Thursday

10 a.m.-noon

Mapping and charting health in your area

Data can drive stories - in the form of maps, data or charts. This workshop session will give attendees a tutorial on how to use AHCJ's expanding data collection - with tricks to filter, sort and analyze their way to story ideas. Also on the agenda: How health journalists can use a free tool through AHCJ - online, interactive mapping to visualize key elements in the health of a community. Beyond those resources, you can continue to follow along to explore and make the most of top online data tools.

• Frank Bass, reporter/analyst, Bloomberg
• Jeff Porter, special projects director, Association of Health Care Journalists

Noon

Box lunches available for registered workshop attendees

12:40-2:40 p.m.

What are your criteria in reporting on health care research?

What do you think needs to be included in stories about research on new treatments, tests, products and procedures?  The HealthNewsReview.org project has put its stake in the ground that there are 10 criteria that deserve attention.  They may not be perfect, but if they're not, what criteria do you use?  In this interactive workshop, you'll look at some studies, dismantle some stories and decide - perhaps in ways you never have before - what's essential. Whether fairly new to the beat or just uncertain about how to evaluate evidence, journalists of any skill and experience level will learn from this opportunity.

• Harold Demonaco, director,  Innovation Support Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Gary Schwitzer, publisher, HealthNewsReview.org

3-5 p.m.

Adding multimedia elements to your story or project

Increasingly in the digital age, a solid story or project has to resonate in three distinctly different formats: print, broadcast and online. But how do journalists effectively navigate these different formats? This workshop will offer tips for developing a strategy, organizing your project for three lenses and enhancing your story through the Web.  The instructors will even offer simple ways to integrate video, audio and interactive elements to drive page views.

• Karen McAllister, audience editor, TBO.com
• Kelley Weiss, independent journalist, Sacramento
• James Wilkerson, data editor, Des Moines Register