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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.

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.
Image by U.S. Department of Agriculture released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

Interviewing politicians

Master political interviews: learn to navigate scripted lines and handle evasive answers to ensure you uncover the facts the public needs to hear.
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.
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 Rafael Anderson Gonzales Mendoza released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Journalism and the public interest

All news stories should, by definition, be interesting. They should immediately capture the attention and make the audience want to know more.
Graphic for pitching a news story created with Gemini AI

Pitching a news story to an editor

Whether you're a journalist or reporter, learn how to pitch stories effectively to ensure they are accepted by your editor every time.
Image by Upwardly Global released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Preparing for a job interview

Some suggestions for journalists preparing for a job interview.
Passive and active voice graphic by Anders Behrmann

The active and passive voices in news

Make your news writing more interesting by using the “active voice”. Bob Eggington explains this simple and effective technique.
Image courtesy of Gerlos and released under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0

Spotting a news story

How does a journalist know when they are on the right track? What are the telltale signs that distinguish fact from fiction? 
The reference books used to create this page - image by David Brewer of MHM

Words that are frequently misused

It's essential for journalists to maintain precision in their use of language, especially when dealing with words that sound or look similar but which carry different meanings.
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.
Radio production training Jaffna - image by Media Helping Media

Constructing a news package for radio

This is a short training module setting out the basics for creating a news package for radio. It's been created for those starting out in radio journalism.
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