Al Tompkins

Background

About Al Tompkins

Tompkins is the author of "Aim for the Heart" a textbook about multimedia storytelling that has been adopted by more than 70 universities worldwide. Tompkins has taught in 47 states, Canada, Egypt, Denmark, South Africa, Iceland and Cayman Islands. He has taught workshops for hundreds of clients in the last dozen years including NBC,Telemundo, Univision, Entravision, CNN,The Weather Channel, CBC Canada, SABC South Africa, Fox, ABC, KHOU,WFAA, KARE, KTUU, National Public Radio, Bay News 9, News 8 Austin,WTHR and many many more. He has also taught at college campuses including Harvard University, Boston University, Loyola Chicago,Western Kentucky University, Belmont University, Indiana State, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska Omaha, Ball State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Middle Tennessee State and others. NEWS DIRECTOR, WSMV-TV, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 1993-1998 Tompkins managed all aspects of a 70+ person newsroom with a $2.5 million dollar budget. The station was one of the highest rated and most honored local TV stations in America. Tompkins managed the newsroom during a time of great change. DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS, WSMV-TV, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 1992-1993 WSMV included a rarity in local news: a 12-person special investigations team that examined stories and issues of significance. This unit broke a dizzying list of major stories that became national issues. REPORTER, WSMV-TV NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 1984-1992 Tompkins covered a wide range of stories, from breaking news to Hurricane Andrew. Tompkins was at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to cover the space shuttle Challenger explosion. Tompkins’ investigation into river pollution led to the Logan County, Kentucky’s largest ever court award and sparked a $20 million river cleanup by Rockwell International. Specialties: SENIOR FACULTY, THE POYNTER INSTITUTE, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA 1998-PRESENT Tompkins organizes and teaches workshops at Poynter and professional conferences, conventions, in newsrooms and universities worldwide. His expertise includes broadcast writing and storytelling, ethical decision-making, leadership and management development and multimedia storytelling online. He is a frequent columnist for Poynter Online and teaches distance learning classes, chats and webinars on Poynter’s NewsU.org.