Human Interest Writing Training (for Partners and Communication Focal Points)

Human Interest Writing Training (for Partners and Communication Focal Points)
Nurse with mother and child

Session 1 will take place 1 July 2021

Session 2 will take place 29 July 2021

Human Interest stories focus on the achievements and challenges by documenting the experiences of the individuals most impacted. These stories present an opportunity to enrich the information shared about a topic by providing personal accounts on how the subject of the story has impacted/improved the lives of the target group(s). 

The training will be held in two, two-hour sessions on Wednesday, June 30 and Wednesday July 21, 2021 using the zoom platform and will be facilitated by Communications Coordinator for the project, Lisa Bayley, and PAHO Communications Specialist and former journalist with 25 years' experience writing and editing, Nancy Nusser.   Nancy also taught magazine writing at the university level in the United States.

Journalist, Daphne Ewing-Chow, will also be a facilitator.  An Environmental writer with a focus on food and agriculture, based between the Southern Caribbean (Barbados) and the Northern Caribbean (Cayman Islands), she is passionate about Caribbean social, economic and environmental issues. 

Objective

To assist partners in the planning and development of interesting human-interest stories throughout the lifespan of the project while aligning them to the respective outputs, wherever possible.

It will explore: 

1. What is a human-interest story?

2. What’s the story? (Who, What, Where, When and How?) What output is the story linked to?  Who are the actors?  What is the conflict/problem you are seeking to fix?

3.  Determining your framing and language based on the intended target market for the story?

4.  What is the plan/approach to produce the story?

5.  Writing Tips

6.  Incorporating other media (pictures, video, etc.)

7.  Practical writing session including how to cover a story virtually