Course Descriptions
BoYD HUPPERT
Reporter
KARE, Minneapolis, MN
TWO SESSIONS:
STORYTELLING WITH HEART
Boyd answers the questions, why do we laugh, why do we cry, why do we care - and how can we make it happen for our viewers more often?
THE ART OF THE REVEAL
If you want your viewers to feel something, surprise them. Boyd shares tips to maximize your reveals by treating viewers as active participants in your stories rather than passive observers.
LES ROSE
Professor of Practice, BDJ
SI Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
THE ROAD LES TRAVELED
Journalism matters. It really does. Remember when you couldn't imagine doing ANYTHING ELSE? You are in the only profession where every day you want an extra hour on the job to make your story even better. But folks need your stories to connect, inform, and inspire them. Taking a mediocre story and making it good, then good to great, and great to excellent. Are you truly curious? Have you ever interviewed a person in a wheelchair for their opinion? What, they don't have one.
Alex Mahadevan
Director of the AI Innovation Lab
THE POYNTER INSTITUTE, SAINT PETERSBURG, FL
ETHICAL AI IN JOURNALISM
While the industry argues about whether AI belongs in journalism, newsrooms are already using it — analyzing documents, monitoring school districts, building policy chatbots for $40. This session will cover what belongs in your newsroom's AI ethics guidelines and what's missing. And how to disclose when you've used the emerging technology. Finally, you'll get a look at how journalists and editors can go from users to builders. You'll leave with practical tools, real examples and a clearer sense of how to use AI without torching your credibility.
Adrienne Broaddus
NETWORK CORRESPONDENT
CHICAGO, IL
NETWORK NEWS AND THE HIGH BAR
This course with Adrienne Broaddus pulls back the curtain on reporting at the network level, from how stories are pitched and approved to what makes air and what doesn't. Participants will learn the core skills they can start developing now to prepare for the demand of network-level reporting.
Shawn Hoder
Vice President and News Director
WUPA, ATLANTA, GA
BUILDING JOURNALISM…FROM THE GROUND UP
"We've always done it this way." The statement that can drive a station into the ground. Shawn Hoder helped take on the 7th largest TV market in the country and created a station from the ground up. A dive into what is needed in journalism today to keep the audience engaged and the employees passionate. The 'juggle is real'.
Savannah Levins
Investigative Reporter
WXIA, ATLANTA, GA
INVESTIGATIVE STORYTELLING
If you think investigations are only about record requests, waving around documents, and chasing politicians through government buildings, think again! Investigative Storytelling is about so much more than data and digging; it’s about people. This course explores how to turn complex investigations into compelling stories that land with clarity, emotion, and impact. Because a spreadsheet doesn’t make viewers care, but a human being does. We will discuss how to weave interviews, scenes, and narrative structure into accountability reporting, even under tight deadlines and TRTs. Along the way, we’ll talk about finding the heart of a story, writing with purpose, and making sure your story truly sticks with an audience. Expect practical tools, real-world examples, and honest conversations about what works, what doesn’t, and how to tell tough stories with empathy. By the end of the course, you will be better equipped to turn cold, hard facts into warm, impactful stories that truly resonate.
Jaleesa Irizarry
SENIOR Multimedia Journalist
KUSA, DENVER, CO
WHERE’S YOUR CAMERAMAN?!
From shooting compelling video and clean interviews to writing with visuals in mind and managing time under pressure, this talk focuses on the practical skills and mindset needed to produce strong, memorable stories on your own.
Ruth Morton
PHOTOJournalist
WUSA, WASHINGTON, D.C.
FILLING VISUAL HOLES
What do you do when you don't have video? Ruth Morton will show standups, preproduced b-roll, and other ideas to figure out how to fill the black on your timeline.
JUSTIN BERGER and MATTHEW YATES
REPORTER
WANF, ATLANTA, GA
ASSISTANT CHIEF PHOTOJOURNALIST
WLOS, ASHEVILLE, NC
COVERING A NATURAL DISASTER IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Ask anyone in Western North Carolina about Hurricane Helene, and they’ll have a story to tell. Justin and Matthew are no different. As they wrapped their 11 pm live shot the night of September 26th, there was no idea what was to come. The following 48 hours led each to experience the immediate aftermath differently. They joined up for a Sunday shift that would lead them to seek out the effects of the storm on our outlying areas, with little information to go on and almost no cell service for weeks to come. The story of covering Helene is a story of long car rides, unexpected characters, devastation, & humanity.