JOURNALISM WRITING & INTERVIEWING WORKSHOPS
BY NADJA VANCAUWENBERGHE
Learn the knowhow, tricks and savvy of journalism from a dedicated pro!
These workshops are informed by my career across the journalism spectrum - from news and war reporting to my 21 years' experience hiring, coaching and editing journalists -- and, more recently, mentoring individual writers.
I stand for small groups and a hands-on approach. My aim: to teach you the ropes of professional journalism through a step by step practice. I'll show you the skills, and how to use them.
WORKSHOP I
THE CRAFT OF JOURNALISM WRITING/INTERVIEWING
Compact: 4 workshops + 1 session over 3 weeks - a total of 15 intensive hours, including individual feedback.
Small groups: to ensure the quality of teaching and attention to every student’s progress, the number of participants is limited to 6 people.
Hands-on: all participants will be asked to pick and develop a story over the 3 weeks of the course. Regular personal feedback will be given each step of the way. By the end of the fourth module your first draft will be ready for assessment.
Individual assessment: on top of the regular feedback, a one-to-one session will be given at the end of course. Each participant will be given a final assessment on their work and the resulting story.
Conditions: €550. for 4 workshops + 1 individual feedback session:
Practice pitching, reporting interviewing and journalism storytelling
A hands-on 4-session course + 1 individual session
The workshops take place over three Saturdays (10-14h) and one Wednesday (18-21h). Groups are limited to 6 participants.
Learn the craft of gathering and structuring information to create a story with a strong, original angle and a bold and colourful narrative that is both informative and compelling to your readers.
Audience: aspiring journalists looking to get published, various professionals aiming to boost existing competences in their own fields (press/marketing work, online news, blogging, art criticism, creative fiction etc), or anyone looking to try their hand at writing magazine-style features.
Course and objectives: you’ll learn and use journalistic techniques while developing your own story in 4 steps/4 sessions: 1) identifying an angle and pitching a story 2) fact-gathering, reporting 3) interviewing skills 4) structuring, writing and texturing your piece with strong visual descriptions and flair. The final step is a one-hour one-to-one assessment.
Each session includes a practical part in which the participants present, discuss and get feedback on the story they are developing during the 5-week course.
All courses take place in the smart space of Punkt.Raum, on Besselpark, off Friedrichstraße, U-Bhf Kochstraße.
If you’re interested, please apply to n.vancauw@gmail.com with a few words about yourself and your goals.
ABOUT ME
I’m a trained journalist (City University, London) with a strong academic background (Sorbonne: Politics/ Sociology). I have 30 years of experience across the journalistic board. I started my journalistic career as a foreign correspondent at the AFP News Agency in Moscow. While in Moscow, I also wrote many investigative pieces for other English- language media, such as The Moscow Times and The Moscow Journal. For my undercover reporting on the Chechen war (ZDF, France2) I was blacklisted by Putin’s regime and forced to leave Russia.
In 2002 in Berlin I co-founded the English-language magazine Exberliner which ran as an independent publication for 20 years. Under my editorship, Exberliner grew to become Germany’s largest English-language publication, which The Guardian described as “Europe’s best Expat magazine” – a tribute to our original first-hand features, deep-dive interviews and uncompromising reporting
I’m passionate about journalism and I love teaching. My teaching experience started in Russia in the late 1990s, as a lecturer in Sociology/Politics at two Moscow Universities (MGU and MGIMO). But it was mainly as an Editor-in-Chief when I fully began to appreciate the joys, challenges and value of sharing my skills and experience with younger journalists: for 21 years a great deal of my time was dedicated to editing and coaching EXB’s staff writers and new recruits.
These workshops are also informed by my recent experience coaching individual writers. My aim: to help you learn the ropes of crafting a good story/interview, give you basic reporting skills and teach you how to use them. These skills are highly transferable and can be used in many careers.
ENDORSEMENTS
“Nadja is one of the best editors I ever worked for: Restless, thorough, and always interrogating, she will force you to find the most original angle. If anyone can get the best out of your journalism - whether it’s pitching, features writing, investigationor interviews - it’ll be her.
- Ben Knight, Deutsche Welle, Guardian, News Statesman, Der Freitag
“When I first met Nadja I didn’t have any journalistic experience. She saw my potential and taught me the foundational journalistic skills that helped launch my career. Nadja is a highly skilled journalist, both in interviewing her subjects and writing, and combines both modern and traditional reporting skills and approaches, giving her a unique teaching lens. She taught me the interviewing skills needed to be a cutting-edge journalist in the modern media landscape. She is also the ultimate editor, greatly improving my writing. I’m forever grateful to have had her as my mentor and highly recommend her to anyone wanting to improve their reporting skills and learn how to make it in today’s very challenging yet rewarding journalistic industry.”
Mary Biekert, journalist Bloomberg, NYC
“Nadja’s kind and passionate approach, coupled with her intelligence , truly helped elevate the quality of my first publications. She gives very practical and to the point advice tried and tested throughout her years of experience. She mentors with sincerity. I wholeheartedly recommend Nadja to anyone looking for a compassionate and genuine coach in navigating the path to their first publication. She’s the person you want on your side.
Shir Shoval-Simhoni, Ashtrays Magazine, Editor-in-Chief and publisher