Seth Gitner

What he teaches ...

Seth Gitner teaches graduate and undergraduate students to think both visually and digitally so they can tell stories in new and innovative ways. Specifically, he teaches web journalism, visual news reporting, and multimedia storytelling, including such topics as interactive storytelling, web design and web development. Gitner, who advises the student journalists at the award-winning school publication The NewsHouse, also extends his reach beyond Newhouse via online courses and his text book, Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World.

Bio

Seth Gitner is an associate professor at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and serves as Interim Chair of the Visual Communications department. His teaching and research focus on visual journalism, photography, video, multimedia and interactive storytelling, digital journalism, emerging technology and the development of new tools for visual education and professional media workflows.

At Newhouse, Gitner teaches undergraduate and graduate students across journalism and visual communications. His teaching includes visual storytelling, sports photography, multimedia journalism, digital publishing, editing and sequencing, captioning and metadata, and professional photography workflows. He emphasizes experiential learning that places students in real-world reporting environments where they work under professional expectations and deadlines. This includes an annual trip to Lake Placid, New York, where students photograph the Empire State Winter Games and gain experience covering a large-scale sporting event in the field.

Gitner advises visual journalists working with The NewsHouse, Newhouse’s award-winning student publication, where he also serves as the web developer, helping support the publication’s digital presence and the technologies used to present student journalism.

Before joining the Newhouse faculty, Gitner worked as a newspaper photojournalist and multimedia editor at newspapers in Maryland and Virginia. At The Roanoke Times and Roanoke.com, he was an early advocate for integrating photography, video, interactive storytelling and digital production into a legacy print newsroom. His work received honors including the APME Convergence Award, the Scripps Howard Foundation Web Reporting Award, the Newspaper Association of America’s Digital Edge Award for innovative multimedia storytelling and an Online News Association Award for general excellence.

Gitner has held numerous leadership and service roles with the National Press Photographers Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He previously led AEJMC’s Visual Communication Division and served on the NPPA national board. His work with NPPA has included the Multimedia Immersion Workshop at Syracuse University and continued involvement with the organization’s educational and professional initiatives, including serving as the web developer for the NPPA Northern Short Course and NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism.

For his contributions to visual journalism education and the profession, Gitner has received NPPA’s Joseph Costa Award, President’s Award and Robert F. Garland Educator Award, as well as two NPPA life memberships recognizing his service to the organization.

Gitner is the author of “Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World,” published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. His work as an educator continues to explore how changes in technology affect the way journalists and visual communicators gather, edit, manage and publish stories.

Alongside his journalism work, Gitner is pursuing graduate study in design at Syracuse University. His current work explores the intersection of design, educational technology, visual communication and interactive experiences, including the development of software and digital tools for photographers, educators and visual storytellers.