Basics

Journalists covering news should always be considering what might happen next and thinking through the consequences of the events they are reporting on.

Style differs from sentence construction (syntax) in that it cannot be quantified; it has no precise rules. This is inevitable because style is concerned not so much with the mechanics of English as with the manner in which the writer uses language to play on the sensations of the reader.

Journalism often involves referring to material produced by others. This module looks at how journalists should provide attribution and avoid plagiarism.

Our journalism should be factual, accurate, and easy to understand, and we must be committed to finding original stories and telling them in a way that makes sense to the audience.

Punctuation is designed to make reading easy. It is the written counterpart of those pauses and verbal inflections which make speech understandable.

Reporting about conflict and working in a conflict zone is complex. The journalist needs to be sensitive, have an understanding of history, be aware of cultural issues, and put people before the story. 

Looking for uncovered angles on a breaking or developing news story is an important part of the editorial process where journalists have to explain the significance of events.

When it comes to writing - not just news writing but any kind of writing - adjectives and adverbs have a bad reputation.