Steve Buttry consulting and training on digital journalism

I can provide 60- or 90-minute workshops, full-day (or longer) seminars, continuing consulting or evaluations for your organization on a range of digital journalism issues and skills, including:

• Thinking and working Digital First. We discuss how you change your workflow and start thinking differently when you follow a Digital First approach.
• Writing for social media. I’ve taught this class several times at LSU. For a basic media-writing course, I discuss applying good writing techniques to the platforms and opportunities of social media. I could adapt this easily to more advanced classes or to professional newsrooms.
• Interactive storytelling tools. I’ve taught this as a full-semester course at LSU and as a one-hour workshop for high school journalism students. I could do something in between to meet the needs of your organization. 
• Digital journalism ethics. I’ve been involved in efforts to update journalism ethics codes by the Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Poynter Institute. I was a contributor to the Verification Handbook and Telling the Truth and Nothing But and was interviewed for Rules of the Road. I was a keynote speaker for the University of Colorado’s Digital Journalism Ethics Symposium. I could lead an overview workshop or class on digital journalism ethics issues or I could address how to use ONA’s new ethics tool to develop an ethics code reflecting the values of your organization. Specific issues I have addressed extensively include social media, verification, accuracy, plagiarism, attribution and linking.
• Digital storytelling. We’ll discuss the wide range of digital tools and techniques for telling stories. I have taught digital storytelling for several organizations, including the American Copy Editors Society and Pioneer Newspapers.
• Twitter. Individual journalists and news organizations need to use Twitter effectively to succeed today. I have presented sessions for newsroom leaders, frontline journalists, reporters and business people and a session focusing on breaking news.
• Curating the community conversation. Social media and blogs provide valuable content for your site and relevant coverage of stories in your community. You need to learn how to curate the social conversation effectively. I have presented this workshop for the newsrooms of the Middletown (Conn.) Press and the Times Herald in Norristown, Pa.
• Crowdsourcing. Digital tools give journalists powerful ways to connect with sources in the community. I presented this workshop for the newsroom of the Register Citizen in Torrington, Conn.
• Liveblogging. Journalists need to learn how to cover stories live as they unfold. I have led sessions on liveblogging for the New Haven Register, American Society of News Editors, Canadian Newspaper Association and the Ryerson Journalism Alumni Association’s Wordstock conference.
• Blogging. a workshop to guide bloggers in finding their voices, engaging the community of understanding how blogging differs from more traditional forms of writing. Or I could lead a workshop on beatblogging.
• Using social media in beat coverage. Effective use of social media needs to be integrated into a reporter’s daily beat coverage. I have taught this topic in an interactive class for the Poynter Institute’s News University and in a workshop for the New Haven Register.
• Databases. I researched and wrote a report on the use of databases for the Newspaper Next project and led a full-day workshop on databases. I could guide your organization in planning a data strategy to provide valuable community information and develop new revenue streams. (This would not be a hands-on program on how to develop or present a database.)
• Tout and video engagement. I have done sessions on video engagement on multiple occasions and presented a workshop on using Tout for the Charleston Daily Mail.
• Managing your changing workload, a workshop to help editors meet the demands of multiple platforms and constant deadlines. I presented this for editors of the Tacoma News Tribune.
• Disaster coverage in the digital age features Cedar Rapids Gazette coverage of the 2008 floods as well as disaster coverage by other staffs. I have presented it for several organizations.
• Search-engine optimization. I can lead a workshop on SEO techniques to help interested readers find your content.
• Coaching journalists for multiple platforms. I presented this workshop  for editors at The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com.
• Technology Challenges and Opportunities. This discusses how small news organizations can respond to the challenges and opportunities of digital journalism. I presented this for the Iowa Newspaper Foundation.
• Ethical challenges of digital journalism. I developed a series of ethics seminars for the American Press Institute, focusing on the ethical challenges of digital journalism. I led these seminars for more than two dozen journalism organizations and would be happy to present a full seminar or a single workshop for your organization.

Contact me at stephenbuttry (at) gmail.com if you want to discuss fees and services. For information on my training background, consult my career map or the summary of my training career.

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