International Multimedia Institute Launches in India
Aspiring journalists in India can now train in an 11-month digital media program that emphasizes the best professional practices. The International Media Institute of India started classes in the Delhi suburb of Noida this summer with 30 students.The participants come from across India—as well as from Bhutan and Liberia. The classroom mimics a newsroom with students constantly reporting and publishing stories. Students learn everything from the fundamentals of newswriting and editing to podcasting and Web design. Courses are taught in English and Hindi.
“Our students will stand out because of their digital know-how, high standards and ability to report on important issues facing India,” said International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) President Joyce Barnathan. “As Indian news outlets grow, there will be an increasing demand for our graduates.”
The institute is run by ICFJ and its Indian partner, the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), a think tank of Indian journalists and policy affairs analysts. It is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Graduate School of Journalism of the City University of New York (CUNY) is providing curriculum support.
“The main aim of the program is to train students in a manner that enables them to move into live newsrooms effortlessly and efficiently,” said SPS President Tarun Basu. “Inquiries have already started coming in for next year.”
The institute’s special features include:
A mobile news service called Village Voice that covers 20 rural villages. Students develop stories and help train rural citizens to produce daily news reports in this living laboratory. In another effort to reach India’s underserved communities, the institute provides scholarships to deserving students.
Training in 10 specialty areas including business, politics, arts and health.
A faculty of experienced Indian and foreign journalists from news outlets such as IANS and Indian Express, as well as ESPN in Singapore, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the United States, and the BBC.
For more information, visit www.imii.co.in
–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); August 27, 2010
Magazines find specialization may be key to survival
When Dean Ridings, editorial director, imagines the reader of Thriving Family magazine produced by Colorado-based Focus on the Family, he pictures a soccer mom toting it along to her child's game.Leadership Journal is geared for pastors, and Men of Integrity, also published by Christianity Today International, is aimed at men who might tuck the small devotional periodical in their suit pocket.
Specialization is the name of the game — and sometimes the key to survival for Christian magazines, experts say. But while niche-targeting may give a magazine a better chance of making it, it's not a cure-all for an industry that's weathering seismic shifts.
Like their secular counterparts, Christian publications are wrestling with plummeting advertising, declining circulation rates and a migration of readers from print to online.
The shifts mean a magazine on Bible study, for example, is going to have a better chance of survival than a more general one about the Bible, said journalism professor and publishing consultant Samir Husni.
Perhaps most worrisome, success can be measured by simply keeping circulation stable - or almost stable - rather than seeing it grow.
"The new growing these days is not losing," said Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi. "That's the case with all the magazines, not only the religious magazines."
Husni, who has consulted for Christianity Today International's magazines, said publishers of religious periodicals are making tough decisions about which publications to keep and, in some cases, charging for ones that once were free.
Focus on the Family revamped its flagship magazine and changed its name to Thriving Family last year. It's now retails for $9.99 a year.
Unlike its free predecessor, it no longer includes schedules of the ministry's radio broadcasts.
The company also has cut back from eight magazines to four; three teen-themed magazines were cut, and another, Plugged In, an entertainment review guide for parents, went online.
Christianity Today International has seen the circulation of its flagship magazine drop from 190,000 at its peak to about 140,000. Some of its specialized publications have also shed readers: Leadership Journal (down to 48,000, from 61,000 in 2001) and Men of Integrity (down to 63,000, from 70,000 in 2007).
Salem Publishing closed the print version of its popular CCM magazine, which had covered the contemporary Christian music industry, in 2008, but kept Preaching magazine and Singing News, which focuses on Southern gospel music, alive.
Doug Trouten, executive director of the Evangelical Press Association, said his organization's membership reflects the changes in the industry.
"Publications that are shutting down are more likely to be general audience, and publications that are taking their place tend to be smaller, more specialized publications," he said.
Strang Communications has seen a substantial drop in its circulation for flagship Pentecostal magazine Charisma — down to 130,000 from a high of 250,000 in the 1990s.
"You have to know your reader, and they better be loyal," said Charisma editor Marcus Yoars, "because advertisers aren't always going to be there."
––Adelle M. Banks, The Houston Chronicle (www.chron.com); July 28, 2010
Arab Media Forum sessions, workshops posted online
Arab journalists who did not attend the 9th Arab Media Forum in Dubai
can now access all the event's conferences, workshops and panel
discussions online. Dubai Press Club, which organized the event, posted the material on YouTube,
Facebook and Twitter. For more information (in Arabic), click here.–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); June 7, 2010
Articles sought on communication in crisis situations
Universidad de Chile's communication institute is inviting
submissions of articles on coverage of crises and disasters for an
online publication. Deadline: July 6. The call for submissions is open to journalists, researchers, Chilean
and foreign academics, students, and professionals in general. The articles will be compiled into an online publication that will be
available in the second semester of 2010. Works must be sent to cecom@uchile.cl
or jmlabrin@gmail.com. For more
information (in Spanish), click here.–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); June 1, 2010
Course on digital journalism offered in Brazil
Journalists who work in digital media in Brazil can apply for a
training program that will provide an overview of digital journalism,
Web 2.0, journalism language for the electronic media and visual
journalism, among other topics. Deadline: June 30. The program is divided into three modules, starting on July 19,
August 16 and September 30, respectively. The courses are offered by
Brazil's Instituto Internacional de Ciencias Sociais (IICS) and Facultad
de Comunicación de la Universidad de Navarra. Candidates must send an application and a resume. For more information, contact anderson@iics.org.br or click here
(info in Portuguese).–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); May 3, 2010
Entries open for the 2010 Developing Asia Journalism Awards
Journalists from Asia and the Pacific have until July 15 to submit
published articles to the annual Developing Asia Journalism Awards
(DAJA) competition, sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute. The awards honor the work and contributions of journalists actively
engaged in the responsible dissemination of knowledge related to poverty
reduction, and other areas that support long-term growth in Asia and
the Pacific. Applicants must submit stories in one of four categories: Life in the
City, Going Green, New Growth Paths and The Shape of Asia to Come. Six prizes of US$1,000 will be awarded to the winners. Articles must
be submitted in English, and must have appeared in a regional newspaper,
magazine, or news wire service between January 1, 2009 and July 31,
2010. Interested journalists must register
online before they can submit articles online. For more
information, click here.–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); June 1, 2010
Free software aids in research management for journalists
A free download is now available to help journalists organize
information for stories. The software, "Journalist Information
Management Tracking Software 3.0," provides a form of workflow lifecycle
management for journalists to research and manage information. Using the software, journalists can arrange research into workflow
categories like "confirmed great story," "to research more," "final
editing" or "ready for publishing." Journalists can then move each article through the life cycle until
it gets published. Story sources, descriptions, dates, Web sites and
contact information can also be stored for each story. To download the software, click here.–IJNet (www.ijnet.org); June 7, 2010