The at the University of ϱ, Reno is hosting its first-ever, university-based National Public Radio multimedia boot camp this week. The camp runs through Friday, May 24.
“I am very excited to come to Reno,” said NPR Consultant and Project Manager Doug Mitchell. “We aren’t going to New York or Los Angeles because we recognize that good talent is everywhere. This is a perfect opportunity for Reno to show off, and I look forward to doing this project here more than once.”
Multimedia boot camp participants are each paired with a professional multimedia journalist. Teams work side by side to conceive, develop, report, write, edit and produce multimedia content for online and possible broadcast distribution by regional media outlets.
“The NPR multimedia boot camp enhances students’ education by providing a real-world experience, allowing them to demonstrate their ability to produce multiplatform news content,” Mitchell said. “The camp will provide students with a portfolio of multimedia work they can use to secure an internship or job.”
This boot camp teaches students to effectively develop characters for radio stories, how to write for the ‘ear,’ understand the basic approaches to photography and learn first-hand how to build the foundation for a career as a professional journalist.
Mitchell added, “It will also allow students to network and build relationships with public media professionals.”
“NPR likes supporting programs like this because it allows us to discover young talent,” he said. “The project gives NPR professionals a chance to see if students have what it takes to do the work and allows NPR to build a pipeline of new professionals that understand the NPR way of storytelling.”
The idea for the NPR/Reynolds School program began when NPR’s Doug Mitchell met Reynolds School Dean Al Stavitsky.
“This camp is the direct result of Dean Stavitsky keeping this project alive over the years,” Mitchell said. “He told me ϱ was a great place to host a program like this and I completely agree.”
