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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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News sources and the ‘so what’ factor

Every news story needs at least one reliable source that is able to share information that helps the journalist get to the facts.
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Court reporting for beginners

Reporting on court hearings requires an understanding of local laws and knowing what can be reported and what can‘t.
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Editorialising is not for news

The free training materials on Media Helping Media are all aimed at encouraging one particular kind of journalism: accurate, fact-based, impartial news reporting.
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What is news?

What is news? Beyond facts, it’s the stories that truly matter to people. Explore why human interest and personal relevance are at the heart of every headline.
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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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Constructing a TV news package

This article sets out the basics for creating a news package for TV. It's been created for those starting out in TV journalism.
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Interviewing for video journalists

Tips about the steps a video journalist can take to enhance the quality of filmed interviews.
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Adjectives and adverbs in journalism

When it comes to writing - not just news writing but any kind of writing - adjectives and adverbs have a bad reputation.
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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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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.
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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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The questions every journalist should ask

There are six questions that journalists should consider asking. They are What? Why? When? How? Where? and Who?
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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.
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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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Interviewing 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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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.
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Creating a structured news report

Writing news without a plan is like building a kit without instructions. Use a structured story plan to order facts logically and engage your readers.
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Militaristic words used in journalism

Here we look at some of the most common militaristic words that are regularly used in journalism, along with their intended meaning and possible non-militaristic alternatives.
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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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Covering a news event

Check our news event coverage guide with tips on preparation, on-site reporting, ethical interviews, and capturing compelling photos and video.
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What is takes to be a journalist

Journalists should be accurate, first with news, trusted, easy to understand, straight, aware, disciplined and realistic.
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SIFT for fact-checking

Journalists who are committed to fact-checking, as we should all be, have several methods available to help them deal with fake news.
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Interviewing ‘off the record’

Journalists’ sources sometimes agree to talk only off the record.  Here we examine what that means and how to handle it when sources place...
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