Maximizing your Journalistic Opportunities: Backpack Journalism In a Digital Age

Applicants for the Asheville course must have at least one year of college and some writing experience, preferably with online, college, or professional publications. To apply, use our web site application by clicking "Apply now" above. In addition to the online form, you will need to submit electronically your:

1. Resume

2. College transcript(s)

3. Links to 1 - 3 examples of your published work (articles, photos, and/or videos)

4. Recommendation letter (on letterhead) from your pastor or campus Christian group leader.

5. A 500 word-profile of a husband and wife married for at least 35 years. See "Writing" tab.

6. (Optional) A published article you have submitted, or an unpublished one you plan to submit, for an Amy Award. See "Writing" tab.

7. (Optional) Letter on letterhead from your local newspaper editor attesting to a freelance agreement as described under "Course Information."

Materials should be scanned and sent with an email to office@worldji.com. If you don't have access to a scanner, visit an Office Depot or Staples.

Those students interested in college credit must make arrangements with the particular college or seminary. Since this course is limited to 14 students, admission is competitive. Application deadline is March 20, 2013. We admit students on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early.

Required Reading

Students should read the following before the course begins, and bring copies to Asheville:

The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B. White

 "Reporter's Guide to Multimedia Proficiency" (online), Mindy McAdams

The Reason for God, Tim Keller

World Policybook: Principles, Policies, Procedures, Writing Tips - to be emailed to all admitted students

Writings by Marvin Olasky - files to be sent to all admitted students

Recommended Reading:

The New New Journalism, Robert Boynton

 A Writer's Coach, Jack Hart

Telling True Stories, Mark Kramer and Wendy Call

How Christianity Changed the World, Alvin Schmidt

AP Guide to Photojournalism, Brian Horton

Discipling Nations, Darrow Miller

The God Who Is There, Francis Schaeffer

 Required

To be admitted to the course, students must write a 500-word profile of a husband and wife married for at least 35 years. To see published profiles on this theme, go to http://www.worldmag.com/topic/marriage_longevity. Students should not profile relatives or close friends.  

Our goal in running these profiles is to tell stories about people who have persevered through struggles and are able to testify that marriage is good, and that its best fruits take years to ripen.

Although that sounds like an easy task, writing a compelling profile in 500 words is difficult. Many nice Christian people talk in vague generalities. They may gloss over the hard parts and speak in clichés. A good reporter needs to be a good listener and also able to draw out stories from subjects.

In completing this assignment, you will need to ask repeatedly, “Could you give me an example?” You are looking for stories to embed within your profile. You will need to ask about the hard parts: What were the challenges? A good profile needs some tension: We already know the marriage survived, but we need to know about moments that tested that, and how the couple got through the struggles?

When the older people speak in Christian lingo, you’ll need to get them to restate what they’re saying. You’ll tell them that we hope these profiles will encourage others who are facing challenges--and that won’t happen if their lives seem perfect or unreal.

You should try to interview the husband and wife together, in person. That will help you pick up mannerisms and place them in surroundings that will make them come to life as people. Look for the telling personal traits, including how they relate to each other. Do they complete each other’s sentences? Are they willing to show that they’re not in agreement about everything, but help each other think things through?

Before you begin writing, try writing a sentence or paragraph that states clearly what the story is about. Here’s an example: “The Browns are married today because five years into their marriage they decided to stop competing against each other and began living as though they were on the same team.” That sentence might not make it into your profile, but it will help you decide which details to include and which to leave out. You’d want details that showed the corrosive effects of the competition and details about the change. Details about their exciting trip to Paris probably wouldn’t fit this particular profile.

(Optional)

The Amy Foundation, founded in 1976 by Jim and Phyllis Russell and named after their daughter, is best known for its Amy Writing Awards, which are incentives to present biblical truth in secular publications. The World News Group in 2013 is taking over administration of the Awards, with Amy continuing to put up the prize money -- $10,000 for first place and $24,000 more for 14 other winners.

Here’s are two vital points to remember, you decide to enter the contest. First, the articles need to see the light of day in secular journalistic publications including newspapers, magazines (local, regional, or national), and news websites (not blogs or newsletters). College newspapers may provide particularly good opportunities for publication. Second, articles should involve original reporting, with preference given to feature stories. Columns and opinion pieces are eligible, but those based on pavement-pounding rather than pontificating -- street-level rather than suite-level research, we like to say -- have preference. Works of fiction or poetry are ineligible.

Some specific detail on the judging: Our evaluators this year will use a 70-point rubric (increased from 50 points in previous years). Past-year judges looked at writing excellence (including “skillful use of language: and “capture the imagination from the first paragraphs”), audience appeal (including “avoid preaching” and “use relevant language”), and discipling (including “illuminate/clarify” and “present a biblical worldview in the context of modern thought”).

We’ve now added 20 points for reporting with specific detail: Our judges will ask questions including, “Does the story show strong evidence of on-the-ground reporting... so the author is not relying on organizational spokesmen, publicity releases, or information recycled from others?” and “Does the story have sensory detail so readers feel they can see, hear, smell, or touch scenes, subjects, and objects?”  They will also ask, “Does the story have strong human interest? Does it connect the human interest to larger issues through appropriate use of studies, statistics, and other evidence?”

Here’s one more important point: The article must include at least one verse from the Bible, and acknowledge the Bible as the source. The verse can come from a person quoted in the article, or from the author. The Worldmag.com website beginning in January will have a submission form along with instructions about how to submit PDFs of published articles.

Students seeking admission to WJI are welcome to submit unpublished Amy drafts. We will not edit them but may make suggestions for improvement. Students should not delay requesting admission so as to finish Amy articles first.

Tuition and accommodations are all free for college students. The course may include two or three mid-career professionals: Tuition is free for them but they pay for their own lodging. The class component will take place at the World News Group office and in the home of Marvin and Susan Olasky. WJI will provide most lunches; student are responsible for other meals and for their transportation expenses. If you have any question about costs or transportation, please contact Robert Case (bcase@worldji.com). For questions concerning the instruction, please contact Dr. Marvin Olasky (molasky@gwpub.com).

Bible

Personal blog site, for posting course articles (Wordpress is a good option)

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and G-mail accounts (we share stories using Google Drive)

Due to the intensive and technical nature of the course, all students must have particular equipment and software for the WJI course pre-class and class reporting assignments. Some student buy and others borrow, but no exceptions will be made to these requirements. Contact Tiffany Owens (towens@worldmag.com) with questions well before the course.

Students must bring all equipment/materials to class each day ready to report, as a backpack journalist must be ready to cover news always: Your backpack should contain equipment and items, such as fully charged batteries, cables, snack, etc.) so you are ready to go at a moment's notice.

Here are last year's requirements. We will be updating these requirements in January: 

The WJI Asheville course includes instruction in Christian worldview and the nuts and bolts of backpack journalism for convergent media. The intensive course includes pre-class assignments, two weeks of class residency, and six weeks of post-class reporting and writing.

This is a course in news/feature writing and reporting, designed to help young journalists think through stories Christianly and improve their marketable skills for the digital age. Students will generate a series of multimedia articles for their professional portfolios.

Students will improve their interviewing techniques and journalistic style, and gain training from professionals in photography, videography, and audio work. Class periods will include short lectures but emphasize discussion and analyzing/editing students' stories.

1) The pre-class component: We want to maximize reporting, analyzing, and editing time in Asheville, so students will read in advance what we might otherwise offer in lectures. Readings will address topics such as story development, sources of information, interviewing, investigations, accuracy, writing styles, grammar and usage, film and book reviewing, journalism history, ethics, etc.

We also want students to write two stories that experienced editor Russell Pulliam will read and critique. The students should be prepared to Mr. Pulliam's e-mail comments as quickly as possible. The students will also digest and react to a provocative book about God, with a former philosopher professor responding to student comments and questions.

2) The class component (two weeks): Students should expect to spend 10 hours a day (six in the classroom - except on Sunday - and four on the streets) going out in Asheville and coming back with lots of notes, photos, and video. In the classroom they'll contribute to a joint story for publication in WORLD and individual stories for publication on Worldmag.com or elsewhere. The joint story of the 2012 class was about pawnshops in New York City: See http://www.worldmag.com/2012/07/noxious_or_neighborly. Our topic for 2013 may be sex trafficking or Meth use.

3) The post-class component (4-8 weeks): Students will gain more reporting, writing, and video/audio experience in their hometowns, at mainstream newspapers, or at WORLD's office in Asheville, North Carolina. Students will publish their work on Worldmag.com, or in local newspapers.

GRADING/CREDIT

All students who successfully complete all the work on time will receive a "Pass" grade, indicating at least a "C" grade. Many church-affilated colleges grant their students academic credit for work complete at the institute. Other colleges have granted their students undergraduate credit for work completed at the institute.

PAID INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

 Eight students from the 2012 course have received paid internships at WORLD or secular outlets. Some internships begin immediately after the course and others come during the school year following completion of the course, or during the subsequent summer. Many students in May, 2013, will already have made plans for summer work in June and July. Top graduates of the 2013 Asheville course are most likely to be offered an internship for the summer of 2014. Internships need to be earned, and no student should come to this course assuming one.

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Week 2
 

Russell Pulliam, associate editor of The Indianapolis Star, is also a reporter who has worked at the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other newspapers. He will give close attention to assignments 2, 3, and 4. The students should be prepared to respond to Mr. Pulliam's e-mail comments as quickly as possible. The more editing you can receive before you get to Asheville, the better.

Upon admission to the course students will be emailed some reading they should complete before coming to New York.

Assignment 1, to be emailed to office@worldji.com by 6 p.m. on April 29:

Read pastor Tim Keller's The Reason for God. Write a 500 word analysis.

Assignment 2, to be mailed to Russell.pulliam@indystar.com by 6 p.m. on May 6:

Write a 250 to 300-word feature article about the person who has had the most influence on your life. Explain why this individual has had such an effect on you; make your readers want to learn more about or even meet this individual.

Your particular subject might be your mother or father, a sibling, a friend, a pastor, a teacher or even someone whose non- Christian ways spurred you to change your life for the better. Whatever your choice, it should be someone who has made a dramatic impact on your beliefs and your life. Write your story in third-person (do not use first-person "I"), as though you were writing a news profile.

Assignment 3, to be mailed to Russell.pulliam@indystar.com by 6 p.m. on May 13:

 Write a 500-word profile of a person who is having a beneficial impact on the community or state in which you live (Jeremiah 29:7 counsels us to have such an impact.) You don't need to know the person, but it could help if you do. Write a profile answering who, what, when, where, why , how and so what. Include quotations from at least two people who know the person and be sure to explain the person's key to success.

You should get the quotes, ideally, in your own interview. If you use a quote from a news story, give credit to the original source. You can feel free to pick a public figure, including your governor or mayor. But it could be an average citizen who is living a significant life without such public attention. Remember to avoid using personal opinion or bias. Show the significance of the person's life by stories and facts, not by telling the reader the person is wonderful and important.

Assignment 4, to be emailed to Russell.pulliam@indystar.com by 6 p.m. on May 15:

What are your 2-3 primary strengths as a news reporter/writer? What one area of weakness are you aware of and how do you think World Journalism Institute might help you in working on it?

Note regarding assignments 2 and 3: You should briefly put the person you're profiling into a geographical context. Below is how one WORLD writer connected a person profiled to a particular place. (This was a longer profile than those you are writing and so could have a longer introduction, but you'll get the idea.)

Ron Lewis' church is not easy to find - unless you know your way around Hardin County, Kentucky, like he does. More people are finding out about Lewis, and the kind of people he represents, since a May special election put him in Congress. the 47-year-old Lewis, a conservative Republican Christian, is the kind of person that Democratic Party leaders say Americans should fear. People in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District see it differently. And they've seen Lewis up close.

White Mills Baptist Church sits on a hill away from Highway 84, tucked between the White Mills Christian Church and a campground. You know you've gone too far when you take a sudden turn and you're on a one-lane iron bridge across a river. Through the church's exterior looks like it might have appeared a century earlier, the steps are covered with new indoor-outdoor carpet. Central air conditioning is evident inside the glassed foyer. Like Lewis, there's subtle sophistication here - a savvy about technology that works. An advanced electronic soundboard blinks just inside the rear doors.

The New York Times is wrong about many things but right in its description of Asheville: "This year-round resort time, tucked between the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, draws a funky mix of New Agers, fleece-clad mountain bikers, antiques lovers and old-time farmers. And what's there not to like? Charming yet surprisingly cosmopolitan for a town of about 73,000, Asheville has a Southern appeal all its own. There are lazy cafes and buzzing bistros, Art Deco skyscrapers and arcades reminiscent of Paris."

The Times also rhapsodized about "the seriously beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains," and students at our 2012 mid-career class wrote of "gorgeous mornings...bright sunlight...beyond the tree line hazy gray-blue sentinels loom high... downtown flush with street music...river arts district full of fascination."