In association with Fojo Media Institute, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Basics

Our basics section provides foundational knowledge for journalists starting their careers and for those wanting to refresh their skills. Learn techniques including news writing, interviewing, story structure, and reporting practices that form the bedrock of quality journalism. All our material is free to download, adapt and use. Scroll down our site map for all the content in this and other sections.

Graphic for pitching a news story created with Gemini AI

Pitching a news story to an editor

Whether you are a freelance journalist or reporter for a newspaper or broadcaster, you will need to understand how best to pitch a story so that it is accepted by the editor.
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Interview training for radio journalism students in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, image by David Brewer of Media Helping Media

Introduction to interviews

The interview is one of the basic tools of journalism. You cannot be a good journalist without being a good interviewer and a careful listener.
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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Using the right words

Words are the essential tools of journalism. They convey meaning and help the audience understand the issues we are covering. So they need to be used properly.
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Mobile journalism training Harare, Zimbabwe. Image shared via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Citizen reporting to citizen journalism

This article was written for a group of young citizen reporters from remote rural communities in Zimbabwe who were learning how to become journalists.
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Image courtesy of Freedom House and released under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Reporting from conflict zones

When reporting from a conflict zone a journalist needs to be sensitive, understand history and cultural issues, and put people first
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Developing and applying news sense

How do we know what is “news”? There are millions of things going on in the world all the time and only some of them become news stories.
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Image by Upwardly Global released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Preparing for a job interview

Some suggestions for journalists preparing for a job interview.
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The inverted pyramid in journalism

Essential elements of a news story

Pyramid journalism and the essential elements for writing a news story.
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How to produce a radio current affairs programme

Here we look at the difference between a radio news programme and a daily current affairs programme, and how the two can work together to inform the audience.
Lessons

Lesson: Setting up refugee media in exile

This lesson plan is designed to help students understand the essential steps for establishing a refugee media operation in exile, encompassing legal, editorial, and operational frameworks.
Workshops

Workshop: TV news packaging

This workshop sets out the basics for creating a news package for TV. It’s been created for those starting out in TV journalism and those with some experience.
© Content on Media Helping Media is released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 unless otherwise stated.