MediaStorm Multimedia: India's Undesired Women

MediaStorm's latest multimedia project focuses on India, where the preferential treatment of men results in "a near constant disregard for the lives of women and girls."

From birth until old age, women face a constant threat of violence and too frequently, death. The numbers are staggering. Since 1980, an estimated 40 million women are 'missing,' by way of abortion, neglect or murder. 7,000 female fetuses are aborted every day according to the U.N., aborted solely because they are girls. One dowry death is reported every 77 minutes....

Today, eighty percent of Indian states are now facing a shortage of women. To compensate for this differential, young, unknowing women are bought from surrounding countries like Bangladesh and sold to young bachelors. Not knowing a word of the language, these trafficked women now face the same kinds of violence as other Indian women.

Walter Astrada's video is titled "Undesired."

Want to learn how to create MediaStorm-quality videojournalism? Consider enrolling in one of the Brooklyn-based production company's workshops. There's one on Multimedia Methodology coming up January 10-15, 2011 (apply by November 1, 2010). Info here.

Knight's Free 2011 Multimedia Workshops

The Knight Digital Media Center at UC Berkeley is accepting applications for its next round of multimedia workshops. The KDMC offers free week-long training to working journalists in multimedia storytelling, including how to capture and edit video, photos and audio.

All food and lodging expenses are covered. Travel to Berkeley is to be paid by the applicant's news organization.

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Multimedia Training

Jan. 9-14, 2011

Application deadline: Nov. 19, 2010

Intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production; from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.

Participants are taught skills they need to produce quality multimedia stories including:

• Video recording and editing
• Photography and audio slideshows
• Audio recording and editing
• Voice coaching for narration or stand-ups
• Photoshop and Web design concepts
• Producing Adobe Flash interactive story graphics

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Professional print and broadcast journalists who want to develop multimedia skills to support their publication’s web publishing effort.

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Web 2.0 Training

Feb 14-18, 2011

Application deadline: Dec 10, 2010

Hands-on, newsroom-focused training on innovative publishing tools and technologies.

This training takes participants through the progression of reporting news for multiple digital platforms, starting with quick text posts and moving through photos and video and finally ending with a full multimedia presentation. The workshop provides hands-on training using Twitter and Facebook for reporting and driving web traffic, creating data-driven map mashups, dynamically updating a blog for breaking news, publishing photo galleries and audio slideshows, producing videos and editing videos using Final Cut Pro. Participants will leave with new tools for reporting and with fresh insights on how to serve new and emerging audiences.

During five days of intense, hands-on instruction, the fellows selected for the Web 2.0 training will:

• Blog breaking news using Twitter
• Post photos in interactive news maps
• Produce and publish photo galleries and audio slideshows
• Create and edit videos with Final Cut Pro
• Incorporate user-generated content in breaking news stories
• Use Facebook and publication widgets for news distribution
• Learn technical specifics for optimizing breaking news rankings in Google

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Professional print, radio, broadcast and online journalists who want to develop Web 2.0 technology and techniques to support their publication's Internet publishing effort.

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Multimedia Training

May 15-20, 2011

Application deadline: March 18, 2011

Intensive training that covers all aspects of multimedia news production, from basic storyboarding to hands-on instruction with hardware and software for production of multimedia stories. Participants will be organized into teams to report on a pre-arranged story in the Bay Area, and then construct a multimedia presentation based on that coverage.

Participants are taught skills they need to produce quality multimedia stories including:

• Video recording and editing
• Photography and audio slideshows
• Audio recording and editing
• Voice coaching for narration or stand-ups
• Photoshop and Web design concepts
• Producing Adobe Flash interactive story graphics

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Professional print and broadcast journalists who want to develop multimedia skills to support their publication’s web publishing effort.

For more info, and to apply, go here.

POSTSCRIPT: See Knight Digital Media Center's free online Video Tutorials, on topics such as videocameras and accessories, editing software, shooting techniques, standups and voiceovers, and more.

Free $3,500 Advanced Multimedia Workshop

This may be the single best videojournalism training opportunity ever offered.

MediaStorm, which just today won its fourth Webby Award (see below), is inviting applicants to fill eight slots in its next Advanced Multimedia Reporting Workshop, in New York from June 20-26. Here's the best part: citing "the tough economic climate and the critical need for multimedia training," the $3,500 tuition will be waived.

Caveats: "This is not an introductory course. Students are responsible for their own travel, room and board. Reporters are expected to have a high level of competency with still photography, and be familiar with audio and video techniques. Editors are expected to be comfortable in Final Cut Pro."

Over the course of a week, participants will work in three-person teams, reporting and editing in collaboration with a seasoned multimedia professional to produce a multimedia project for distribution across multiple platforms. Each team will produce a professional-quality, ready-for-publication multimedia story.

Applications are due no later than Friday, May 15. Participants will be selected based on the content of their applications, which can be found here. To see work produced in previous workshops, see MediaStorm's Workshop site.

Be sure to visit the MediaStorm channel on KobreGuide.com . The popular video stories "Naked Cowboy" and "An Apollo Legend" were produced during MediaStorm workshops.

Multimedia Workshops at Berkeley

The Knight Digital Media Center is currently accepting applications for the 2008-2009 technology and multimedia training workshops -- hands-on, newsroom-focused computer training for mid-career journalists. The workshops — delivered to accepted fellows at no charge — are held at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

This year the KDMC will deliver five multimedia and two technology training workshops. Each workshop accepts 20 applicants. All lodging, meals, training and materials are provided without fee. Accepted fellows must pay their own travel expenses.

Participants in the intense, six-day Multimedia Workshops produce publication-ready multimedia stories using proven journalistic story-telling techniques and the latest hardware and software.

Topics covered include using digital video cameras, photo cameras and audio recorders; doing storyboards, stand-ups, voiceovers and other broadcast techniques; digital video, audio and photo editing using Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Photoshop; creating photo slide shows with Flash; Web page creation using Dreamweaver, and multimedia Web site design. Also included are presentations by experts on the most pressing issues in online publishing.

To apply: http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/training/