Basics
For those starting off in a career in journalism, including what makes news, how to write a story, interviewing tips, and fact-checking.
For journalists, clarity is as important as accuracy
These are a few thoughts (some of them adapted from The Economist’s style guide and those of other respected newspapers) for journalists writing and editing copy in English.
Punctuation
Punctuation is designed to make reading easy. It is the written counterpart of those pauses and verbal inflections which make speech understandable.
How to create a broadcast news package
Structure, timing, and letting the interview breathe are all essential elements for ensuring a TV or radio news package explores multiple elements of the story through interviewing different people.
News writing for beginners
A journalist writing a news story is the author, organiser and decision maker. Without them the story may never be told. They make the most important decision of all by asking the question - is there a story?
Tips for journalists attending job interviews
An interview for a job in the media is often the culmination of weeks of hard work searching for opportunities, filling out application forms and waiting. So it's important to make the best impression on the day.
Interviewing for video journalists
How to enhance the quality of filmed interviews, including the use of lighting, avoiding distractions, calming nerves, and making the interviewee feel good.
The use of adjectives and adverbs in journalism
When it comes to writing - not just news writing but any kind of writing - adjectives and adverbs have a bad reputation.
What it takes to be a journalist
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.
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Off-the-record chat – scenario
What should a journalist do with off-the-record information? Should they agree to conditions on its use? Should they ignore any conditions and do the story anyway? Or should they use what they have been told as background information and dig further? Try our scenario and decide what you would do in the circumstances.
Public interest – scenario
This scenario looks at some of the issues that need to be considered when deciding whether a story is in the public interest.
Establishing a market differential with original journalism
This module is about producing original, in-depth, issue-led journalism designed to inform the public debate and meet the needs of your target audience while giving you a market differential.