Podcasting, story pitching and press releases were on the agenda at a writing workshop held on 21 and 22 August for first-year journalism students at St. Xavier’s College.
The workshop at the Maitighar campus featured Canadian journalist and podcaster Marty Logan and The New York Times journalist Bhadra Sharma. It aimed to provide students with hands-on training and theory in order to produce ethical and impactful journalism.
On Day 1, the 17 students learned the basics of podcast production, and recorded a question-answer session that will be transformed into an episode of the podcast ‘Nepal Now’. They also discussed how to create press releases and drafted one for the event.
On Day 2, students learned the basics of pitch writing for national and international media outlets, practiced drafting media pitches and developed them into stories.
The two-day workshop concluded on Monday with the session on practices of pitching stories to national and international media outlets.
Chun Bahadur Gurung, Faculty Lead of Journalism at St. Xavier’s College, highlighted the significance of non-credit courses such as the news writing workshop. “We are committed to furnish students with professional skills as well as academic knowledge in order to succeed in their future careers,” he said at the closing ceremony.
Father Principal Dr Augustine Thomas SJ told students and guests that the Department of Major Arts organizes such workshops regularly to ensure that students graduate as well-groomed professionals. “Though the journalism curriculum has a lot to offer to the students, it is still like a half-served meal unless we equip the students with necessary skills for their profession as journalists,” he said.
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