In association with Fojo Media Institute, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Basics

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.

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.
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Image courtesy of Freedom House and released under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Reporting from conflict zones

When reporting from a conflict zone a journalist needs to be sensitive, understand history and cultural issues, and put people first
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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.
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Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Language and style – basics

Learn how to write clear, impactful sentences for better understanding and discover why choosing the right language is essential for your readers.
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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.
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Image by David Brewer released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Clichés, journalese, and jargon

Journalists need to recognise and then avoid using journalese, jargon, and clichés. Their writing must be clear, easy to understand, and informative.
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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.
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Graphic for email interviewing created with Gemini AI

How to interview remotely

Here we explore the key issues journalists face when interviewing sources via electronic media instead of face-to-face and in real time.
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Strategy

From digital denial to digital first

Failure to recognise and keep up with changing audience behaviour is one of the most common reasons for media organisations struggling.
Advanced

Forms of information disorder

With the spread of fake news, journalists need to recognise and understand the different categories, types, elements, and phases of information disorder.
Advanced

The use of idioms in journalism

Journalists producing serious news coverage must always write in a way that is clear, accurate, free from jargon.
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