Basic journalism

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.

Developing 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.

Editorialising is not for news

The free training materials on Media Helping Media are all aimed at encouraging one particular kind of journalism: accurate, fact-based, impartial news reporting.
Image by melfoody released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.00

Parliamentary reporting for beginners

To cover parliament, a journalist must master local laws, procedure, and political parties, backed by a solid grasp of history.
Image of woman interviewing a man courtesy of Pexels and released via Creative Commons - image from cottonbro

Developing and handling news sources

News sources are vital for journalists to find essential stories. Without reliable information, reporters would be left staring at a blank page.
Image by Paul Brennan released under Creative Commons

Letting the pictures tell the story

Here we explore the importance of visual storytelling in TV and video journalism, showing you how to let the pictures tell the story.
Journalism training in Africa. Image by David Brewer shared via Creative Commons

What is takes to be a journalist

Journalists should be accurate, first with news, trusted, easy to understand, straight, aware, disciplined and realistic.
Image of journalists at a Fojo Media Institute training session

What is news?

What is news? Beyond facts, it’s the stories that truly matter to people. Explore why human interest and personal relevance are at the heart of every headline.
SIFT Fact-Checking - A MHM training resource graphic

SIFT for fact-checking

Journalists who are committed to fact-checking, as we should all be, have several methods available to help them deal with fake news. One of them is SIFT. 
Image to illustrate an off-the-record briefing created by Gemini AI

Interviewing ‘off the record’

Journalists’ sources sometimes agree to talk only off the record.  Here we examine what that means and how to handle it when sources place...
Image by Tessa Kavanagh from Pixabay

Translation in journalism

If you are a journalist working in a multilingual society, you may have to work in more than one language.
Image by Allissa Richardson released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Interviewing for video journalists

Tips about the steps a video journalist can take to enhance the quality of filmed interviews.
Image by woodleywonderworks released under Creative Commons

Attribution and plagiarism

Producing a piece of original journalism involves uncovering facts that, had it not been for you, would have remained hidden.
Load more

Hosted by the Fojo Media Institute

Fojo logoMedia Helping Media is hosted by the Fojo Media Institute at Linnaeus University.

Follow Media Helping Media on Facebook

MHM on FacebookCheck our Facebook page for regular updates from Media Helping Media.

Content released under Creative Commons

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