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Storytelling in the Digital Age

Become a Summer Trojan and earn college credit.

In today’s media environment, one term unites storytellers, writers, journalists, podcasters, video producers, musicians, artists and influencers: “content creators.” Whether your preferred mode of creation is recording funny TikToks or writing long-form news articles, you are one of millions of creators who contribute to the massive amount of online information. This course will teach you how to create purpose-driven content, grounded in facts, creativity and a strong understanding of evolving technologies.

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Program Overview

This journalism summer program for high school students explores the media and technology industries and how they co-create today’s media landscape, from news to movies to games.

We’ll look at how easy it is to misrepresent reality by manipulating media content, learn how to spot disinformation and understand how technology can amplify both good and harmful messages.

Along the way, students will refine their journalism techniques, strengthen their multimedia skills, deepen their understanding of media literacy and discover data-driven communication methods.

Two students sit at a news desk in a broadcast studio. One wears a USC shirt, and the other wears glasses and a dark sweater, both appearing ready to present on camera.

Key Information

Topics of Study

Interviewing, reporting and writing techniques
Photography and video skills
Engaging with an audience on social media
Changing rules of journalism; old and new story structures
Media law and accountability journalism
Misinformation, disinformation and media ethics
Using generative AI for content creation

Learning Highlights

Identify important issues that deserve attention
Gather, organize and analyze information and data about your chosen topics
Develop and focus the results of your research into a fine-tuned message
Identify media tools and storytelling techniques to best convey a message informatively and authentically
Design and implement an effective distribution strategy for your content on social media or other platforms
Understand today’s high-choice media environment, how platforms work and what drives the creator economy
Learn how to recognize and counteract digital misinformation and disinformation

Requirements

Students must bring their own laptops
There is no dress code for class instruction, but students should be prepared to wear business casual clothes for company visits

Week	Focus	Key Topics	Assignments and Activities
1	Introduction to Contemporary Content Creation	Assess interests, abilities and landscape; goal-setting	Brainstorm and plan your final project. Find out what needs to be researched. Decide which technology and platforms to use.
2	Purposeful Content in News, Entertainment and the Arts	Content genres and their storytelling characteristics; using technology to tell a story	Analyze successful, influential, viral and/or important content to determine why it resonates with people.
3	Media/Technology Industries and Society	What drives the platform and attention economies; pros and cons of digital tools	Hone your skills using the professional production tools needed for your project.
4	Finalizing and Distributing Content in Today’s Complex Media Environment	Media literacy; weighing benefits, harms and limitations of technologies like social media and AI	Finalize your project. Learn how to get your content in front of people with algorithms and platforms.

The course provides us with multiple ways to explore media. We learned some theories in class, but we also went to art museums, made interesting DIYs such as [Photoshop] posters and VoxPod [podcasts] and created our portfolio through a website.

— USC Summer Programs student participant