Online course uses for the first time new book, ‘Digital Tools for Journalists’

One hundred journalists from 17 countries recently completed the latest version of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas online course, “Digital Tools for Journalists.”

For the first time the course, which ended Feb. 21, 2010, was based on the new book, “Digital Tools for Journalists,” written by Argentine journalist Sandra Crucianelli. Already the Spanish-language book, published in January by the Knight Center, has been downloaded more than 7,500 times. A Portuguese translation will be available in coming weeks.

The book can be downloaded in PDF format for free from the Knight Center’s Website: http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/hdpp.php.

“The lastest online course based on the recent publication of the book ‘Digital Tools for Journalists’ was an experience that surpassed my expectations,” said Crucianelli, course instructor and book author. “The participants, from different countries of the region, could put into practice the different resources that are included in the book and that are of much use in the newsroom.”

Over the years, nearly 1,200 students have participated in Crucianelli’s course, which first was offered in November 2006 under the name “Tools for Investigative Journalism.”

“As a teacher I am very happy to have a text that provides the necessary theoretical support for the exercises we do,” Crucianelli said.

During the most recent course, students learned multimedia reporting skills, including how to take advantage of social network sites like Twitter.

“The journalists who took the course learned new tools, but at the same time, they proposed others that the rest (of the students) didn’t know about,” Crucianelli said. “This exchange is definitely very enriching. The experience was marvelous.”

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin was launched in 2002 by professor Rosental Calmon Alves. Thanks to generous grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the center has assisted thousands of journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information, contact the Knight Center’s program manager, Jennifer Potter-Miller at jpotterandreu@mail.utexas.edu or +1 512 471-1391.