Advanced journalism

Our advanced section explores specialised topics for experienced journalists seeking to deepen their expertise. Develop your skills in data journalism, multimedia storytelling, investigative techniques, and complex narrative structures that elevate reporting to the next level. All our material is free to download, adapt and use. Scroll down our site map for all the content in this and other sections.

Content value matrix - created by David Brewer of Media Helping Media

Tool: The Content Value Matrix

The newsroom content value matrix is a free tool for helping journalists prioritise information and resources to focus on the stories that matter to audiences.
Image by Russell Trow released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Media safety during elections

Journalists covering elections should never carry a weapon, should have first aid training, dress appropriately, listen to the locals and avoid confrontation.
"Working late" by Alan Cleaver is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Why follow-up journalism matters

Most news stories need following up. If the original has any value, there will be angles worth developing. If you fail to do so, you let your audience down.
Slide by David Brewer released via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Planning effective election coverage

Planning is essential for journalists to produce effective election coverage.
Image of a journalist working at a computer - created using Gemini AI

Trauma and stress in exile journalism

Journalists working in exile have to cope with a complex and unique mix of trauma and stress that needs resilience and support in order to manage and overcome.
Sebastian Solberg

Making a documentary

A free step-by-step guide for journalists who want to learn how to make documentaries.
Systems thinking (story development) training in Vietnam - image by David Brewer

Systems thinking for journalists

Systems thinking empowers journalists to provide deeper more meaningful news coverage by moving beyond surface-level reporting to uncover underlying related facts.
Image to illustrate a MHM training exercise. Image created by Google Gemini

Understanding post-truth in journalism

For journalists, post-truth is a direct challenge to our mission to inform the public debate with verified facts. Here is how to handle post-truth content.
Graphic for a Media Helping Media Training Tool

Tool: Story Weighting System

Different news stories have a different value for your audience and for your business. Giving news items a 'weighting' can lead to impact and efficiencies.
Photo by Zainul Yasni on Unsplash

Information disorder – mapping the landscape

Information disorder is everywhere according to journalist Claire Wardle. Here she sets out the categories that reporters need to be aware of and research.
Syrian journalist being trained by the author, Naomi Goldsmith

Discrimination trauma in journalism

Newsrooms committed to diversity, in terms of both staffing and coverage, must also deal with the psychological toll that discrimination takes on journalists.
Image by David Brewer released via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Running an effective news meeting

Here we offer 50 suggestions for helping editors run stimulating news meetings that guarantee a steady stream of original stories.

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Content released under Creative Commons

Creative Commons logoThe content on Media Helping Media (MHM) is released via Creative Commons BY NC SA 4.0.