J215 Introduction to Multimedia Storytelling

Journalism is not bound to ink and paper. The future is now, and the future is multimedia. Audiences no longer consume news in just one format. Whether it’s a website, television program, podcast, a social platform like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or innumerable other platforms, students need to learn to meet audiences where they are, using audio, video, graphics and other digital media to tell compelling stories.

J215 Intro to Multimedia Storytelling equips students with the skills to tell compelling stories across multiple platforms. Through hands-on training in audio, photography, video, graphics, and text, students will gain experience in both individual and collaborative reporting. Working in teams, they will conceptualize, report, and produce a multimedia story, ultimately showcasing their work on a website. The course emphasizes both technical proficiency and editorial judgment, helping students understand how to choose the most effective medium—or combination of media—to engage audiences in today’s fast-evolving media landscape.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to record and edit audio using professional tools; operate video recording cameras and shoot effective visual narratives; edit video projects using Adobe Premiere; and apply the principles of photojournalism while capturing images with DSLR cameras. Students will also gain exposure to emerging practices such as social video (including vertical formats), video podcasting, and other platform-specific trends shaping digital journalism. In addition, they will develop teamwork, project management, and storytelling skills by collaboratively producing and publishing a multimedia reporting project online.

Workload Expectations

There will be lightweight weekly assignments to ensure students are practicing the tools and lessons being shown in class. Separately, there are two group projects. The first will be predetermined (the instructor will set the stories up and assign groups). For the second story, students will find on their own and self-organize into groups facilitated by the instructor. The first groups will have teams of five, the second group project will have 3-6 students. Students will be individually evaluated.