2024 Journalism programme

our 2024 media and journalism courses

Find your storytelling voice in Berlin

Treetop Travel Journalism runs monthly media and journalism courses in Berlin. We work together with our journalism interns to create a cultural magazine guide to the city. Join us to write, edit and design a professional publication, which is then published online and printed.

If you’re a student coming towards the end of university you can probably relate to the headache of wondering what comes next. Around 200,000 humanities students graduate from UK universities alone each year. Many will be vying for the same creative jobs as hundreds of applications for the same positions flood the market.

summer journalism courses in berlin

what’s included in the course?

Create a travel magazine

Hands on journalism workshops with our mentor

Feedback sessions with experienced journalists

Intro to podcasting

Trip to local radio station

Graphic design workshops

A published / printed copy of the team’s magazine

German language classes

Custom tours of Berlin

Local street art workshop

Pick up at the airport

Monthly ticket for all of Berlin’s public transport

how does this benefit me?

Develop writing / editing / publishing skills

Learn from a working journalist with over 30 years experience

Find / enhance your writing style

Establish your voice

Discover an alternative journalistic medium

Practise magazine layout with Indesign

Perfect for creative CVs and portfolios

Enrich your experience in Berlin

See the city in a unique and curated way

Make your own artwork

We’ll drop you at your accommodation on day 1

You’ll be ready to go as you step off the plane

journalism workshops with our local mentor

For our summer programme in 2024 we will have regular workshops with our local mentor Nadja Vancauwenberghe, bringing 30+ years of working journalism experience. Nadja was the cofounder, and Editor in chief, of Exberliner magazine – a publication ubiquitous in Berlin. You’ll practise the art of pitching your story, learn how to assemble all the necessary facts / info for reporting, develop your interviewing skills and bring this all together in a written piece.

Under Nadja’s editorship, Exberliner grew to become Germany’s largest English-language publication, which The Guardian described as “Europe’s best Expat magazine” – a tribute to their original first-hand features, deep-dive interviews and uncompromising reporting.

‘it was mainly as an Editor-in-Chief when I fully began to appreciate the joys, challenges and value of sharing my skills and experience with younger journalists’

nadja's workshops - a brief outline

1. What is Journalism? The basics (and beauties) of local/travel journalism. How to identify a journalism story (vs PR, vs nonfiction), how to prepare and pitch (originality, viability, etc).
2. The art of Interviewing – whether you’ll need it as background for your stories, as quotes to flesh out a feature, for a portrait, or whether you’ll use it in a Q&A format, interviews are a fundamental tool of journalism. We’ll review the different types, and practice with a very hands-on session .

3. From idea to pitch : we review pitches (angles, sources, originality, feasibility, access, etc). Work on improving them. We plan out a reporting strategy…

4. Feedback and editing sessions

podcasting workshops

Benjamin is a professional podcaster and the founder of The Berlin School of Podcasting. The focus of his work is international education and civil society efforts. His clients include The Robert Bosch Foundation, The Green European Foundation and The International Alumni Center Berlin. His dramatic radio work has also appeared on KCRW FM Berlin.

Benjamin also runs ЯesonatoR Radio which produces podcasts and supporting audio for international conferences, events and university-based projects.

During our intensive workshops you’ll gain hands on experience with the professional podcasting software Hindenberg systems. Benjamin will also deepdive into the power of storytelling and what makes for compelling interviews in a podcasting format.