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MONTH, YEAR
OCTOBER 30, 1999 SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
8:00-9:15 am.
Conference registration on-site
Westin Hotel, Ottawa.
9:15 - 10:30 a.m. Opening speech by Christie Blatchford of the National Post. As a featured columnist at the Post, Blatchford has overturned the old way of covering trials to get to the heart of the story. With more than 25 years at The Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and now the Post, Blatchford has found that in newspapers, as in the army, there are no bad soldiers, just bad generals. It's a great time for newspapering, but almost every-where in Canada the newspapers are mediocre. The problem, she says, is in the leadership.
10:45 - 12:15 p.m. MORNING SESSIONS
(1A) Writing for Story: Jon Franklin,
Raleigh News & Observer.
The CAJ is proud to bring you Jon Franklin, one of our professions top writers. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Franklin will explain the writing tech-niques that go into creating powerful non-fiction short stories. Franklin will discuss how to use com-plication/resolution, flashbacks, pace and foreshad-owing to make stories come alive. You've read his book, Writing for Story, now hear the master story-teller himself.
(1B) Writing to Deadline - The 100-Metre Dash of Journalism: John Ward, The Canadian Press.
Whether it's filing a fast top from a court case or filing from the scene of a disaster, deadline writing requires clear thought and fine focus. National Newspaper Award winner John Ward will offer tips on how to face the ticking deadline. The 27-year-veteran of CP has covered it all and he'll talk about preparation, writing in your head and deciding on your lead.
(1C) Picturing the Possible:
Deborah Potter, NewsLab.
Former CBS and CNN correspondent Deborah Potter, now executive director of NewsLab-a Columbia University initiative that specializes in working with T.V. journalists to find better ways of telling important stories that are often difficult to convey on television- helps reporters find ways of turning what seem to be dull assignments into mem-orable TV. stories. Her goal is to inspire journalists and news managers to think more creatively about how they might tell complex stories, so they're not stuck at the end of the day scrambling to find pic-tures to cover black holes. Her storytelling strategies include finding the story inside the assignment and using metaphors and analogies to explain com-plex information. (1D) Writing for Online Media: Mindy McAdams, University of Florida.
This workshop will demonstrate how to think about crafting a news or feature story for online media, focusing on the text elements and the structure of the story, not on multimedia tools or techniques. Mindy McAdams, a former reporter and editor for Time Magazine and the Washington Post, is the Knight Chair in New Media Studies at the University of Florida's School of Journalism. Her talk is geared to those who are new to web journalism.
2:00 - 3.30 AFTERNOON SESSIONS
(2A) Don't Write It, Tell It: Dick Gordon, CBC Radio.
Over a 20-year career, Gordon has developed a reputation for finding unconventional stories and telling them in ways that defy the formulas for news and the standard rules about broadcast writing. Gordon has extensive experience as a foreign correspondent with CBC News, most recently in Moscow and New Delhi, and his stories now have a featured place on CBC Radio's flagship show This Morning. Gordon will talk about how to find better stories than those assigned by the desk and how to tell them in new and creative ways.
(2B) Crime and Court: Christie Blatchford,
The National Post.
Some of the best stories in the country unfold in courtrooms and their fringes - coroner's inquests and national parole board hearings. Yet court report-ing remains one of the last holdouts of absolute straight reportage - so straight that what appears in print bears little resemblance to what actually hap-pened. Blatchford, a former sports reporter who covers major trials for the National Post, argues that a court case is like a hockey game and just as much fun to cover.
(2C) A 12-step Program for Writers:
Michael Gartner, The Daily Tribune
Twelve steps every writer must take in order to be good. Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Gartner is the former president of NBC News who is now co-owner and editor of the Daily Tribune in Ames, Iowa.
This is a talk that inspires. Among Gartner's tips: Read your work aloud listening for rhythm and cadence; When the "bad-part index" of a job hits 20, quit.
3:45 - 5:15 LATE AFTERNOON SESSIONS
(3A) Loosening Lips: The Art of the Interview: Eric Nalder, The Seattle Times.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Eric Nalder describes how you can get anyone to tell you anything under any circumstance. He draws on 30 years of experi-ence plus the lessons he's learned from cops, shrinks, social workers, lawyers, private eyes and other interrogators. It's a workshop that has drawn thousands in five countries. He'll share other tech-niques for investigative reporting that have won him and his colleagues scores of joumalism awards.
(3B) Language Sciences and Journalism:
Dave Tait, Carleton University.
By tapping into the precise concepts of language sciences, journalists can better understand what they're doing - and do it better. Tait, who teaches reporting and radio at Carleton University's School of Joumalism and Communications, will explain why much of the conventional wisdom for broadcast writ-ing is wrong. He draws on experience at five Canadian newspapers, Radio Beijing, China's short-wave service, and CBC Radio.
(3C) Stealing from the Classics: Lynn Franklin, WriterL.
Writers are often told to read the classics. But no-one ever says why. Lynn Franklin, editor of WriterL, the email writing workshop- one of of North America's most popular list-serves on writing- is working on a book on applying classical fiction tech-niques to non-fiction. She concludes that a story is a story, whether spun out of the fancies of a Gertrude Stein or the notebook of an experienced reporter. Most of the devices and techniques needed by nar-rative journalists can be adapted from the classic masters of literature.
(3D) Picturing the Possible: Deborah
Potter, NewsLab. (Repeat)
SUNDAY OCTOBER 31.
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. EARLY SESSIONS MORNING
(4A) Writing for Story: Jon Franklin, Raleigh News & Observer. (Repeat)
(4B) Pitching a Story Idea: Lynn McAuley, The Ottawa Citizen.
Since McAuley became editor of the Citizen's Weekly magazine two years ago, it has been nominated for or won 17 major awards. A former sports editor and writing coach at The Ottawa Citizen, McAuley has found that one of the biggest stum-bling blocks for writers is selling their idea to editors. She'll provide a checklist of how to move a concept from your head into print, how to pin down the ideas behind the story, and how to deliver.
(4C) Business Reporting: Kimberley Noble, Maclean's Magazine.
Two-time National Newspaper Award winner, Noble spent 13 years as a reporter for The Globe and Mail's Report on Business, where she established herself as one of the section's most successful investigative reporters. Now a national business correspondent at Maclean's magazine, Noble will dis-cuss how to follow the money, get to key executives and find other sources of information when official comment dries up. This session is not just for business writers. Bring a story or project for discussion.
10:45 -12:15 p.m. LATE MORNING SESSIONS
(5A) Stealing from the Classics: Lynn Franklin, WriterL. (Repeat)
(5B) A 12-Step Program for Writers:
Michael Gartner, The Daily Tribune. (Repeat)
(5C) Writing for Online Media: Mindy McAdams, University of Florida. (Repeat)
A. Registration Information and Fees Conference fees include all workshops and keynote speeches. The Symposium begins Saturday morning with registration at 8:00 AM, followed by a welcome keynote address and workshops afterward. On Saturday night, an hors d'oeuvres reception is included with conference registration. Workshops and panels continue Sunday morning and concludes by noon on Sunday.
New or lapsed CAJ members can renew/join using this form to take advantage of CAJ member rates (Memberships cost $60 for regular or associate mem-bers, $30 for journalists earning less than $25,000 annually, and $20 for students) (Please include all information on this form for the Media Directory)
NOTE: Early Bird Deadline is October 16, 1999