Deadline to apply for the online course on use of digital tools in public service reporting has been extended to February 4 to Jordanian and Lebanese journalists only. The start day of the course has been changed to February 11 and the selected participants will be informed on February 9.

The online course is the first part of a program that will bring together journalists, citizen journalists and civil society actors from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen. The six- week online course will guide 60 participants from the above mentioned countries to work on ideas for multimedia public service journalism projects.

Throughout the online course, the selected participants will learn:

• How to identify and adapt emerging technologies
• Twitter basics
• Understanding and using social media
• Reporting through crowdsourcing
• Understanding and using mobile, SMS and location-aware services
• Visual storytelling techniques
• Mapping and mashups for beginners
• Writing for the real-time Web
• Online video production

The best 28 participants in the online course will then be invited to Cairo for a digital media “boot camp,” where they will have access to experts in technology, multimedia and online marketing who will help them create multimedia projects in public service journalism to illustrate the issues that affect ordinary people in their everyday lives.

The participants will return home to work on their projects and then assemble again in Cairo after three months for a second boot camp. There, the program’s trainers will award seed funding to the five projects with the best potential for expansion and sustainability.

The most outstanding participants will then be invited to the United States for two-week activities which will include site visits and meetings reflecting their interests with representatives of civil society and non-profit organizations as well as journalistic organizations and government agencies. Capping the experience will be an opportunity for the participant to spend several days working with and observing U.S. counterparts in an American newsroom.

This program is made possible by the support of the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of ICFJ and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

To apply, click here. For more information, please contact: Dina Tariq at [email protected] or at [email protected].