Program Overview

"In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs forever and ever."
Oscar Wilde

Reporting from the nation’s capital is a privilege vied for by top journalists across the country. In this workshop, students will learn how Washington reporters work, see where they work, and will pull out their notebooks and cameras to do their own reporting.

The workshop consists of three courses: Print Journalism, Intro to Washington Reporting, and Photojournalism. Students will be able to take advantage of the resources of one of the nation’s most prestigious universities to pursue their coursework.

In Print Journalism, Instructor Linda Kramer Jenning will teach the elements of reporting and newswriting through lectures and through the hands on reporting and writing of a capstone project. This will be a substantive story that addresses a key question plaguing political candidates, their campaign strategists and political scientists: will teens vote on Nov. 4, 2008? Students will help outline the project, develop questions for an informal poll, conduct interviews and do background research. Students will write their own stories pulling together all the reporting. These articles will be posted in their portfolios on the workshop webpage. Guest speakers will include political polling expert Associate Dean Veronica D. DiConti and congressional reporter Sue Davis of Roll Call.

In Photojournalism, Instructor Tyrone Turner will introduce the students to the profession through in-class instruction and on-assignment fieldwork. The course will cover where photojournalism has come from and where it is today. Emphasis will be placed on producing images to fulfill assignments in portraiture, action, and the photo essay. Students will discuss what’s a picture and what’s a story. They will take a special insider tour of the National Geographic Society Photo Department. Each student will leave with a showcase of their own images uploaded to their portfolios on the workshop webpage.

Both Print and Photo students will join Instructor Alicia Shepard as she leads them outside the classroom to see Washington journalism in action. Following short lectures, students will head off campus to visit the White House and meet with the First Lady’s press secretary, attend a Pentagon briefing and talk with beat reporters, tour the Capitol and attend a congressional hearing. Students also will get a chance to visit a newsroom. And since Washington is home to scandals and temptations, we’ll study ethics, sourcing and what is and isn’t acceptable journalistic practices. Students will post regular updates on their trips and observations to the workshop blog.