The Multimedia Editing Program and the Nevada primary election

Election night is always exciting in a newsroom, and it was no different on Tuesday as members of the Maynard Institute's Multimedia Editing Program worked the Nevada primary using an array of multimedia tools - some of which the fellows had learned just hours before.

You can check out their election coverage on our blog at http://maynard.blogs.mu/elect2010/.

The Maynard fellows used Cover It Live to live blog, and one of our fellows, Chris Pittman of the Anniston Star, used the camera on his Mac to livestream from one election night headquarters. They used Many Eyes to develop charts, took an informal poll to create a database and pushed out their reporting via Twitter and Facebook. The fellows used audio and video to capture many of their interviews.

Our headquarters is the media lab at the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism at University of Nevada, Reno. We have 13 fellows in residence for one month to learn not just multimedia, but also the core skills of editing, critical thinking, management and leadership.

Thanks to the generous support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Maynard Institute was able to offer 12 fellowships, which covered tuition, housing and most of their travel costs.

We're spending this week in an intensive drill-down on multimedia tools. The terrific faculty members who conceived and directed the election night coverage are Michelle Johnson of Boston University; Henry Lopez, web editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican; Dennis Joyce, data team editor at the Tampa Tribune's Data Circle; and Joaquin Siopack, our photo coach. I'm joined in co-directing the program by Deborah Gump, who holds a doctorate in journalism and is a professional in residence at Middle Tennessee State University.

Next week, we focus on design, editing and critical thinking. We'll say goodbye and thank you to Michelle, Dennis and Henry, and welcome design expert J. Ford Huffman and Merrill Perlman, former director of the copy desks at The New York Times.

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