Program

All live sessions take place on Zoom, 2-3 p.m. EDT on Wednesdays. The online classroom includes all session recordings, asynchronous discussions and other resources.

Session 1: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2-3 pm EDT

How to Put Together a World Class Story

This opening session is an inside look into how award-winning AP journalists build complex stories from an initial series of questions into complicated feature stories on controversial topics involving multiple sources and viewpoints. You’ll learn how to apply these journalistic processes to any form of writing, no matter the genre or audience. We’ll also cover writing basics you should always consider, like avoiding flowery language and focusing on clarity above all else.

You’ll learn:

• The evolution of a complex story, from a series of open questions to researching and interviewing sources, organizing content, writing drafts, editing for clarity and publication
• The most important elements of a gripping narrative
• Writing basics, like clarity, structure and the absence of bias, to apply to every piece of writing

Guest speaker:

• David Crary, Global Religion news director, The Associated Press

Session 2: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2-3 pm EDT

Go Where Your Writing Takes You: Being a Writer on Multiple Platforms

Ted Anthony, a longtime AP journalist, editor and writing coach, has written for many years for the AP — and occasionally used other platforms to expand his audience and grow his storytelling. In this session, he shows how different kinds of writing on different platforms (including personal ones) can help you be a better and more prolific storyteller in an era of short attention spans. With appearances by other AP correspondents.

Guest speaker:

• Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation, The Associated Press

Session 3: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2-3 pm EDT

Covering Events, Interviewing Sources and Structuring a Story on Deadline

Learn the nuts and bolts of covering an event and writing about it on a deadline. We’ll look at how reporters and communications professionals prepare to cover events, including doing interviews, gathering information and developing the angle and lead of the story. You’ll learn the elements of a good story, including quotes, stats, data and descriptions for color and mood, and how to combine them into a cohesive story. Plus, we’ll cover essential interviewing skills to elicit meaningful quotes, including how to put a source at ease and establish rapport, how to prepare questions and followup questions in advance and how to choose the best quotes to bring a story to life.

Guest speaker:

• Tony Rogers, professor of journalism, Bucks County Community College; former reporter in the Boston bureau of The Associated Press and the Long Island bureau chief and deputy national editor at the New York Daily News

Session 4: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2-3 pm EDT

Promoting Your Work Across Platforms

Once a story is written, the work of getting it in front of readers begins. This session will cover how to take your piece of content and tailor it to reach different audiences. We’ll begin with the initial piece and explore how to adjust and excerpt it for promotion across platforms such as Instagram, Threads/BlueSky, YouTube and TikTok. We’ll also examine how to adapt the original content for excerpting or promotion in subscription-based newsletters on platforms such as Patreon and Substack.

Guest speaker:

• Rebecca Wright, communications leader with extensive experience crafting content and programs that anchor companies as industry leaders while growing awareness and engagement; Rebecca has held leadership positions at The Daily Beast, Vaynermedia and Ziff Davis