Foreign Correspondent Training Course, July 2012 - overview

Dates: July 22-30, 2012
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Training fee: €1,185 or US$1,595 including accommodation 

A great introduction to international reporting. Course participants were trained by highly experienced foreign correspondents and completed a reporting project under their guidance.

What did participants learn?
By tapping into the trainers’ first-hand experiences, they learned the essential skills of international reporting, including:

• how to break into foreign reporting;
• finding your feet in a foreign country;
• pitching your ideas to editors;
• when, and why, you should bypass official sources of information;
• finding the story no one else has;
• staying safe in dangerous and unpredictable places;
• common mistakes that even seasoned professionals make;
• and much more!

Story-writing project
The practical story-writing project was an important part of the course, giving you the chance to apply their skills to a real-life reporting assignment – researching, writing and filing a story from Prague under the guidance of the trainers. Participants needed to do a bit of advance planning and research, so one of our instructors contacted them about a month ahead of the course to help them prepare. (For more information about the reporting project, have a look at Michael Jordan's article in Harvard's Nieman Reports.)

Trainers
Participants learned from experienced journalists who report for respected international media (print, radio, television and online). See the trainers page for details.

Social and cultural programme
In addition to the training sessions, we've arranged a social program so participants could meet their fellow participants, TOL staff and the course trainers. Activities included welcome and farewell dinners, as well as a concert.

Who should apply?
The course was for anyone with an interest in international reporting. This included journalism students and working journalists looking to break into the field, as well as others with a genuine interest in the subject.

What did the participants say about our previous courses?
To make sure that we maintain high standards, we asked students to fill out an evaluation form at the end of each course. We’re pleased to report that 100% of the students who completed the forms for summer 2011 Foreign Correspondent course said that they would recommend it to a friend or colleague. Here are a few quotes from them.

• “This has been a really inspiring week. I feel much more courageous. Thank you!”
• About the 'life as a foreign correspondent' session: "SO INSPIRING! Made me want to jump on the next plane anywhere. He really opened up the world. Nice balance of realism and optimism."
• About the reporting project: “one of the best - if not the best - part of the course. Going in the field and confronting the real situation of being in a foreign country was a tremendous experience! It was the thing I liked the most and I want to congratulate the person who had the idea for this course!”
• About the photojournalism session: "A very useful session. I liked that it was a little technical, but not too much. Another aspect I liked was him taking us through a photo essay, photo by photo and explaining each photos purpose related to the others and the general story of the project."
• About the 'reporting for radio' session: "I really enjoyed Mr. Cameron’s presentation. Before this, I had not considered working in this medium, but now I am excited to learn more and use this medium to improve income and tell different stories."
• About the 'covering conflict' session: "Absolutely brilliant. An honest and informative lecture on what it takes to be a journalist and foreign correspondent."