5 new masterclasses to help journalists boost their storytelling skills - from Multimedia Journalism: A Practical Guide

We’ve clocked up no fewer that 50 masterclasses at MMJ in the past two years, covering everything from data journalism to Wordpress, video storytelling to creating smartphone apps.

All of these practical guides are available to registered users of MMJ, as are all other masterclasses – including our detailed guides to 12 popular journalism beats including sport, politics, fashion and health.

In the 2012-13 academic year we aim to tackle the latest developments in multimedia journalism, including promising new storytelling platforms, a journalist’s guide to analytics, and how to create infographics.

You’ll find the publishing schedule for the first five masterclasses below. But, as ever, nothing is set in stone, We’d love to hear from you with any suggestions you have for areas you’d like to see us cover.

The way we do journalism is changing at a phenomenal rate. Our goal is to help you keep up. So if there are any tools you’ve discovered that you think other journalists will find useful, let us know and we’ll take an in-depth look at them, and how they can be used.

Masterclass 51: Analytics for journalists

How to use analytics to improve your content and the effectiveness of your journalism.

We’ll include a guide to the tools social platforms including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube provide you with, plus a step-by-step user’s guide to Google Analytics.

Going Live: October 13

Masterclass 52: New storytelling and research tools for journalists

The most promising of the latest tools road tested – how to use them and what they may be able to do for your research and storytelling.

We plan to include Graftee, myhistro, Contweets and others. But if you have further suggestions, get in touch.

Going live: October 27

Masterclass 53: Infographics for beginners

How to easily make professional infographics, and when to use them

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create infographics anymore. We roadtest some of the tools that promise to help you make great infographics.

But when should you use infographics as a storytelling technique? We’ll give a guide.

Going live: November 10

Masterclass 54: Better smartphone photography

Mobile phone cameras get better all the time, and so do photo apps that let you turn an average snap into an impressive piece of photojournalism.

We’ll give a guide to the best cameras, apps and a run down on good photo-technique.

Going live: November 24

Masterclass 55: Boosting your online presence and personal brand

There are many apps that promise to help you look good on line.

Some, such as Vizify, aim to turn your cv/resume into a beautiful interactive graphic. Others, such as Brand Yourself, work to boost your Google ranking.

We’ll take a look at these and others to see which can do the most for you.

Going live: December 8

How to become a music journalist - previewing MMJ Masterclass 47

First some words of warning

Becoming a music journalist is the goal of many. Alongside film.

Reviewing gigs and new releases. and interviewing stars sounds great. And it can be.
But if you want to approach music journalism as a career, and develop your skills as a specialist, there’s a lot you need to do, and to know, if you are to make it.
I mean, you wouldn’t think you could become a political journalist without knowing a great deal about politics – about the people, parties, polices and plenty about political history.
Without that background knowledge you can’t be a competent political reporter.

Likewise, you can’t be a professional music journalist without knowing a great deal about your subject.

A lot of what you need to do to make it is covered in the general introduction to specialisms, linked to here.
You’ll also find a lot of relevant material in the masterclass on celebrity, showbiz and arts reporting which is here for subscribers and will be making a brief appearance outside the paywall in a little while.
We also cover practical guides to doing some of the things that are staples of music journalism – writing a review and conducting an interview – on pages 207-8, 320 and 335-6 of the print and ebook edition of MMJ, and in the companion units on this website.

So what are we going to do here?

We’ll look specifically at several things:

• How to get in to music journalism, drawing on the experiences of a number who have made it
• What you need to know to master music as a specialism
• Where you can get published right now
• How to sell to editors and tell music stories
• What’s wrong with music journalism
• Building a career in music journalism
• Star performers you can learn from, and sources of great music journalism you can use to see how the best do it
• Study it – universities that run specialist music journalism courses

Next: how to become a music journalist

You'll find our topics for the 2011-12 Masterclass programme below

But first, this video introduces masterclasses: what they are, what they set out to do, and how you can get involved in them.

Masterclasses on your iPhone

Get Masterclass updates plus a great deal more from  Multimedia Journalism: A Practical Guide on your iPhone

The MultimediaJournalism iPhone app is the perfect way to stay up to speed with all aspects of multimedia journalism.

The free app combines:

• Latest multimedia journalism news from a wide range of sources
• MMJ Masterclass updates: previews of the latest tuition, from industry experts. Check out the Improve your Video Storytelling masterclass now
• Twitter feed
• YouTube channel
• Audioboo podcasts

Install the instant app by visiting this link on your iPhone:

http://multimediajournalism.isites.us

Or, if you are on a computer, Send it to your phone by clicking here:

http://apps3.genwi.com/web/shareme.aspx?auri=multimediajournalism

Masterclass weekly newsletter

Sign up for the weekly newsletter for all the latest on masterclassses, plus other developments on the site and in the wider world of multimedia journalism. Sign up here

Masterclasses 34-50: the 2011-12 season

The next 16 masterclasses will appear during the 2011-12 academic year. Here’s an outline of what’s planned.

It’s not set in stone, and if there are items you’d like to see added, or if you have input into any of the topics listed, feel free to get in touch via the Contact button, or by DMing @andybull.

Masterclass 34: Getting started in social media

Because social media has developed so fast in the 18 months since MMJ was published, it’s time to bring everything up to date.

So I’m adding three masterclasses in using social media for journalism that correspond with the three learning levels – getting started, building proficiency and professional standards – of the MMJ project.

Those new chapter will be web-exclusive for now, but will be added to the next print edition of MMJ.

Available here from September 3

Masterclass 35: Building your sources with RSS feeds, bundles and pipes

We looked in the last masterclass at how social media can be a valuable source of stories, contacts and tools for research. Now we add to that with a look at the use of RSS feeds, and how to combine the sources you want to keep tabs on into combinations, known as bundles or pipes, that make such sources manageable.

September 16

Masterclass 36: Location-based journalism. The latest Geolocation and mapping tools

September 30

Masterclass 37: Building proficiency in social media

We take our use of social media to the next level.

October 14

Masterclass 38: How clever, well-crafted headlines and good SEO can be compatible

The latest advice on how the often-conflicting arts of search engine optimisation and headline writing can be reconciled.

October 28

Masterclass 39: Getting started in Wordpress.

How to create great, professional websites for your journalism. We’ll kick off by getting a basic site up and running.

November 11

Masterclass 40: Professional standards in social media

Bringing your use of social media up to the standard expected of a newly-qualified multimedia journalist.

November 25

Masterclass 41: Smartphone photography

Smartphones have become invaluable photographic tools. There are all sorts of apps to enable you to create really professional images on them, and hardware that helps transform them into fully professional cameras. We’ll look at all you can now achieve.

December 9

Masterclass 42: Building proficiency in Wordpress

Using customised themes to create a really impressive Wordpress publishing platform for your journalism.

January 6 2012

Masterclass 43: Building proficiency in data journalism

Building on what was covered in Masterclass 20 to develop your skills in finding, sifting and visualising data.

January 20

Masterclass 44: How to create multimedia promo widgets

We’ll look at building customisable widgets that will enable you to embed blog and Twitter feeds, photo and video galleries in your website.

February 3

Masterclass 45: Professional standards in Wordpress

Bringing your skills in creating and managing a Wordpress publishing platform up to those expected of a newly-qualified journalist.

February 17

Masterclass 46-50: How to choose a specialism, Series 2

We looked here at eight popular journalistic specialisms. Now we feature a second series, including:

• Technology
• Music
• Education

Fortnightly from March 2