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.

Gazeta Lubuska Newsroom image by PawelJanczaruk released via Wikimedia Commons

Journalism’s roles and responsibilities

Journalism demands a diverse skill set across various roles. Explore the different tasks and career paths available to modern journalists in our guide.
Image by Vladimir Khmelnytskyi released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Developing important news angles

Seeking out new angles on a breaking, developing or running news story is an important part of the editorial process.
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.
sub-editor and reporter working on a story. Image created with Gemini AI

The roles of reporters and sub-editors

Streamlined newspaper workflows with minimal editing benefit reporters and sub-editors, ultimately enhancing publication quality.
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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.
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Parliamentary reporting for beginners

To cover parliament, a journalist must master local laws, procedure, and political parties, backed by a solid grasp of history.
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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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The questions every journalist should ask

There are six questions that journalists should consider asking. They are What? Why? When? How? Where? and Who?
Graphic for pitching a news story created with Gemini AI

Pitching a news story to an editor

Every great piece of journalism starts with a pitch — and how you pitch can make the difference between being published or being rejected.
Photo of woman reading newspaper by Photo by Abhijith S Nair on Unsplash

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.
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Attribution and plagiarism

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