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.

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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.
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Writing a radio news script

Radio journalists must write clear scripts that weave together compelling audio clips, ensuring listeners understand a news story's significance.
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Grammar for journalists

Journalists need to observe important grammatical rules when writing news stories and avoid common mistakes that could confuse the audience.
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Fact-checking and adding context

Journalism is about far more than gathering information then passing it on. An essential part is to examine everything we discover to make sure it's factual.
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The power of words

Journalists need to understand the power of using the right words when writing news stories
The inverted pyramid in journalism

The inverted pyramid

The inverted pyramid model puts key news first, followed by supporting details, with the least important background information at the base of the article.
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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.
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Preparing for an interview

A journalist needs to be well-prepared when planning an interview. However, after all your research, try to keep the interview to three questions in order to avoid over-complication and confusion.
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Creating a structured news report

Writing news without a plan is like building a kit without instructions. Use a structured story plan to order facts logically and engage your readers.
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How journalists assess news value

Learn what makes a story newsworthy. This guide explains the five criteria journalists use to assess news value, with clear examples.

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.
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Tool: MHM Story Builder

The Media Helping Media’s Story Builder is a simple tool created to help those who are new to journalism write informative news articles.
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