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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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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Fact-checking and adding context

An essential part of the editorial process is to examine everything we are told to make sure it is factual.
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What editors look for when hiring

What's the best preparation for a career in journalism? Media Helping Media asked some experts in the field what they look for when hiring staff.
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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.

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.
Climate change journalist Rafiqul Islam Montu interviewing flooding survivors

The importance of diverse perspectives

Diverse perspectives and facts are vital for accurate journalism, helping to reveal the true complexity behind the news through varied viewpoints.
Mobile journalism training Harare, Zimbabwe. Image shared via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Citizen reporting to citizen journalism

This article was written for a group of young citizen reporters from remote rural communities in Zimbabwe who were learning how to become journalists.
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.
Graphic for a Media Helping Media Training Tool

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.
An image of a journalist writing on a computer - image by Google Gemini AI

In journalism, good writing is plain writing

The purpose of news writing is to convey meaning clearly and effortlessly by using precise, comprehensible, and easily digestible words.
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The power of words

Journalists need to understand the power of using the right words when writing news stories
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Shoe-leather reporting

Digital noise is everywhere, but shoe-leather reporting - getting out and talking to people - remains a foundational skill for the modern journalist.
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