ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute's News University and the humanitarian agency World Vision International have created a customized e-learning certificate program to provide training for World Vision aid workers reporting from the world's disaster zones.
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World Vision is building a roster of communications professionals who can deploy globally to work in humanitarian emergencies. Their eyewitness accounts of the need and suffering have been used by wire services and broadcasters as well as channeled to donors. The certificate program is designed to help them tell powerful, people-focused stories in the fast-breaking news environment of man-made and natural disasters.
"Telling stories that make a disaster personal, something happening to real people, is a skill we've worked hard at in World Vision," said James East, a British journalist who is the organization's Director of Emergency Communications. "But we recognize we also need to improve our staff's abilities to navigate dangerous environments, tell better stories, exploit social media and protect themselves from the outcomes of prolonged exposure to need and suffering."
Teaching in the program includes international reporting basics, multimedia and video storytelling, social media tools and strategy, writing for TV and the Web, and a course in journalism and trauma. Each of the six self-directed online courses has an assessment that must be successfully completed to earn a World Vision-Poynter NewsU certificate in disaster communications. The program is available starting June 4.
"Poynter is excited about the use of these courses to strengthen the communication skills and values of World Vision staff members, especially during periods of crisis and natural disasters," said Vicki Krueger, director of interactive learning at Poynter. "It is moving to see how our curriculum can be used in new ways."
NewsU certificates of proficiency are designed to measure knowledge of the journalism industry's essential skills and best practices. They are designed to benefit newsroom professionals, students, community journalists, bloggers and other communications professionals—with or without formal journalism training—who want to distinguish themselves in the eyes of editors and publishers. NewsU currently offers certificates in reporting and writing, multimedia, journalism fundamentals and social media. Custom programs, like the one created for World Vision, are available as well.
"We are excited about where these courses can take our staff," East said.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is an international leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum, with more than 250 interactive courses and 240,000 students. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.
About World Vision International
World Vision is a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization working with children, families, and their communities worldwide tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision works in nearly 100 countries.
CONTACT:
Vicki Krueger
Director of Interactive Learning
[email protected]
727-821-9494
Jessica Blais
Director of Marketing
[email protected]
727-821-9494
SOURCE The Poynter Institute/News University
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