Seems like only yesterday that we began the Spring Semester, and, today, 15 weeks later, we are spending the day “workshopping” the students’ final stories.
This is the 8th consecutive year that I teach my class, Multiplatform Design & Storytelling at the Columbia University’s School of Journalism. What an honor it is to be leading the next generation of journalists as they embark on their professional journey. These are students—-the best of the best—getting their Master’s degrees and among high.
Teaching during the pandemic
It is a challenge to conduct classes through these difficult times, but we have managed to emerge at the end of the semester with not one single student contracting the virus, thanks, perhaps, to the vigilant Columbia University policy of constant testing. We do not get our ID’s to show “green pass” unless we are tested for Covid 19 at the University.
However, we still do not sit around a large table in a seminar room. Instead, my 14 students sit in a larger room, separated 6 ft from each other. I do not get close to the students, while teaching my three-hour class wearing a mask.
I have not seen the full face of any of my students, only their eyes.
I recognize their voices.
We have a hybrid situation where sometimes we meet in person and sometimes via Zoom (especially if we have a guest speaker0. But it has worked well, and I am proud of the work the students have done and here we are today, reviewing their final stories.
Workshopping the stories
Today the class turns into a newsroom and I coach the students as they show me stories that are 80% completed, but still work in progress. The coaching session is exactly like the ones I would have with professionals.
Next May 10, the final day of class, students will proudly present their stories to the rest of the class. Then we will see which stories have potential to sell to the media.
The most valuable lessons
As the students leave my classroom, I hope they have learned the most valuable lessons, the ones not necessarily associated with how to build a mobile story:
- Tell stories that have consequence in the lives of the readers.
- Be objective and present all sides of the story.
- Don’t get so attached to an original idea, that you refuse to abandon it for something better or more efficient.
- Accept criticism of your work (which has nothing to do with someone liking or disliking you as a person!).
- Dream big and never stop learning. We are all lucky to be in the most incredibly rewarding and wonderful profession.
I wish my students and the Class of 2021 the best of everything. Yes, the world they enter as professionals is one complicated and uneven environment, but the interest in news and information has never been greater. The means through which we can tell stories are richer than ever before. Techonology today offers journalists immense possibilities. Explore them. Experiment with every story.
A part of me wishes I was your age again. These are the best times to be a visual storyteller.
Next week: As students present their final projects May 10, I will profile them here in TheMarioBlog.
Our mobile storytelling workshops now available remotely
Professors: get your review version of The Story on time for fall classes
As an academic, I know the importance of having the right tools to advance our students, especially on the important subject of mobile storytelling. Please drop me an email if you would like to sample The Story in its digital edition: mario@garciamedia.com
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The full trilogy of The Story now available–3 books to guide you through a mobile first strategy. Whether you’re a reporter, editor, designer, publisher, corporate communicator, The Story is for you! https://amazon
TheMarioBlog post # 3313