This course is designed to acquaint students with many aspects of digital journalism and to help them become better storytellers. We will combine the bedrock skills of researching, reporting and news writing with modern multimedia tools to create dynamic stories that engage and excite audiences. Then we will push a button and unleash those stories into the world.
We will create news stories and blogs, podcasts, videos, and photo galleries. Students will design their individual WordPress websites, where they will display their work. Class will begin with a short lecture, followed by hands-on digital production using such programs and apps as: iMovie, Audacity, Storify, Twitter and WordPress.
We will spend the bulk of our time making stuff. There will be many opportunities to collaborate, showcase your work in class, and at the end of the semester you will leave with a digital portfolio that makes you marketable to today’s editors.
Professional Bay Area multimedia journalists will visit class to discuss how emerging technologies are revolutionizing their craft. They will lend their expertise to the students, and answer their questions about the realities of today’s digital newsroom. This course will help any Mills student who wants to learn how to construct a digital narrative with a beginning, middle and an end, in a way that engages readers who have come to expect mobile, interactive, news.
The course is designed to strengthen students in several areas: embracing creative risks, being fearless in the face of technical challenges, and working collaboratively to solve problems. We are not aiming for technical perfection but rather for interesting content and creative approaches to telling stories.
Digital Manthan 