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.

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.

TV newsroom in Bangladesh - image by Media Helping Media

Constructing a TV news package

This article sets out the basics for creating a news package for TV. It's been created for those starting out in TV journalism.

Gazeta Lubuska Newsroom image by PawelJanczaruk released via Wikimedia Commons

Journalistic roles and responsibilities

Journalism involves many tasks that requires a wide variety of skills. We look at some of the jobs journalists do.

Image by Rafael Anderson Gonzales Mendoza released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Journalism and the public interest

A journalist has no right to intrude on the personal lives of others except in cases where doing so will serve the public interest. We need to be crystal clear on what we mean by public interest.

Image by woodleywonderworks released under Creative Commons

Attribution and plagiarism

The importance of attribution and avoiding plagiarism.

Grammar for journalists

In this, the third module in the series about language and style from The News Manual, we look at some of the most important grammatical rules for news writing, at some common mistakes and how to correct them.

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.

Image courtesy of Gerlos and released under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0

How to spot a news story

What are the telltale signs that help journalists distinguish fact from fiction, and how do they know when they have uncovered an important news story?