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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.

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Translation in journalism

If you are a journalist working in a multilingual society, you may have to work in more than one language.
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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.
Interview training for radio journalism students in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, image by David Brewer of Media Helping Media

Introduction to interviewing

The interview is one of the basic tools of journalism. You cannot be a good journalist without being a good interviewer and a careful listener.
Radio training Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Image by David Brewer released via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Producing a radio news bulletin

Crafting a radio bulletin is like serving a balanced meal: it must be nourishing, digestible, and leave your audience perfectly prepared for the day ahead.
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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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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? 
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Clarity is as important as accuracy

Journalists must write clearly as well as accurately using accessible language that the audience can understand.
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 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.
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.
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.
Photo of woman reading newspaper by Photo by Abhijith S Nair on Unsplash

Assessing news value

The job of the journalist is to sort through daily events and package them into stories in order to inform the public.
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