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 PDPics from Pixabay

Grammar for journalists

Journalists need to observe important grammatical rules when writing news stories and avoid common mistakes that could confuse the audience.
Read more
Image by pixy.org released via Creative Commons

The questions every journalist should ask

There are six questions that journalists should consider asking. They are What? Why? When? How? Where? and Who?
Read more
Image by U.S. Department of Agriculture released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

Interviewing politicians

Master the art of interviewing politicians: learn to handle scripts, stay on track, know your subject, and avoid losing your cool.
Read more
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.
Read more
Image of an intervention in a council meeting - created using Imagen 3 by David Brewer of MHM

The evolution of an original news story

Impactful and original journalism often begins with the answer to a question which, after thorough investigation, develops into a news story with significant implications.
Read more
An image of a journalist writing on a computer - image by Google Gemini AI

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.
Read more
Radio production training in Jaffna, Sri Lanka by David Brewer shared via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Creating TV and radio packages

Discover how to create concise, compelling TV and radio packages that capture audience attention and deliver key information effectively.
Read more
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.
Read more
Load more

You might also like

Scenarios

Transparency and full disclosure – scenario

In this scenario a reporter embedded with the military and closely monitored in a war zone wanders off and discovers a story the army wouldn't want him to tell.
Lessons

Lesson: Creating a converged news operation

This lesson plan is designed to help senior media managers understand and implement a converge newsroom strategy. 
Ethics

Offence and journalism

Rigorous journalism inevitably offends some audiences. Global broadcasters must cover all aspects of human experience to reflect world affairs accurately.
© Content on Media Helping Media is released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 unless otherwise stated.