immigration, medical costs and student debt
What Will I Learn in Week Two?
Learn how to dig deeper and find answers that your audience wants and needs to know. This training is intended for journalists and news departments across all media from broadcast to digital and radio to print. By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Recognize the most common mistakes journalists make when reporting on polls
- Accurately describe and discuss PACs, Super PACs and Dark Money
- Explore campaign funding from special interests
- Revisit how the American political system works and why we have the electoral system
Instructor
Al Tompkins is one of America’s most requested broadcast journalism and multimedia teachers and coaches. After nearly 30 years working as a reporter, photojournalist, producer, investigative reporter, head of special investigations and News Director, Tompkins joined the Poynter Institute where he is Senior Faculty for Broadcast and Online. He is the author of a textbook about multimedia storytelling that has been adopted by more than 100 universities worldwide. He has taught in 49 states, Canada, Egypt, Denmark, South Africa, Iceland and the Caymans.
Tompkins is the recipient of some of journalism’s highest awards including The National Emmy, the Japan Prize, The American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel, The Peabody (group award), 7 National Headliner Awards, The Robert F. Kennedy Award and The Iris Award. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and honored with The Governor’s Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Tompkins helped to author the national codes of ethics for both the National Press Photographers Association and the Radio and Television Digital News Association.
