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: News story checklist

The follow is a structured checklist tool for journalists to consider in order to ensure they produce strong news stories.
Image to illustrate covering and event - created using Imagen 3 by David Brewer of MHM

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.
Image by Silent Model TV released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.00

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.
Naomi Goldsmith delivering gender training to female journalists in Tanzania

Gender equality in the media

Addressing gender imbalance in media requires a multifaceted approach from journalists, combining personal initiative with essential systemic change.
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Attribution and plagiarism

Producing a piece of original journalism involves uncovering facts that, had it not been for you, would have remained hidden.
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.
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.
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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News writing for beginners

A journalist writing a news story is the author, organiser and decision maker. Without them the story may never be told.
Image by Allissa Richardson released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

Interviewing for video journalists

Tips about the steps a video journalist can take to enhance the quality of filmed interviews.
Image by Chrispen Tabvura released via Creative Commons CC BY 2.0

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.
Journalism training in Africa. Image by David Brewer shared via Creative Commons

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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