2021 – Summer

DIY YouTube for Journalists (Session 2)

Course Number: JOUR-UA 203.060

Day & Time: Mon/Wed 2:00-5:00 pm

Location: Online

Instructor: Seth Kugel

Albert Class Number: 6160

YouTube is not just for home construction projects, make-up tips and TikTok compilations. Opinion, analysis, explainers, content-rich vlogs, deep dives into the history behind current events, and even original documentaries have found a home there. In fact, YouTube is by far the most serious popular platform out there – essentially the only longform social media in a world of TikTok dances and ethically dubious Instagram influencers. In this course, students will design and create their own YouTube channels and, if they choose, associated accounts on other social media. These will be one-person-bands dependent on the student as writer, performer, editor and most important, human: few YouTube channels can gain an audience without a real person behind (and often in front of) the content.

Note: If you will need to check out equipment from NYU, equipment insurance is required. Purchase equipment insurance for a full year through College Student Insurance (CSI) https://collegestudentinsurance.com/. CSI covers the gear checked out from the Journalism Equipment Room plus personal items such as laptops and cell phones. Our suggested CSI plan costs $155 with a $500 deductible.

Students will create a minimum of one video a week throughout the course between 5 and 15 minutes in length (shorter is better but also harder) that cover a theme, be that political, economic, gastronomic, artistic, geographic or any other area a journalist may cover. Beyond that, the only restriction is that video content maintains journalistic ethics and standards.

The course is taught by Seth Kugel, who has written about just about everything imaginable in twenty years freelancing for the New York Times (from African safaris to Brazilian health care to the fight for green cabs in New York City. Since 2014, he has also hosted the Amigo Gringo YouTube channel, which has over 560,000 mostly Brazilian followers and 300 videos.