Update: NPPA Advanced Storytelling Workshop

Some good news about the National Press Photographers Association Advanced Storytelling Workshop, coming up in April in Texas. They've just added Kathy Kieliszewski (pictured) of the Detroit Free Press as an instructor. She's the newspaper's four-time National Emmy Award winning multimedia producer. Though she and her team have worked closely with a local TV station, her roots are in newspaper video production, and her staff has grown organically from the paper's still photography department.

That makes Kieliszewski an especially welcome addition to the teaching staff, which consists mostly of accomplished TV news journalists. While broadcast expertise is needed in newsrooms these days, it's also important to distinguish between event-driven news coverage and videojournalism feature storytelling -- which is what the NPPA workshop strives to do.

Kieliszewski's work at Freep.com has been recognized at the NPPA Best of Photojournalism competition, the 2009 Webby Awards and as a finalist in the Pictures of the Year International's annual competition's documentary project of the year, as well as numerous photography and picture editing awards. That provides a good balance to the equally valuable input participants will receive from TV newscasters.

The workshop is slated for April 11-16 at Texas State University.

Here's some more info:

This exciting week-long program is designed for experienced TV and newspaper photojournalist, reporters, and video journalist (VJs) - anyone who tells stories with moving pictures, sound and words. We pick up where the Oklahoma NewsVideo Workshops leaves off. We have broadened our scope to include journalists working for newspapers and one-man-bands. Several of our faculty were working solo and winning Photographer of the Year awards long before anyone used the term VJ.

Everyone is a participant. Working solo or in teams, you will develop story ideas, research, report, shoot, edit and produce complete packages under real world deadlines. Critiques and one-on-one sessions abound.

You will participate in regular assignment meetings where story ideas are evaluated and refined. Great emphasis is placed on developing a clear focus BEFORE the shooting process begins. Shooting, writing and editing is conducted under real world deadlines.

Finished stories are critiqued with an emphasis on constructive suggestions for improvement.

Participants must bring their own equipment -- including camera, tripod, microphones, lights, battery charger, laptop, and DVDs to burn assignments for critiques.

LINKS:

* Schedule (pdf)

* Registration info