Poynter Launches a New Writing Webinar Series

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute's News University announced today the launch of a new training package designed to help individuals enhance their writing skills throughout the year. Beginning in February and running through December, the Poynter Writing Webinar Series will deliver training on 10 of the most requested writing topics.

"The Poynter Institute has a long and rich history of teaching the craft of writing," said Stephen Buckley, Poynter's dean of faculty. "With this training package, we're covering the topics that never go out of style – from how to write profiles to how to polish your prose."

The Webinar Writing Series kicks off on Wednesday, February 9. Each month (except August) NewsU will offer a Webinar that addresses a featured writing topic. These training events will be 75 minutes – 15 minutes longer than the standard Poynter NewsU Webinar – and feature handouts, tips sheets, readings and other materials. The lineup includes:  

• February 9: Write with Voice and Tone with Kelly McBride
• March 9: Short Narrative Bursts: Social Media Writing with David Folkenflik
• April 20: Making Words, Pictures and Sound Work Together with Al Tompkins
• May 5: How to Use Detail in Your Writing with Steve Gray
• June 8: Mastering Revision: Polish Your Writing like a Pro with Chip Scanlan
• July 20: Adding Verbs with Verve and Volume to Your Writing with Jacqui Banaszynski
• September 15: Writing Successful Profiles with Kelley Benham
• October 12: Reporting and Writing Scenes with Tom Huang
• November 2: Writing for your Website: How to Make Readers Stick with Mike Schwartz
• December 7: The Secret of Making Complicated Facts Easy Reading with Roy Peter Clark

Each Webinar can be purchased individually for $29.95, but Poynter is also introducing a special Webinar Writing Pass that offers significant savings on purchases of three, five or all ten in the series.  

• A three-Webinar pass is $74.85, a 15 percent savings
• A five-Webinar pass is $119.95, a 25 percent savings
• A 10-Webinars pass is $195.00, a 30 percent savings

The Writing Webinar Series is just one of several unique training events offered by Poynter in 2011. On February 16, News University will celebrate its 100th Webinar by bringing together the entire Poynter faculty in a single, virtual classroom. 100 Ideas to Make Your Journalism Better will deliver more than 100 practical tips on writing, design, video, leadership, social media and more from the Poynter experts who know these topics best.

The Poynter NewsU Webinar library has more than 85 replays of these very successful training events. "We are excited about adding additional writing courses to our e-learning curriculum of self-directed courses, online group seminars and Webinars," said Howard Finberg, director of interactive learning at Poynter. "And this is the first time we have offered a series of such depth."

For more information about the Writing Webinar Series, visit http://www.newsu.org/writing-webinar-series. To learn more about 100 Ideas to Make Your Journalism Better, visit http://www.newsu.org/make-better-journalism.

About Poynter's News University

Poynter's News University (http://www.newsu.org) offers training to journalists, journalism students, teachers and the public through more than 200 interactive e-learning modules and other forms of training. It has more than 170,000 registered users in 225 countries.

The Poynter Institute trains journalism practitioners, media leaders, educators and citizens in the areas of online and multimedia, leadership and management, reporting, writing and editing, TV and radio, ethics and diversity, journalism education and visual journalism. Poynter's Web site, (http://www.poynter.org) is the dominant provider of journalism news, with a focus on business analysis and the opportunities and implications of technology.

SOURCE The Poynter Institute